Shame lives in the hindsight of memory with the victims who were left behind.
In 1939, more than 900 German Jews attempted to flee the Nazi government aboard a ship named the St. Louis. The ship first attempted to dock in Cuba, with only a handful of the passengers allowed to disembark. After months of protracted negotiations failed to lead to Cuba allowing entry for the passengers, the St. Louis left for Miami after being ordered to leave Cuban waters. The U.S. Coast Guard tracked the ship as it sailed in circles near Miami in the vain hope they might be let in. But the U.S. government refused, eventually forcing the ship to return with its passengers to Europe.
Of the 937 Jews aboard the St. Louis, 254 were murdered in the Holocaust.
In the decades since, there have been other peoples who have begged for help while attempting to flee from atrocities, poverty, and war. Sometimes people listen, but sometimes they don’t, and many of the victims suffer the same fate those 254 Jews did so long ago as they are abandoned.
If there is a clear moral ethos in Gene Roddenberry’s vision of Star Trek, it’s the belief that to be human is to do more than mind one’s own business. That “to boldly go where no man has gone before” can mean more than just visiting dots on a map, but also the more personal exploration in realizing further possibilities and stands of conviction based on what is right and just, even if that means bending the Prime Directive. The latest episode of Star Trek: Picard largely is a side-quest dealing with introducing characters; one new and another who is an old familiar face. But the conflict of the story comes from Picard having to revisit an old shame, and see the consequences for those whom were left behind by him and the Federation.
Picard: I allowed the perfect to become the enemy of the good.
After four episodes, here’s what we know:
- Two twin organic androids, probably based on Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) and his daughter Lal, are suspected to have been created by Dr. Bruce Maddox. One of those androids, Dahj, was killed after multiple attempts to kidnap her away from Earth by a Romulan black ops squad. The other, Soji Asha (Isa Briones), is working as a doctor at a Romulan reclamation site.
- The Romulan reclamation site is an inactive Borg cube, which may have played some part in the hows and whys of Dahj’s and Soji’s existence. Operated by the Romulan Free State (a possible successor state to the Romulan Star Empire) and the “Borg Artifiact Research Institute,” multiple species are studying Borg tech and attempting to disconnect Borg drones from stasis and rehabilitate them as individuals. Former Borg Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco) is the executive director of the research institute. Soji is one of the doctors involved in this research, and being manipulated by one of the Romulan agents, Narek (Harry Treadaway), in order to ascertain whether a “nest” of androids exists somewhere.
- Survivors of Borg assimilation are among the most despised people in the galaxy, and are either exploited or feared.
- The Romulan people have been displaced after their homeworld, as well as a portion of the surrounding space, was destroyed by their star going supernova. The resulting humanitarian crisis divided the Federation, and led to conflicting opinions as to whether resources should be used to help Romulan refugees.
- Jean-Luc Picard resigned from Starfleet in protest and disgust when the Federation decided to withdraw their help from the Romulans after the muddled opinions about giving aid were compounded by synthetic workers, based on Soong-type android designs, destroying the Utopia Planitia Shipyards and leaving Mars uninhabitable. Furthermore, the attack had the effect of causing a ban on the creation of artificial intelligence (similar to the long-standing prohibition on genetic engineering), undercutting much of what Data’s existence had done to expand the definition of personhood.
- The attack on Mars, the destruction of the Romulan rescue fleet, and the acts against on Dahj on Earth are connected to a cabal within the Romulan Tal Shiar, with the black ops teams being members of the Zhat Vash; anti-synthetic fanatics among the Romulan people. Ancient Romulan mythology, represented by triangular Pixmit cards (i.e., similar to Tarot cards), predicts “two sisters.” One of the sisters will die, and the other will live, becoming “Seb-Cheneb,” or “The Destroyer” of all things.
