Star Trek: Picard – Episode 3, Assimilation

The gang manage to evade their captors but at the price of Elnor, Evan Evagora (“Fantasy Island”, “Home and Away (TV)”), who is shot in the chest, Raffi Musiker, Michelle Hurd (“Blindspot (TV)”, “Hawaii Five-0 (TV)”), takes him to the sick bay, which isn’t well stocked.

As the ship is attacked by more ships the Borg Queen, Annie Wersching (“Bosch (TV)”, “Runaways (TV)”), is freed from her cage, she fast forwards the takeover of the ship, destroys the others and slingshots them into the past, a little too quick though and they crash land on Earth.

The Queen is now draining the power from the ship in an attempt to revive herself. Despite Cristóbal Rios’, Santiago Cabrera (“Big Little Lies (TV)”, “The Flight Attendant (TV)”), wanting to kill her, Jean-Luc Picard, Patrick Stewart (“Logan”, “Green Room”), says she’s the only one that can help them, the only one who knows where the Watcher is and what to do with them once they find them.

Seven of Nine, Jeri Ryan (“Devil’s Revenge”, “Bosch (TV)”), Cris and Raffi are beamed to LA to try and find the watcher, which doesn’t go well for Cris who winds up in a ‘no questions asked’ medical facility. Picard and Dr. Agnes Jurati, Alison Pill (“Them (TV)”, “Devs (TV)”), stay behind to watch the Queen.

The only way Agnes can think to bring the Queen, and the ship, back is to be partially assimilated by her, something that Picard is dead against, but in the absence of any other ideas he eventually relents. The Queen probes through Agnes’ mind whilst Agnes attempts to fix her, can she get out in time?

Back in LA and Cris has managed to lose his communication device, luckily it hasn’t gone far, but he’s suffering from concussion and the doctor won’t return it to him until he’s ready to leave. Although, just as he is, immigration arrive and raid the place.

Back on the ship and the Queen is awake and more lucid than before. She’s in the mood for bartering and, in exchange for the information she has around the Watcher, location and time, she wants the ship, she also wants legs but one thing at a time.

We’ve seen time travel on a number of occasions in Star Trek, both new and old, and it hasn’t always been successful. From the little we glimpse here it seems we’re ok, sure, Cris’s storyline feels a little eye-rolling at this point, but if you remember from the previous time travel Trek’s we’ve had, there’s usually someone from the period they are in that ends up helping them.

This could well end up being the doctor that is helping Cris, Chloe Wepper (“Good Trouble (TV)”, “Between Two Ferns: The Movie”), or maybe the whole thing will switch out on us.