I thought this was not as good as the first episode, however it pushed the story along and I was glad they brought in Worf, woke up Crusher, and seemingly answered the mystery of Jack's parentage. Though Picard might have been lying or in denial about it, I would like to believe that when he saw Crusher and they had that silent connection that that's when he knew. Though I have a feeling Jack is Picard's son, and it's not a misdirect, but it would be neat if there was a swerve here (and Jack is the son of Riker or Barclay or someone else to do some of that old subverting expectations).
I liked Shaw more in this episode. I liked that he wasn't willing to fight at first. It went against the grain of the Trek captains we've seen over the years, both good and bad, and it also felt logical, but at the same time, perhaps driven by his personal animus for Picard and Riker. It was a good stew of motivations with Shaw. Though I am questioning why Shaw, with his personal baggage which even Vadic knows something about, was given command of the Titan.
I thought this episode was playing fast and loose with rank here. After Shaw relieved Seven of duty, why was she still out commanding a security team? Also, how can a retired admiral belay Shaw's orders?
I also liked the Raffi storyline. I was surprised that her ex-husband was in the episode (they could've given him a better outfit though than a tattered acid-washed jeans look from the 80s or 90s), though it did make me question if Jae (and I suppose Raffi as well) had underworld ties while she was in Starfleet? I was assuming Raffi's drug use started after she was kicked out of Starfleet over Picard, but I wonder if it was something she's struggled with even longer. If they had to have Raffi fall off the wagon I am glad they did it this way than having her already back to using before the season started, and like over relationship troubles with Seven. I liked the Ferengi Sneed. His makeup looked more up-to-date befitting the 21st century makeup compared to the 80s/90s, but not so overdone as the DISCO style. I also liked Worf's reintroduction.
I liked the few lines that Ensign La Forge got here, and it was a nice mention of her dad too.
The weaker parts of the episode were Jack and Vadic. Jack seems to be a cross between Han Solo (more Ehrenreich than Ford) and TNG's Jason Vigo. Not quite buying that he caused all that trouble. He doesn't seem rakish enough. And Vadic is just too hammy. She's more Nero than Khan 2.0, absent that one harrowing scream of rage Nero gave when he impaled Robau. I did like how Vadic lowered her shields so that Titan could see all that her ship was packing. That was a nice, intimidation move. I also liked that she doesn't seem fixated on Picard, which I was assuming she would be another person out to get him personally. Vadic's starship looks pretty cool, though it also reminds me of how they overdid it with the Scimitar, Narada, and Vengeance to make sure they looked super, uber badass.
Forgot to mention it last week, but I think it applies this week as well. Why does this series keep shelving Laris? She's former Tal Shiar. She would come in handy a lot right now with either the Raffi or Picard/Riker storylines, though her presence would doubtlessly set Shaw off even more.
