Star Trek: Picard – Countdown, from writers Mike Johnson and Kirsten Beyer, with art by Angel Hernandez, successfully raised excitement for the Star Trek: Picard story — and came to a conclusion in late January after a three-issue run.
The story, since our review of the inaugural issue, barreled swiftly to its conclusion in its last two issues, giving us an origin story for two newly minted fan favorite Picard characters and filling in more of the backstory around Admiral Picard’s ultimately ill-fated attempt to lead an evacuation of large parts of the Romulan Empire.
The first chapter ended with Picard and his first officer, Raffi Musiker held in detention by the Romulan governess of Yuyat Beta, who refused to allow Picard to evacuate the native population in addition to the Romulan colonists.
Issue 2 picks up with Picard’s dilemma, still imprisoned and out of touch with his orbiting starship, the USS Verity. Picard is ultimately liberated by an attack on the Governor Shiana’s residence by a group of insurgents from the native population, who are being helped by two undercover members of the Tal Shiar: Laris and Zhaban.
Laris and Zhaban explain that they are helping Picard because during their years on the planet they have developed an affection for the native population, and also because they have fallen in love with each other — which is strictly against Tal Shiar protocol. In addition, they expose to Picard that the unfolding events at the colony are part of a Tal Shiar plot to sabotage Picard’s rescue efforts.
Meanwhile, Governor Shiana is implementing a plan of her own: to capture the USS Verity. Issue 2 ends with the Verity under Romulan control, swiftly ended by Picard’s arrival back aboard ship in the opening moments of Issue 3.
Picard confronts Shiana in the brig, where she describes her view of the Federation rescue effort; one designed to conquer the Romulan Empire through subterfuge. Before Picard’s reinforcements arrive, a Tal Shiar vessel decloaks. Zhaban, who traveled with Picard to the Verity, seems to double-cross Picard and commendeers the vessel himself.
His mission was apparently to earn Picard’s trust to ensure the destruction of the Verity as part of a coordinated Tal Shiar assault on Federation rescue efforts.
Admiral Picard gains the upper hand, however, when Romulan warbirds — who are allied with Picard’s rescue efforts — arrive on the scene, allowing Zhaban to reveal that he wasn’t double-crossing Picard… but double-crossing the Tal Shiar, revealing the full extent of their plans while returning control of the Verity to the admiral. With Governor Shiana in custody and the Tal Shiar’s plot foiled, the evacuation of the colony continues.
Now revealed as traitors to the Tal Shiar, Picard offers Laris and Zhaban sanctuary at a place that matches their skills with winemaking (as seen in the first issue): Chateau Picard. The issue ends with a final conversation with Geordi La Forge at the Utopia Planita shipyards, in which Admiral Picard signals a hopeful note for the future of the Romulan evacuation.
A hopeful future, which we now know from seeing the series’ first two episodes, does not come to pass.
Countdown is a largely satisfying, but ultimately too brief, exploration of the Romulan evacuation and Picard’s role in its early days. There’s a lot to like about the story as a whole; it provides introductions for Musiker, Laris, and Zhaban. The pair of Romulan ex-pats have already cemented themselves as popular among Picard watchers, and so it is fun to see how they first met Picard and why they ended up working at his winery.
In addition, Countdown is the first place we actually see Picard working on the Romulan evacuation, whereas the series — through “The End is the Beginning,” at least — have focused on Utopia Planitia attack, and the aftermath of the Mars disaster which ended Starfleet’s evacuation plans.
But in Countdown we see that, despite the destruction of the rescue armada around Mars, the early phases of the evacuation were a success. Picard and Musiker were evacuating outlying colonies using the resources they had. And Countdown goes to show why Laris and Zhaban have a certain reverence for Picard, that goes deeper than their own personal situation.
“Sometimes I worry you have forgotten who you are. We have not,” Laris tells Picard in the Star Trek: Picard premiere; Countdown demonstrates why Picard is held in reverence by this pair of former Romulan agents.
The story’s biggest drawback, however, its short length — and how brief everything feels as a result. While it provides a few more details about the state of the galaxy — and Picard’s early successes — I think it would have benefited from at least one more issue to allow the story more of an opportunity to breathe.
Due to the speed of the plot, there is little opportunity to explore the implications of… well, any of it. Picard retakes command of the Verity just as soon as he loses it, and the final confrontation wraps up at warp speed. The suspense worked better when there was a month’s gap between the release of each issue, but when read together many of the story’s twists are executed much too quickly.
The abbreviated story length is likely attributable to the push to make sure the comic was released in advance of the premiere of Star Trek: Picard — though a delay to Issue 3 allowed the series to premiere before the comic could wrap up its tale — and it certainly helped build the excitement and lay some of the groundwork. But for posterity’s sake, this story would have benefited from an additional issue, despite the additional time that would have taken to prepare.
There are also both high points and low points about the art of Countdown. Artist Angel Hernandez does an excellent job with Picard and Musiker; you can really see Sir Patrick Stewart and Michelle Hurd shine through the page and inhabit their characters. In addition, the settings are eye catching and well designed, easily drawing your eye across the page from panel to panel.
However, Laris and Zhaban look almost nothing like their on-screen counterparts (played by Orla Brady and Jamie McShane). Indeed, if the characters had not introduced themselves, I doubt many would have deduced their connection to the show. That’s most unfortunate because, despite much as this story being a Picard story, the characters who are served best by the narrative are Laris and Zhaban.
Overall, Countdown does exactly what it was designed to do. It hyped the premiere of Picard, provided some important background that has not yet made it onto the screen, and started to acclimatize us to the 24th century we found as Picard awoke in the opening moments of “Remembrance.”
But maybe we should rename this series, given there’s been a pair ofother Countdown tales from IDW’s creative team in years past. How about Star Trek: Laris and Zhaban?
The team building today’s Star Trek content reads the internet — a lot. Each week brings a host of episodic reviews from top industry critics and fans alike, dozens of new discussion topics on Reddit and other websites, and of course, a waterfall of feedback across social media platforms, offering praise and criticism from multiple angles.
Several elements from the first three episodes of Star Trek: Picard have spawned questions in fan communities — such as “Why does Commodore Oh, a Vulcan, need to wear sunglasses?” and “Why are there people swearing in Star Trek?” — leading to passionate (and sometimes disparaging) discussions about the show to date.
Picard showrunner Michael Chabon has seen it all, and took to Instagram today to address several of those sometimes-controversial questions head-on.
NOTE: The questions and answers below are from Chabon’s Instagram post; this is not an interview.
What’s the deal with Commodore Oh’s sunglasses? Everyone knows Vulcans have evolved an ‘inner eyelid’ to protect them from the intense glare of their homeworld’s three suns!
