Deron Generally
Deron GenerallyStar Trek: Picard
Paramount Plus
Season 2 Episode 7
Monsters
Tallinn ventures inside Picard’s subconscious mind to wake him from a coma and face both his darkest secrets and deepest fears. Seven and Raffi go in search of Jurati whom they fear has succumbed to the monster inside. Rios struggles to hide the truth of who he really is from Teresa.
The new episode opens with Picard in a therapy session with an unknown figure. An unknown figure that seems uninterested in his ability to skirt the issues affecting him. It’s an interesting scene that foreshadows something to come and subtly smacks you in the face with who the man is and what he represents if you’ve been following the series and the character arc this season.
The scene then shifts to a flashback as Picard tells the story with his younger self and his mother at their home and her story turns into a surreal nightmare when the monster that haunts them both stalks them throughout the chateau. It’s a beautiful looking scene that I wish was longer, but the story then must shift to the other characters and their under-developed personal drama. The Seven/Raffi drama continues to be teased, but not explored.
Jean Luc and his therapist continue to clash as Tallinn enters Picard’s mind and finds herself trying to navigate his fractured psyche. There are some great Picard quotes in the background including Locutus which is interesting. The dynamic between Picard and the therapist is the strongest element of the episode and Tallinn’s journey within the man’s psyche is just as strong. Rios’ side story with the doctor is weird and frankly unnecessary. It doesn’t engage or add anything to the story and has so many logic issues that take away from the bigger story.
Picard finally confronts the therapist who reveals who he is. It’s a scene that could have been so much better handled but does lead to a revelation that is both unexpected and intriguing considering how the series has been setting up Picard’s father throughout the season. It’s an incredibly interesting scene that wonderfully defines the character while still giving him layers. James Callis does a wonderful job in the role and manages to keep the mystery a surprise until the end by playing the character with equal parts aggression and empathy.
The final revelation at the end of the episode was handled great and I would have loved to see more of Picard’s journey to it rather than the side missions of collecting Jurati and Rios breaking all the temporal prime directives for a woman ala Captain Kirk. The episode works a lot better than the previous one and the elements that do work deserve more development. The elements that don’t I wanted to end quickly and the end of the episode itself was just goofy.
Star Trek: Picard S02XE07
