The Borg Queen tries to summon a contemporary human whose body she can assimilate. Jurati shoots the Queen with a period firearm from the Picard estate, but then makes the mistake of allowing the Queen to slip into her mind. The watcher transports Picard back to her base of operations, an unassuming 21st century apartment, and introduces herself as Tallinn, a bit of a letdown to Picard since other than her ears, she looks just like Laris. She is a Supervisor, charged with safeguarding one critical person in Earth’s history, in this case Picard’s ancestor, astronaut Renee Picard, who is slated to be aboard the first crewed mission to Europa. That flight, to a moon of Jupiter conisdered a promising candidate for harboring life, will change history, and together, Tallinn and Picard discover that Q is pulling the strings, trying to get Renee dropped from the mission roster. Q is also meddling in the affairs of geneticist Adam Soong, whose funding has been cut due to fears that his research borders on eugenics, and that he is trying to weaponize genetic manipulation; this makes Soong vulnerable to blackmail, as he is also trying to cure his daughter, Kore, of a genetic condition he hasn’t been able to isolate. Meddling is an understatement when it comes to describing Seven and Raffi’s rescue of Rios from ICE. Meddling barely even begins to describe Picard’s plan to infiltrate an invitation-only gala event for the Europa mission’s crew to ensure Renee’s safety. The plan hinges on Jurati’s skills…but Jurati has a passenger in her mind whose help will come at a cost.
written by Cindy Appel
directed by Jonathan Frakes
music by Jeff Russo
additional music by Sam Lucas
Cast: Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard), Alison Pill (Dr. Agnes Jurati), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), Michelle Hurd (Commander Raffi Musiker), Evan Evagora (Elnor), Orla Brady (Tallinn), Isa Briones (Kore Soong), Santiago Cabrera (Captain Cristobal Rios), Brent Spiner (Adam Soong), John de Lancie (Q), Annie Wersching (Borg Queen), Penelope Mitchell (Renee Picard), Lea Thompson (Dr. Diane Werner), Leif Gantvoort (ICE Officer #1), Jackie Geary (Mona), Ivo Nandi (LeClerc), Kay Bess (La Sirena Computer), Oscar Camacho (Pedro), Michelle Haro (Guard #1), Shaw Jones (Guard #2), Daniel Mooney (Young Man), Zach Sowers (Security Guard #1), Kareem Stroud (Security Guard #2)
Notes: Tailinn’s transporter “vault” technology is the same kind previously seen in use by Gary Seven (Assignment: Earth, 1968), and Picard is aware of Kirk’s crew’s interaction with him. This is but the first time that the writers of Star Trek: Picard associate the interval of seventeen seconds with fatherhood. After directing the previous two episodes, veteran cinematic time traveler Lea Thompson gets an on-screen cameo as the chairperson ot the committee ending Soong’s funding.
LogBook entry by Earl Green