Day: February 6, 2020

2385: In the wake of the synthetic life forms’ sneak attack on Mars, Admiral Picard and his second-in-command in the Romulan evacuation effort, Lt. Commander Rafi Musiker, push Starfleet Command hard to continue the evacuation effort. But the Federation seems to be more interested in immediately banning all synthetic life forms and leaving the Romulans to their fate. Picard offers to tender his resignation if the evacuation is halted; not only is his resignation accepted, but Rafi is discharged from Starfleet as well.

2399: In the absence of her Starfleet career, Rafi Musiker has turned to isolation, bitterness, and a variety of vices – at least until Picard shows up, hoping she knows of a ship for hire. But this is the first time in fourteen years that Picard has bothered to make contact, and her help is given only reluctantly, introducing Picard to ex-Starfleet privateer Captain Rios. On the Artifact – the Romulans’ name for the captured Borg cube – Soji Asha is granted a meeting with Ramdha, one of the very few Romulans ever to have been assimilated by the Borg. Scarred by her experiences, Ramdha is not exactly stable, and worse yet, Soji brings information to the conversation that she really shouldn’t have, without knowing why. She seeks the comfort of the Romulan named Narek, unaware that he is in league with a Romulan who has infiltrated the ranks of Starfleet, and they are trying to discover what other hidden knowledge Soji has without “activating” her as the assault on her sister activated Dahj. Romulan assassins make an attempt on Picard’s life at his chateau, only to be bested by Laris and Zhaban, with an unlikely assist from Dr. Agnes Jurati, who was coming to pay Picard a visit to ask to join him in his search for missing cyberneticist Bruce Maddox.

written by Michael Chabon & James Duff
directed by Hanelle L. Culpepper
music by Jeff Russo

Cast: Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard), Alison Pill (Dr. Agnes Jurati), Isa Briones (Dr. Soji Asha), Michelle Hurd (Rafi Musiker), Santiago Cabrera (Captain Cristobal Rios), Harry Treadaway (Narek), Jonathan Del Arco (Hugh), Peyton List (Narissa), Jamie McShane (Zhaban), Tamlyn Tomita (Commodore Oh), Rebecca Wisocky (Ramdha), Orla Brady (Laris), Sumalee Montano (Soji’s Mother), Graham Shiels (Tal Shiar Operative), Son Of Lee (Guard)

Notes: This is Hugh’s first appearance since the 1993 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Descent Part II; he first appeared – and was infected with a trojan horse designed to dissolve at least part of the Borg collective – in 1992‘s I, Borg. In his prior appearances, as well as this episode, he was played by Jonathan Del Arco. Tamlyn Tomita was part of the cast of the 1993 pilot movie that launched competing sci-fi franchise Babylon 5; neither she nor her character, the space station’s original first officer, continued past that pilot. At the time of Star Trek: Picard’s premiere, Rebecca Wisocky had also recently guest starred in several episodes of the Apple TV+ streaming series For All Mankind, co-created by former Star Trek: The Next Generation writer Ronald D. Moore. Vasquez Rocks has been a staple of previous Star Trek series, appearing as various alien worlds in such episodes as the 1967 episode Arena and 1989‘s Next Generation episode Who Watches The Watchers?, but this is its first appearance as Vasquez Rocks.(

LogBook entry by Earl Green