The second episode was not as, ahem, engaging as the first, but it was still pretty good. There were a couple of moments where they almost seemed to poke fun at the idea the kind of sequel most TNG fans actually want to see. First, Picard goes to this year's token crabby Admiral and requests to be reinstated and given a ship-- and is promptly accused of fucking hubris and sent packing. Then later, one of his Romulan caretakers suggests that he contact members of his old Enterprise crew and he soundly rejects that notion on the grounds that they would be loyal and want to help. Okay. Personally, I would have preferred that scenario, but this is the scenario we got and so far it's doing okay.
This is also the second episode in a row with some Earl Grey genuflection.
Moving the story along, Picard and his other Romulan caretaker visit Dhaj's apartment to investigate the scene of the crime-- shades of Dixon Hill-- only to find that it has been scrubbed of all evidence. Not quite all, because Picard's caretakers are former Tal Shiar, so she's able to find something. This leads to the revelation that the Tal Shiar is just the front for a far older and far darker shadow group that nobody knows about except to the extent that they can drop vague hints about their sinister purpose. Yeah, that does sound boring. Especially since their sinister purpose seems to be exclusively to destroy all artificial intelligence for no apparent reason. And seeing as how Picard's ex-Tal Shiar caretakers know about this, I think we can be pretty much guaranteed that at least one of them will turn out to be a sleeper agent for this shadow group and be shockingly activated around episode eight.
It was also implied that it was this shadow group that took control of the synths and made them destroy Utopia Planitia and set Mars ablaze. Writing that sentence makes me wonder if it was a deliberate move by the writers to destroy something named Utopia. Anyway, those synths were pretty low-rent androids, nowhere near Data level. Even Alexa has a better sense of humor than those guys.
The scene between Picard and Admiral Crabby was pretty interesting, because they discussed the Federation pullback of aid to Romulus. Apparently fourteen Federation member worlds threatened to secede from the union if aid was given. So the situation is not so simplistic as it first appeared-- apparently not all member worlds are as on board with Federation values as others, and internal politics can be a bit fraught. I'm guessing these troublesome worlds have names like Texas Centauri and Gamma Alabama.
And, hey, we have a Commodore for the first time in ages. I always loved Commodores. That would have been my preferred rank if I was in Starfleet. Too bad this one is a Romulan mole.
Anyway, instead of gathering up his old beloved crew from the Enterprise, Picard has begun to gather up some less-beloved acquaintances from the untold years between then and now, which we will probably learn more about starting next week. He has been medically approved to return to space, however there was a mention of his Irumodic Syndrome, and I have a bad feeling that that's more foreshadowing than a nod to continuity. In any case, the hunt for Bruce Maddox has begun.
Zhat Vash, huh? I thought it was Jack Flash. That would have been a gas, gas, gas.
