Well! We get some more backstory this episode. We find out how Raffi and Picard are connected. Turns out she worked for him as a Lt. Commander before he resigned his commission. Of course, because he resigned, she lost her position, which lead to things getting worse for her. (Side note: Love the Starfleet uniforms from that time period. Very snazzy).
It raises a point for me, about how Earth works in the future. I mean, she uses the term "hovel" to describe her home, but it looks nice to me! Does it indicate that she's poor, or am I missing something? We learned from TNG that hunger, inability to be treated for illness, and the need for material wealth is not the same as it was in our time, but how far does that go? I'm curious to explore that.
So anyway, she's still pissed at Jean Luc, and it's understandable when we find out that in those 14 years he hasn't checked in on her even once, except to see if she can find him a pilot for his covert mission. I'd be a little stung, too. She asks him to leave, but not before telling him she's found him a pilot, a Captain Rios.
Back on the captured Borg ship we see Hugh! I have to say that Jonathan Del Arco looks great! He's clearly more human now, though he retains a number of Borg artifices. He's the one who has taken Soji under his wing, which pays off when he learns something new from her regarding the Borg, and the Romulans as she speaks with Dr. Ramdha, a former Borg drone who seems to know far more than she should about what is happening around her.
Back on Earth, Picard's getting ready to leave for his mission. Zhaban and Laris are sending him off when the two former Tal Shiar agents drop Picard to the floor because a split second later there are explosions, and operatives break into the mansion (with Zhaban noting that they deactivated the alarms). It's the same type of Tal Shiar/Zhat Vash operatives that had killed Dahj, and they're after Picard.
Firstly, I love Zhaban and Laris. They're sweet, kind people who love Picard, and I also love how incredibly, awesomely paranoid they are because that study they were in had more guns than Tackleberry's house (Police Academy reference, kids), but the best thing of all was at the end of the firefight is Dr. Jurati who shows up and with sheer terror shoots the last operative as they tried to ambush the three residents.
Poor woman, she's clearly horrified, and says "I think it was on stun," and Laris replies that "Romulan weapons don't have a stun setting," which just makes her even more horrified. Have I mentioned how much I love Alison Pill?
Back on the Borg cube, Soji begins asking Dr. Ramdha questions as the woman quietly assembled a Romulan mandala from what looks like triangular tarot cards (at least that was my impression, and also I want some). We learn by jumping from the scene on the Borg cube to the scene back at Picard's manor that this is all connected, that the Romulan Zhat Vash fears the cybernetic twins, that they know of the sisters, and that they're supposed to bring destruction.
Ramdha grabs a disruptor and tries to kill herself but is stopped by Soji. On Earth, the Romulan being interrogated bites down on his suicide capsule and almost gets Zharaban except for some quick thinking by Picard, and so the Romulan operative dissolves in acid as the others stare on in horror.
On the Borg cube, Soji is trying to talk to her "mom," but since her "mom" clearly lies and says Dahj is okay and has bought a puppy, there's more than meets the eye here. Clearly (IMO) she's some kind of AI or limiting force that keeps Soji or Dahj from knowing too much about what goes on between the other. Quick speculation? Maybe Bruce Maddox is behind that, maybe not, we'll see. She falls asleep, and shortly thereafter Narek shows up to check on her.
Later Narek meets up with Rizzo, his sister who is hale and healthy back on the ship, and also has her ears back. They talk in conspiratorial whispers.
Back on Earth, Captain Rios shows up, and Dr. Jurati insists she comes with Picard on his mission, and lists her reasons why, which are adorable and quite honestly good reasons so I say let her come along.
On the ship, we see Raffi in the pilot's seat, but she's not there to join the mission, she's on her way to Freecloud, which may be where Maddox will be found. I'm not 100% on what that is yet, but we'll find out next week.
Of course, they end the episode in a very nice way, which I'm not going to say, but it ups the final score by 1 full point because I am a nostalgic person, and easily manipulated, so there.
Anyway, speaking of scores, this one gets a 9. It was very well done, with bits of action to keep things going, but fills in a lot more data on just how big of a mystery this is in both scope and threat. So far, I think the team behind Picard is hitting doubles and triples, and I am impressed with how smoothly things flow together, and can't wait to see more.
