Star Trek: Picard season 2 episode 3 is one strongest so far for several reasons — this season just keeps raising the stakes!
Warning: Spoilers for Star Trek: Picard Season 2 Episode 3
At the end of episode two, Elnor’s life was left in the balance after the crew’s attempt to save the Borg Queen from execution. Now, after trying everything in their power, Elnor succumbs to his injuries. Devastated, the crew finds only one viable solution to save their beloved Elnor: time travel.
Raffi, Seven, and Ríos arrive in Los Angeles, where they are split apart. This episode quickly turns into an homage to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, where we saw the original USS Enterprise crew also time traveling to California. To add even more similarities to the film, Ríos is injured and taken to a hospital, the same way Chekov was in the original film.
Ríos is left without his communicator and has no way of contacting the rest of the crew. Meanwhile, Picard remains on La Sirena with Agnes and the Borg Queen, a very intense showdown, as the Borg Queen calls Picard “Locutus”, which was how he was known as during the time he was assimilated by the Borg in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Agnes, apparently still trying to redeem herself for her actions in season one, offers to have the Borg Queen’s mind transferred to her, in an attempt to regain control of the ship. It is a big risk, since Agnes could be lost forever due to how powerful the Borg Queen is, she could easily overtake her body.
Since the Borg Queen is confined to the cage due to half her body being missing, taking over Agnes’ would give her more power than she already has. It was an intense scene, seeing Picard facing the Borg Queen, as she called on Locutus. Maybe this is a sign that Locutus will make his return? Perhaps the only way to get Elnor back is for Picard to become Locutus again.
Perhaps the strongest part of the episode was Ríos storyline. He finds himself in a hospital where immigrants without documentation are being treated, it is a safe haven, and Ríos is shocked, but at the same time he finds himself surrounded with people who speak his language, he even introduces himself as Cristóbal, rather than Chris. He is taken aback by how this hospital needs to be kept secret, due to him not being used to seeing this type of discrimination, because in his time period, the world can be viewed as an “utopia” of some sorts, due to the lack of discrimination that he has not faced or seen happen.
Cristóbal clearly wants to get out, he doesn’t want to get involved, but his kind heart gets the best of him and decides to help. When the immigration police shows up, he tries to cover with Teresa, the doctor who saved his life, but the police see right through the act, and since he does not have any type of ID from Los Angeles 2024, he is arrested, and the rest of the crew do not know what happened to him and have no way of contacting him.
This episode is one of the strongest so far, from the references to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, to the interactions between Picard and the Borg Queen, the season just keeps raising the stakes as the episodes progress.
Rating: 5 out of 5
NEXT: Star Trek: Picard Penance, A Look Into What Could Have Been
About Star Trek: Picard Season 2
The second season of the American television series Star Trek: Picard features the character Jean-Luc Picard as he and his companions are trapped in the 21st century when reality is broken by Q as part of the ultimate trial for Picard. They must race against time to save the future of the galaxy.
The new season of Star Trek: Picard premieres March 3, 2022 exclusively on Paramount+.
