Q is Dying

Story: Mercy

Written By: Cindy Appel & Kristen Beyer
Series: Star Trek: Picard
Year: 2022

Picard and Guinan are arrested by the cop, who turns out to just be some nut conspiracy theorist who met some Vulcans as a kid, and they did a failed mind meld meant to wipe his memory.  His arrest is way off the books and he just wants to prove aliens exist.  Eventually he is fired for the whole "off the book alien arrest" thing, and this whole story is rendered pointless.  Honestly this entire Picard in an interrogation thing just feels like filler.  Another way to put Picard out of the action because Stewart is too old to do any of it.  The only element we learn here could have been learned in any other way, but it is an interesting explanation of some of Q's behavior: he is dying.  We find this out while Guinan and Picard are randomly separated...and Q arrives to her summons and she learns he is dying and not handling it well.

Meanwhile, Rios is on La Sirena trying to fix what Jurati did...and the doctor romantic interest and her son are just there as well.  I don't know why he has them just hanging around, but whatever.  Seven and Raffi are hunting Jurati while having personal conflicts that come out of nowhere.  They do find Jurati, who attacks and nearly kills Raffi, but for some reason stops. They determine mercy is not a Borg quality, but a Jurati one.  That's Jurati in a nutshell...you know the drunk who murdered her boyfriend last season because a shady admiral told her he might do something bad? Totally all about mercy that one.  

The last story element here is Soong, who I find an odd character because he is both a totally disgraced mad scientist monster and also a super influential man with power in scientific circles and can get to the control room for the launch of this rocket. I am sorry...but is he utterly disgraced and ruined, or is he still influential?  Who knows. His daughter hates him and given a ill by Q is able to ditch him for good. He is drinking himself stupid til Jurati/Queen shows up to offer him to be king of the future if he just gets her a personal army and into the rocket launch. 

I like the story development about Q, but felt Picard's detainment felt like filler.  The hunting of Jurati is more of the inching forward, but at least it felt like it is a story that is going somewhere now...not anywhere totally new, but it is moving along.

NEXT TIME:  A New Borg