‘Star Trek: Picard’ Recap – ‘Surrender’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 308 of ‘Star Trek: Picard’. To revisit the previous episode, click  here.
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If there is one particular moment that fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation have been eagerly awaiting when it comes to the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard on Paramount+, it would be the long-awaited reunion of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D and NCC-1701-E. Simply because… TNG fans love that crew and love the dynamic they bring to the table and slowly but surely, we’ve inched closer to enjoying that incredible reunion. In fact, we received quite the tease a couple of weeks ago since ‘The Bounty’ featured the entire cast on screen. But sadly… still not in the same room together, but that all changed this week.
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For at long last, ‘Surrender’, was the episode that brought this crew back together… in the most epic manner of course. By having them earn that reunion and rightfully so. Because having it just magically come to fruition with Vadic sitting in the captain’s chair of the U.S.S. Titan, would have felt cheap and disgusting. So… she needed to be dealt with before the story could bring us that epic moment and that led to one intense tale. One that saw the skeleton crew aboard this ship, continue to dwindle since Vadic felt she needed everyone to understand she meant business before going after what she really wanted. Which was to have Jack Crusher come to the bridge and surrender to her and whatever fate she had planned for him, or else others would die. 

Which thankfully, Jack was unwilling to do and that forced Admiral Picard and his friends to put together a daring plan to re-take the ship and handle her and keep his son, safe. Part of which involved, trying to figure out a way to properly get Lieutenant Commander Data in control of his mental faculties and in order to do that… great risk came into play. Because it seemed the only way to give Data full control of his new Gollum body was to remove the partition between, he and Lore, and let fate handle the rest. For one of those personalities would have to emerge as the dominant one and all they could do was hope Lore would be vanquished. 

At first… it seemed that evil would win the day. For in that brain, Lore was quick to rewrite programming and seemingly delete Data’s memories, which weakened our beloved hero the point of surrender. Since he freely handed over memories and his essence. But that… as it turned out, was designed to fool Lore into a false sense of security. For Data knew how to make those memories part of Lore and that in turn, made Lore part of Data. Which allowed for a touching and bittersweet sequence to take place where Lore left this franchise once again, absorbed by a brother that finally learned how to outwit that kind of arrogance, and with Data at their side once again, the heroes of the Enterprise prepared to re-take the ship and thankfully, they had reinforcements on the way. 

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Because while Data worked to return to prominence, Worf and Raffi boarded the Shrike under cloak and cover. Wherein they pulled all the information available regarding the theft of Admiral Picard’s original body and they made sure to free Deanna and Will as well. Who, while waiting for their surprise salvation, took a few moments to finally speak honestly about the difficult nature of the past few years and their respective grief, and reconnect with one another in a healthy and playful manner. But once they were saved from their cell, they were all business once again and were quickly aboard the Titan and that allowed for the plan to re-take the ship to come into play, but not without losses sadly. 
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For Vadic did indeed begin executing the bridge crew because that’s what a monster like her, does. But eventually Jack did arrive on the bridge and quickly distracted Vadic so that the remaining bridge crew would be sent to a safe place while Data assumed control of the ship. Allowing for Jack and Seven to hide behind a personal forcefield as Data opened the evacuation hatch on the bridge, ending Vadic’s reign of terror and bringing her vessel to destruction and with that leg of the danger behind them… it happened. The crew of the Enterprise were reunited and took the time to heal and catch up and feel the connection that only lifelong friendships can produce, before getting down to business. Specifically, saving Frontier Day from whatever the real villain had planned. Which meant, Deanna had to dive into Jack’s brain and find answers since he was obviously connected to something dark and evil, something that might be connected to all this chaos.

Which of course, put forth a cliffhanger for next week, since it seems that is when the reveal will happen at last, and that makes this cliffhanger quite welcome. For revealing the truth would have greatly overshadowed what mattered most here. The chilling end to Captain Vadic, and that grand reunion of The Next Generation. And we do need to spotlight the exit of Vadic, because… let’s be honest, Amanda Plummer just slayed in this tale, offering up one of the finest villain performances in Star Trek history and she even received a powerhouse send-off, complete with a perfect quip and this writer cannot thank Amanda enough for her contributions to this season. Because she was just sublime and her creepy and nuanced performance will be missed in the final two weeks of the series, but alas… Vadic had to leave to make room for the real heavy.

But truly, it was that moment in the conference room that has all of us buzzing today. Because… that was it. We got to see this intrepid crew sit around a conference table for the first time in over two decades. In fact, the last time we saw them all together in a similar setting was before battle and mayhem and death befell them in Star Trek: Nemesis. And it was just… amazing to see old friends back where they belong and let’s be honest… it was a moment that either left us in tears or misty eyed because that was a truly perfect moment. One the audience and the characters earned, which makes it sweeter and well, it is best we enjoy it while we can. For darkness will soon come, and it will bring with it great challenges. The kind only the crew of the Enterprise can tangle with, and it will be fascinating to learn who or what is really behind this plot and how these heroes will rise to the occasion to save Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets. Until next time.

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