'Star Trek: Picard' Episode 3 reveals the painful ultimatum Picard gave Starfleet before his resignation
It took three episodes in 'Star Trek: Picard', for the revered admiral to finally get back to where he belongs. When the series first began, we saw one of Starfleet's greatest captains far from the intergalactic action in his Chateau in France. The trademark Earl Grey tea is there, decaf, along with his faithful dog Number One.
But what happened to Picard whose whole life revolved around Starfleet? Why did he choose to isolate himself from the world which had formed the very core of his being?
The bits and pieces have been slowly coming together since the first episode and now we get a clearer picture of what compelled him to make such a decision.
In the first episode, we learned that while trying to relocate 900 million Romulans to worlds outside the supernova blast, rogue synthetics conducted an insurrection on Mars, destroying the rescue armada and shipyard, leaving the planet virtually inhabitable. A deep distrust of synthetics began to breed.
Synthetics were banned by the Federation and Starfleet abandoned all plans to save the Romulans. Picard, who is known for his integrity and strong moral beliefs, was shaken by this.
In the premiere, when an interviewer prods him about this, he replies sharply, "Starfleet was no longer Starfleet!" And then he storms out.
In the third episode, Picard catches up with an old friend, Raffi Musiker. She's less than pleased to see him for several reasons and that becomes clear in the episode.
Through flashbacks it is revealed that Picard tried to coax the Federation to revise their evacuation plans or threatened to resign. Much to his shock, they accepted his resignation.
"I never believed they would accept it," a visibly stunned Picard tells Raffi. The realization that Starfleet is neither the safe haven nor the symbol of values that he once believed it was, seeps in like poison and pushes him to turn away.
As he says, he never thought Starfleet would give into intolerance and fear. This creates a rift in his relationship with First Officer Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd), who loses her career due to his resignation.
'Star Trek: Picard' airs on CBS-All Access on Thursdays at 12.01 am.