CHABON: Hmm. What, therefore, might we logically infer?
Is Raffi vaping? Please tell me Raffi is not vaping.
CHABON: Raffi is using a traditional Orion “flashpipe” known as a hargl, employed for centuries on that world to sublimate the fleshy tendrils of an intoxicant plant known as the horx, or “snakeleaf.”
Okay, but sunglasses and horgls, and, like, Jurati uses earbuds. Even if people still use those things in 2399, shouldn’t they all be more, well, futuristic?
CHABON: You know what? We actually thought about this a lot. When you are making a show that’s set in the future, you have to ask yourself constantly how people will be meeting daily needs and performing everyday tasks.
One guiding principle is that some fundamental objects and tools evolve an ideal form — efficient, economical, comfortable, durable, practical, effective, useful — and afterward change very little, except as subject to fashion , which itself is often retrospective.
[Ed. note: Chabon offers books, wine bottles, and knives as examples.]
Certainly any human civilization in which all the objects and appurtenances of everyday life were brand new, of recent invention, and thoroughly contemporary in design, would be fairly unprecedented.
But what about Rio’s tobacco habit? One thing we know for sure about the future of Star Trek is that humans have at least come to their senses about this particularly unhealthy and obnoxious practice.
CHABON: Yes, but here’s the thing about Rios: he studiously maintains a lot of seemingly outmoded habits, practices, and pursuits, many (but by no means all) of them connected to his ancient Latin American heritage.
…would you believe synth-igars?
Smoking. Vaping. Snakeweed. Alcohol abuse. Swear words! That Admiral lady used the F-word! Chabon, what the f–
CHABON: Listen. No human society will every be perfect, because no human will ever be perfect. The most we can do — and as Star Trek ever reminds us, must do — is aspire to perfection, and work to make it so. Norkon forden perfectunun, as a wise Yang once said.
Until that impossible day, shit is going to continue to happen, And when it does, humans are going to want to swear. The absence of swear words in Star Trek was never a matter of Federation principle, it was a matter of FCC rules.
Writers of previous eras had no choice. They were censored. Swearing is one of humanity’s most ancient, sensible, and reliable consolations. Personally, I would consider any society that discouraged, banned, or abandoned the use of curse works to be a fucking dystopia.
Data and Jarok size one another up. (“The Defector”)
Uh-huh. Well, if Romulans loathe synthetic life so much, why did that one Romulan admiral on TNG tell Data he knew of “a host of Romulan cyberneticists who would love to be this close to you”?
CHABON: Um… being a ‘Romulan cyberneticist’ is kind of like being a ‘Nazi doctor.’ “I do not find that concept particularly appealing,” Data sagely replies to his Romulan companion.
“Nor should you,” is the telling reply.
Raffi’s informal connection with Picard, illustrated in COUNTDOWN #1. (IDW Publishing)
How can Raffi get away with referring to Jean-Luc Picard as “JL”? The Picard we knew would never have allowed a subordinate to take a liberty like that!
CHABON: True. But this is not the Picard we knew.
And the hard, thankless, desperate refugee aid work that he and Raffi did together thrust them into a strange (non-sexual) intimacy, on those forsaken colony worlds were they would often be the only Starfleet officers — the only humans — around.
An intimacy that made the old ceremonies and formalities seem less relevant, for a time. The first time she called him “JL,” he probably thought about reprimanding her. But something — the welcomeness of connection, in some lonely outpost — inclined him to just let it go. (Also, because Raffi.)
That’s all for now; thanks for caring so insanely much. See you around the Alpha Quadrant!
What do you think about Chabon’s feedback? Do they satisfy your questioning minds, or do you find his explanations lacking? Sound off in the comments below!
Star Trek: Picard returns this week with “Absolute Candor,” debuting Thursday on CBS All Access in the US, CTV Sci-Fi Channel and Crave in Canada, and on Friday globally on Amazon Prime Video.
As announced late last week, publisher Lakeshore Records will release the “Season 1, Chapter 1” soundtrack for Star Trek: Picard this Friday — and today, we’ve got an exclusive track from the upcoming album for your review!
From “Maps and Legends,” the second episode of the season, “Romulan Collusion” is one of 28 total tracks from the forthcoming album, which will be available for digital download tomorrow and make its way to both CD and vinyl releases later this year.
You can also hear another track from this collection over at ScreenRant today.
The Star Trek: Picard “Season 1, Chapter 1” soundtrack will include 26 tracks from the new series, along with two entries from the “Children of Mars” Short Trek that debuted early in January.
Throughout Star Trek’s vast history there has never been a series of episodes quite like the first three episodes of Star Trek: Picard.
We’ve had continuing stories with the traditional “Part I” and “Part II” labels going back to “The Menagerie.” We’ve had episodes presented as “mini-arcs,” like in Deep Space Nine’s Dominion Takeover and in Enterprise’s set of Season 4 storylines. Of course, we have also had our fair share of season-long serialized storytelling with Enterprise’s season 3 and Discovery’s first two seasons.
But what we haven’t had – until now – are three separate episodes that really stand as one. Three episodes that are absolutely best presented as one chapter of a novel. “The End Is the Beginning” is exactly right… and this ‘beginning’ has absolutely been worth the wait.
Admiral Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Commander Musiker (Michelle Hurd) in 2385. (CBS All Access)
We open with a flashback to 2385 in this latest episode, where we see Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) defeated. He’s lost his battle with Starfleet on multiple fronts — synthetic lifeforms have been banned, and Romulan relief efforts have been canceled — and Starfleet Command called his bluff after the admiral threaten resignation.
This shocking moment, where Picard lamented that he never thought he’d see Starfleet “give in to intolerance and fear,” is the beginning of a 15-year decline for Trek’s pinnacle character into ‘the hermit of Le Barre.’ Picard’s decision to proceed with his resignation has ramifications on Commander Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd), his aide-de-camp during the Romulan relocation efforts, who gets “[her] ass fired” in the wake of his actions.
The demise of Picard and Musiker’s once-strong relationship is highlighted in the ex-officer’s anger as the conversation moves into present day. Picard has come to her home in the desert, not to check on her, but to ask her for help. He needs a ship, since his plans to be reinstated by Starfleet didn’t get very far. But Musiker is having none of it: she’s in a bad way. She’s an addict; she’s angry; she’s hurt.
Picard has never taken the time to even check to see how she was doing across the past 14 years. She told him in 2385 she couldn’t do this without him, and her current state is proof of that.
Picard and Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) discuss the situation. (CBS All Access)
This behavior is certainly out of character for the Picard we knew in The Next Generation — but he’s not that man anymore. This reveal is probably the strongest single indicator of the life he has been leading at the end of the 24th century. In “Remembrance,” he said that he hadn’t been living and had just been “waiting to die” — and now we know just how true that was.
