Review of Star Trek: Picard – Season 1
Patrick Stewart is the Executive Producer of Star Trek: Picard. He makes his grand return to Star Trek, reprising his role as Jean-Luc Picard in this all new series available for streaming on CBS All Access. Episodes are currently (Feb. 2020) being released weekly on Thursdays.
I enjoyed the first season of Star Trek Picard. I break down each episode with some minor spoilers throughout this article, so please read at your own discretion.
Episode 1: Remembrance
In the year 2385 a group of synthetic life forms (robot human beings like the character Data from Star Trek: Next Generation) attack an outpost on Mars and kill thousands of people. Starfleet reacts with a ban on all synthetic life, and then goes back on a promise to aid the Romulans in an evacuation effort. This prompts Admiral Jean-Luc Picard to resign his command from Starfleet and retire to a vineyard in France.
14 years later, Picard is interviewed on TV about the incidents and “loses his cool” on live TV. Picard is then approached by a mysterious woman, who turns out to be a synthetic life form, and agrees to help her find safety. This new mission brings Picard out of retirement as he begins to uncover the history and truth about Dahj, who he deduces to be Data’s daughter.
Episode 2: Maps and Legends
Following Dahj’s apparent death at the hands of Romulan assassins, Picard finds out that Dahj is indeed Data’s daughter and that she is a twin. Picard appeals to Starfleet for a ship to try to find the remaining twin synthetic, but Starfleet turns him down. This causes Picard to set out on his mission without any assistance from Starfleet.
This episode introduces us to the Twin sister Soji, who has a flourishing relationship with an undercover Romulan spy/assassin named Narek. We are told that Romulans have a deep hatred for all synthetic life, and this episode introduces us to a few more Romulan “bad guys”, some of which are undercover in Starfleet itself.
Episode 3: The End is the Beginning
Finding himself in need of a pilot, Picard goes to visit his old colleague Raffi. We learn that Raffi was fired due to Picard standing up for the Romulan Evacuation against Starfleet Command. Raffi is not happy to see Picard, but in the end decides to join him on his mission.
Meanwhile aboard the Romulan Borg Cube, Soji (the remaining twin sister) is accused of being “the destroyer” by one of the reclaimed Romulan Borg passengers. Soji and Narek continue with their romantic relationship, as Soji continues to dig into the history of the Borg cube and it’s passengers.
Episode 4: Absolute Candor
Picard and his team make a detour to the planet Vashti, where Picard helped relocate Romulans before the infamous attack on Mars. We get to see flashbacks of Picard on Vashti, as he became close to a warrior nun and her adopted boy named Elnor. Flashing back to the present, Picard asks Elnor for his help, since Elnor has now been trained as an elite warrior assassin. Elnor initially refuses, due to feeling betrayed by Picard, after Picard never returned to Vashti following the attack on Mars. In a cool street-fight scene Elnor beheads a Romulan in combat to save Picard, and then joins Picard on his mission.
The La Sirena (Picard’s ship) is attacked by an old abandoned Klingon Bird of Prey, and a mysterious ship shows up to help Picard’s team during the battle. The pilot of the mysterious ship turns out to be Seven of Nine, another old friend of Picard’s who also joins the mission.
Meanwhile Soji and Narek have a small falling out when Narek presses her for information. RIzzo (Narek’s sister and handler) tells Narek that he has a week to find out (from Soji) the location of the other synthetics.
Episode 4 was especially exciting, and perhaps the best episode so far. I really enjoyed seeing the return of more characters, the development of Soji and Narek’s story-arcs, and the Klingon Bird of Prey. Elnor is also looking to be one of the coolest character on the show, and I hope that they take his character great places. 
Episode 5: Stardust City Rag
Episode 5 was the bloodiest and goriest episode yet. The rest of the season has been rather non-graphic, but this episode had murder, torture and plenty of bloody moments to make up for the rest of the episodes thus far. I actually didn’t care for the blood and gore myself. I watch the show for the story and overall scifi feels, not to mention Jean-Luc Picard himself.
This episode heavily features Seven-of-Nine, as the crew helps her track down an old nemesis. Raffi has a few scenes to herself where she tries to connect with her son, whom she has not seen or heard from in years. We get some more general character development and start to question some of the crews intentions (no spoilers here).
Episode 6: The Impossible Box
Episode 6 is packed full of action. This may have been the best episode yet, as everything we’ve been waiting for begins to unfold. Narek and Soji’s story-line takes up a good chunk of this episode, and everything changes as their true identities become apparent. It doesn’t help that Narek tries to kill Soji, but it’s safe to say that the two are no longer romantically involved.
Picard and his team arrive at the Borg cube just in time to save Soji. Picard and Soji narrowly escape, but are forced to separate from the rest of the crew. The viewers are left with a bit of a cliff hanger as we patiently await episode 7.
Episode 7: Napenthe
After a narrow escape, Picard reunites with his old friends and colleagues William Riker and Deanna Troi. With the help of his friends, Picard begins to earn the Soji’s trust. They also try to help Soji come to terms with being an android, and are able to help identify the mysterious location from her dreams.
It was cool to see the return of more original characters in this episode. The episode was a tad slower than some, which allowed for some extra character development. It was a great episode all around.
Episode 8: Broken Pieces
We learn a lot about Rios (the pilot) in this episode. We begin to piece together his back story and its involvement with androids. Picard’s team finally comes together as a string unit as they agree to help Soji find her home world. Picard’s team are not the only people on their way to Soji’s home world though, as a fleet of Romulans are also on the way to destroy it.
Episodes 9 & 10: Et in Arcadia Ego
This 2 part season finale brings the story-arc to a close. It ties up all the loose ends and sheds a lot of light on everything we have seen so far. Soji learns everything about her origins, her purpose and reunites with her fellow androids. Picard finds out that he cannot save everyone, and so he leans on his team and the relationships he’s built. The season finale of Picard has a few plot twists and surprises to it.
While the Romulans race to destroy the Androids, the Androids race to summon a super-android being from another dimension. Soji and Picard’s relationship is pushed to its limits as our heroes try to find a solution that will work for everyone.
Spoiler Alert: Do not read this next part unless you want to be spoiled. Picard sacrifices himself to persuade Soji to stop the androids. Picard is then brought back to life as an android, and blasts off into space with his new team.
