This was a very entertaining episode overall. Here's my thoughts on it:
The Good
-The mystery was great. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see how the story progressed, who was Jana (although I figured it out right away), what happened to Rios, how Starfleet and the Romulans tied into this.
-Seven plugging into the collective and becoming queen was scary. The eye effects were especially good. Way more chilling then what we saw in FC. When she said, "We are Borg..." really good.
-Soji was great as usual. "I won't give you the chance" was particularly strong.
-Raffi was incredibly likable this episode and I like the banter between her and Picard so much more here. "Fact."
-I loved that the evil Romulan sister isn't just this cackling villain but believes in her cause.
-The effects of the Borg cube reforming was breathtaking.
The Bad
-We're supposed to believe this Zhat Vash has been around for thousands of years? They hate and fear synthetic lifeforms because synths could end all synthetic life or at least be the destroyer of worlds. Yet never got brought up while Data was around. No assassination attempts on him, nothing. And they were able to keep this a secret for thousands of years, but one member gets drunk and spills the beans? A great bit noticeable retcon.
-We have so much 'member berries going on throughout this series, but Picard can't relate to what Soji is feeling about fake memories? Really? What about "The Inner Light"? This is more of a nitpick than actual "bad."
-Admiral Clancy dropping the f-bomb again. I don't mind cursing in general. I admit I was taken back going from TNG to PIC with the cursing though. But okay. More naturalistic and contemporary. But the way it's done here is kind of pathetic. It's like a child learning the f-word for the first time. "...fucking hubris." Okay, I can buy that. But here it's just used for laughs and makes it sound like dialogue written for a millennial, not an old lady. It's very unnatural the way it's used and the way the actress delivers it.
-Multiple xBs are murdered. Cool. The upped ante of violence is to depict realism and horror of death right? I didn't get that at all. Just random figures getting shot, dropping to the ground. Closer to a scene from video game scene where you have your character just shooting bad guys.
-Soji questions her own likes and dislikes, her past, but suddenly feels kinship with the two characters from Rios's story and refers to them as "brother and sister" and wants to go save them at risk to everyone else as well?
-Raffi saying, "that's not even a language." That sounds like something funny someone would say in 2020, in particular from a sitcom or movie. It's used when someone really isn't speaking another language but just mouthing off some gibberish or speaking really poorly. In the world of Star Trek it's incredibly likely that it IS another language.
-Raffi saying it's cool that there's this crazy conspiracy. Kind of cool, I mean. Again, dialogue that feels out of place in the context of something so serious. This doesn't feel like dialogue from someone far in the future, of that age, and who held such a high position in Starfleet.
-I can't get Jurati's excitement over Soji. I get it's supposed to be a big deal, but in the far far future where they can create holo people that can interact with physical surroundings and people, and Data was in Starfleet like any other member, yet Jurati is going to be so starstruck? Amazed at three small moles on her face? This is the reaction of a scientist from 2020, not a scientist living in 2399.
-"I'm not going to murder anyone else." She has the cringiest dialogue of all the characters.
-So the replicants/Skynet are prophesied to destroy humanity and all other humanoid life. Not really too original for mainstream science-fiction.
-The imagery from Judgement Day wasn't anything special. Those Romulans were acting like they witnessed indescribable Lovecraftian horrors. But when those horrors are not only described but witnessed by the viewer, and it doesn't instill in us anything sickening or disturbing, it's hard to go along with the characters bashing their own brains in and committing suicide. Not a very believable collage of insanity. I saw an I, Robot robot face, then Data's, a world blowing up, and some thing that looked cellular structure. Oooh, scary.
I don't like how Data, and synths seem to be the alpha and omega of Star Trek story at this moment.
However...this is still a fun ride. Three good episodes in a row.
