“Mercy”

Star Trek: Picard continues the hunt for the Borg Queen possessed Jurati as Picard sorts out his trouble with the law.

Most of my reviews this season have commented on the pacing issues and this one will be no exception. There is the strong sense that very little actual plot is being stretched out over the available episodes. A simple plot isn’t necessarily a bad thing and taking time to tell that story can allow for focus on characterisation but some sort of momentum needs to be maintained so that it feels like the characters are going somewhere and working towards something. This season has had its share of strong character work; the previous episode being a notable example but it has failed to balance that with much in the way of momentum. The pattern is that the plot all but stops when characterisation or social commentary needs to take place rather than those things informing the plot. All of the elements that make up the season don’t come together organically so the end product is a mess.

This episode is a great example of plot being largely put on hold. As with the previous episode, Raffi and Seven shoulder the burden of focusing on actual narrative progression as they are tasked with tracking down Jurati. This involves a lot of speculation as to what her next move is and exposition about the mechanics of assimilation in order to explain why the Borg Queen Jurati hasn’t simply assimilated half of planet Earth by now. In short the explanation is that she needs a stockpile of stabilising metals in order to create new Nano Probes. When they track Jurati down she’s feasting on a car battery to secure more of them so there is mild urgency associated with Jurati growing stronger and becoming assimilation ready.

Seven’s knowledge of Borg technology and the assimilation process is instrumental in figuring this out but it’s visibly difficult for her to revisit this. Lacking Borg implants thanks to her body being native to the totalitarian future has allowed her to enjoy the freedom of being unburdened by the physical scars of her time with the collective. That comes through in how much she enjoys relating to people without them fixating on the remnants of her time with the Borg. Nothing can be done about the emotional scars so being forced to dig into that part of herself for the good of the task at hand is difficult for her. She lashes out at Raffi for being pleased that they are making headway because she sees that as her being happy that Seven is defective. It’s a harsh reading of the situation because Raffi clearly wants to find Jurati before it’s too late and knows that exploiting Seven’s knowledge is the best way to do that. Seven confronts Raffi about her propensity to manipulate others which visibly strikes a nerve with her. For Seven she’s lashing out in a moment of vulnerability but she strikes a nerve and it forces Raffi to confront something uncomfortable about herself.

The main emotional through line for Raffi this season is her intense grief over the loss of Elnor. Their relationship has been framed as a mother/daughter one with Raffi pledging to guide him through his career at Starfleet Academy. A flashback reveals that she goaded Elnor into enrolling at Starfleet Academy despite it not being his first choice. She is visibly disappointed when he declares his intention to defer it for a year which ends up informing his decision to enrol. She may not have meant to manipulate him but her reaction prompts him to change his mind because he doesn’t want to upset her. Michelle Hurd plays the admission as if it was an aspect of her personality she denies about herself because she’s ashamed to admit that she does that. Last season she actively manipulated Jurati in order to get information out of her so there are times she leans into it but the thought of it being an unconscious trait that she deploys on everyone whenever they don’t do things her way is unsettling and something she is reluctant to confront about herself. Whether it will see any resolution is anyone’s guess but the observation is interesting by itself.

Jurati/the Borg Queen takes small steps towards achieving her/their goal. She approaches Soong with a proposition because Soong is her best bet in securing the resources and help required to begin taking over Earth. Soong is found at his lowest point following Kore walking out on him and she does what she did for Jurati; preys on his ego and promises that things will go his way if he aligns with her. She teases him with the darker future where he is revered and considered the Godfather of that future with the alternative being that he is a historical footnote when Renée’s discovery renders his research obsolete. What isn’t fully elaborated on is that Soong’s success creates a darker future where the Earth suffers an irreparable environmental disaster. It also isn’t explicitly covered whether that is a price Soong is willing to pay or if there will be a redemptive moment for him once he realises the full cost of his success. Considering how rushed everything is and how little time remains in the season it’s likely this will fall by the wayside and be little more than a means to an end.

The breakdown in Soong and Kore’s relationship is performed well and creates some interesting drama. There is some coverage of Kore questioning her existence and purpose now that she knows she was created in a lab. She calls Soong out on the lies told to her specifically around the mother that never existed. Her concept of reality has been shattered and making it worse is that Soong is completely unsympathetic. He claims to love Kore and Brent Spiner’s performance suggests there’s at least an element of truth to that claim but it’s also clear that he views her as his greatest success while also still being a failure considering she is unable to go outside. There is fascinating complexity implied by this connection that is only receiving surface level treatment.

