TL;DR – When you explore the past and think about the future, you get a perfect episode of Star Trek

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that viewed this episode.

Star Trek: Picard Review –

When you look back on Season 1 and Season 2 of Star Trek Picard, I loved them, but they did suffer from the mid-season slump. They got lost among the weeds but found themselves in the end. But this is the last ever season, and if you wanted something to land, now would be the time to do it, and I am so glad that is what we are getting.

So to set the scene, at the end of Imposters, we discovered that things were worse than anyone had thought. The Changelings can now replicate internal organs meaning they can pass through all the scanners set up at the end of The Dominion War. Now they have made their way into every part of Starfleet, and the USS Titan-A is now in their sights. How can they prove they are innocent? Oh, just infiltrate the most secure facility in all of the Federation. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.  

Without a doubt, this episode is a love letter to the past, both to Star Trek in general and also to specific shows and movies. When they walked through the Daystrom Institute facility, I was expecting some Easter Eggs, which we got, and oh, they were some biggens. There was also a sneaky look at the big reveal at the end of the episode. I was enjoying those fun moments when the USS Titan-A arrives at the Fleet Museum at Athan Prime, and I audibly gasped. I could not help but get transported back in time to those first moments as we panned across and saw the USS Defiant, USS Enterprise-A, USS New Jersey and more.

It would have been fine just to see those classic ships as a backdrop to getting Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) back in the show. Instead, we used those old ships to explore family and some delightful character moments. I am not sure if Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) and Seven (Jeri Ryan) needed to have a small discussion about what family means. But that few minutes of building a rapport is what the show needs just as much as the action. Also, I knew there was a cloaking device in the end credits, and that cloaking device was Klingon. However, I never suspected that it would be from the HMS Bounty, even with the episode title. I’m sorry.

However, while this episode is very much dabbling in the past, including an all-to-brief, James Moriarty (Daniel Davis) and Data (Brent Spiner) being alive again for a second time. This episode was also positioned for the future. Part of this comes from the structural elements around the attack on Founders Day, the clue that all Starfleet ships are linked, and the reveal that they stole JL’s (Patrick Stewart) body. Also, every moment Vadic (Amanda Plummer) was on screen was a moment that showed that she might be the best villain in Star Trek history. More than all of this, there was considerable Next-Next-Generation energy as Jack and the La Forge daughters Alandra (Mica Burton), and Sidney (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) both share parent stories and then do a little larceny. Getting a glimpse of a future that I would be happy to see.      

In the end, do we recommend Star Trek: Picard – The Bounty? Absolutely. I feel that this was the high water mark on what was already a strong season so far. Every moment was a delight, and even though it ended on precisely the note that I thought it would, I still loved to see it.  

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Star Trek: Picard
Directed by – Dan Liu
Written by –  Christopher Monfette
Created by – Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Kirsten Beyer & Alex Kurtzman
Showrunner – Terry Matalas
Based on – Star Trek: The Next Generation created by Gene Roddenberry
Production/Distribution Companies – CBS Studios, Amazon Prime & Paramount+
Starring – Patrick Stewart, Jeri Ryan, Michelle Hurd, Ed Speleers, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis & Brent Spiner with Daniel Davis, Todd Stashwick, Amanda Plummer & Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut and Mica Burton, Stephanie Czajkowski, Joseph Lee, Jin Maley & Amy Earhart