Star Trek: Picard – Maps and Legends Review

The initial two episodes into Star Trek: Picard have made one thing crystal clear: The series will live and die on the strength of Patrick Stewart’s performance. Considering how Picard-heavy these two episodes have been, that hasn’t exactly been a problem for the series. In fact, I’d consider it quite the strength. But when the action shifts away from our titular character (and Stewart is off-screen), things start to feel less convincing and more stilted.

Let’s take the episode’s final scene between the very undercover Lt. Rizzo and her brother Narek (Harry Treadaway, who continues to underwhelm in the role – largely because the writing can’t allow him to really let go at this stage in the story) as an example. Take away the Starfleet uniform and Romulan make-up and it’s a scene from any cheesy spy story (harder, more badass spy chastises less committed spy for seeming to neglect his duty). What could have played like a moment from The Americans felt flat. And yes, part of that is because there was so little lead-up to the “reveal” of the spy network within Starfleet. We just met Rizzo and suddenly she’s presenting a hard line agenda to Narek (just revealed as her brother, although I suspect we all read into his “conflicted villain” arc in the pilot).

One of the great things about telling a serialized story is that the writers can take time to let plot points grow organically. There’s no need to outline entire sections of a major story arc in a single episode. While the writers are taking their time maneuvering Picard back onto a spaceship, they’re rushing to set the groundwork of just what is happening behind the scenes at Starfleet (and up in the Borg Cube). That disconnect in storytelling styles means that the Picard pieces of the tale resonate on a much deeper level than those that don’t directly touch his arc. I could have watched a three-episode arc on Laris’s Romulan history lesson (and her CSI techniques). A large reason would have been the great chemistry between Orla Brady and Stewart (it’s rare to find someone who can go toe-to-toe with a seasoned actor of Stewart’s vintage, but Brady is certainly one of them), but the entire piece managed to provide us with crucial bits of exposition (if you don’t think the Zhat Vash is going to be a crucial element of the story, well, I’m not sure this is the show for you) while continuing to deepen our understanding of these characters and their relationships.

Frankly, at this point in the story, I’m actually not looking forward to seeing Picard hop back on a starship and try to rescue Soji, since it will largely involve introducing us to a whole new set of characters when we’ve only just started to scratch the surface with some incredibly interesting ones at Chateau Picard.* Our brief introduction to Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd, who is a pro at tackling disgruntled tough women with axes to grind) doesn’t do much more than indicate that she’s a classic sci-fi archetype. Dr. Jurati continues to be a fine, if flat, character, whose sole purpose within the narrative appears to be serving as a tangible connection to Dr. Maddox. In two episodes, the writers have opted to flesh out a character we are presumably going to leave behind in an episode or two (Laris) while letting a main cast member twist in the wind with little to no character development (Juarti). It’s a curious choice and one that I’m worried will bite the show down the line.

*I think we’re all savvy enough to deduce that since Orla Brady is only a guest star, we’re going to leave Laris behind once Picard gets up into his new ship. That being said, I also suspect there’s still a story for the character as a liaison to Picard and his crew on the ground. Now, traditionally, that type of role (where the character is fleshed out to a satisfying point and then left behind as the ground support) usually means they’re going to be assassinated by the villains. I’m not saying that’s going to happen, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Rizzo kills Laris in a firefight (which potentially sees her getting killed as well) somewhere down the line. The show needs some real stakes, and Laris has “expendable emotional sacrifice” written all over her. I’d love to be wrong, but I suspect I’m not.

So, while I wasn’t as thrilled with everything in “Maps and Legends” as I hoped I would be, Picard continues to be a great installation in the wider Trek cannon. If the writers can manage to turn our villains into characters that can stand on their own (while avoiding typical villain clichés) and avoid populating our hero’s bridge crew with a bunch of Trek archetypes, Picard can elevate itself beyond simply being a series built upon a stellar leading performance. I suspect we’ll know a lot more about the viability of the story – and the supporting cast – by the end of episode three.

Final Thoughts:

— Lest you think this review is a pan, I feel I should stress that I’m still interested in just where this story ends up. There are enough intriguing loose ends – namely the Romulan Borg reclamation operation on the Cube and just who was behind the synthetic attack on Mars – that will have me sticking around until the end of the season regardless of how these new characters work within the story. I just hope that the series avoids falling into traditional storytelling traps (like the one I’m worried about regarding Laris and the arc I’m already seeing laid out for Narek) and commits to telling an original story. It’s already taking a major step by focusing on the Romulans as villains, since it’s been years since a Star Trek series dealt with them as a Big Bad. I know they can keep pushing the envelope and taking chances – with Patrick Stewart anchoring the cast, the writers have a hell of a safety net.

— Isa Briones continues to impress as Soji. Narek and company may be aware of her status as a synthetic, but we still can’t tell if she knows herself. It would be a great twist for her to know and to be keeping it hidden (the damsel in distress trope is far more interesting when the damsel can scheme and fight back). Briones is a strong enough actor to pull that off, and I hope we get more time with her and less with Harry Treadaway moving forward.

— The only clunky piece of storytelling in the Picard half of the story was the revelation that Picard is finally beginning to succumb to the degenerative neurological condition hinted at back during Next Generation. It’s a sad development, and it puts a clock on the series as a whole, but we didn’t really need that piece of exposition at this point in the story. And we didn’t need it laid out in that way. It’s less interesting if Picard’s mood swings can be attributed to something other than being sick.

— Also in the “house cleaning” department of exposition? Picard telling the audience that he can’t ask his friends to go on his mission because they would do anything for him, and he doesn’t want to put them in that position. Yes, there’s some of the Data guilt in there, but it read more as a direct address to the audience as to why our old friends won’t be suiting up one more time.

— While the conversation between Picard and Admiral Clancy was meant to be frustrating to both him and the audience (since we know that Picard is right, and Starfleet is suspect), it played really well. Rather than position Clancy as obstinate and wrong, the writers took pains to explore just why she was so sure in her position. To her (and a large part of the Starfleet brass, I’m sure), Picard is a man who literally had everything and threw it away to try and save a race of people who had spent decades killing others. His strict adherence to his personal morality doesn’t necessarily track with how an Admiral must think. Something that’s been hinted at but rarely dissected over the many incarnations of Trek is that Starfleet is, at this point in time at least, a bureaucracy. Yes, it’s a military installation, but there’s a lot of red tape and political maneuvering going on. In the grand scheme of things, disobeying direct orders to save former enemies while millions are dying closer to Earth doesn’t play well. And going on TV and ripping apart your former employer? Not a great look, Jean-Luc. But then again, most Starfleet captains we’ve spent time with over the years weren’t great at the political side of being a Starfleet officer. Which, I suppose, is why we rarely get to spend time with them as active admirals.