Review of 'Star Trek: Picard' 2.5

Superb episode 2.5 of Star Trek: Picard, with so many profound, unexpected elements, unfolding so quickly, it felt like just five minutes had passed before the episode was over.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

We meet Picard's great aunt in 2024, Renee Picard, whose accomplishments as astronaut have to happen in order for our timeline to be preserved. Q, of course, doesn't want that, and he's pulling out all kinds of stops to stop that. This of course raises the tricky question of why Q can't just make everything he wants happen by snapping his fingers. He and we saw last week that, for some unknown reason, that's not happening. And Jean-Luc becomes aware of that, too, in this pivotal episode.

Meanwhile, Q is pursuing another related gambit (they're all related in Star Trek). He's trying to get Dr. Soong -- whose descendant created Data -- to help him (Q) implement some essential part of his plan. His leverage over Soong is to provide a cure for the fatal illness of his daughter. It was great to see Brent Spiner back in yet another Soong/Data role.

And if those two threads aren't enough, let's not forget the Borg Queen and the hold she now has over Agnes. I knew Agnes couldn't have killed the Queen so easily, and, sure enough, in a shocking scene at the end of the episode, there is the Queen indeed right there in Agnes's head, as she works to help the team keep Renee in motion.

Speaking of which, it's good to see the team all back together. They'll need all the help they can get fightning not one but two masterful villains -- Q and The Borg Queen. Well, at least one thing seems to be going very well: Picard's conversations with the woman in 2024 who looks just like Laris (played by the same actress, Orla Brady), but isn't. Doesn't matter, that's bound to help Picard and Laris get back together, right?

See you back here next week.