There’s sure guidelines about time journey that Star Trek’s heroes attempt to observe, both to keep away from utterly imploding the timeline or as a result of, effectively, somebody above them within the Federation will get very huffy about it. This week, Picard’s heroes understand that with a purpose to save the day, they’re going to must do what they do finest: be extremely unhealthy at following orders.

If final week’s messy sojourn into Jean-Luc’s thoughts was Picard’s second season doing the unhealthy form of chaos, then “Mercy” is fortunately extra akin to the enjoyable form of chaos the season already explored with Team La Sirena being actually horrible at infiltrating fancy events. Now that point is really working out for the season to resolve one among a gabillion completely different disasters—guaranteeing Renee Picard goes on the Europa mission and the longer term is saved, stopping the Borg Queen from beginning a twenty first century collective, stopping Q’s nonsense, and now additionally including Dr. Adam Soong to the entire “stopping nonsense” record—the episode sees our heroes truly do one thing actually fairly humorous: merely say “screw the rules of time travel, we’ve got a mess to un-mess.”

Star Trek’s relationship with time journey, particularly with regards to the angle of Starfleet officers, has all the time been outlined not simply by temporal guidelines, however by the requirements these officers maintain themselves to. From the tragedy of Edith Keeler in “City on the Edge of Forever” to DS9‘s “Past Tense” (surprisingly fairly related to this season of Picard, that one), at any time when Star Trek performs with time it’s not simply concerning the logical mechanics of the concept, however how excessive a normal our heroes maintain themselves to with a purpose to keep these mechanics. Kirk has to let go of his love of Edith to make sure the sanctity of the longer term, Sisko and his colleagues caught in a dystopian 2024 must discover a manner to make sure their messy affect on the timeline doesn’t alter the course of historical past, regardless of how badly issues go improper. But they all the time do it the proper manner, as a result of regardless of the chances, they’re Starfleet heroes and there are guidelines.

Picard has determined that frankly, issues can get unhealthy sufficient that typically it’s price chucking these guidelines out of the window, particularly when your antagonists are equally indisposed to following them. The Borg queen is working round 2024 LA in one among your folks’ our bodies, killing of us and munching lithium out of cellphone and automobile batteries so she will begin making nanoprobes (don’t ask how, please, simply settle for it, Picard begs of us)? Q’s going full screw-it mode and simply enjoying about 70 completely different thoughts video games without delay? Jean-Luc and his mates may as effectively be simply as messy about the entire thing, as a result of at the least if it will get them the outcomes, they’ve a future to return to.

That appreciable want to be in screw-it mode 24/7 lends “Mercy” a substantial amount of momentum in its myriad plots that was sorely missing in “Monsters” final week. It signifies that even when Picard and Guinan spend the episode within the custody of FBI agent Wallis—who it seems is obsessive about an alien encounter in his childhood he perceived as sinister, however was something however, as we’ll study—there’s at the least a bunch of ahead planning happening. Mostly as a result of, after realizing how interminable issues are going making an attempt to cover their true motives from Wallis, they simply each determine to disclose that Guinan’s an alien and Picard’s from the longer term. With that information, Picard can simply brazenly inform Wallis that his previous alien encounter was actually with a Vulcan making an attempt to thoughts meld with him and erase his worry of seeing an alien being, not a monster making an attempt to assault him. Now Wallis is much less of an irritating roadblock to them guaranteeing the Europa Mission’s security, and extra of a prepared ally. Guinan, in the meantime, separated from Picard, will get to study from a late-arriving Q that the entire motive for this complete timey-wimey mess within the first place is as a result of it seems that Q’s not so immortal as he thinks he’s, and is totally petrified on the prospect of dying, therefore all his making an attempt to show one thing with Picard. Look in any respect this progress! And it’s solely as a result of everybody simply determined to cease caring about being so stuffy on a regular basis. Wonderful.

Meanwhile, after Borg-Jurati goes on her battery brunch and leaves Raffi and Seven wounded—and stuffed with regrets, between Raffi harboring guilt over Elnor’s dying and Seven grappling together with her personal difficult emotions concerning the Borg— the duo’s personal resolution to go on the offensive lets them ultimately work out a approach to study simply what the Queen is on the lookout for in her plans to restart the collective. And that brings them again into Rios’ orbit simply in time for him to… effectively, hang around on La Sirena on his extraordinarily ill-advised impromptu date evening with Teresa and her son, determining the injury the Queen did to the ship whereas additionally letting his shock company gorge themselves on replicated cake (what’s it with folks on this ship and replicated cake?). At least he will get a kiss out of it? But he’s there to assist Seven and Raffi, and whereas his thread within the myriad “everyone’s saying screw it to the rules” theme of this episode is the slightest, he’ll in all probability stand to pay the very best value, contemplating Seven and Raffi work out that what the Queen desires is La Sirena itself, superior tech to kickstart her collective creation. Shouldn’t have introduced your love curiosity to the spaceship, my man!

Borg-Jurati has at the least one cease earlier than assaulting La Sirena nevertheless, as a result of like I mentioned, it’s not simply our heroes happening an offensive in opposition to the requirements of time journey this episode. Tired of consuming batteries, the Queen makes her manner on over to Dr. Adam Soong’s place, utilizing her information of not simply the longer term however the darkish alt-timeline she got here from within the first place to tempt the ethically unsound geneticist to her aspect. Given the mission of stopping Picard and the Europa flight to make sure his legacy is secured—simply as he’s seemingly misplaced it, with Q’s personal, still-mysterious recreation plan evolving by giving Korre the prospect to flee her father—Soong pulls a ridiculous quantity of strings to get his personal black-ops strike workforce, good for Borg-Jurati to begin assimilating into her first new warriors.

The battle for La Sirena is about to be upon us, and… to be completely trustworthy, when this complete journey again to 2024 began this season, I didn’t anticipate it to culminate in a battle between the Borg Queen within the physique of Jurati, a Soong, some drone-ified henchgoons, and Team Picard aboard a spaceship that’s crash-landed outdoors of a future French winery. But it’s definitely going to, and that’s fairly an thrilling set-up for Picard’s closing two episodes to take care of. It took a multitude to get there, however at the least the present embraced that mess and had some enjoyable alongside the best way. No doubt we’ll discover out if it was price all that subsequent week!

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