Cut to another science center and another cliff face. No storm in the sky, however. Instead, a couple of Bespin-like facilities float above. Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) gives a tour of her facility to Picard, stating, “This is everything that ever mattered to me.” Based on the design, her lab looks a lot like the same room where Data/B-4’s body parts were stored in the last trailer.
Jurati assigns herself to Picard’s squad. Whatever he’s exploring, it’s tied to the Androids and her continuing exploration of their positronic brain.
As much as Star Trek loves phaser fire, they’re just as likely to toss in a sword fight or two. Here we meet the Romulan warrior monk Elnor (Evan Evagora). The brow design has been adjusted from what it looked like in Star Trek: Nemesis and is more akin to the smoother forehead we saw in the 2009 feature. With the destruction of their homeworld, the Romulan people will most likely be revealed as a politically divided nation. Certain factions will be looking to build bridges while others are ready for further conflict. Elnor has peace on his mind, but he’s got a big stick just in case.
As Picard explains, “I need your skill and your courage.” We get a shot of his final crewmember: Chris Rio (Santiago Cabrera). He’s chomping on a stogie, and he looks pretty comfortable in the captain’s chair. Like Picard, he’s ex-Starfleet and disenchanted from the glorious dream of unification. He’s got a black-ops vibe, and I’m betting he’s willing to do what other decent citizens would balk against.
This Borg cube has seen better days. Hundreds of Romulans surround the sinking ship. The Collective is not what it used to be. Resistance is negotiable.
The next shot certainly does not appear to take place within the cube, but we do see a ghastly display of Borg body parts, and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) makes her first appearance in the background. She’s fallen atop a wounded man, possibly her one-time lover Chakotay (Robert Beltran), but more likely an acquaintance she’s made since the USS Voyager‘s return from the Delta Quadrant. I’m all for fan-service, but hopefully Star Trek: Picard will not give any credence to her out-of-nowhere romantic fling with Commander Chakotay.
Our first proper glimpse of the bridge of our new, still nameless, hero starship with Rio in command, and Picard kicking back in the science chair. Or is that communications with Dr. Jurati manning the science station and Musiker at the helm?
Whatever their assignments, the crew will have to learn each other’s roles quickly because it’s out of the frying pan and into the fire as they square off against an original series era Romulan Bird of Prey. Huh. Are we dealing with time travel again, or has a faction of the crumbling Romulan nation simply dusted off the mothballs of this classic weapon of war? As Picard says, “The past is written, but we are left to right the future.” What’s done is done. Their job is to leave the galaxy a little better off than how they entered it.
Related Topics: Patrick Stewart, Shot by Shot, Star Trek, Star Trek: Picard, Trailers
