Star Trek Picard: Two of One

The episode takes place at the top security gala given for the Europa astronauts.  Everyone is elegantly dressed, with top style honors going to Agnes Jurati, Borg Queen infused young scientist in a stunning red gown.

Luckily Picard gets a chance to talk to Renee Picard, giving her a strengthening talk about melancholy, and fear being a safety mechanism that keeps us alive.  Something like that.

I've seen a fair few write ups about this episode having plot holes. 

To me, the largest is that Agnes is left behind by everyone all the time.  Picard has Tallin, Rafi has Seven, and Agnes should have Rios, with whom she has a complex relationship.  

However they have Rios improbably falling for a 2024 doctor in a plot thread that really hasn't made much sense besides giving him screen time and isolating Jurati to be taken over unnoticed by the Borg Queen.

There are of course pros to having a Borg Queen helping you out. There's an emp burst that takes out the lights, then Agnes appears on a balcony, belting out Pat Benatar's Shadows of the Night in a strong voice.

It does give Picard the opportunity to follow and speak with Renee.  

She also, egged on by the Queen, grabs Rios for a big kiss before leaving the gala, striding down the street, dress flowing, taken over by the Borg Queen after having produced sufficient endorphins.

Soong has a few cheesy moments, somehow a jolly fellow at the gala for a large donation to the Europa program.  Wasn't he just tossed out of his job?

Failing there, he tries to run Renee down, but she's pushed to safety by Picard.

The episode goes to Agnes and her scaly girl pal!

Picard: Fly Me To The Moon (Paramount Plus)

 

Picard manages to talk at last to The Watcher.  

She's a dead ringer for his friend Laris from the future but is not Laris.  Her job has been to protect a single individual in this time period without ever being seen or detected by her in any way.

Her charge is to protect Renee Picard, an ancestor of Jean Luc's who is preparing for the historic Europa flight.

Picard urges Tallin to help him avert the upcoming time event, and tries to explain Q and his machinations to her. She's willing, but the last opportunity to protect Renee is at a gala with impossible to crack security.

Naturally Jurati, who's thrilled to try out the old code she once studied goes in first.  Captured by secuity almost immediately, as planned, she's soon in cuffs in the security center, right where she needs to be.

Unfortunately, she has the Borg queen like a devil on her shoulder tagging along. Agnes was forced to shoot the Borg Queen, but somehow the Queen at the last reached out and infected her somehow, and now the Queen is part of her.

Renee has been stressed and deeply depressed, and as part of her preparations, talks to a therapist who is revealed to be Q, encouraging her to allow her fears to take over and pull out of the mission.

Q has been very busy, as he's also got Adam Soong on a string, promising to help his genetically ailing daughter with a cure, if only Adam will help Q with an obstacle.

Rios is rescued handily by Seven and Rafi, once cool headed Seven takes over.

It's an action packed episode, and yet when it was over I was once again thinking "Wait! You're stopping there?"

The deeper we go, the more complex things get. It's another excellent season of Picard.