Soong’s arrogance is expected and not all that interesting as written but Brent Spiner plays it wonderfully. He sees himself as so far above everyone else and the Human race as an imperfect creation that it is his responsibility to improve. Nothing is impressive about reproduction as far as he’s concerned because he managed to create life through force of will and his intelligence. With more attention this could have been a really compelling conflict with associated exploration of the involved characters but it isn’t given the time or space to develop organically. It’s presented as the justification for Soong’s vulnerability with an associated scene where an argument with Kore sets that up and little else. It also feeds into Q’s currently undefined plan.

Q’s involvement raises yet more questions around what his endgame is. Leaving a virtual avatar to lead Kore to her freedom is so far an action that has no purpose unless he is looking to create the dark timeline he appeared to enable Picard to prevent. If that is his goal then turning her against Soong so that he would be more pliable with the Borg Queen/Jurati came looking for assistance makes sense but his actions are contradictory and the lack of explanation is beyond tiresome at this point.

His conversation with Guinan was a great scene when regarded on its own but contributes to the overall confusion surrounding Q. It establishes that he’s dying and him being fascinated by that. To him it’s perhaps the final unknowable thing after lifelong omnipotence. He talks about being “enveloped in the warm glow of meaning”; as if dying will give his life purpose of some sort and he’s excited about the prospect of exploring what is beyond that boundary. The problems come from him currently feeling nothing as his life ends. He is simply fading away and has yet to experience anything profound associated with the end of his life. It’s unknown to him why this is happening and it creates an interesting layer of desperation to the character.

The contempt he has for Guinan -who hasn’t met him yet at her point in the timeline- is brilliantly performed by John DeLancie though it isn’t made clear why he comes to her other than to drop exposition that brings the viewer up to speed on his newfound mortality. The exposition also points to this entire scenario being designed as a lesson for Picard. Literally being in the past is symbolic of trauma being the fixating on past events and having to actively work to move forward. Picard is presented with an actual problem to solve in the past while being encouraged to deal with internal issues he has failed to resolve. He mentions that the point is the escape rather than the trap; specifically in reference to the method of time travel but it also alludes to resolving the trauma he has ignored through most of his life. Why Q would do something so extreme to facilitate Picard resolving his trauma is difficult to accept but the literal problem running concurrently with the symbolic is deliberate on Q’s part whether it makes sense or not.

Q examining his own life has some weight to it because of John DeLancie’s performance. The anger, venom and impatience in his voice as he resents the notion of having to do that kind of examination is excellent. His need for purpose and meaning is evident and it’s possible he feels that he hasn’t been the best version of himself. He asks the question “Can a single act redeem a lifetime?” with Picard possibly serving as the test case for that. The connection itself is muddled as Picard and Q are very far apart in terms of the morality of their deeds so this feels like a connection between them is being forced rather than them organically working towards the resolution of their relationship. The fact that Picard and Q haven’t shared screen time since the second episode is glaring.

Picard’s contribution to the episode is being subject to an interrogation by Agent Wells (Jay Karnes); an FBI agent with a strong interest in proving that aliens exist. He operates under the assumption that Picard is an alien looking to disrupt the Europa mission and won’t let Picard leave until he confesses. Wells is an interesting character on the surface though at this late point there is arguably no place for him beyond being a temporary obstacle to add more time to an already bloated season. He is discredited by his colleagues because of what he believes and doggedly pursues finding proof. He represents a threat because he will be able to scrub the Europa launch therefore dooming the timeline. That threat looms over the entirety of their interactions though though the threat never comes across as present. It’s a detail that is brought up and lingers rather than holding significant weight. The focus is on Wells and his fixation on proving that Picard is an alien.

Their back and forth plays to Patrick Stewart’s strengths as a performer. In essence their scenes together are a play with both sides of the conversation looking to assert control. Wells is constantly tying to trip Picard up and Picard is trying to convince Wells to let him go. The tension comes from Wells being unflinching and presenting various pieces of evidence that support his conclusions. They are bereft of context of course but he has definitely gathered enough to have some grasp of the reality. Picard eventually concludes that he won’t be able to convince Wells otherwise and with Guinan’s help is able to get to the root of his obsession. It turns out that he encountered visiting Vulcans when he was a child and one of them performed a Mind Meld in an effort to remove the memory of the encounter. That Mind Meld failed so he interpreted it as an attack and spent the rest of his life looking for answers. Picard provides him with those answers before telling him the truth and asking for his help. It’s a hollow victory for Wells as it costs him his job but at least he is able to resolve a lingering question that haunted him.

