'Star Trek: Picard' Season 1 Episode 10 Review: A strong finale that more than makes up for a bumpy season
Spoilers for 'Star Trek: Picard' Season 1, Episode 10 - Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2
There have been a lot of ups and downs in the first season of 'Star Trek: Picard,' but we saw things pick up significantly last episode. This episode took things even further, with a large scale space battles, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) fighting for hope, and long-awaited reunions between much beloved characters. It was a beautiful episode that absolutely fulfills the promise of what 'Star Trek: Picard' was meant to be.
It's not a perfect episode - the limits of a device that can apparently do anything the user imagines it can do raises a lot of questions, considering it had no limits established - and in all the confusion everyone apparently completely forgot to give Narrek (Harry Treadaway) any sort of ending - but all of that palls in comparison to the strong ending that was written out for Picard, and his subsequent return.
The show's action is impressively large scale, showing a space war between the Romulan fleet, space orchids, a fleet of fake ships and finally Starfleet that a big-budget movie couldn't have done better. While it's all over relatively quick, it doesn't feel that way, and it leaves much more room for the show's softer moments, in which it excels. Picard's crew gets some beautiful mourning scenes in breathtaking scenery, and the weight of those feelings is in no way undone by Picard's quick resurrection.
The conversation between Picard and Data (Brent Spiner) was most certainly the highlight of the episode. Picard and Data have an unusual, unique rapport, a formal way of speaking despite conveying deep and overwhelming emotions. There's a clinical dissection to the events of their past, and their philisophical discussion, that is still filled with poignancy, and that has always been what sets 'Star Trek' apart from any other science fiction show out there. Data will be missed, but he is finally given the proper goodbye that he deserves.
In the meanwhile, Picard's new crew seem to be establishing themselves as wanderers of the stars, and a set cast for seasons going forward. It feels like their stories were left by the wayside for the larger plot of the series thus far, but now that that has all been neatly dealt with, there is a lot to look forward to in Season 2.
All episodes of Season 1 of 'Star Trek: Picard' are now available to stream on CBS All Access