It's as bad as I thought when I first heard rumors this big bad was going to be a Borg thing and I was hoping it wasn't--this episode literally confirmed my fears. This episode put someone I was watching with just now more or less off Trek despite her liking the older TOS episodes. Here it's all grimdark horror story violence. She pointed out this was even worse than the Mandalorian, which is saying a lot.
And even me, a long time Trekkie for all of Trek's incarnations (except Lower Decks) can't help seeing plotholes big enough to fly a starship through. So Locutus had extra special DNA to control other drones? Funny because that might've been really useful for Picard to have to control Borg he was fighting in practically every encounter with them after BOBW, particularly First Contact. Ok so it was a seed? How the hell did the Borg know that Locutus would escape and more importantly how could they have predicted him reproducing? The Borg knew everything Picard knew, which as of the time of his assimilation was an old guy married to his job with literally no realistic romantic/family prospects. That's also assuming Picard would never use even 21st century level birth control here. This plan falls apart unless the Borg literally know the future.
The "catch" that only younger than 25 year old human (or human equivalent apparently) can be assimilated by this DNA is so nonsensical I don't even know where to begin. I guess the Borg line up their battle plans with real world tv show revivals.
So Locutus is so extra special that only he got this DNA, even though it makes more sense to put this special DNA into younger drones who escape like B'elanna, Seven, etc. (And remember there's like a whole community of ex-Borg out there so the Borg should've put this DNA in all of them because the chances of them reproducing was a hell of a lot higher than Picard's). Oh wait what? This DNA can actually be just implanted onto people via transport? I thought Picard's DNA was the controller signal? But now putting it into transporter victims suddenly makes them the receiver signal? This "logic" is all falling apart. So actually the Borg could've just infiltrated Starfleet and beamed their special DNA into everyone decades ago. Why didn't they? Even M'Benga was reprogramming transporters way back when. How lucky for them that Section 31 conveniently made a bunch of super-changelings that are better at evading detection that JUST SO happen to also decide to team up with the Borg and help by impersonating transporter operators. The amount of contrived incidents keep piling on.
I guess Vadic's boss is irrelevant even though he must be a Borg who apparently doesn't act or talk like any Borg before or since, including the Borg seen in this episode.
Shelby's death is the sort of "dying like a punk" scene that Sam Jackson insisted be avoided for Mace Windu over at that other star franchise.
Let's not even get into the absurdity of a ship that's meant to be crewed by hundreds being crewed by a total of 7, all on the bridge, into combat against a Borg armada. Even Scotty noted when the 1701, crewed by a handful in Search for Spock, met just one Klingon ship and was like "I didn't think I'd be taking her into combat, you know!"
I feel sorry for all the new Trek actors who signed up for Picard thinking this was going to lead to a future of continuing spinoffs etc. Isa Briones and Evan Evagora are extraordinarily lucky their characters survived what can only be described as the "Picard show new character bloodbath". I'd say Michelle Hurd too but there's still one episode left.
You should be ashamed.