He has withdrawn not only from Starfleet, but also his friends, and he is a stranger to himself… but now he is starting to fight again and once more be the captain we remember.
These defining moments with his former XO are once again infused with the influence of showrunner Michael Chabon, who wrote the episode with James Duff, as Musiker’s conversation with Picard helps to slowly resurrect her from the “neglect” and “disappointment” she’s felt from her friend “J.L.” for the last decade and a half.
Musiker has long suspected the Tal Shiar had something to do with the synths who took down Utopia Planitia. She said it in the days after the Mars attack and she’s saying it again now: “I have concrete evidence that a high-ranking Starfleet official conspired (with Romulans) to allow the attack to go forward to put an end to the rescue mission.”
Picard hears her, but can’t connect the dots on how the Romulans — even the Tal Shiar — could possibly be responsible, since they were all working to save Romulan lives.
Commodore Oh (Tamyln Tomita) steps out into the sun. (CBS All Access)
In the end, Musiker helps set-up Picard with a ship, but not before giving him a much-deserved scolding for telling Admiral Clancy his whole plan — and that’s good advice, as Commodore Oh (Tamlyn Tomita) is working behind the scenes to track Picard’s movements.
She surprises Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) on the scientist’s lunch break in order to grill her on exactly what Picard is up to. The meeting begins outside the Daystrom Institute in Okinawa but largely takes place off screen — later summarized by Jurati to Picard — but it feels like there’s more to this moment than the cyberneticist lets on.
The less said about Oh’s bizarrely out-of-place sunglasses, the better — along with her hair pushing the Vulcan ear prosthetics to an odd stuck-out position, this look isn’t doing the normally-lovely Tamlyn Tomita any favors — but we’re sure to see at least one cosplay recreation at this year’s Las Vegas Star Trek convention.
Despite lots of conjecture by fans, we still don’t know for sure whether Oh is a Vulcan who has aligned herself with the Zhat Vash, or if she’s an undercover Romulan posing as Vulcan… but would a Vulcan need sunglasses with their inner eyelids to protect their vision?
Next up is the long-awaited introduction of Cristóbal Rios (Santiago Cabrera) on board the starship La Sirena, and it is a highlight of the series thus far. It’s smart. It’s telling. It’s surprising. And, most of all, it’s damn fun.
La Sirena’s Emergency Medical Hologram (Santiago Cabrera) is welcomes Picard aboard. (CBS All Access)
As Picard beams into the ship — a large open space that flows directly into the command deck — he meets the strait-laced Rios with a proper English accent, not the vagabond captain we’ve been promised in the series’ promotion. But wait — it’s not the ship’s captain, but La Sirena’s Emergency Medical Hologram, modeled after Rios and summoned to treat the shirtless, vagabond captain, sitting on the bridge with a piece of tritanium shrapnel sticking out of his shoulder.
How it got there is irrelevant. You’ll never find out how – which is part of the beauty of the scene, and again, the influence of Chabon. It doesn’t matter. Just like a thousand other little small details that don’t need to be explained and do not matter.
The surprises don’t end there, though, as later we see Rios alone with his Emergency Navigational Hologram, this one with an Irish accent, playfully calling out his captain for being intimidated and even “a teensy-bit star struck” following Picard’s first visit.
And the ENH is right. Rios is not a one-note, bitter, angry, damaged malcontent with a heart of gold that you’ve seen a dozen times elsewhere – he is star-struck, and it’s through his crew of holograms, who are there to accentuate his personality and motivations beyond any standard tropes, that we can see that.
The scenes with Rios are an invigorating bolt of energy, as is the performance from Cabrera who is obviously having a blast bringing all these characters to life — and who’s taking bets that we still have more Rios-themed holograms waiting in the wings? (An engineer with a Scottish brogue, perhaps?)
As for that meeting between Picard and Rios, it is wholly unexpected. We learn that Cristobal has some baggage and history with Starfleet, having served on a vessel that for some reason Starfleet “erased from the records” after an event which ended with the gristly death of that ship’s captain. Whoever that captain was, they had Rios’ full dedication and he is clearly not over it.
Of course, the core mystery of Star Trek: Picard continues to be the situation aboard the Borg cube, as we return to Soji’s work on “the artifact” where we find that she’s earned a special privilege that could only be granted by the Executive Director of the Borg Reclamation Project — a former Borg drone named Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco).
Soji Asha (Isa Briones) and Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco) prepare to visit the Romulan ex-drones. (CBS All Access)
Last seen in 1993’s “Descent, Part II,” Director Hugh is now in charge of the Romulan’s expansive vision related to the xBs — ex-Borg — the most “despised people in the Galaxy.” The Romulans are mostly focused on exploiting the technology on the cube, but they are also profiting from the access they are granting to a myriad of species to study the Borg
It’s a treat to see Del Arco inhabiting Hugh again, now with the confidence and wisdom of a character that has seen a lot in the last 25 years. Here, Hugh has taken a liking to Soji (Isa Briones) and was very impressed by the care she took during the reclamation of a drone for speaking to one of the “nameless” in its own language.
He’s decided to allow her to meet with one of a handful of “disordered” Romulans, freed from the Collective but still a shadow of their former selves. Her primary subject is Ramdha (Rebecca Wisocky), formerly an expert on ancient Romulan mythology — but Soji’s probing sparks a moment of recognition in Ramdha, and not in a good way.
“I remember you from tomorrow,” says the increasingly agitated Ramdha, as Soji starts to grill her with classified facts that Hugh is not even aware of — and Ramdha steals a guard’s unprotected weapon, terrified at Soji and not able to tell which of the Maddox daughters she might be.
Soji interviews Ramdha (Rebecca Wisocky) about her assimilation experience. (CBS All Access)
As she screams and appears on the verge of firing, Soji rushes at Ramdha at super-speed — as only a synthetic being could — disarming the distraught woman at the last moment, while Ramdha calls her “the destroyer” in her moment of panic, a phrase simultaneously used by a Zhat Vash commando back on Earth where he and his cohorts were narrowly stopped from killing Jean-Luc Picard.
The integration of the two sequences is seamless and expertly executed, thanks to another fine outing from director Hanelle Culpepper. After the situation calms, Soji goes back to her quarters to call her mother about Dahj… and suddenly she passes out: her “mother” literally put the synth to sleep for reasons still unknown.
Elsewhere on the Artifact, Narissa (Peyton List) has arrived to meet briefly with Narek (Harry Treadaway), who is happy to see her back to her Romulan self. The energy between this apparent brother and sister in this brief scene is, uh, uncomfortable to say the least, so the less said the better, but the two gothic Romulan baddies restate their goal to find the nest of synthetic abominations.
Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) joins Picard on the La Sirena. (CBS All Access)
Meanwhile, after an impassioned speech from Jurati to join his mission to find Bruce Maddox and Soji, Picard and the doctor beam up to the starship La Sirena where Musiker has surprisingly decided to tag along. She has figured out that Maddox is apparently on a gambling world of some sort called Freecloud — and with that, we engage warp speed at Jean-Luc Picard’s command.
A few stray observations we picked up on subspace:
Hodgkin’s Law of Parallel Planetary Development finally hits home as we learn that Musiker’s home is at the base of Vasquez Rocks in California, which famously served as many alien worlds in Star Trek production — and is finally featured as its true self for the first time in franchise history.
The flashback to 2385 features not only our first good look at that era’s Starfleet uniforms, but also a bit of digital de-aging work on Patrick Stewart to bring his appearance closer to his Star Trek: Nemesis look (which was set in 2379).
The synths working on Mars — including poor F8 — were model A-500 androids.
Musiker’s habit of calling Picard by his nickname “J.L.” was first introduced in the Star Trek: Picard — Countdown comics in November.
Vasquez Rocks stands in for alien worlds in TOS and VOY; finally itself in ‘Picard.’ (CBS All Access)
Speaking of alcohol, we can see the distinctive shape of a bottle of Saurian Brandy on Musiker’s table while she’s researching Bruce Maddox’s disappearance.
Laris (Orla Brady) chides Zhaban (Jamie McShane) for being “a Northerner” like the captive Zhat Vash commando, implying that the Next Generation-era Romulans with forehead ridges are from the northern part of Romulus, and those without ridges — like herself and Romulans from the Original Series — are from another part of the planet.
Cris Rios’ former Starfleet posting was the heavy cruiser ibn Mājid — most likely named for 15th century explorer Ahmad ibn Mājid, who was nicknamed “The Shooting Star” for his fearlessness and prowess at celestial navigation.
During her lunch break, Jurati was listening to the same Kasselian Opera track that was a favorite of Hugh Culber’s, last heard in the Discovery Season 2 premiere, “Brother.”
Musiker finds a reference to a string of code labeled “Gorn Egg” as she hunts for Maddox, an obvious reference to the classic Original Series alien… which William Shatner battled at the same Vasquez Rocks filming location.
Raffi Musiker researches the missing Bruce Maddox. (CBS All Access)
With Jeff Russo’s score singing — pulling strains of the classic Next Generation theme into 2020 as La Sarina leaves Earth orbit — “The End is the Beginning” finally wraps up this opening chapter to Star Trek: Picard, launching our quintessential captain back into the final frontier.
As the series previews have hinted, the next phase of this first season will take us to meet Elnor (Evan Evagora) on his remote Romulan colony world, reunite Picard with Hugh aboard the Borg artifact, and bring the two-time Enterprise captain face to face with his former shipmates Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis)… and eventually, he’ll share the screen with that other famous ex-Borg, Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan).
But when will each of those long-awaited events take place? We’ll find out next week as Star Trek: Picard continues with “Absolute Candor.”
This week brings us to the third episode of Star Trek: Picard, and we’ve got your next round of new photos from “The End is the Beginning” today — which introduces us to the next major cast member in the series, Santiago Cabrera as Captain Cris Rios, as well as reunites us with legacy guest star Jonathan Del Arco as Hugh.
Hugh, now much more human than the last time we encountered him back in “Descent, Part II,” looks to be spending his time working with Soji Asha (Isa Briones) aboard The Artifact — that is, the Romulan-managed Borg cube.
'Star Trek: Picard' -- 'The End is the Beginning'
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Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco) on the Artifact. (CBS All Access)
Hugh on the Artifact. (CBS All Access)
Soji (Isa Briones) and Hugh on the Artifact. (CBS All Access)
Soji and Hugh on the Artifact. (CBS All Access)
Soji sits with ex-Borg Ramdha (Rebecca Wisocky) on the Artifact. (CBS All Access)
Soji sits with ex-Borg Ramdha, as Hugh watches. (CBS All Access)
Soji Asha. (CBS All Access)
Soji and Narek (Harry Treadaway) share a private moment. (CBS All Access)
Narek considers his next step. (CBS All Access)
Cris Rios (Santiago Cabrera) on the La Sirena. (CBS All Access)
Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) aboard the La Sirena. (CBS All Access)
Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) joins Picard on the La Sirena. (CBS All Access)
The La Sirena crew heads out into space. (CBS All Access)
Picard and Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) discuss the situation. (CBS All Access)
Picard and Musiker at her desert home. (CBS All Access)
Picard tries to convince Musiker. (CBS All Access)
In addition to all these photos, which shows the crew of the starship La Sirena coming together for their upcoming adventure, we also get a look into the past as a flashback scene between Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) gives us our first good look at the mid-2380’s-style Starfleet uniform worn in the early years after Star Trek: Nemesis.
Admiral Picard and Commander Musiker during their time in Starfleet. (CBS All Access)
CBS has also released a new teaser video introducing the series’ cast — including Elnor (Evan Evagora), who arrives next week — in this video which features some new footage from the next few episodes of Star Trek: Picard.(International link)
Finally, if you didn’t catch it at the end of “Maps and Legends,” here’s the preview for this coming week’s episode.
THE END IS THE BEGINNING — Completely unaware of her special nature, Soji continues her work and captures the attention of the Borg cube research project’s executive director. After rehashing past events with a reluctant Raffi, Picard seeks others willing to join his search for Bruce Maddox, including pilot and former Starfleet officer Cristóbal Rios (Santiago Cabrera).
Written by Michael Chabon & James Duff. Directed by Hanelle M. Culpepper
Star Trek: Picard returns Thursday, February 6 with “The End is the Beginning” on CBS All Access and CTV Sci-Fi Channel, following internationally on Amazon Prime Video on February 7.
NOTE: The track titles listed below contain potential spoilers!
Here’s the full listing for the 28-track release, which also includes the series’ main title theme, and a few tracks from “Children of Mars,” the January Short Trek prequel tale.
