Right at the beginning of the episode, Troi is put good use as a Counselor for the first time since
Generations, as she helps guide Jack through the symbolism of his dreams. The red vines and red door are evocative of Terry Matalas' other series,
12 Monkeys, but they're effectively adapted here in
Picard and applied specifically to Jack. The red vines represent connections. Connections within the Borg Collective. The red door and what's behind it represents the Borg Queen and her plan for a new Collecive. In retrospect, when we hear a woman's voice saying, "You'll be back with us soon, Jack," it's very obvious it's the Borg Queen.
As soon as Troi opens the door in the dream they're experiencing, she leaves immediately and tells the others she sees the Borg. The imagery of the Borg against red nebulas everywhere is coincidentally evocative of the red from
12 Monkeys but also of the shots from the Borg in
Voyager, the last time the Borg were seen in full force. Between hearing the Borg Queen and seeing Borg Cubes as depicted in VOY, it makes clear that these are the Borg from "Endgame", picking up where they left off over 20 years later.
As Picard processes what he's heard from Troi, his speech as Locutus from the end of "The Best of Both Worlds" Part I is heard, which gives a cue that this all ties back to when Picard was assimilated by the Borg. In essence, "Endgame" and "The Best of Both Worlds" have been tied together. Beverly pieces together that Picard genetically passed whatever was left of Locutus onto Jack, making him part Borg on some level.
Even though Picard blames himself, it's not his fault. He didn't ask to be assimilated. And he didn't know there was anything from the Borg he could pass on. He thought he had Irumodic Syndrome. But Picard ultimately feels like he has to take responsibility for everything. He's too close to the situation. Troi, being able to have some distance she's not Jack's parent, tells Picard there are protocols and they have to be careful about how they approach Jack because he's dangerous.
It feels a little tense when Picard first approaches Jack, gets more instance when he asks Picard about what Troi saw, "What did she see?!?!!", and Picard explains to Jack how he passed on Borg genetics to him that they never could've known about. Then Jack asks a very pointed question, "How much of me is me?" and talks about how he always thought people could get along better if they communicated with each other and understood each other, and worked together as one. Borg thinking right there. Then he says that he cares about people, unlike the Borg. This can be interpreted two ways: 1) That's Jack's individuality, or 2) He's trying to distance himself for the idea that Borg care about each other as well. From the Borg's point-of-view, each part serves a greater whole.
Picard tells Jack that he has to be kept safe, which Jack interprets as confined. Then Picard tells Jack he doesn't know what the Borg can do to him and make him do, then tells him that as Locutus the Borg made him almost kill everyone he loves. The most emotional scene of Picard's since
First Contact, which also got to the heart of with his having been assimilated by the Borg. Then the flip switches in Jack, his eyes turn red, and he decides to return to the Borg Collective. I don't know why it didn't occur to me before now, but whenever Jack has red eyes, that's when he's in Borg Mode or Semi-Borg Mode.
Beverly tries to stop Jack from leaving, but Jack tries to justify returning to the Borg Collective by showing the Borg Queen what he is, but that's a non-answer. He doesn't say what he's going to do, and I'm sure the Borg Queen is influencing his thoughts to make it seem to him like everything he's doing is
his idea when it's not. Then he leaves the Titan.
What's interesting, and this is something else I didn't think about until now, is that if
Legacy ever happens, then both Seven and Jack will have some sort of connection to the Borg. Because of that, I have a hard time believing they wouldn't figure into
Legacy in one way or another eventually, even if it's in a small way. At the very least, Seven and Jack would understand each other in a way that the rest of the Enterprise-G crew wouldn't.
It was interesting to find out that the Borg never truly let Picard go, and it makes sense that it wouldn't be as easy as Beverly removing the Borg implants at the end of "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II". If the Borg were more advanced, their assimilation would be more advanced than everything the Enterprise-D would've been able to detect back then. And, as Picard says, it explains why he could still sense them, as we saw in
First Contact.
The Borg, with the help of the Rouge Changelings, want to assimilate Starfleet in one fell swoop at Frontier Day. Potentially putting all of Starfleet against the Titan if they don't warn them.
At Frontier Day, despite the risk we know the Federation is at, it was still great to enjoy the moment of being able to get to see the Enterprise-F on the screen. I'll admit that it's not my favorite Enterprise, but it always feels good to see the
latest Enterprise when it's unveiled. Even though this is the first time it's been a reveal of a ship about to be decommissioned, so that was a different spin. But, to me, it's a reminder of how long we were away from the 24th-turned-25th Century.
Seeing the synchronized fleet made for a great visual. It's great to take it all in and even better when particular ships happen to catch your eye.
Riker is right about finding it ironic that Shelby would embrace something so Borg-like with Fleet Synchronization. The flaw of every ship being so inter-connected and what happened reminds me of why Commander Adama didn't want the Galactica connected to the rest of the Colonial Fleet in Ron Moore's
Battlestar Galactica. Riker's line also has character continuity with his always judging Shelby's risky tactics in "The Best of Both Worlds".
