Review of 'Star Trek: Picard' 2.3

An excellent Star Trek: Picard 2.3 up on Paramount Plus. The whole episode was crackling and fun, but my two favorite parts were Agnes and the Borg, and what happened with Cristóbal's badge.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

Let's start with Agnes. Having anything to do with the Borg, let alone being partially assimilated, is always a very dangerous undertaking, to say the least. Picard's saying no to Agnes's wanting to do that with the Borg Queen, to help locate the "Watcher," makes perfect sense, and I'm not sure I would have given in to Agnes's request as soon as Picard did. But the plot and the pace of this episode demanded it.

And, of course, the net result, in terms of its lasting effect on Agnes, is ambiguous. She broke free of the Queen, but she and we and Picard know full well that, as a result of that partial assimilation, there might well be something of the Borg still in Agnes's brain, mind, soul, whatever you want to call it. No, I'd say that's a 100% fact, and it will be very interesting to see how that plays out in the episodes ahead.

Meanwhile, the interlude in 2024 Los Angeles is so far Star Trek at its very best. As readers of my reviews here on Vocal will know, time travel is my favorite genre -- as a reader, viewer, and author. And Star Trek, ranging from "City on the Edge of Forever" to "Yesterday's Enterprise" has hit some really high, transcending notes in its time travel stories. Raffi, Seven of Nine, and Cristóbal in Picard 2.3 all make the leap back to 2024 LA. There are some enjoyably witty scenes with Raffi and Seven of Nine -- Raffi of course has better knowledge of our current time than does Seven of Nine -- but the most important part, for a bunch of reasons, is with Cristóbal.

He gets hurt when he lands in his past/our slight future, and finds himself in a healthcare facility. It looks like there's a little romance brewing there -- always nice to see -- but the single most significant event that happens in that sector of our story is Cristóbal loses his badge. And he can't seem to get it back.

Now you just know that badge from the future is going to end up in some significant character's hands -- significant, that is, to the whole Star Trek oeuvre. And I can't wait to see who that it is, and how that ties into the whole Star Trek story, across all series and movies.

In the meantime, I'll see you back here next week with my review of the next episode.