- Starfleet refuses to help Picard in investigating either Dahj/Soji’s creation/existence or Romulan black ops operations on Earth. If Picard’s resignation in protest didn’t burn all of his bridges, his interview on interstellar cable news condemning Starfleet and the Federation for abandoning the Romulan rescue mission took out what good will he may had left, with Starfleet’s brass believing the allegations to be “the pitiable delusions of a once great man desperate to matter.”
- The head of Starfleet Security, Commodore Oh (Tamlyn Tomita), is involved with the Romulan conspiracy and the attacks on Dahj and the manipulation of Soji. Oh’s subordinate, Lieutenant Narissa Rizzo (Peyton List), is revealed to be a surgically altered Romulan who appears as a human officer in Starfleet, with Oh aware of her situation and both working with the Romulan operation which ended in Dahj’s death and currently working Soji for information.
- After an attack on his home by the Zhat Vash, Picard hired a ship to go find Bruce Maddox on his own. Picard makes his way back into space aboard La Sirena, commanded by Cristóbal "Chris" Rios (Santiago Cabrera), with his former aide Raffi (Michelle Hurd), whose Starfleet career was destroyed after Picard’s resignation, and Dr. Agnus Jurati (Alison Pill), an expert in cybernetics and colleague of Maddox’s, coming along for the ride.
At the beginning of the episode, we see what was once the state of play 14-years-ago on the planet Vashti. In the beginning, Picard was almost giddy in beaming down to excited refugees who believed his promises of Federation support in starting over. Picard develops relationships with the Qowat Milat (“Romulan warrior nuns” who believe in total honesty, in contravention of usual the Romulan stereotype of deception) and a young boy whom the nuns took into their care. Picard brings the boy a copy of The Three Musketeers and makes promises about helping build a better life and finding Elnor a new permanent home.
But as we are told in the episode, a promise is a prison. When the Synth attack occurs on Mars, and the Federation pulls the plug on the rescue operation, Picard retreats to France and the Romulan refugees are left fending for themselves. One interesting implication by what’s revealed in this episode is the notion that the charge that Picard’s administration of the rescue, and resignation when Federation opinion turned against it, was tainted by hubris is true. Patrick Stewart’s portrayal of Picard the humanitarian during his time as the leader of the rescue effort has the feel of a used car salesman’s positive attitude in trying to make people believe everything is okay. And one way to interpret Picard’s fall from Starfleet is that it led to him going home and pouting for 14 years instead of trying to help these people in whatever way may have been possible.
When Picard returns to Vashti, the area is said to be one of lawlessness. The power vacuum by the Romulan Empire’s disarray and the Federation’s withdrawal in this part of the Beta Quadrant has allowed warlords to be threats. A group called the Fenris Rangers is attempting to maintain order, but lacks resources. The bustling city we see at the beginning of the hour is now decaying and the Romulans who happily greeted Picard, view him with suspicion at best or outright hatred at worst.
Going back to Vashti and getting Elnor on-board Team Picard is not really about bringing a Romulan samurai into the quest. That’s only a side benefit. This is about Picard trying to make amends in the only way he can at this point.
As the episode ends, and Elnor joins the crew, La Sirena comes under attack by a Romulan warlord. A small ship comes to Picard and crew’s aid. The pilot barely survives and is beamed aboard La Sirena just in time.
As the pilot materializes on the bridge, it’s … Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan).
Among the other significant tidbits from the episode:
- The name Seven of Nine: Picard recognizes Seven of Nine and addresses her by that name, implying that in the years since returning with Voyager Seven still hasn’t adopted her original given name (i.e., Annika Hansen). Might we find out what’s happened to some of the characters from Star Trek: Voyager over the years? It would be interesting to get an update on Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), and whether she’s still alive and a Starfleet admiral.
