Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 1x06 - "The Impossible Box"

I've just watched the preview with Rizzo & Hugh putting a knife up to neck. I hope Rizzo gets killed instead of Hugh.It looks like Jurati doesn't care if Picard and Soji gets killed.In a new clip from the Ready room spoiler for next weeks episode.

 

Though reading the M-A article on the technology, it apparently needed to be on or near a planet with a large quantity of quartz in it to focus it. Maybe the Sikarians (or borg) figured out a way around the limitation, it has been 28 years.
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Spatial_trajector

 

Honestly though, please no to Sela. I'd prefer the Romulan commander from Nemesis, if anyone...

 

Then how did the Queen escape? I think they brought that up in First Contact, but I must of forgotten.

 

Via the Sphere that the Cube launched.

 

Three billion combinations only one solution with the Rubix’ Cube… um, the Impossible Box.

This is possible their best episode thus far. At least, the one I enjoyed the most. Like all of Star Trek Picard, there are things I like and things I don’t. There’re more things I did then didn’t.

The writing, cinematography and Stewart’s acting really conveyed Picard’s lifelong trauma of assimilation. It was done well, from the flashes of flashback to Stewart’s clenched body. I felt Picard’s discomfort at being back in the place of his traumatization. The walls breathed, which was creepy. The crane shot after Picard collapses is disorientating as the lights and darkness blur together.

Having been assaulted, I’ve learned to live with the trauma, but it never really goes away. And it can be hard to be back in the place where it happened. So I appreciate how the show handled Picard’s PTSD.

I loved Picard’s reunion with Hugh and the whole sequence of “reclamating” the Borg victims. I can’t wait for the eventual Hugh and Seven moment.

On the flip side, Raffi’s bender was so over the top in the beginning. She chugs from the bottle like a cliched hobo. The show just can’t be subtle with anything. It’s all exaggerated to make sure we get it… yeah, she’s an addict. Most addicts, and I speak from personal experience as a recovering one, hide their addiction because of shame and guilt. She’s been triggered by seeing her son, understandable. Then again, maybe now she has no f’s given. Yet the whole thing seemed cliched, like TV addict as opposed to actual addict.

For me, I would’ve like it had Rios gone to get her. She reluctantly opens the door after several attempts to get Rios to fuck off. It opens. Her cabin is a mess. She’s high and drunk AF. Refusing to help at first. Rios convinces her. She takes one toke and a slug before going onto the bridge. But she doesn’t do it on the bridge.

The best portrayal of addiction is in The West Wing episode, “Bartlet for America.” The way Leo talks about his alcoholism is spot on. He says, “I don’t get drunk in front of other people. I get drunk alone.”

Also her cabin sure was tidy for someone on a bender.

However, I do love that scene where Rios puts her to bed. Michele Hurd did a fantastic job there. Although, later when Rios brings her coffee, Raffi doesn’t seem like she’s been on a bender just merely waking up from a normal night’s sleep. Maybe if she got up, took a toke then drank the coffee… oh well.

Finally, something interesting happens on the cube. Although, getting there was laborious to watch. I couldn’t care less about the whole Narek, Romulan intrigue stuff.

Also, how’d Elnor get on the Cube at the right spot to help when Picard couldn’t beam out. Because the writer needed him to!

8/10 for me. (Mostly because I enjoyed it a helluva lot more than previous weeks.)

Next week, The Rikers!

 

Any reason why this 40,000 light year teleporter isn't all over the Federation? Transwarp beaming suddenly doesn't seem so bad.

 

Because they don't have access to it? It was made by a civilization in the Delta Quadrant.

The episode implied the room was secret outside of the ex Borg.

 

I think they just replace a queen when they're lost. We know of at least 3 Queens (4 assuming the one in BOBW and ST:FC are different). The one in "Dark Frontier" and "Endgame" were both shown after the one in ST:FC died, and both of those were killed as well.

 

And more specifically, by a civilization that wouldn't freely share their technology, even to help Voyager get halfway home.

 

This episode had some silly stuff in it. Yes, no one checks any of the computers or the holodoc to see what happened to Maddox, so I'll bet this is something someone will discover in a few episodes during something crucial involving Agnes and they'll get up and run to stop it in time. Romulans have killer rubix cubes. Raffi's addiction is extremely ham-handed, toting a bottle around with her and drinking straight out of it like a hobbo and puffing on her vape like Cheech Marin. It's all the subtlety of a 1950s PSA. "Raffi's got a problem". Cue jazz riff. And how did elf-boy get on the cube if Picard et. al. can't get off? And why can't they all go through the portal? My TVs have had an off timer since 1985. This portal doesn't?

Mostly, though, I was bored, which is how I feel about 70% of the episodes in this show. I don't forget it's on and watch it as soon as it's available, but I rarely give it my full attention. I wander off and read things. I have to rewatch scenes because I missed something from not focusing. This is the opposite of how I feel when I rewatch The Expanse while working. Sometimes I have to put stuff down because I'm too focused on something on the TV. Its a fair comparison too, since both shows are character driven political mystery-box thrillers with scientific discoveries at the heart. But Picard just doesn't work. Not just as Star Trek, but as general entertainment.

 

Another excellent episode. Some really enjoyable stuff with some really nicely placed call backs to other Trek stuff. I'm actually very much enjoying this show. That said, it's probably best binge-watched, as the week long wait is excruciating.

 

Just finished. I give it an 8. Really good and the show is moving now for sure. Loved Hugh and JL's reunion. Actually was fascinated by the Soji/Narek stuff this week. Picard's experience on the cube was great. Certainly something he needed.

Hope next week does not mean the end for Third of Five. I really like the character he has become in this series. And the Trois are finally here!

 

Right, I forgot Hugh wasn't going to eagerly share it with the Federation.

 

I don't consider Raffi not being hung over a flaw, because I'm sure there's an instant hangover cure in the 24th Century.

 

Loved this episode. My favourite to date. I loved the Picard/Hugh scenes.

 

I'm not quite convinced that the Borg have a literal queen, only that Romulans have taken the place of the Queen in the hearts of the Borg. I'm waiting for more information.

 

Yeah, I assumed he just meant they were being subjugated by Romulans now, not specifically a Queen.

 

That was my understanding as well.