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Brian and I were able to get together tonight to watch the second episode of Star Trek Picard.
Here's a quick synopsis of episode 2 titled "Maps and Legends": Picard investigates the mystery of Dahj as well as what her very
existence means to the Federation. Without Starfleet's support, Picard
is left leaning on others for help, including Dr Agnes Jurati and an
estranged former colleague, Raffi Musiker. Meanwhile, hidden enemies are
also interested in whe
re Picard's search for the truth about Dahj will lead.
This episode opens with a flashback at Utopia Planitia shipyears on Mars 14 years ago. We meet the synthetic F-8 and see his interaction with a few engineers. During their lunch break "something or someone" triggers the synthetic (you can see some sort of programing in his eyes). He starts furiously tapping away on a computer screen when the crew realize something is wrong, Suddenly alarms go off and the engineers try and stop the synth but F-8 grabs one of them by the neck and snaps it before grabbing a phaser and killing the rest (it's quiet a brutal scene). This was an interesting scene cause you got to see various types of people interact with the synth. Some were playful while some were disrespectful.
After the opening credits we are back at Picard's vineyard with Picard, Laris and Zhaban looking over footage of Picard and Dahj's attack. Laris mentions a super secret group worse then Tal Shiar called Zhat Vash. We were told that these Zhat Vash has a deep, unassuageable loathing … of androids and any form of
synthetic life. This is interesting to have a secret group within a secret group. We had never heard of the Zhat Vash in the series.
Laris and Picard investigate Dahj's apartment and find out that her sister is off-world.
Back on the Borg Cube aka Romulan reclamation site aka The Artifact we have Narek in bed with Soji. This seemed to happen really fast since they only met what seemed a the day before but who am I to judge.
We then meet one of Picard's old crewmate from the USS Stargazer Dr. Moritz Benayoun. We find out that Picard has an abnormality in his parietal lobe. This is a call back to the TNG series finale "All Good Things" were we find out that "future" Picard suffers from Irumadic syndrome, and though it wasn't mentioned in this episode it's also an abnormality in the parietal lobe. So Picard is dying, we don't know how long he has, it can be weeks, months, years but he will die from this. I swear if they kill Picard off at the end of this series I will not be happy.
Picard meets with Fleet Admiral Clancy and requests a small ship and crew but he is turned down. This is a great scene, very powerful but you can't stand the Admiral. She has no respect for Picard and is clearly upset at what he said about Starfleet in last episodes interview.
We get introduced to Commodore Oh who is informed about Picard's request. In a later scene we see Lt. Rizzo meeting with Commodore Oh and we find out that Rizzo is in disguise and is part of the Zhat Vash and is respondible for killing Dahj on Commodore Oh's orders. We don't know if Oh is Zhat Vash aka Romulian disguised as a Vulcan or if she is a sympathizer. We also find out that Narek is Rizzo's "brother" and also part of the Zhat Vash and is playing Soji, trying to get close to her to get more information.
We also get introduced to Raffi Musiker, Picard goes to her for help but she wants nothing to do with him. I assume will get more of her in the next episode.
One big thing we learned was that LaForge is alive, it was rumored that he was on Mars when it was attacked and presumed dead, but Picard mentions LaForge, Worf and Riker in this episode.
Lot's of exposition in this episode, this episode was still setting up the series. One big thing I love about this series is they don't hold back anything, they don't play the is he or isn't he a bad guy. They clearly identify the good guys and the bad guys. Of course this can all change but I like that we are getting answer and more questions in every episode. I really enjoyed this episode and I can't wait for episode three.
