By Okay, here we go! This week’s episode of Star Trek: Picard, after an intriguing pilot and two episodes which did get a bit too bogged down in plot and setup, starts to really find its feet in this fourth episode, very much proving to be the first episode that has found that more natural balance between being something new as well as reminiscent of classic Trek.
The episode sees Picard’s newly assembled crew of ex-Starfleet first officer Raffi (Michelle Hurd), cigar chomping pilot Chris (Santiago Cabrera) and scientist Dr. Jurati (Alison Pill), head out on their first stop on their journey to Freeworld to seek out Bruce Maddox, the man responsible for creating Data’s android offspring. That first stop is to make a detour to the planet Vashti, one of the sites that Picard and Raffi established as a Romulan refugee camp, before the synthetic attack on Mars led to the Federation deciding to abandon the Romulan relocation program. There, Picard is seeking the assistance of the Quwat Milat, an order of warrior Romulan nuns, in his quest. But he’s not in for as warm a welcome as he had hoped.
‘Absolute Candor’ brings together some of the key threads that have been driving the revolving around what has happened in the world following the destruction of Romulus by a supernova and the synthetic attack of Mars over 10 years ago. The mission to Vashti allows us to see just how Romulan culture has been left to stagnate, justifying the anger and frustration felt by the alien race in the face of their abandonment by the Federation. It means that Picard cannot simply rely on the level of respect and admiration that his name and appearance may usually inspire, something which is becoming an increasing reality to the once great hero of the Federation.
Read the full review over at THN, originally published February 17th 2020.
Andrew Gaudion 