As Jean-Luc Picard once said, “There is a way out of every box, a solution to every puzzle. It’s just a matter of finding it,” and in “The Impossible Box”, the sixth episode of Star Trek: Picard, we have a series of puzzles being solved right before our eyes.

Like “Phantasms,” “Dark Page,” and “Lethe” before it, the dense, psychological mystery presented in “The Impossible Box” successfully hearkens back to many classic dream-monitoring episodes in franchise history. It answers questions and moves mysteries forward, eventually ending with a serious deep-cut reference from Star Trek’s distant past.

In one corner of this impossible box are Soji’s dreams, being dissected by Narek and the sleeper android via the Zhal Makh, a traditional Romulan form of meditation that he believes will reveal the location of a nest of synth’s created by Bruce Maddox.

In another corner, Jean-Luc Picard is struggling with having to return to a Borg Cube — a.k.a. “The Artifact” — for the first time since “The Best of Both Worlds,” so he is understandably apprehensive. Elsewhere, Dr. Agnes Jurati is coping with her internal tracking of her own bad decisions.

And if that wasn’t enough, throughout the episode Narek is constantly fiddling with his tan zhekran (the Romulan equivalent of a Rubik’s Cube) as his schemes reach their final stage.

Narek’s (Harry Treadaway) puzzle focuses on his need to crack the code of Soji’s programming, while also trying to deal with the feelings he has developed for the android. The first problem is easier than the second, as he realizes her recurring dreams are the key to opening the door to her subconscious… without activating her dangerous android defense mechanisms.

Soji (Isa Briones) has been dreaming about an early memory, where as a little girl she discovers her father working secretly in his lab on a stormy night — a dream which always ends abruptly. Narek prods her about the details, but she can’t remember much. As he did in “Absolute Candor,” when he planted a few seeds of discord about her past into her mind, he pushes her now on the fact that every single night she makes a call to her mother that ends after exactly 70 seconds.

Soji doesn’t believe it, but also knows something’s not right, since she consistently falls asleep while speaking with her mom… which unbeknownst to her, serves as an “embedded A.I.” designed to protect her.

On her next call home, Soji does everything she can to try and stay awake, including quickly stabbing herself in the hand. In this effectively creepy scene, director Maja Vrvilo slowly rotates the camera to keep the viewer off balance, and no matter what Soji tries, she eventually drifts off to sleep.

When she awakes, Soji accelerates her uneasiness by trashing her quarters, and finds while scanning her belongings that literally everything she owns — from her beloved stuffed animal, to the photos on her wall, to the necklace around her collar — is just 37 months old. That’s just a month longer than her entire stint aboard the Artifact, and lines up with Jurati’s analysis of when Dahj first popped up in Federation records.

After telling Narek what she has learned, the Romulan convinces her to go with him to try and solve the mystery via the Zhal Makh, which he believes will give him the answers he seeks.

Now that he knows where she is, Jean-Luc Picard’s (Patrick Stewart) quest to help Soji begins with first trying to figure out a way to access the Artifact — no small task, since La Sirena is not even allowed to be in Romulan space. Picard has already lost his cool in a conversation with Jurati, who manages to keep hers in lying to him about killing Maddox in “Stardust City Rag.”

He explodes on Dr. Jurati (Alison Pill) in a scene reminiscent of his famous breakdown in Star Trek: First Contact. Seething in anger he says, “Changed? The Borg? They coolly assimilate entire civilizations, entire systems, in a matter of hours, they don’t change, they metastasize!”

In revisiting his iconic role, Stewart has frequently said that repeating himself was not something he wanted to do, so seeing him as a Borg again was never going to be on the table. That fact — and the deep emotion that we feel building early in this episode, which is based so heavily on the lore of one of Trek’s most infamous stories — makes the next moment all the more surreal as Picard stares into the research on his virtual screen above his desk.

As the camera slowly moves around him, it eventually squares off directly in front of him as an image of his assimilated alter-ego Locutus appears on the screen and superimposes itself over his head. As Picard grabs his face, both he and the viewers are left to remember the horror and intrigue of his capture by the Borg Collective so many years ago. It’s an indelible piece of direction from Vrvilo and her crew.

Picard soon realizes that the only way to get on board the Artifact is the Qowat Milat way: they must be completely open, and somehow gain access to some Federation diplomatic credentials. To do that, they use Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) to sweet talk an old “friend” who wants nothing to do with her.

Musiker, though, has been on a bender since her disastrous family reunion last week. Her La Sirena collegues, however, prop her up and she gets the job done by basically telling her former pal they are going to show up anyway — and since the Romulans are deep into a “250-year bad mood,” it’s probably better to have Picard there as aN official Federation representative.

