I say with relief that this episode did not give us another drop in quality, and in fact held a few interesting plot developments and possibly even some thematic developments.
We are treated to another flashback to the time of the Romulan Diaspora (and presumably this will a component of every chapter), this time set in a warrior nunnery on a refugee world where Picard has bonded with both the nuns and an orphan boy. It will turn out that after he left Starfleet, Picard never returned to these people, hurting them all, especially the boy, with his abandonment. It becomes clear now, if it wasn't before, that his departure from Starfleet broke Picard to the core and he has spent the last fifteen years in a morbid depression, retreating from the world. He abandoned Starfleet, abandoned the Romulans, abandoned Raffi, abandoned the nuns and Sword Boy, and very likely others. But these things are just really worldly manifestations of the true betrayal-- he abandoned his principles. So here we have a show where Starfleet and the Federation, like our real society, have traded in their liberal values for base meanness and Picard has similarly lost his principles to hopelessness. With his comment about the perfect being the enemy of the good, he is referencing the intolerance and fundamentalism of the contemporary world-- and when he tells Raffi that he may never pass this way again, he tells us that the clock is ticking to make things right.
The character work in this episode is definitely a step up. Rios, with his multiple holographic avatars, is much more a Trek character now than the cigar-chomping, central-casting ruffian of his debut. Raffi is also more appealing without her trappings of Millennialism and self pity. Agnes was written as almost a completely different character, but I suppose this is the first time we've really seen her off the clock-- the only other time she was seen outside her lab was having just had a near-death experience. Unfortunately the new addition to the crew, with his devotional life and ninja sword, seems more suited to AD&D than Trek, but perhaps he will develop as well.
Picard is a man awakening from a coma and coming to terms with regrets, but who has not quite yet learned anything. He berates himself for his abandonment of Raffi and Sword Boy, but has done nothing to make amends or shown any hint that he intends to. Instead he is focused on a quest for the children of his dead comrade. And with his newfound purpose comes a self-righteousness that is almost a parody of the old Picard. His tearing down of the Romulans Only sign was a rookie error from a man once known for his diplomacy, and especially hypocritical from someone who showed no moral objection to a gender-exclusive warrior guild. Another metaphor for the Millennial Age?
And then we have the return of an old favorite character, and this time it's not a dream. Apparently a member of the Fenris Rangers (an odd name-- I wonder if the wolf reference is supposed to be a link to Romulus and Remus, but it comes from a completely different mythology), Seven of Nine saves Picard's ass at the last nanosecond, at the cost of her own off-the-grid ship, and then collapses to the deck after a sassy beam in. Best cliffhanger yet.
