@andrewbloom I get that she's afraid of a Synth uprising thanks to the mindmeld, but why and how does that lead her to kill Maddox and what's her objective?
Because Maddox is the only one capable of building another Android ? Jurati said something like "you haven't seen what I have" before she kills him. And her reasoning would be to prevent that by killing him. What I don't understand is where that vision of the future she got from the Vulcan comes from. How can the Vulcan see into the future. I think that's a hoax. And Jurati excepted it rather fast without questions. That is odd for a scientist.
@finfan Yeah, I suppose that's plausible. She just goes from "I'm a regular timid scientist" to "I'm ready to kill the man I love" pretty quickly, and the show leaves her specific reasons to subtext. I'm not opposed to that necessarily (lord knows that otherwise the series often has its characters straight up announce their motivations) but this seems like an area in which more clarity would be helpful. Maybe we'll get that in the next few weeks. (Coma flashback episode anyone?)
Re: the future vision, my theory is that Commodore Oh is really a Romulan operating on behalf of Zhat Vash, and the vision she gives to Jurati is, at best, what Zhat Vash fears will happen if the Synths rise up and, at worst, a total fabrication just meant to scare her to the point that they can use for their own ends.
@andrewbloom I hope it is something like that because we already had a lot of time travel stuff in Star Trek. I was thinking about Oh being Romulan myself as it would make sense.
@andrewbloom once again, I gotta agree with you! This was a really well used cameo and it was so wonderful to have Picard reunited with Riker and Troi. If it had been a bottle episode on the Riker homestead then I would have given the episode a 9.
I quite enjoy the Bond-villain styling of Narissa but I agree it's a great shame they killed off Hugh so soon. Maybe I was reading way too much into the subtext since I'm part of the community myself, but I almost got an attraction/potential romance vibe between Elnor and Hugh. Either way, that's been killed off, too, lol.
If they're planning on killing another character off soon, I hope it's Narek - I find the actor quite wooden/irritating.
@2ls1t I totally read Elnor and Hugh as something romantic, which would be a really interesting way to take things, not just for the representation angle, but for the idea that they'd have common ground as unique members of hated groups. Frankly, it really frustrated me that the show introduced that intriguing element only to squelch it with an unnecessary death five minutes later.
I also would not mind Narek getting killed off. I agree that he's not very good on the show (though that may just be the writing). That said, I think it's far more likely that he has a change of heart thanks to his affection for Soji and ends up turning on his sister and defending Soji against Zhat Vash.
...they'd have common ground as unique members of hated groups
Great point - I hadn't thought of it from that perspective. Mind you, it was such a fleeting suggestion that there wasn't much time to consider where it was going/the implications, lol
I think it's far more likely that he has a change of heart thanks to his affection for Soji and ends up turning on his sister and defending Soji against Zhat Vash.
Yeah, this is my suspicion, too. He's clearly not as hard-hearted as Narissa.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-03-05T21:05:54Z
[8.0/10] Easily the best episode of the series so far. I really enjoyed the glimpse we get of Will and Deanna -- happy enough that it feels like a nice grace note to their story in TNG, but with enough loss involved to make it something other than a wish-fulfillment happy ending for them.
But what I like even better is that this stop is more than just fanservice with some familiar faces. The show uses Picard's connection to his old officers, and Soji's budding bond with their daughter, to make the Riker family a bridge between Picard and Soji. Reminding Picard that he needs to be patient and kind to earn someone's trust and that fighting the good fight is what keeps him feeling alive, while Troi and Kestra show Soji that she has value regardless of whether she's "real" and that he can be trusted, is a really great way to use these cameos.
The Jurati/Raffi/Rios stuff back on La Sirena is a lot less successful. If nothing else, I appreciate the plot mechanics of Narek being able to track them using the pill Jurati takes in the flashback. But I'm still super confused as to the shape of Jurati's motivation here. I get that she's afraid of a Synth uprising thanks to the mindmeld, but why and how does that lead her to kill Maddox and what's her objective? It also feels a little dumb that Raffi and Rios don't really catch on. Still, there's intrigue in the idea that she's willing to go into a coma to try to detach herself from her Zhat Vash handlers now that she's having second thoughts.
The weirdest part of the episode is the Elnor/Hugh/Narissa stuff. The fight was pretty cool (even if I'm still tired of Narissa's hammy Bond villain routine), and the show piqued my interest with the quick rapport between Hugh and Elnor. But then why the hell did the show (seemingly) kill off Hugh five minutes later? It's another disappointing and abrupt end for a legacy character. (Justice for Hugh and Icheb!)
Still, the Picard/Soji/Riker family stuff is so good that it makes up for the other parts of the episode. Picard's scenes with each members of the family are great. His and Riker's dynamic in particular is so warm and familiar in the best way. And holy hell, Marina Sirtis gives her best performance in all of Star Trek here! The layers to her conversations with Picard and Soji are so good!
Overall, this one has its problems away from Nepenthe, but when it's at the Riker homestead, things are really good and nicely manage to make a feel-good TNG cameo into something more meaningful and relevant to this show's characters and the story at hand.