The ruse works, but at what cost to Raffi? She is in a bad way as Cris Rios (Santiago Cabrera) escorts her back to her quarters, trying to comfort his heartbroken friend. Later, as Raffi’s head clears, she tries to crack the team’s own puzzle box — the mystery of why the Tal Shiar would keep Soji alive at all.

Speaking of the comforting captain, the smoldering chemistry between Rios and Jurati got physical as the not-so-good doctor conveyed her feelings of being “hollow, hopeless, lonely, afraid.” Despite knowing exactly when she is making bad decisions, the pair go through with their encounter, as later highlighted by Elnor’s unknowing observation about the “obvious tension” between them.

Of course, that tension is nothing compared to Picard’s internal strife as he beams aboard the Artifact alone. Once on board the cube, Picard’s past trauma comes roaring back as he finds himself stumbling through the alcoves, experiencing jarring flashbacks to his darkest days among the Collective — with a quick cameo from the Borg Queen (Alice Krige) thanks to archival footage from Star Trek: First Contact.

With a jolt, Picard is grabbed by two xBs as he hears a voice shouting to him. It’s a friendly voice. Finally. “They don’t want you to fall,” says Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco) with a warm and welcoming smile. “I don’t know what you’re doing here,” he tells the former Enterprise captain, “But I will help you, anyway I can.”

After five weeks of Picard’s failures being thrown in his face, it’s a relief to finally see the Trek icon being embraced for who we know he really is. The two men exude joy in their hug and reunion, bringing the first truly uplifting moment we’ve seen this season.

Finally, Picard has a friend that wants to work with him and help him. The moment is perfect, and it is how it should be, as we see Hugh’s appreciation that receiving a new name — as he did, years ago, back on the Enterprise-D — can be the first step to a new identity.

With Picard still being affected by his surroundings as the pair walk through the catacombs together — allowing Patrick Stewart the opportunity to show Picard’s vulnerable side, hunched over and cowering like a scared child — Hugh emphatically reminds him that they aren’t passing through a Borg cube anymore, reminding him that it’s now just an artifact… and that he is not Locutus of Borg.

Picard suddenly understands, praising Hugh for his efforts to ‘reclaim’ former drones, allowing them to be seen as victims, and “not monsters.”

With Picard unlocking that corner of his personal impossible box, it’s now Narek and Soji’s turn as they relocate into a special room (impervious to outside scans) for the Zhal Makh, a journey into the center of the mind’s most intimate space — where dreams are hidden. To further manipulate her, Narek reveals his “true name” with her, a secret not lightly shared.

As Narissa (Peyton List) monitors from afar, Narek walks Soji through the ritual, while continuing to fiddle with his tan zhekran, twisting and turning the pieces with each question as his target paces through an elaborate pattern on the floor, meditating on the contents of her dream.

Soji eventually cracks the code, getting a glimpse behind the barrier of orchids in her mind: a harrowing sight of her father’s blurry face, herself as a wooden doll, and a viewport containing “two red moons, dark as blood, and lightning” — giving Narissa more than enough information to start searching for the advanced synthetics’ point of origin.

It’s also more than enough for Narek, who tells Soji that she isn’t real — and never was —  as he ducks out of the room, locking her inside with his tan zhekran, now modified to release a deadly radioactive gas to kill her.

The anguish and tears on Narek’s face would seem to indicate that he has some regret with his decision, and not just because Soji has her own answer to the impossible box. Her synth self-defense program has been activated, allowing Soji to save herself as she punches her way through the floor and escapes.

After finding her quarters in disarray, Picard and Hugh are on the hunt for Soji now, too — and when they finally catch up to her, Picard quickly earns her trust by showing her Dahj’s necklace, convincing Soji that he’s there to help.

To hide from the Romulans trying to stop Soji, Hugh leads their group to a secret compartment deep inside the Artifact which Picard instantly recognizes as the Queen’s cell… home to one of the deepest of deep-cut Trek canon references, as episode writer Nick Zayas reaches all the way back to 1995.

Hugh explains that the Borg assimilated the Sikarians — one of the earliest Delta Quadrant races we met in the first season of Star Trek: Voyager — and their incredible “spatial trajector” transportation technology, which gives Picard and Soji an escape from the Artifact through instantaneous transportation across space.

The reference is fun and pulpy, and the pair jump through the portal to planet Nepenthe, where they will await a rendezvous with La Sirena… and, we suspect, with a married pair of former Enterprise colleagues you may have heard about.