As good as these scenes were and how well the actors delivered the dialogue given to them it’s difficult to justify spending so much time on this obstacle when there is no suggestion of it having significant impact on the season as a whole. It’s another example of stretching a thin plot across the available episodes and diverting focus from the aspects that may prove more meaningful with the necessary time to develop them. Picard’s conflict with Wells doesn’t deserve as much attention as Soong and Kore, Q or the Jurati/Borg Queen plot. This season is spinning its wheels in frustrating ways and the Wells obstacle is merely the latest example of that.

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Verdict

A frustrating episode that contains strong individual scenes but represents another example of a thin plot stretched across the available episodes with attention placed in entirely the wrong places. This episode is a great example of plot largely being put on hold though there is some progression shouldered by Raffi and Seven. They speculate as to what Jurati’s next move is. Seven’s knowledge of Borg technology and the assimilation process is instrumental in figuring this out but it’s difficult for her to revisit this. She lashes out at Raffi for being that they are making headway because she sees that as Raffi being happy about Seven being defective. It’s a harsh reading of the situation but speaks to Seven’s feelings about her history with the Borg. Seven confronts Raffi about her propensity to manipulate others which visibly strikes a nerve; later forcing her to admit that there is truth to it as illustrated through a flashback where she manipulates Elnor into joining Starfleet despite it not being his first choice at that time. This admission feeds into the grief she has been dealing with as she feels responsible for leading Elnor to his death. Jurati/the Borg Queen takes small steps towards achieving her goal when she approaches Soong to gain the resources necessary to take the next step. Soong is at his lowest point following Kore walking out on him and Jurati/the Borg Queen preys on this by offering him the opportunity to be historically significant. Soong’s feelings about his success playing a part in creating a dark future and the associated environmental disaster aren’t elaborated on which makes the coverage entirely surface level. Similarly the breakdown in Soong and Kore’s relationship has a lot of potential that goes unexplored. It’s enhanced because of Brent Spiner’s performance and touching on the complex ideas that could be played with but the exploration never goes beneath the surface.

Q’s involvement raises yet more questions around what his endgame is. Leaving a virtual avatar to lead Kore to her freedom is so far an action that has no purpose unless he is looking to create the dark timeline. That objective clashes with appearing to give Picard the opportunity to prevent it. If that is his goal then turning Kore against Soong to make him more pliable for Jurati/the Borg Queen makes sense but his actions are contradictory and the lack of explanation is tiresome. His conversation with Guinan was a great scene when regarded on its own but contributes to the overall confusion surrounding Q. It establishes that he’s dying and him being fascinated by that. To him it’s perhaps the final unknowable thing after lifelong omnipotence. He talks as if dying will give his life purpose of some sort and he’s excited about the prospect of exploring what is beyond that boundary. The problems come from him currently feeling nothing as his life ends. He has yet to experience anything profound associated with the end of his life. It creates an interesting layer of desperation for the character. His contempt for Guinan is brilliantly performed by John DeLancie though it isn’t made clear why he comes to her in order to drop exposition. The exposition also points to the scenario being an elaborate lesson for Picard. Literally being in the past is symbolic of trauma being the fixating on past events and having to actively work to move forward. Picard is presented with an actual problem to solve while being encouraged to deal with internal emotional issues he has failed to resolve. Q mentions that the point is the escape rather than the trap; specifically in reference to the time travel but it also alludes to the trauma he has ignored through most of his life. There is some weight to Q examining his life because of John DeLancie’s performance. The anger, venom and impatience in his voice as he resents the notion of having to do that kind of examination is excellent. His need for purpose and meaning is evident and it’s possible he feels that he hasn’t been the best version of himself. Picard and Q’s connection is muddled as they are far apart in terms of the morality of their deeds and the fact that they haven’t shared screen time since the second episode is glaring. Picard’s contribution to the episode is being subject to an interrogation by Wells. He is an interesting character but there is arguably no place for him beyond a temporary obstacle to add more time to an already bloated season. He represents a threat that looms over their interactions though the threat never comes across as present. Their back and forth plays to Patrick Stewart’s strengths as a performer. Wells’ backstory is works well because it’s a conclusion founded on a lack of context; something Picard offers before telling him the truth. It’s a hollow victory for Wells as it costs him his job but at least he is able to resolve a lingering doubt that haunted him. As good as individual scenes were the season is spinning its wheels in frustrating ways.

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