‘Star Trek: Picard’ Recap – ‘Two of One’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 206 of ‘Star Trek: Picard’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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One thing that we can all agree upon, is that we all tend to have complicated relationships with our family members. Because regardless of how picturesque a particular family might seem, it is made up of individual people with hopes and dreams and views that differ, and they all handle their emotions differently and that leads to great conflict in family life. The kind that for some, is so difficult that they have to step away when the time is right to keep their own sanity in check and only check in when needed. While others, figure out how to weather the storm as they grow older and use their knowledge of how everyone communicates and interacts to their advantage.
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But while family life can leave us pondering upon what we might look like without hair, since pulling ours out might be preferable to dealing with that one uncle that always manages to frustrate, we stick with family when we can. Simply because they know us on a level that no one else does and that allows for us to find clarity and direction from them in a time of need, and we can of course… respond in kind. And even if we don’t know who our family is… we seek out people that can fill that role. Because family is something special when all is said and done and it really can lift us up in ways, we never thought possible and the wonder of family is top of mind today, because it just so happened to take the center stage in the next episode of Star Trek: Picard.

For when we catch up with Admiral Picard’s rag tag group of time travelers in ‘Two of One’… it is a race to keep Renée Picard safe and that led to some fascinating moments at the NASA gala ball. Wherein Picard and Tallinn had to figure out how to reach her without violating the code of the Watchers. A code that Picard realized is quite dumb in nature and he had no problem with tossing it aside when both of them came to realize that Q’s plan to plant seeds of doubt in her head, to keep her away from the Europa Mission… was working. Which is a tough choice that Picard made, in order to figure out how to reach his great ancestor and keep her on the path toward heroism and keep the future as safe as can be and that led to a beautiful moment between the present and the future.
 
Wherein Jean-Luc took a moment to dig deep into his old bag of inspirational tricks to really connect with Renée in a manner… that only family can. Which truly helped to remind us of the wonder that family provides and how moments such as these, heal us and guide us and motivate us to do wonders. Because if family, the people who know us best and know what we are capable of, believe that we can do the thing… then we can most certainly make it happen and well… that truly made it appear as though, the future was saved. For Renée decided she was indeed ready to take on a powerful mission that unbeknownst to her, would change humanity for the better and now… Picard and his motley crew could figure out a way home. 

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But alas, this is Star Trek, where challenges always follow heroism and that came forth here shortly after Picard saved the day. For Adam Soong was present at this party and in an effort to save his daughter and please Q… he tried to run Renée over and instead hit the admiral. A move that we will discuss further in a moment, simply because Soong’s sour actions here revealed that he is the darkest Soong we’ve seen in the franchise to date. Since we also came to learn that his daughter is in essence a genetic experiment, and his desire to perfect the human genome, regardless of the cost, implied heavily, that he might be more of a villain in this tale than we initially gave him credit. 
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Plus, there’s trouble brewing behind the scenes with Dr. Agnes Jurati as well. Because despite playing the hero in this tale… by getting the away team access to the party and by blasting out an operatic version of Pat Benatar’s ‘Shadows of the Night’ to help them all escape… her story ended in quite the sour manner. Because every bold act she conducted in this tale, came at the behest of the Borg Queen in an effort to gain full control and unfortunately, Jurati going along with it in the moment, led to disaster. The kind where the Borg Queen gained enough access to Agnes’ mind to take control and assimilate her, leaving the good doctor to an unknown future in a time where mankind is quite vulnerable.

To complicate matters further, now is a good time to snap back to the incident with the car. Because Adam’s desire to commit to murder, wounded the admiral badly. To the point where Rios and the crew were forced to bring him to Teresa for healing and thankfully… she was able to get his android body stable after a good… ten or twenty jolts from the defibrillator. But alas, Picard didn’t come out of his unconscious state and Tallinn was able to figure out why. For the weight of everything over the past few days, combined with having to face the dark realities regarding his family’s lineage… Picard was simply keen to dive within his own mind and lock himself within those thoughts and it would seem the only way to save the admiral, is to enter his mind and lead him out of the quagmire.

If anything, this was a supremely unique episode of this series and that’s not a bad thing by any means. Because season two of this saga, is trying new things storytelling wise that are stepping away from the norms of the franchise. For Star Trek is not known for packing in multiple storylines into a single episode. It instead prefers to lock into a particular theme to hold to it. So, to see a show in this franchise, juggle family themes alongside offering grand setups for the villains and a journey into trauma, is something new and exciting for this saga and well, it will be quite interesting to see what awaits the crew next. As they prepare to face all kinds of wild challenges from within their minds and from the nefarious forces that are now gathering on the horizon. Until next time.

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