Picard must face the ghosts of his past when he and his crew are attacked by a new incarnation of an old enemy.

In my review of Episode 8 I observed that with just two left, a lot of ground would need to be covered. Here we are at the end of Episode 9 and just as much needs to be resolved but in half the time. So much so that I’m convinced we’re going to end the final episode with a cliffhanger that will take us into the third (already filmed) season.

Again, too much time is spent on scenes which just seem to happen rather than need to exist to drive the story forwards. Thankfully there’s a resolution (of sorts) to the Picard childhood trauma that has coloured his life. The missing element is revealed to be no great surprise, and as I’ve argued previously, addresses something that came out of left field and has never been a defining facet of the character.

Most of the episode is spent in a pitched CGI battle between La Sirena’s crew and Jurati/ Borg Queen’s assimilated mercenaries, the former doctor now wearing full Borg Queen regalia . Raffi and Seven have a skirmish with her (with a significant outcome), Elnor returns as an alternative version of himself, and the latest version of Soong is now the big bad villain that he quickly evolved into. And surely Rios is now just one step away from remaining in this timeline with his new family? It really isn’t the show that was set up in the first two episodes and I truly have no idea where it’s going to land.

Verdict: Another episode that kicks things around without ever taking any great strides forward with the story. Frustrating to say the least. 6/10

Nick Joy