When Jack travels to the Borg Queen, this is the second time that she's lured someone to her that Picard cares deeply about. First Data in
First Contact and now Jack. Calling Jack "Vox", Latin for "the voice itself" is crazy. In a good way. It would be horrifying for Picard if his is own so was The Voice of the Borg. Jack tries to kill the Borg Queen, can't, then she tells him "Resistance is Futile."
Jack being the voice of the Borg would be wild enough. But what else the Borg have planned just in increases the scale so much more. The rouge Changelings have engineered it so that whenever someone steps into the Transporter, they gain Borg DNA from Picard's stolen original body that was assimilated as Locutus, thus assimilating everyone in Starfleet without them even knowing. That's insidious. It's like everyone is infected with a Borg virus that's spread like wildfire, just waiting to be activated. They're using transporters as a form of warfare that's far more effective and devastating than conventional weaponry could ever be. Biotechnological Warfare.
Then the Borg send their signal to everyone subconsciously assimilated. Seven can detect the signal, being part-Borg, but it doesn't affect her. Only those assimilated under age 25, because their frontal cortexes haven't stopped development. I agree with it's a huge concern since it'll affect the youngest members of the Titan crew but I have to wonder: how many of the crew would be under 25? I'd think a lot more of the crew would be over 25 than not. Same goes for any other ship. But that's just a nitpick which has no impact on the suspense.
Picard's former crew, Shaw, Seven, and Raffi figure out and escape plan. Shaw's killed, while Seven and Raffi provide cover for Picard's crew to escape the Titan. When Shaw tells Seven, with his dying words, that the ship is hers and that she has the conn, that was the true passing of the torch for the Titan from Shaw to Seven. If you want a
Star Trek VI analogue, Captain Seven and the Titan become like Captain Sulu and the Excelsior, backing up the (former) Enterprise crew.
I just want to pause here to say that while Shaw didn't go through that much of a character arc, what I thought of him went through an arc. I never saw
12 Monkeys before
Picard Season 3. So, I looked at Shaw as if he was like a typical Asshole Captain from the TOS Movies. Whereas someone who watched
12 Monkeys would think Shaw's basically Deacon transplanted into Star Trek. But whether you've seen 12M or not, over the course of this season, we see that Shaw's not wrong from his point-of-view, he always has a point, and his flaws are understandable. Including wanted to personally disassociate Seven, his own First Officer, from the Borg. Including Picard having been Locutus tainting his entire view of him. And still, despite all of that, he was able to put aside is feelings and still have Seven as his First Officer and still work with Picard once the situation called for it. One main thing that made Shaw different from other Starfleet Captains is that he had a real blue-collar feel to him. The grease-monkey who could be the asshole and wasn't worried about being liked as long as he got the job done and did what he was supposed to do. By the time he was killed off, I felt sad to see him go. If you'd have told me that at the beginning of the season, the first time I watched it, I never would've believed you.
Anyway, moving along, Picard's crew escapes and makes it back to the Fleet Museum and he takes them to the re-built Enterprise-D. And it's now occurring to me that while the episode itself isn't bookended by these reveals the battle at Frontier Day is bookended by the unveiling of the Enterprise-F and the unveiling of the Enterprise-D Rebuild after Picard and his crew escape.
The way the Enterprise-D Rebuild is revealed is brilliant, with several different steps to it. As the crew approaches in the shuttle, the lighting is cool. Everyone is emotional at the sight of the Enterprise-D again. Riker asks if she'll fly, Geordi turns to Picard and asks, "What do you think?" As the focus turns to Picard, the lighting turns from cool to warm, and when the light fully warms up, Picard says, "Oh, yes."
The next step is actually being on the bridge and seeing all the display consoles come on one-by-one like the bridge is lighting up right in front of us.
Then there's a wide shot of the crew standing on the bridge.
After that, there's another wide shot from the opposite angle that's also a tracking shot and slowly pans across the bridge. This type of tracking shot is the type that was used when Picard first walked onto the Enterprise-D bridge in "Encounter at Farpoint".
There are two nods to the TOS Movies in introducing the Enterprise-D Rebuild. First is the crew all in the shuttle approaching the ship. It's exactly the same as in TVH when Kirk's crew was taken to the Enterprise-A, which is
figuratively but not literally the Enterprise-Refit Rebuild. The background music when the crew board the Enterprise-D Rebuild is the same as the background music when the Enterprise-Refit was introduced in TMP.
Best line, from Picard, "I realized what I missed the most. The carpet!"
The whole thing was a sight to be seen. Including the Enterprise-D finally leaving the Museum. Then the moment we were all waiting for as the camera slowly zooms in on Picard and he says, "Engage!"
That's the moment! The crew back together again, on the Enterprise-D again, off to save the day once more. This time with the stakes higher than ever! That's a Star Trek movie!
The rating? The last portion of the episode alone makes me want to give it a 10, but I'll resist the temptation and
go with a 9.
out of 5
