Hmm, just watched the episode. Whilst still compelling, at this point I feel things are losing momentum and, as was the case with DSC season four, the last couple of episodes have been spinning their wheels and failing to move the plot forward a whole lot. Setting pretty much the entire season on contemporary Earth is also feeling a bit restrictive now. I almost wish some of the characters had stayed in the alternate future while the rest travelled back in time so we could intercut with the present and the corrupted future.
A few other things are bugging me; among them the fervent hope that the writers will explain why Tallin is identical to Laris without the Romulan ears. I’m also really confused as to what Picard actually is and why on earth they took him to an Earth doctor. Obviously there was reference to his synthetic nature, but what actually IS he—is it a combination of machine parts and biological parts, or…what? It seems so vague to me that I’m not sure the writers even know.
I’m also starting to realise how uncomfortable I am with the flashbacks of Picard’s mother being abused by his father. it flies rather uncomfortably in the face of Roddenberry’s vision that, in Trek’s future, humankind has ‘evolved’. I mean, I know Trek had frequently pushed the boundaries of Roddenberry’s vision since his death, but domestic violence is still something I find hard to imagine in this vision of the future. Maybe that’s naivety on my part, but, this being Star Trek…it just doesn’t sit well with me.
I am, however, loving the Agnes/Borg Queen storyline, and am eager to see where this leads.