1. Star Trek Picard Main Title (1:43) 2. Star Trek Picard End Title (1:44) 3. Walking With Number One (1:16) 4. Dahj Activates (1:10) 5. Dahj And Picard Speak (3:54) 6. Dahj’s Last Fight (1:51) 7. Picard Decides (1:46) 8. The Painting (2:58) 9. Twins (4:15) 10. Picard Requests Help (2:15) 11. Romulan Collusion (2:21) 12. Trouble For Picard (1:18) 13. Rafi Decides To Join (1:51) 14. Rafi Turns Down Picard (2:06) 15. Sizing Up Rios (4:15) 16. Happier Times (3:25) 17. Leaving With Elnor (1:52) 18. Mystery Ship (3:10) 19. Picard Goes Back (2:08) 20. Picard Leaves Elnor (1:41) 21. Soji And Narek Waltz (4:42) 22. Home Movies (1:52) 23. Jurati And Maddox (1:55) 24. Leaving With Maddox (3:47) 25. Seven Needs Revenge (3:02) 26. What’s Your Emergency (1:25) 27. Page (From Short Treks “Children Of Mars”) (1:58) 28. Children Of Mars End Credits (From Short Treks “Children Of Mars”) (1:43)
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that we’ll see this collection released in compact disc format — as even Discovery’s second season hasn’t yet been put out on CD — but should we get word on that front, you can be sure we’ll let you know.
UPDATE: Jeff Russo revealed on Twitter that this set will follow on both vinyl and CD later this year.
Digital release of the #StarTrekPicard season 1 Vol. 1 soundtrack will be available on Feb 7th… CD and deluxe edition vinyl release to follow…. @LakeshoreRecs@startrekcbs
The second episode of Star Trek: Picard is “Maps and Legends,” an appropriate moniker as it serves mostly as a guide and bridge to connect the first and third episodes of the new series, thus helping to form a dynamic three-part introduction to this new era of Trek.
As a standalone episode, it is absolutely fine. As a piece of the greater whole? It is something much more.
“Maps and Legends,” as with “Remembrance” before it, expertly connects to past Trek lore with direct links and outcomes related to such standout episodes as “The Measure of a Man” and “All Good Things,” as well as a number of Borg-related episodes in both The Next Generation and Voyager.
Synthetic worker F8 (Alex Diehl) can recognize a joke — but doesn’t get it. (CBS All Access)
In opening with a flashback to First Contact Day on 2385 — the holiday also referenced in “Children of Mars” — we learn a little more about the synths who went “rogue” and destroyed the Utopia Planitia shipyards on Mars, an event which led to the Federation’s decision to withdraw from Romulan relief efforts.
This act of fate was literally an act of F8 (Alex Diehl), one of the synths who helped drop the Mars planetary defense shield, killing his co-workers (and destroying himself) in the process. (“Hell yeah.”)
The scene has an air of terrifying inevitably of what the world might become when armies of ‘plastic people’ are used as a workforce — a clear callback to Guinan’s ‘disposable people’ comment in “The Measure of a Man” — and also a nice set-up for what Jean-Luc Picard’s (Patrick Stewart) Romulan attendant Laris (Orla Brady) reveals in the next scene.
Laris (Orla Brady) and Zhaban (Jamie McShane) tell Picard (Patrick Stewart) their theory. (CBS All Access)
Apparently an extra-classified, double-secret, covert division of the Tal Shiar, called the Zhat Vash, has been operating for thousands of years in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, infiltrating governments from the Gorn Hegemony to the Klingon Empire… and even the Federation itself, all because they have an unrelenting “hate, fear and pure loathing” for synthetic life forms.
If you thought the Tal Shiar was bad, wait until you meet the Zhat Vash, a term alluding to the dead in the Romulan language — or more poetically, the only reliable keeper of secrets.
The complex scene is deftly edited as the conversation bounces back-and-forth between Chateau Picard in France and an investigation of Dahj’s apartment in Boston, where she was attacked and nearly captured in the opening moments of last week’s premiere. For anyone that has ever wanted a 24th century CSI spinoff, this scene is for you!
While it adequately introduces the idea of the Zhat Vash, it is also a bit superfluous and heavy-handed with its forensic molecular reconstruction, saturated antileptons and thick annotations.
Wonder which track from The Who’s back catalog gets to be this spin-off’s theme song? (CBS All Access)
Picard and Laris’ investigation ultimately leads to the discovery that Soji Asha (Isa Briones), the synthetic twin of the deceased Dahj, is working off world — aboard a captured Borg cube under Romulan control. She spends her time canoodling clandestinely with Narek (Harry Treadaway). smitten with the mysterious Romulan introduced at the end of “Remembrance,” before heading off to work with the derelict ship’s surviving XB’s… ex-Borgs.
At this point, exactly what is happening on the cube — er, “the artifact” — remains a massive and compelling mystery. Aboard the c, seemingly abandoned by the Collective at least 14 years prior to this episode, Narek describes the scene poetically as one you might find in a graveyard, where some residents “have come to feed on the dead; some are ghosts. And a few, like you Dr. Asha, pin their hopes on resurrection.”
Per that comment, Soji and a number of other researchers are working to “reclaim” many of the nameless drones still entombed deep in the bowels of the massive ship, but she does it with an earnest care that does not go unnoticed — and she hates the use of the “nameless” moniker some other workers give to the recovered drones.
Soji has said that that Romulans are profiting from “the exploitation of Borg technology,” and it is clear that Borg technology comes with a dangerous side, as she and all the workers are reminded as they enter the “grey zone” before each shift that “if your gradient badge starts to blink green… run.” (Note to self: can’t wait for that!)
Soji Asha (Isa Briones, right) and her new Trill colleague (Chelsea Harris) take in the rules of the cube. (CBS All Access)
Of course, Picard knows nothing about Soji’s specific location or what is happening on that cube, he only knows he needs to get back into space and locate — and protect — Data’s surviving “daughter.”
Written by the one-two literary power punch of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon and Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, the episode’s emotional gut-punch comes in back-to-back scenes in which Picard realizes he can no longer hide from the realities of the passage time.
At home, Picard is greeted by his former medical officer on the Stargazer, Maurice Benayoun (the affable David Paymer), who seems to be the good captain’s primary-care physician on Earth. Picard’s excitement in seeing his old friend quickly fades as he realizes this house call was necessary to deliver bad news: he did not pass his interstellar service certification because, as Dr. Benayoun cryptically alludes, he has an abnormality in his parietal lobe caused “by one of a number of related syndromes.”
Although kept interestingly vague in the script, it would seem that Picard’s Irumodic syndrome, which was first revealed as a potentiality in “All Good Things,” has finally started to emerge. “I was told a long time ago it might present a problem eventually.”
Dr. Maurice Benayoun (David Paymer) is concerned about Picard’s parietal lobe. (CBS All Access)
The prognosis is bad. “They all end the same way… some sooner than others,” says his friend, trying to steer the topic towards an old mission from their Stargazer days. But Picard doesn’t have time for old war stories, he’s focused on the here-and-now, imploring Benayoun to authorize him for travel regardless. The doctor relents, saying, “You really want to go back out in the cold… knowing? I don’t know what kind of trouble you are planning to get in to, but maybe if you’re lucky, it will kill you first.”
