Star Trek: Picard – Episode 4, No Win Scenario

We spend all our time on the Titan in the company of Jean-Luc Picard, Patrick Stewart (“Logan”, “The Kid Who Would Be King”), Will Riker, Jonathan Frakes, Doctor Beverly Crusher, Gates McFadden, Jack Crusher, Ed Speleers (“Downton Abbey (TV)”, Outlander (TV)”), and Seven of Nine, Jeri Ryan.

The ship is adrift, very low on power, unable to escape as it falls deeper towards the centre of whatever this is. The ‘waves’ of energy washing over the ship appear to be getting more frequent.

Seven is attempting to look for the saboteur on board, the changeling, though, with them being able to look like anyone, that’s easier said than done. She has to turn to Liam Shaw, Todd Stashwick (“12 Monkey’s (TV)”, “You, Me And Dupree”), for help, given he knows the ship and its crew better than anyone.

With seemingly just hours left to live, Riker tells Picard he should spend some time with Jack, get to know him, savour these precious moments. Duly, Picard takes Jack to the holodeck and his favourite bar to share a tipple or two.

The whole episode is punctuated with flashbacks to five years earlier when Admiral Picard is attempting to eat some lunch in a bar, alone, and is approached by some Starfleet students who want to know if some of the stories they’ve heard are true. But they aren’t the only ones interested in hearing what the Admiral has to say that day.

Vadic, Amanda Plummer (“Pulp Fiction”, “Ratched (TV)”), meanwhile is on the outskirts of the nebula, making contact with whoever she is working for, it has to be said is not something you want to be doing all that often given it involves her cutting her hand off! Anyway, the floating goo-head she works for tells her to get back in there and capture Jack, all else is expendable, which is charming.

With everyone focussed on either reconciling, hunting a saboteur or keeping the crew alive, it’s left to Beverly to formulate some sense of a plan to get them out of this mess, but can she convince the others to go along with it?

Jonathan Frakes takes directorial duties for the second episode in a row of Picard, keeping us firmly on the Titan, rather than splitting our time between that and Raffi and Co.

There’s lots of shaky cam, which I’m never a fan of, and lots of lens flare, which we can thank JJ Abrams for I guess and, on the whole it has to be said, this episode feels like a throwback to TNG episodes of yesteryear. It’s a bit corny at times, a few things thrown in that feel like they didn’t have to be.

But, having said that, it is a good trip down memory lane and Picard gets to utter some immortal words, so it’s not all bad.