'Star Trek: Picard' Season 1 Episode 6: Picard is still recovering from the horrors of being Locutus of Borg
'Star Trek: Picard' took a long time to 'engage', but when it finally did, it left us with a lot to think about. The sixth episode titled 'The Impossible Box' had several interconnecting threads. In order to meet Soji (Isa Briones), Picard has to revisit the Borg Cube and recalls terrible memories of his time spent as Locutus Of Borg from 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'.
The CBS-All Access show has painted a vulnerable and almost-broken picture of the revered captain. Behind the gentle sophistication, lies a man who is quite broken inside. For the past two decades, he has lived in guilt, because he thinks he betrayed his own ideals. Some wounds have run too deep and can never heal fully. In the beginning of the show, we saw him detached from the Starfleet--- a place he had once considered home. He was shattered that the Federation no longer stood for the ideals that he had once fought for. It had left a race to die. This burning thought is what prompted Picard to resign from Starfleet. He offered them an ultimatum: Revise the evacuation plan to save the Romulans, or he resigns. And they accepted his resignation. Picard returned to his beloved French vineyards. It wasn't an idyllic life, far from it. He was having dreams of his close friend Data (Brent Spiner), who died in 'Nemesis'. Data died after sacrificing himself. And of course, Picard runs into Data's daughter Dahj, who is promptly killed off. Picard decides to find her twin Soji, and so his friendship with Data becomes the bedrock of the series.
Yet, that's not all. Picard has become a man, full of unhealed scars, and is withering in pain. In the latest episode, the visit to the Borg Cube triggers off his time as Locutus of Borg from 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'. He remembers how they assimilated him, and accessed his knowledge of the Federation and used it as a tactical advantage when the Starfleet attacked the Borg Cune. Even in TNG, it took a long time for him to heal. After his implants had been removed, he went to visit his family in La Barre, France, where he finally got closure from the ordeal. But yet, turns out that he can never get full closure.
'Star Trek: Picard' airs on CBS-All Access, Thursdays at 12:01 am.
