'Star Trek: Picard' Episode 3 Review: 'The End is the Beginning' is the pilot we needed when the show began
Spoiler alert for 'The End is the Beginning' — Episode 3 of 'Star Trek: Picard'
As illustrated in the last episode, there are a lot of moving pieces involved in this first season. There's definitely a long term plan for the first season of 'Star Trek: Picard'.
It seems to be telling one very specific story over its 10 episodes, rather than the more traditional adventure-of-the-week format of more classic 'Star Trek' shows.
Despite that, however, 'Star Trek: Picard' feels lacking in efficient storytelling, as with almost a third of the season underway, we've barely begun.
The main plot of this episode sees Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) find himself a crew, a pilot and a heading. We've already met one member of the crew — Dr Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) — and we learn a little more about the other two — Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) and Rios (Santiago Cabrera) — this episode.
Add Picard to the mix, and all four of them have a personal, unique history with Starfleet, all with their own separate motivations. It's an intriguing cast and Episode 3 feels like it's far too late to have been introduced to them.
Throughout the episode, there's a feeling like certain concepts could have been introduced quicker, held off for later, or even reduced entirely to a backstory, establishing a line or two.
For example, despite all the whispery scenes with Narek (Harry Treadaway) and Narissa (Peyton List) that took a lot of screen time — their conversations are vague, their motivations cloudy and they barely drop enough clues to establish anything other than the idea that they shouldn't be trusted. Probably.
There's another action scene this episode, worth bringing up because the series has some of the best action on television. It is sudden, brutal, and efficient. It's well though of, well planned and brilliantly executed.
The impact of each hit and the stakes are felt and when the scene's over, the moments it takes to recover are completely necessary for the shock of violence in an otherwise slowly built mystery.
All the exposition and set-up is managing to do one thing rather effectively — whatever is going on, it is far, far bigger than Picard, and it's starting to make him feel like a minor character in his own show.
Now that he's finally gotten going, perhaps he's finally going to be a bigger part of the events of the show that bears his name. The next episode of 'Star Trek: Picard' airs on February 13 on CBS All-Access.