(Note to Star Trek novel readers: did this episode just erase Dr. Carter Greyhorse from the Stargazer’s crew roster? Discuss in the comments below!)
With his certification in hand, Picard heads to Starfleet Headquarters to request to be reinstated — even willing to be demoted back to the rank of captain — for one last mission to solve the mystery of Maddox’s creations. Picard states his case to Starfleet’s commander in chief Admiral Kirsten Clancy (Ann Magnuson), who quietly seethes before finally erupting into one of the most emotionally charged throw-downs between a superior and a subordinate in Trek history.
“Sheer fucking hubris!” is the admiral’s explosive response to Picard. She, of course, is angry that Jean-Luc went public in his live interview a few days prior (as seen in “Remembrance”) in which he blamed Starfleet for their decision to abandon plans to help Romulus in the face of destruction.
Admiral Clancy (Ann Magnuson) is not happy to see Jean-Luc Picard. (CBS All Access)
Clancy defends herself well initially, citing the complications of dealing with 14 Federation members threatening to pull out of the great alliance if Starfleet continued to assist the Romulans after the losses at Mars. Eventually, though, her arguments get personal as she fumes that Picard is “suffering from the pitiable delusions of a once great man, desperate to matter,” before kicking the former Enterprise captain out of her office for good.
Picard is taken aback by the entire exchange in which he tells her that being ignored is not a good choice for the admiral — “You are in peril,” he warns her. It’s an important moment of foreshadowing of what is in store for us in the coming episodes.
The powerful writing in each of those two scenes is matched only by the performance of Stewart and the direction once again of Hanelle Culpepper, who includes a beautiful reflective shot of Picard staring into a clock as time literally ticks away as he must decide his next move.
After a meeting at his home with Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill), in which she confirms that Dahj was created about three years prior — seemingly by the now-vanished Bruce Maddox — he decides that that next move is to put together his own ship and crew to find Soji.
Jurati (Alison Pill) has good taste in tea. (CBS All Access)
Laris hates the idea, protesting that only she and and Zhaban (Jamie McShane) — both former members of the Romulan Tal Shiar service — can protect him. “She’s not wrong,” Zhaban halfheartedly agrees. “You can’t go without us!” Laris is not amused and storms out, leaving Picard to explain to Zhaban that he needs the two of them to remain in Le Barre.
In a second chill-inducing homage to “All Good Things,” the amazing finale of The Next Generation, Zhaban knows he’ll need a crew, and suggest that Picard reach out to his former shipmates, like Riker, Worf, and La Forge — which should put to rest any comic-reader fan theories that Geordi was killed during the synth attacks on Mars. (Notably, there’s no mention of a certain red-head during this conversation.)
But Picard knows he can’t do it. “They will put themselves at risk out of loyalty to me. And I do not want to have to go through that again!” It’s another powerful connection to Trek’s past orchestrated by Chabon’s writing team.
Ultimately, they agree that instead Picard needs someone who both hates him, and has nothing to lose: cue the first appearance of Raffi Musiker (a compelling Michelle Hurd), who we meet as Picard arrives at her remote desert home.
Picard arrives at Raffi Musiker’s (Michelle Hurd) remote cabin. (CBS All Access)
Musiker served as Picard’s first officer during the prep phase of the Romulan evacuation plan — as revealed in the Star Trek: Picard — Countdown comics — but clearly whatever positive relationship they once had is long since over. She wants nothing to do with him, until Picard intones simply that “secret Romulan assassins are operating on Earth.”
The delivery of that line expertly shows again Stewart’s mastery in inhabiting Jean-Luc Picard — as was his earlier tongue-in-cheek line to Dr. Jurati about how he “just didn’t get” science fiction.
As for those secret Romulan assassins, it seems that they’re being led by the Chief of Starfleet Securty, Commodore Oh (frequent genre guest star Tamlyn Tomita). A Vulcan officer who keeps an IDIC and a tiny Kir’Shara on her desk, and the first ‘commodore’ seen since the days of the Original Series, has been errantly tipped off about Picard’s suspicions by Admiral Clancy, doing her due diligence to follow-up on some of the man’s claims — just in case he’s not entirely wrong.
Oh’s Zhat Vash compatriot is one Lieutenant Rizzo (the always-welcome Peyton List, affecting a British accent here), posing as a human officer in Starfleet Security’s ranks… but is really a Romulan agent, and Narek’s older sister. (Rizzo refers to Oh as her ‘ally,’ but it’s still unclear if Oh is also a secret Romulan, or just assisting in the Zhat Vash’s efforts on Earth.)
Commodore Oh (Tamlyn Tomita), head of Starfleet Security. (CBS All Access)
Rizzo has enlisted her brother as part of their plan, revealing that Narek’s true purpose on the Borg cube is to learn where “the nest” of Maddox synths can be located, by getting “the machine” — the still-oblivious Soji Asha — to reveal her true point of origin.
When all is said and done, Oh and Rizzo’s villains could potentially be labeled as mustache-twirling or over-the-top — but as far as covert Romulan anti-synth operatives on Earth go, they certainly are interesting.
A few stray observations we picked up on subspace:
Several Argo-styled shuttlecraft are seen in use at the Utopia Plantia facility on Mars, both on the surface and around the orbital stations.
Just before F8 shoots himself, he takes out two Starfleet security officers wearing gold-shouldered versions of the mid-2380s duty uniform first revealed at Destination Star Trek Birmingham last fall.
As he enters Starfleet Headquarters, Picard observes a hologram of famous starships called Enterprise in the building’s atrium: first, the (Discovery-styled) original Enterprise, followed by the Galaxy-class Enterprise-D.
Shuttles reminiscent of the Argo design (left, from ‘Nemesis’) at use on Mars. (CBS All Access)
Soji’s new Trill friend aboard the Borg cube refers to the “Romulan Free State,” which may be the name of whatever loose government formed after Romulus’ destruction. A red version of the new Romulan logo can be seen on the walls in the surgical suite.
It has been 5,843 days since an assimilation occurred on the cube — about 16 Earth years; the “nameless” drone Soji dissected had been in stasis for over 14 (Romulan) years.
Picard’s Star Trek: Nemesis-era combadge is able to reach Raffi Musiker by first name reference only. Perhaps it has the 24th century equivalent of speed dial?
Tiny Starfleet deltas cover the 2399-era uniform collars. (CBS All Access)
The taxi that drops Picard off at Musiker’s cabin is a Discovery-styled shuttlecraft, a model apparently relegated to civilian use by this time period. A similar shuttle was in use as a futuristic school bus in “Children of Mars.”
