What I’m Watching: Star Trek: Picard

Star Trek: Picard: Season 2, Episode 8 “Mercy” (B+)

I’ve been a big fan of Jay Karnes since his performance in a standout season one episode of “The Shield” called “Dragonchasers” where his character, Dutch, interrogated a serial killer to get him to crack, and while I’d love to see him getting regular roles, I am pleased what he does get. He was playing hardball with Picard and Guinan when he was offering definitive proof that they were aliens, but as Guinan managed to communicate to him after Q came to see her, he was actually a true believer who was terrified by the encounter he misunderstood with a Vulcan when he was a child. Picard warmly explained what he was actually trying to do, and the newly-fired Agent Wells got to be the hero before he walked out of the building. Rios and Teresa fast-forwarded their relationship, which was sweet, but they likely won’t have much more time before they have to leave this era. Adam was completely honest with Kore now that she’s discovered the truth, and her walking away with the antidote after he demeaned her existence only got him to spiral further into miserable fury. That made him the perfect target, either an ally or a conquest, for the newly-repowered Borg Queen Agnes, who didn’t kill Seven and Raffi when she had the chance but did start assimilating some soldiers, a frightening development for a humankind that is not at all equipped to defend itself without the advanced technology they’ll come to invent in the future.