Star Trek: Picard – Disengage Review

Well, there it is. Jack Crusher appears to be Picard’s son. Even though there’s no way in hell that man is under 30 years old and the timeline doesn’t line up at all. Which is why I’m still holding out hope that there’s some other explanation coming (perhaps another clone of Picard, who Beverly discovered as a small child and took in?*). That particular reveal makes this final season of Picard just a bit more trying than it should be, once again teetering back into the narrative muck that defined past seasons of the show, but it is what it is and we have to accept it and work our way through how ridiculous a prospect it might be and move on. In other, potentially more interesting news, Worf made his appearance, revealing that he has been Raffi’s handler all this time, which sets up an interesting reunion with his former shipmates down the line.

*In case you don’t remember, Jack Crusher was the name of Beverly’s husband and Jean-Luc’s best friend, who died tragically prior to the start of Next Generation. He was the ghost that lingered between the duo and prevented their getting together for the entirety of that series. He was also the father of Wesley (who is now a Traveler, as we saw last season). So, hell of a name choice if that’s his actual name. And, if you forgot, the villain in Nemesis (played by a young Tom Hardy) was a clone of Picard, so that wouldn’t be a shocking new development to this universe if that were the case. But perhaps this son is actually from an alternate universe? That would help explain the age, the name (a tribute to Jack the elder, who may have not been with Beverly in that timeline and just been a best friend?) even if multiversal incursions are already getting tiresome – thanks, Marvel. But they are going to have to really explain the timeline for the reveal of this child. And why he was named after Beverly’s dead husband.

So, strange previously unknown children aside, this was an uneven but enlightening episode of Picard – which, considering its past track record, I’m calling a win. The reveal that Worf has been working with Starfleet Intelligence (or Section 31, which seems less likely considering his past encounters with the organization on Deep Space Nine – although depending on who is running things there (Doctor Julian Bashir, perhaps?) that might track) since he left Deep Space Nine was a cool one. Him slicing through the bad guys with his bat’leth? Just awesome. He never got to use it enough in his previous appearance in Star Trek. And, let’s get real. If there was one character in all of Trek who could get through to Raffi and get her head on straight, it’s Worf. A man who has dealt with betrayal. Who has dealt with loss. Who was an absent parent to a child who resented him. He’s been through the Raffi storyline – albeit without the drug and alcohol addiction – and come through the other side. We don’t know what his relationship with Alexander is like at the moment (probably not great?), but at least they have some common ground wherein he can talk Raffi down from whatever cliff she’s on at the moment. And we all know how great he is at heart-to-hearts! But all joking aside, this might be the one character who can make Raffi make sense within this story, so I’m intrigued to see what’s to come there.

And then there’s the reveal of the Shrike and the great Amanda Plummer in the captain’s chair. When it comes to crafting a great villain, one element that is so often overlooked is charisma. They can have immense power, seemingly unlimited abilities, and make the escape and success of our hero seem bleak, but if they don’t have charisma, why are we even watching them? (See Moriarity on Sherlock and Killmonger in Black Panther for recent successes in that area). But boy does Plummer have charisma. She commands the screen – not an easy thing to do with that cast over on the Titan. She’s slightly unhinged (which also helps create a good villain) and she seems to lack any pesky morality that might hinder her from her goal. And that goal is apparently Jack Crusher – which just makes me all the more suspicious regarding who he really is (time travel and alternate universe would make the most sense here). This is a ship with shocking power for its size. The crew can apparently shape-shift at will to try and get aboard the ship. And its captain knows everything there is to know about the Titan crew despite only just meeting them. Curiouser and curiouser. No matter the explanation, I would tune in to watch Plummer chew the damn scenery and cackle any day of the week, so I’m totally sold. Even if it is another multiverse to deal with.

Before I go, I just want to provide another shout-out to Jonathan Frakes, who all but retired from acting years ago (he’s now a prolific television director – who will be directing an episode later this season, as well). For someone who thought his acting days were behind him, he’s been so damn good so far this season. His charisma is still there in spade, he’s slipped back into Riker’s skin like he never left it, and I’ve even found him more appealing that Patrick Stewart’s Picard at times. The same goes for Gates McFadden – who, this week was able to convey just the right amount of emotions to get Picard to change his mind with a single look, no easy feat – and Michael Dorn as Worf, who was just like we remembered him.

The magic of Next Generation was that the cast all clicked so wonderfully and worked seamlessly with one another. It’s a chemistry that can be lost to time – actors might not have the same command over a character as they age, there might be off-screen issues that prevent relationships on-screen from working, etc. But here, so far, our four members of the old guard are working out great. The magic remains. Add in Todd Stashwick’s brilliant turn as Captain Shaw (seriously, he had to slide into a series in its final season, go toe-to-toe with Stewart, Frakes, and Jeri Ryan, and he more than held his own and made what could have been a one-note character into something fun), and this is shaping up to be a wonderfully acted season. Even with the annoying unknown son story hanging over our heads. As I said last week, this is going to be an interesting ride.