The 2399-era Starfleet uniforms have tiny embossed deltas on the colored shoulder areas, visible in close-up shots. (Because of course they do.)
One of Rizzo’s rank pips keeps moving around during her holographic chat with Narek, not quite in alignment with the magnetic backing in Peyton List’s costume.
Lieutenant Rizzo (Peyton List) has a pip problem. (CBS All Access)
It remains to be seen how the movements of the Zhat Vash will intertwine with Picard’s motives — and with what exactly is happening on that fractured Borg cube — but the foundation for those mysteries and more have been laid out in “Maps and Legends,” which serves as a bridge to the next week’s “The End is the Beginning,” a neat close to the ‘first chapter’ of the Star Trek: Picard season.
As Dr. Benayoun says to his old friend, “For a relic, you are in excellent shape.” We couldn’t agree more.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of Star Trek Online, and as part of the long-running game’s decade celebration, a few big names from the Star Trek world are coming aboard to kick off 2020.
Announced today by Perfect World Entertainment, Star Trek: Discovery lead Sonequa Martin-Green and Star Trek: Voyager’s ex-Borg Jeri Ryan join Star Trek Online for their ten-year Legacy expansion, a new addition to the game set to honor all 50-plus years of the Star Trek franchise.
Star Trek Online: Legacy pays loving tribute to all the different ‘Star Trek’ series featured in the game over the last decade. In honor of the episode “The Savage Curtain” from the third season of the Original Series, the game’s newest missions test the morality of the galaxy’s finest.
In the original episode, Captain Kirk and Spock came across the omnipotent Excalbians, who forced them into an experiment to understand the difference between good and evil by resurrecting history’s greatest heroes and villains. Legacy’s two new featured episodes bring players back to the planet of Excalbia to face a similar test.
Captains will face off against iconic enemies from some of the game’s most popular content updates, while teaming up with some of Starfleet’s finest, who represent the epitome of good. This includes former Borg drone and U.S.S. Voyager crew member, Seven of Nine (voiced by Jeri Ryan), from the brand new ‘Star Trek: Picard’ series, and players will also rely on help from Starfleet’s brilliant commander, Michael Burnham (voiced by Sonequa Martin-Green), from ‘Star Trek: Discovery.’
'Star Trek Online -- Legacy'
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The Star Trek: Online — Legacy expansion contains these new features:
Two New Featured Episodes: Captains hailing from all of the game’s factions can experience two brand new episodes, “Measure of Morality” Parts 1 and 2. A strange anomaly calls players to Excalbia where they are tasked with proving once and for all that good is better than evil. Players will team up with heroes like Seven of Nine and Michael Burnham to navigate a series of trials that pit them against some of Star Trek’s most dangerous enemies.
New Task Force Operation: “To Hell With Honor” is a brand new 5-player space TFO that takes place on the surface of the moon, where J’Ula and her Klingon forces are building a new shipyard for her fleet. Players will need to work together to destroy this base before enemy forces take them down with Mycelial weaponry.
Anniversary Celebration: Over the next month, Star Trek Online players can earn credits toward the brand new cross-faction T6 Khitomer Alliance Battlecruiser by playing new episodes, TFOs and the Omega Anniversary Event. This special event is a STO favorite, which sends players on a mission to stabilize particles that Q has scattered across the galaxy.
Mycelium Task Force Operation: The popular TFO introduced with Star Trek Online’s last update, Awakening, has been added to the game’s standard rotation of Task Force Operations. This special ground mission lets up to five players battle the Elachi, as they shut down probes that threaten to destroy the Mycelial Network.
Star Trek Online — Legacy is now live on PC and launches on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 3.
In her 25-plus-year career, actor Michelle Hurd has played dozens of memorable television roles, from early stints on New York Undercover and Law & Order: SVU to modern-day genre series like Ash vs. Evil Dead and Netflix’s Daredevil, and network procedurals like NBC’s Blindspot and CBS’s Hawaii Five-0.
Now Hurd, 53, is setting sail into outer space, where she’ll debut as former Starfleet officer Raffi Musiker in Star Trek: Picard, joining Jean-Luc Picard and crew of the La Sirena on their new mission.
We caught up with Michelle Hurd at the Star Trek: Picard press tour earlier this month to learn more about Raffi, her thoughts on joining the legendary franchise… and what it’s like to see herself in the pages of a comic book.
Michelle Hurd as Raffi Musiker, who CBS describes as “a veteran Starfleet Intelligence agent and formidable tactician [whose] experience in investigating and analyzing Romulan affairs was a vital asset to Picard on their past mission together.” (Photo: CBS All Access)
“Raffi had a prior relationship with Picard after the time of Next Generation,” Hurd told us, “but they had a falling out. She is a security analyst and a hacking genius. She’s really sarcastic…. but she also is haunted by some decisions that she made in the past, and has a really complicated and challenging relationship with the Federation.”
Readers of the Star Trek: Picard — Countdown prequel comic series will know more about Musiker’s connection to Jean-Luc Picard, as she served with him during the development of the Romulan evacuation project — before the Federation scrapped their rescue efforts after the rogue synth attack on Mars.
“That was crazy, right? I didn’t know nothin’ about it!,” she laughed, recalling the moment she learned she was part of the Picard prequel comics. “Jonathan Del Arco actually sent me a text [letting me know.] I with my nephews and I was like, ‘Oh my god, you guys, look! I’m in a comic book!’
Then, my oldest sister, who is a total Trekkie, went to four different comic book stores. They all sold out in like, hours – she told all the owners, ‘When you get another copy, call me! My sister’s Raffi!'”
Musiker in the 2380s, serving with Admiral Picard. (IDW Publishing)
While earlier times between Musiker and “J.L.” Picard — the character’s nickname for the Admiral — may have been pleasant, the former Starfleet officer’s life hasn’t exactly worked out for the best after leaving the interstellar service.
“She’s damaged, [and] she is an addict,” Hurd shared, “but there are reasons behind that – as there is always, for people who have that demon on their shoulder. I really appreciate to be able to tell that story because I think it affects a lot of us, whether you’re talking about some addiction to some substance or an addiction to other things – shopping, working out — the things that we do to avoid the issues that we should face.”
“I said to [Star Trek: Picard showrunner] Michael [Chabon] that it was imperative that she not be, you know, just ‘a drunk’ or ‘a druggie’ or whatever,” she continued. “She’s using these vices to actually get up out of bed, and to put one foot in front of the other to get through the day.”
“She’s haunted,” Hurd said. “There are a lot of people are haunted by decisions made in the past. How do you work through that? How do you deal with it? Some people don’t have to do anything to deal with their problems. Other people need to have help. And I think you see that Raffi needs help, and she’s doing the best she can.”
Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) visits Musiker at home in “Maps and Legends.” (CBS All Access)
Star Trek cast members have plenty of stories about how they landed their roles in the franchise, and Hurd’s pathway to Picard began with a last-minute remote audition that even she wasn’t sure was going to work.
“I was in New York, and I put myself on tape,” she explained. “It was one of those things where it’s like, ‘Hi honey, do you mind? Like, next day, we really need it.’ It was 11 pages, like a five minute scene – it was insane. I thought, ‘Let’s be a good actor…’ and I read a little bit more of it. The character breakdown was so complete, like a real, thought-out, fleshed-out human, something I could really sink my teeth into. Not just another cop!”
“My husband [Garrett Dillahunt] is an actor, he’s standing there filming me with an iPhone, while I had like sweatpants on and my hair up, and some makeup slapped on. I was just like, you know, this is not going to happen,” she confessed with a shake of her head.
“I sent two takes — I liked the beginning of one, I didn’t like the end of the other. I was like, ‘Fuck it, just send it. We’ll see what happens.’ Then I booked it from that!”
Hurd promoting ‘Star Trek: Picard’ at New York Comic Con in October 2019, alongside castmates Santiago Cabrera (left) and Alison Pill. (CBS All Access)
After landing the role of Raffi Musiker, she shared the news with her Trek-loving family, and explained how becoming part of a franchise so well-known for its diversity efforts — dating back to the Original Series in the 1960s — means so much to her on a personal level.
“When I told my sisters, they lost their cookies,” she shared. “It’s a show that we grew up on, you know, I back in the day. I’m biracial, and my father was a black actor, and it was one of the only shows that we were encouraged to watch together because it had us — it was representing people who were not all the same. So I’m ecstatic.”
“It’s really important,” Hurd stressed. “Incredibly important. We, as adults, can say that. We’ve got to have our kids represented; people need to see themselves on television. It seems silly to say that, or extreme, or whatever, but we need to see ourselves, you know?”
Isa Briones, Hurd, and Evan Evagora at the January 19 Berlin ‘Picard’ premiere. (Amazon Prime Germany)
“And I think we’re changing,” she continued. “I think things are happening, and that we’re seeing more diversity on television. Our show is really diverse — I mean, look at Evan [Evagora, who is of Maori descent], Isa [Briones, who is part Filipino], and Santiago [Cabrera, who is Venezuelan].”
“I was saying to my husband — who’s white — we were watching a show and a commercial came up, and there’s a mixed couple. My husband said, ‘It’s so good that we’re seeing that more,’ and I said, ‘The only thing that gets me worried is the faction of people who will see that couple and say, ‘Goddammit, another one!’”
“How do we get past that?” she asked. “How do we do that? In a weird way, the world of sci-fi is like, everybody can get on board. It’s make-believe, so you can be green and red and blue and black and purple and it’s okay. And they don’t realize that we’re telling the story. We’re telling our stories; we’re talking about immigration; we’re talking about other-ism; we’re talking about inclusion and exclusion; we’re talking about occupying and taking.”
“I think that in Picard,” Hurd said, “We tackle that, and we’re striving for solutions to that. We are holding on to hope, which I think is really important right now.”
Musiker on the bridge of the La Sarina with captain Cris Rios (Cabrera) and Jean-Luc Picard (Stewart). (Entertainment Weekly)
Hurd makes her first Star Trek: Picard in this Thursday’s “Maps and Legends,” the second episode of the season, after nearly seven months of international touring to help promote the show, starting with San Diego Comic Con in July and spending the fall jumping from one convention panel to another around the globe.
After all that, we had to ask: is Michelle Hurd ready for her first Star Trek convention?
“I’m so excited,” she said with a laugh. “I can’t wait to see a bunch of Raffis running up at me with their curls!”
Portions of this interview have been condensed or edited slightly for clarity.
After last Thursday’s debut episode, “Remembrance,” the first season of Star Trek: Picard only has nine entries left for the year — and today, we now know the titles of the next four episodes in the season and have a bunch of new photos to go with them.
While we’ve known that we’ll get to see the Picard story journey onward in “Maps and Legends” (Episode 102) this Thursday, thanks to information on CBS’s publicly-accessible photo site, we now know that the season will continue with “The End is the Beginning” (Episode 103) on February 6.
'Star Trek: Picard' -- Episodes 102 and 103
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102: Picard (Patrick Stewart) visits Starfleet Command. (CBS All Access)
102: Picard (Patrick Stewart) visits Starfleet Command. (CBS All Access)
102: Admiral Clancy (Ann Magnuson) and Picard have a conversation. (CBS All Access)
102: Picard encounters Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd). (CBS All Access)
102: Picard encounters Raffi Musiker. (CBS All Access)
102: Picard encounters Raffi Musiker. (CBS All Access)
102: Picard encounters Raffi Musiker. (CBS All Access)
102: Picard encounters Raffi Musiker. (CBS All Access)
102: Laris (Orla Brady), Zhaban (Jamie Alexander), and Picard at home. (CBS All Access)
102: Picard at home. (CBS All Access)
103: Hugh the ex-Borg (Jonathan Del Arco). (CBS All Access)
103: Cris Rios (Santiago Cabrera) of the starship La Sirena. (CBS All Access)
103: Jurati (Alison Pill) and Picard on the La Sirena. (CBS All Access)
103: The La Sirena crew go to work. (Photo via Entertainment Weekly)
103: Soji (Isa Briones) and Narek (Harry Treadaway). (CBS All Access)
103: Soji and Narek on the Borg cube. (CBS All Access)
103: Soji and workers on the Borg cube. (CBS All Access)
After that, we’ll get “Absolute Candor” (Episode 104) on February 13, and then “Stardust City Rag” (Episode 105) will cap off the first half of the season on February 20. There’s also a few additional photos that haven’t yet been labeled with specific episode titles, so we’re assuming they come from the back half of the season.
'Star Trek: Picard' -- Episodes 103, 104, and More
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104: Picard at a Romulan village. (CBS All Access)
104: Picard at a Romulan village. (CBS All Access)
104: Elnor (Evan Evagora) at the Romulan village. (CBS All Access)
104: Elnor joins Jurati and Picard on the La Sirena. (CBS All Access)
104: Elnor and Picard on the La Sirena. (CBS All Access)
105: Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) returns. (CBS All Access)
105: Seven of Nine returns. (Photo via Entertainment Weekly)
Upcoming: Picard on the La Sirena. (Photo via Entertainment Weekly)
Upcoming: The La Sirena crew go to work. (CBS All Access)
Upcoming: Picard encounters Hugh. (CBS All Access)
Upcoming: Picard visits Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes). (CBS All Access)
