A sentence I never thought I would write: I want to see a Seven of Nine spin-off series ASAP, CBS All Access. Holy hell, was that great hour of television. This is the kind of episode I was expecting when Star Trek: Discovery launched: dark, moralistically murky, but still fun. It’s what I hoped to see more of in this first season of Picard: conflicting beliefs causing characters to reevaluate their changing role within the world around them, while allowing the audience their own opportunity to decide who was in the right (or, even more interestingly, to acknowledge that both sides of an argument have weight and that there might not be a right or wrong choice in the end). It’s a thing that Deep Space Nine did so well in its latter years, and what Trek alum Ronald D. Moore did beautifully with Battlestar Galactica.
I’ve been pretty open in my past Trek writing about my dislike for Voyager. It’s largely because it aired simultaneously with DS9 (a vastly superior series, but also a series that was trying to tell a very different story than the largely episodic Voyager), but it’s also because the series’ reliance on the Borg went from a smart way to reboot the series to a crutch to try to keep viewers. And that reliance on the Borg led to the creation of Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan, who we now know is an strong actor with great range, but who was saddled with a thankless role back in the day), a character that was designed as a sexy MacGuffin who saved the ship many a time while dressed in a catsuit. Her stated arc was to “regain her humanity,” which meant lots of chats with characters about key human traits (love, loss, friendship, family), but little in the way of actual character development. She was, suffice it to say, not a great character. What a difference 20 years and a new team of writers make.
So what made “Stardust City Rag” the best episode of Picard’s short life? A lot of it comes down to its treatment of Seven, and just what she represents for the series moving forward. Watching the callous treatment of Icheb (another Voyager character I never particularly cared for, but whose appearance in the episode was quite moving) at the hands of Bjayzl’s crew was horrific, but necessary. Trek has rarely delved into the dark crevices that lurk within humanity, occasionally mentioning torture (often by the Cardassians, one of Trek’s most brutal villains) but only showing it to us in the rarest of instances. It was shocking to see the matter-of-fact way director Jonathan Frakes displayed what was happening to Icheb. But witnessing how soulless those under Bjayzl’s command behaved was crucial to helping us understand just what Seven was going to do by episode’s end.
Seven’s Voyager journey was about reclaiming her humanity. I (and I suspect the episode’s writer, Kristen Beyer) would say avenging the death of her surrogate son was the most human action Seven could have taken. It was an action that stemmed from emotion – something she routinely struggled to understand during her Voyager days. It might not be what Picard would do (more on Picard’s role in all this in a minute), but it was the right thing for Seven to do – and I would be shocked if most people weren’t thrilled to see her return to the bar and kill a decidedly awful person.
The universe will be better for her actions, and while it wasn’t morally right – while revenge isn’t always the best course of action – Seven’s actions are justifiable. And, for a series that hasn’t spent as much time as I would like exploring just what the wider world of the universe is like at this time*, it was interesting to see just what has been happening outside of the Team Picard bubble. The state of the universe is far different from any point of Trek that we’ve seen thus far. Even during the Dominion War there wasn’t the general sense of unease and lawlessness subsisting alongside Starfleet (that either has its head in the sand and is willfully ignoring things or is just as complicit in things as the outlaws and vigilantes – another interesting point that I hope will get explored more as the series continues).
*The series has been very concerned with filling us in on the past – and on providing incredibly awkward moments of exposition, such as the quick refresher on Seven and Picard’s shared Borg past shared by Rios and Raffi in this episode, which was painful to watch – but it has been less keen on exploring the current state of things in the universe as a whole. We’ll get throwaway lines about some things (here, Seven explaining about the bands of vigilantes trying to bring some sense of justice to areas of space that lack any real oversight in the aftermath of Starfleet’s refusal to help the Romulans), but all we know – until this episode – has come from people with a clear agenda (the Romulans, Picard’s rose colored glasses, Starfleet). It was refreshing to finally get a look at how broken the universe has become in the aftermath of the synth attack. It’s a further indictment of Starfleet and their choices (which confirms Picard’s own righteous anger about what happened, while also damning his inability to recognize that his particular brand of morality is not the currency of the universe he’s now attempting to “fix”). These are complex and difficult ideas to explore, and while I’m a bit disappointed the series doesn’t seem to want to deeply engage with them, I’m happy to see the writers at least attempting to show us that there’s far more gray in this brave new world than in the world Picard is used to inhabiting. I hope that lesson – that things aren’t black and white, and one cannot continue to operate this way – is one Picard has to grapple with as the series continues. That’s a brilliant way to re-calibrate a beloved character without destroying him.