- Vashti: Press materials for Star Trek: Picard state the planet was originally a human colony near the Romulan Neutral Zone which became a relocation spot. The writer of the episode, executive producer Michael Chabon, has a history of touching on themes of Jewish identity in his works. The name “Vashti,” where the Romulan refugees settled in this episode, comes from the Book of Esther, appearing in both the Jewish Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) and in the Christian Old Testament, and was the name of the Queen who preceded Esther’s time on the throne. According to the Book of Esther, Vashti refused to obey her husband the king when he commanded her to appear at a banquet to display her beauty for guests, and is then banished making way for Esther who uses her perceived submission with cunning to save the Jewish people. Over the years, there have been attempts to find the historical basis for Vashti in the historical record, as well as differing interpretations of the character, which range from wicked and vain to the more feminist which argue Vashti’s disobedience is an act of dignity and self-respect. Arguably, the latter interpretation applies to the Romulan warrior nuns of the Qowat Milat.
- Wallenberg-class starships: The ex-Romulan senator at the “Romulans Only” restaurant mentions the refugees were transported to Vashti on Wallenberg-class ships. The class is presumably named after Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who used his connections to offer protection and save tens of thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary. Like Picard, no good deed went unpunished for Wallenberg. Near the end of World War II, Wallenberg was detained by Soviet forces and disappeared without a trace. His ultimate fate is unknown and still the subject of speculation.
Picard: My friends, I grieve.
Former Romulan Senator: No one asked for your pity, Picard, just as no one asked for your help. You and Starfleet had no understanding of Romulan ingenuity, resolve, self-sufficiency! You took advantage of us at the very moment where we doubted ourselves, enticed us with your empty promises, and did everything in your power to scatter, confuse, and divide us!
Picard: That is NOT so!
- Spot: Data’s orange cat from TNG is referenced as something Picard told Elnor about as a child, with Elnor still curious about seeing a cat for himself.
- Picard’s white suit: The wardrobe Picard wears in the flashback reminded me of what Klaus Kinski’s character wears in the Werner Herzog movie Fitzcarraldo, based on the life of real rubber baron Carlos Fitzcarrald. The film follows a character who is out of his element among a foreign people, trying to perform a Herculean task to further a goal which ultimately ends in an imperfect and bittersweet way that earns the respect of those around him. All of that could just as easily apply to Picard.
- Could Soji be working Narek?: That theory is floated by Rizzo as a way to get under Narek’s skin, after she finds him post-Borg cube floor sliding. We see Soji researching the ex-Borg woman who called her “The Destroyer” last week. An old broadcast shows the woman discussing Romulan mythology, where she mentions “Ganmadan” (or the Romulan end of days). An interesting line of dialogue which applies to the prophecy claims the end of everything will occur: “When all the shackled demons break their chains, and answer the call of The Destroyer.” If Soji is The Destroyer, then who are the “shackled demons”? Is it possibly referring to more androids and synthetics? Or the Borg?
- The Ellison: Narek confronts Soji with discrepancies in her personal history. The official record claims Soji came from Seatlle on a ship named “Ellison,” which Narek claims is total bullshit. The ship is in all-likelihood named after author Harlan Ellison, who wrote the original draft for “The City on the Edge of Forever.”
- Jolan tru: The saying, which in Romulan can either mean “hello” or “peace be with you,” which Picard uses to try to break the ice with the Romulan refugees, was first introduced in TNG’s “Unification” two-parter. The episodes featured Leonard Nimoy as Spock on Romulus attempting to foster a movement to re-unify the Vulcan and Romulan peoples.
- Romulan Bird of Prey: This is the first time a TOS-era Romulan Bird-of-Prey has been seen in Star Trek since “Balance of Terror” in the first season of The Original Series in 1966. However, it is not the only “Bird -of-Prey” in Trek. The more famous Klingon Bird-of-Prey has been part of the franchise since Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and was originally intended as a movie update of the Romulan design from TOS. The villains for Search for Spock started out as Romulans before being changed to be Klingons. In certain drafts, the ship was stated to have been stolen by Captain Kruge (Christopher Lloyd) before the decision was made for it just to be a Klingon design.