Tallinn helps Picard infiltrate a gala on the eve of a joint space mission, to protect an astronaut they believe is integral in restoring the timeline.

After last week’s exciting episode which put the season back on track, things feel a little off again, with very little achieved in what is essentially a single location episode. As before, Agnes is the strongest element of the show, now boosted with added Borg Queen assimilation.

The whole plot device about hacking into the computer system so that the crew can join the party is laboured and hokey at best, with their successful entry a foregone conclusion. Rios is still mooning over Dr Marinez, Raffi thinks she can see Elnor (he’s dead) and Picard is trying to track down his ancestor to make sure she doesn’t drop out of the space mission. But Brent Spiner’s Dr Soong is on the opposite course, driven by Q’s coercion, proving he will stop at nothing to protect his daughter.

Jonathan Frakes directs again, but this feels more workmanlike than his previous episode, and was I the only one cringing when Agnes (a vision in red) created an unlikely diversion so that her crew mates could escape?

Verdict: The Agnes/Borg Queen tag team aside, the show coasts again when it should be blazing. 6/10

Nick Joy