STAR TREK: PICARD (S1E5) “Stardust City Rag”: Moving On

If you’ve found yourself thinking in recent weeks that Picard has been all too thin on plot, then “Stardust City Rag”, a drastic overcompensation for previous weeks’ stalling, might just be for you. And to be fair, it does address many of my key complaints with the show so far — the lack of narrative momentum, little to no follow up on Bruce Maddox, and Rizzo and Narek, who are, thank God, entirely absent this week. Hell, if you squint hard enough, this almost looks like a classic episode of Next Gen. So why the apprehension?

Well, as they say, it’s all about execution, and not only was this episode overstuffed with revelations and character backstories, but it was also an exercise in dourness and misery, balanced out with some truly unbearable comic relief. Honestly, if this is what Picard is once all has been set up, then perhaps it was better off staying at the château.

Misery, Misery, Misery, That’s What You’ve Chosen

We open with the usual flashback, this time focussing on Seven of Nine’s relationship to a character named Icheb (Casey King). Having not seen all of Voyager, I was not familiar with this character (who I’m told is significant to Seven’s development in the later seasons) and the scene felt a little like jumping into a different show halfway through its own season (it is, however, hard to deny that Jeri Ryan sells the absolute hell out of this opening, and that her performance in general almost makes up for some questionable writing choices). But even if you are more familiar with him than I, it’s hard to imagine his grisly death playing as little more than a cheap and gratuitous trick – though it certainly sets up what the rest of the hour has in store.

Almost every character either has some tragic backstory or duplicitous agenda revealed, with little of it having room to breathe and much of it coming off as a complete and utter downer. Seven, whose curiosity and journey of self-discovery was a breath of fresh air on Voyager, is reduced to ‘badass warrior with a tragic past’, Dr. Jurati has a signposted villain reveal and Raffi visits her estranged son, who hates her guts for — you guessed it — not being there for him (boy, am I getting tired of seeing that exchange every damn week). Setting aside the convenience of all their storylines converging on this one planet, this material is the kind of trite pessimism you’d be forgiven for wanting to see the antithesis of in the return of Jean-Luc Picard.

Planning the Heist

But anyway, the episode is primarily about a.) the difficulty of moving on from one’s past and b.) the rescue of Maddox, who’s being detained by Bjayzl (Necar Zadegan), an arms dealer of sorts who’s also responsible for brutalizing poor Icheb (and other former Borg) in the opening. This means going undercover on Freecloud, which does give the episode an initially fun ‘away mission’ type feel, at least until Stewart reveals his nails-on-a-chalkboard goofy French accent. There’s a cross-cutting montage, in which we switch between the planning of the mission and the execution, that’s certainly more motivated than the one in episode two, but still comes off as a distracting bit of flash. This leads the crew to Maddox, awaiting transfer to the Tal Shiar, who they agree to trade with Bjayzl for Seven.

The plan, of course, goes horribly wrong and the whole thing is wrapped up in the most underwhelming way possible. A brief shootout gives our heroes the upper hand, Seven is convinced not to kill Bjayzl, and everyone just sort of agrees to part ways with Maddox in tow. Devoid of any clever sci-fi trick or diplomatic solution, this resolution is not only blunt and unsatisfying but also underlines how little of anything is really going on here. There’s the vague idea that Seven killing Bjayzl would place targets on everyone else’s heads, but then later she just beams down and kills her anyway, in a move that makes you wonder what the point in any of this was.

Wait, What?

But the episode isn’t done throwing curveballs, as Jurati — who, by the way, is romantically involved with Maddox (??) AND was involved in Dahj/Soji’s creation — kills Maddox in cold blood, allowing him to suffocate in sickbay. Questions of “what?” and “why?” will have to wait until next week, but it all adds up to a frantic, jumbled final ten minutes that seems designed to make the viewer press “next episode” above all else.

Equally random is the subplot involving Raffi’s son Gabriel (Mason Gooding) — the two reconnect briefly, but he ultimately tells her he wants nothing to do with her. Her big farewell with Picard (which, considering they’ve just reconciled, feels unearned) indicates she intended on just staying with him, an oddly naive idea for such a jaded character, but considering she’s back on the ship by the episode’s end, you again have to wonder why the show even bothered with this. Whether it’s an attempt to solidify Raffi’s place on the crew or merely an act of giving her something to do, it’s all too similar to Picard’s interactions with her and Elnor in previous episodes to strike any kind of meaningful chord.

It’s not even just that “Stardust City Rag” deals out tragic backstories and wallows in abject misery, but that the whole thing feels tired, limp, and lacking in any coherent vision. These characters should be human and have failings, yes, but if you’re not going to offer any shred of optimism along the way, then why even bring Picard back at all?

Further Thoughts

• Elnor appears to be positioned as the Data of the show here, which is all very well, but without an arc like the android’s quest to be human, the analog doesn’t quite hold up.
• Rios has apparently tangled with the Breen at some point.
• Quark has branched out to Freecloud in the years following DS9‘s end, though we don’t actually see him here.
• Picard getting confirmation of Soji’s existence would have played a lot better had we not already spent weeks with that character. Instead, our protagonist is left to play catch up with the audience.
• Seven’s interactions with Picard are effective enough on their own, if only because of how strong these actors are in their respective roles, but it still doesn’t warm me to where the former has ended up.
• I was surprised at how little Seven’s appearance had to do with the show’s other Borg storyline. Her final moments and significant presence in the marketing would suggest a return though, at least.