Picard finds himself transported to an alternate timeline in the year 2400 where he must face one last trial orchestrated by his longtime nemesis Q.

After the previous week’s opener which helped set up where everyone was at, and set in motion the anomaly created by Q, this second hour establishes the alternative future that the show’s characters find themselves in. Instead of the popular mirror universe as first established in Star Trek: The Original Series, those previously aboard the Stargazer at the time of explosion are living in a belligerent new world where the fascistic Confederation rules the galaxy.

Picard is a bloodthirsty general with a trophy room full of familiar skulls, and he’s preparing to commit a public execution on this, Eradication Day. Even his beloved Earl Grey tea has taken a hammering and is now Colombian roast, black. The other members of the cast have also woken up in this new reality and soon regroup themselves, somewhat conveniently I might add. Having realised what has happened, they hatch a plan to go back to the past and fix things at the point of divergence. I won’t say any more about the plot, but I enjoyed Jon Jon Briones (Ratched) as Seven’s husband(!) – he is in fact Isa Briones’ real life father.

It’s a fairly exciting hour, with much made of the extremities of this new reality, and one assumes that all the other crew of the Stargazer are simultaneously sorting out their own problems off-screen. Presumably the time travel will kick in next time.

Verdict: Enjoyable if not essential yet. If you can overlook the conveniences and coincidences and overbearing sense of déjà vu (as well as recognising that we’re still in the set-up phase), there’s still much to be gained from being in the company of this ensemble. 7/10

Nick Joy