It’s only Episode 2, but Star Trek: Picard has already approaching warp 9.9 (no need to alert engineering). A tense strand-off puts almost all of our main characters in danger, a new villain appears, and a conspiracy begins to unravel concerning the attack on San Francisco.
We learn from a flashback that Jack Crusher’s ship, the Elios, is a Mariposa medical vessel. (Mariposa was Dr. Teresa Ramirez’ clinic in season 2, so it sounds like she and Rios are doing well for themselves back in the past.) Jack also reveals an interesting perspective on conflict: he sees gun-running for both sides as a way of “helping refugees”. Now we know why the Elios is being menaced.
Picard’s transport inhibitors prevent the baddies from teleporting Jack away, and Riker’s well-placed plasma grenade stops a boarding party in its tracks. The Elios is at a stalemate and Beverley is still on life support in a medical pod that is quickly running out of juice. So it looks like the only option is to try to get back to the Titan. Before anyone can make a move toward the shuttle, the Elios is attacked and caught in a tractor beam. In a move that will one day be taught alongside the Riker Maneuver, Captain Shaw positions the Titan between the Elios and other ship, cutting off the tractor beam and freeing the Elios. The party aboard the Elios is beamed onto the Titan.
“We’re essentially cornered — in space — which has no corners.”
The ship that was menacing them at the end of the previous episode turns out to be called the Shrike, and is helmed by a Captain Vadik. The Shrike comes with a loaded armory, and is on a mission to capture the known criminal Jack Crusher. Vadik is played by the exquisitely weird Amanda Plummer, who is another example of the Next Generation taking over the solar system. Her father Christopher Plummer has piloted a Klingon Battle Cruiser or two in his day.
Shaw is more than ready to hand Jack over to the bounty hunter, who is pointing a vast array of weapons (including other, smaller ships) at him, but Picard isn’t so willing. He’s much more interested in getting to know Jack and his dubious history. Jack seems at least willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of Beverly and the rest of the Titan. Picard, for his part, is less interested in relevant questions like “Why does Vadik want you?” but instead demands to know about Jack’s father. As the only two British characters in the galaxy at the moment, it makes one wonder if accents are genetic.
Meanwhile, back on M’Talas Prime
Raffi is hot on the trail of the weapon that attacked San Francisco. Starfleet (or whoever is on the other side of the computer) believes that the attack was carried out by a Romulan dissident named Lurok T’luco. But for some mysterious reason, they don’t want to pursue the matter. It does seem suspicious that such an assault on the heart of the federation would go unanswered.
The next link in the chain is a man named Sneed, a Ferengi (the first one we’ve seen in Picard), who brokered the deal to get the portal tech to T’luco from an anonymous seller. Raffi browbeats her ex-husband into setting up a clandestine meeting.
Enter: the Bat’leth
Sneed seems like another low-level gangster with a penchant for human memorabilia and weird drugs, but he’s more than a match for Raffi’s less-than-subtle undercover work. When things come to a head (Sneed pulls T’luco’s out of a freezer when Raffi claims to work for him), we’re treated to one hell of an entrance: Worf in all his silver-maned glory swoops in to rescue Raffi. It turns out he’s been the handler all along!
"“Do not seek blame, do not seek anger.”"
Has the Klingon warrior found some strange pacifist zen in his old age? Or is Worf acting on someone else’s orders?
"“Do not engage.”"
While Worf is warning Raffi not to engage in the conspiracy at the heart of the Starfleet attack, the Titan finds itself re-engaging in the conflict between the Elios and the Shrike.
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