Before they can leap, though, there is one final moment of excitement as Elnor (Evan Evagora) appears out of nowhere to dispatch three Romulans hot on Soji’s tail, disobeying Picard’s orders to remain aboard ship. Though he appreciates Picard’s efforts to take Elnor through the portal — avoiding another moment of abandonment — the young warrior stays behind to help protect Hugh while the ex-Borg gets Picard and Soji off the cube.

The trajector sends Soji and Picard to safety in the final moments of the episode, and as the screen fades to black, Elnor once more offers his Qowat Milat warning to the oncoming hoard: “Please, my friends, choose to live.”

Here are a few more observations we assimilated while accessing the Artifact’s interlink frequency:

• You’re likely to see many people mention Rios’ solo soccer practice, but in fact he was playing Futsal, a sport obviously derivative of soccer/football, played on an indoor hardwood surface, with a slightly weighted ball.
   
• Elnor’s odd comments about “in-butting” and “out-butting” during Jurati and Picard’s conversation regarding the Borg seem to be referencing some unseen conversation where he was told to stop “butting in,” a phrase which likely is new to the young Romulan.
   
• Romulans, we learn, have three names: their name for outsiders, their name for their family, and their “true name,” reserved only for those they love; Narek reveals his true name to be Hrai Yan.
   
• Soji’s box of art supplies calls back to a familiar childrens’ program of the 24th century, The Adventures of Flotter, a favorite holoprogram of young Naomi Wildman (and many of the Voyager crew).

• “The Impossible Box” follows the trend of the season, opening with a flashback scene; with a running time of over 54 minutes, this episode is the longest of the season to date.
   
• Strips of latinum, the 24th century currency introduced in Deep Space Nine, get a mention this week as Rios and Musiker discuss their surprise over Soji’s survival.
   
• Narissa wears the same type of black earpiece in her left ear as Narek, perhaps some kind of Romulan communications device.
   
• The hand scanner Soji uses to determine the age of her belongings may be a tool for quantum dating, an age-analysis technique first introduced in Star Trek: Enterprise.
   
• Soji’s stuffed animal is named Squoodgy.
   
• The spatial trajector hidden aboard the Borg cube has a theoretical range of 40,000 light years, just as when we first heard about the technology in Voyager’s “Prime Factors.”

• When researching the Artifact in his study, Picard’s database search includes images from several past Trek tales, including:
   
  • The Enterprise-E arriving at the Borg battle during Star Trek: First Contact
     
  • A shot of the Romulan Continuing Committee from “Inter Arma, Enim Silent Leges”
     
  • Hugh in his original Borg drone costume and makeup from “I, Borg”
     
  • A view of the Palais de la Concorde, the Federation capital complex in Paris, from “Paradise Lost”

• Picard’s database image of Locutus of Borg provides a dramatic moment when overlaid against Patrick Stewart’s face… but from Picard’s point of view, the image is flipped backwards on his holo-screen display.
   
• Rios has a notable round scar on his abdomen, implying he was impaled by some sort of object long ago; this may be connected to his tale about seeing his old captain’s gristly death during his time in Starfleet.

• The ‘mess hall’ area where Jurati, Picard, and Elnor sit while discussing the Borg is the lower level below La Sirena’s command deck; Picard drinks from a mug bearing the ship’s logo which, of course, can be yours if you shop through the StarTrek.com store.
   
• Sometime after the events of “Descent, Part II,” Hugh gained full Federation citizenship status.
   
• During his time aboard the Borg cube, Picard’s PTSD flashbacks include snippets from his assimilation during “The Best of Both Worlds, Part II,” his time as Locutus in that same two-part episode, and encounters with Borg drones during Star Trek: First Contact.
   
• CBS released a photo of Raffi conversing with yet another variant Rios-styled hologram, a hat-and-sweater wearing gent, who doesn’t actually make an appearance in the final cut of this episode. (A similar image from a Discovery deleted scene was released in 2018.)

“The Impossible Box” brings together Star Trek: Picard’s two main stories after weeks of build up, giving us a satisfying merger of mysteries that all seem connected. It’s a strong entry in the series, with interesting reveals and advancements, while also building on the central mysteries of the last six weeks.

With only four weeks left this season, time is running out to see if the truth behind Soji’s creation, the truth behind the synth attack on Mars, and the truth behind Jurati’s motives for killing Bruce Maddox will be revealed.

Star Trek: Picard returns next week with “Nepenthe,” debuting March 5 on CBS All Access in the US and CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada, and following globally on Amazon Prime Video on March 6.

Jim Moorhouse is the creator of TrekRanks.com and the TrekRanks Podcast. He can be found living and breathing Trek every day on Twitter at @EnterpriseExtra.