Let me walk you through my emotions regarding episode 2×05 of Star Trek: Picard, “Fly Me to the Moon” this week.
At first, I was like…
Then I was like…
Then finally I was like…
What did you think? For me, it seems like the Picard writers have set their scripts to “Screaming!” because that’s pretty much all I’ve done this season. Pour yourself a strong cup of “Tea! Earl Grey! Hot!” or some Saurian Brandy and let’s sift through episode 2×05 of Star Trek: Picard, “Fly Me to the Moon.”
Breaking the ICE
Raffi and Seven springing Rios from the ICE bus was simple, quick, and surprisingly effective. I’ve got a feeling we’re not done with ICE yet this season, but for now, I’ll take the win. I’ve got to say, I did a doubletake along with Raffi when the young man with long hair passed by. I know her heart’s hurting, but she’s got to find a way to balance the hurt with the mission at hand. Seven calling her out on being too reckless isn’t uncalled for. Let’s hope a cooler head prevails for her soon.
Finally, what’s up with Pedro having a cell phone? I don’t know for a fact, but I am operating under the assumption that those sorts of things would be confiscated from him when he was picked up. I’m totally fine being corrected here if I’m mistaken. Did he take it off one of the guards? If so, turn off location settings, dude! I also find it interesting that the camera chooses to dwell on him texting for a few seconds before Rios gets off the bus. It may be nothing at all, but it did catch my attention.
Dr. Soong and Kore, I Presume
We spend a lot of time this week getting introduced to Dr. Adam Soong (Brent Spiner, playing yet another Soong) and his daughter, Kore (Isa Briones, playing another character identical to herself). Kore, lives a life of irony, being the daughter of an expert geneticist with an incurable genetic disorder. I’ve got lots of questions here. There’s not a mom in the picture and it seems that Kore doesn’t know her mother at all. “Was my mother a good swimmer?” she asks. Dr. Soong doesn’t elaborate, saying, “Like a duck! Like a mermaid!” My current theory is that Kore, like Dahj and Soji, is a genetic experiment, thus her lack of knowledge of her mother, and the reason for her genetic disorder.
I actually got to pull on that thread quite a bit with Kurt of the Make It So podcast this week. If you want to hear more thoughts from us on this idea and other opinions on “Fly Me to the Moon,” I recommend giving it a listen. If nothing else, you’ll have fun comparing our accents.
The biggest concern here is Q (John de Lancie). He’s, as Dr. Soong so eloquently put it, got Dr. Soong hostage, not with chains, but with a cure for Kore. Based on all previous encounters with other Doctors Soong, this is a dangerous gambit for both of them. I’m bracing myself for this to go all sideways before the season’s end. I’ll also say that Q saying, “We’re all hostages to what we love” echoed a sentiment I wrote about in regards to the season four finale of Star Trek: Discovery. I don’t know how much cross-pollination exists amongst the Star Trek writer’s rooms at Paramount, but we’re getting a bit of thematic similarity here, which I find fascinating. We’ll see where all this ends up by the season’s end.
Who Watches the Watcher?
Finally, we get some more answers about who this Not-Laris is. Tallinn, as she introduces herself, is a Supervisor, as is Gary Seven in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode, “Assignment: Earth.” That little door I referred to as a Twilight Zone door in my last review is actually the same kind of gateway Gary Seven uses in that episode. It’s been some time since I’ve watched that episode, so I’d totally forgotten that detail. I love that these writers have done so well interweaving these little details of established Trek lore.
Tallinn has been assigned to one particular ancestor in Jean-Luc Picard’s lineage, Renée Picard, who will travel to space in a few days’ time to make an important discovery on the Europa mission. Her thread, as she puts it, is incredibly important. That being said, we don’t get a lot more information than that out of her. I’m quite curious to see how this particular thread of our story will unravel.
All Hail the Queen
Okay, this is the part of the episode where I commenced a’cussin’. The past few weeks have set Twitter abuzz with fan theories about whether or not in the timeline we started this season in (let’s call it the Prime Timeline), Dr. Agnes Jurati is actually the Borg Queen, thus explaining the new look for the Borg Queen, and potentially her scientific curiosity getting the best of her. I didn’t buy that theory, but this episode is giving me pause.
I’ve got a lot of questions surrounding this development. Is Agnes fully assimilated? If she is, is this a new kind of assimilation? If that’s the case, this is basically a Battlestar Galactica (2004) Cylon situation. Looks like a human on the outside, but is decidedly NOT a human on the inside. I’m scared for my girl! The next episode should give us some better insight into this frightening development.
Final Thoughts
There were tons of little Easter eggs in this week’s episode. Lea Thompson, who directed episodes 2×03 and 2×04, guest-starred as one of the doctors revoking Dr. Soong’s license. One of the doctors on that panel has the last name of Rozhenko, which is enough to let the eagle-eyed audience know that we’ve got one of the ancestors of Worf’s adopted family. I get into this a little more with Kurt on the Make It So podcast this week, so be sure to tune in and find out.
What did you think of “Fly Me to the Moon”? Leave me a comment and let’s talk Trek.
The next episode of Star Trek: Picard will air on April 7, 2022, on Paramount+.