Including Seven in this particular adventure wasn’t just a means to provide closure to a character from the past; rather, Seven’s actions allowed us to get to know a few of Picard’s new crew members a bit more (in addition to learning a bit more about Picard’s own struggles). I’ve been a bit harsh on Rios (well, more so on his ridiculous holographic doppelgangers, who remain annoying), but by leaving Seven just what she required to return to kill Bjayzl (not to mention him slyly telling her not to put a price on all their heads, but feel free to come back and take her out later), Rios proved he’s more than just a swaggering bad boy pilot. He’s got some edge to him, and he also sympathizes with those left to their own devices in the new Wild West. He may be on Picard’s payroll, but he doesn’t ascribe to the same rules as the former Admiral.
And then there’s Jurati. Juxtaposing her murder of Maddox against Seven killing Bjayzl was a stroke of brilliance. We understand just why Seven has done what she does. We even sympathize with her and agree with her choice. But we don’t know just what drove Jurati to strangle Maddox. “If you’d seen what I saw . . .” can mean quite a few different things, and it’s troubling that someone who clearly abhors the more “dirty” side of just what this mission will entail could kill her ex-lover. Yes, she was distraught about what she was doing, but now I’m interested in figuring out just what she saw that made Maddox’s death the best option she could foresee for not only her future, but the future of those around her. Perhaps it was a selfish choice, but I can only hope we get a flashback to show us just what was so horrific as to drive Jurati to kill someone she clearly loved.
In a universe where people can be driven to do what we saw this week, I’m not sure there’s much room left for an artifact of the past like Picard. That’s not to say I’m not advocating for the series to turn him into a morally bankrupt killing machine. Rather, I hope the series lets us see Picard’s worldview get challenged by those around him. His conversations with Seven did little to sway either to the other’s way of thinking, but it was the first time Picard was confronted so forcefully by someone who wouldn’t at least give lip service to what the legendary Picard wanted. But, the one line that gave me hope that there’s something more lurking under the calm, confident Jean-Luc Picard façade was his admission that his time as Locutus of Borg changed him in ways he has never let on. There are moments Picard struggles with his own humanity. And that, I suspect, is the thing we are supposed to glean from “Stardust City Rag”: Admiral Jean-Luc Picard might be far less black and white than even he wants to believe.
Final Thoughts:
— I would be remiss if I didn’t single out Jeri Ryan for her excellent work returning to Seven. I had been wondering what type of story would be enough to make Ryan revisit the character (as I’ve wondered with each of the returning players), and boy, was this a cracker of an episode.
— Raffi’s struggles with addiction are going to be her defining arc this season, and that’s all well and good (and it’s something that Trek hasn’t really gotten deep into until now, which is a bit surprising), but adding in the neglected son to the story felt more manipulative than interesting. There’s a lot of exposition to dole out this season (with plenty more still to come, I’m sure), but giving us more insight into the folks Picard is traveling with before we get to the encounter with Narek and Co. would be a smart move.
— As of right now, it looks like Seven’s appearance was a one-off. However, I wonder if the murder of Bjayzl will have any repercussions for Team Picard moving forward – or if Seven might return to help them in the future. I certainly wouldn’t say no to a return appearance.
— For as much as this season has been about Romulans and the Federation, it’s also been about the Borg – albeit those reclaimed from the Collective. It’s an interesting line to take to get us to synthetics and the dangers they pose to society. After all, a reclaimed Borg drone would be just as dangerous (super strong, eidetic memory, lack of discernible humanity – at least initially, potential to control them via a hive mind). I’m not sure the series will get into that particular dichotomy, but it’s curious that so many former Borg are dotting the landscape: Seven, Icheb, Hugh (currently on the Artifact, presumably about to meet Picard for the first time in years), and Picard. And it’s certainly curious that the Romulans, whose own safety was compromised by the synth attack, are the ones reclaiming the former drones on the Artifact.
-
Acting
-
Direction
-
Writing
