Picard (Patrick Stewart) attempts to make amends with Raffi (Michelle Hurd) as he seeks a ship to take him in search of Burce Maddox and Soji (Isa Briones). We see how their relationship fell apart when the synthetic attack on Mars disrupted and caused the cancellation of Starfleet’s aid to the Romulan Evacuation, causing Picard’s resignation and Raffi’s dismissal.

Written by Micheal Chabon and James Duff, The End is the Beginning was first broadcast on 6 February, 2020.

While Raffi, despite her best efforts, gets wrangled into helping J.L. again, she puts him in touch with a ship, La Sirena, and its captain, Rios (Santiago Carbrera) – not to mention the emergency holograms that man the ship and all look like variations of Rios (there’s a great story about that in the Picard novels), Soji continues her work on the Borg cube.

She remains under the watchful eye of Narek (Harry Treadaway) but finds herself working with a familiar face, Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco) as she interviews a Romulan Ex-Borg, Ramdha (Rebecca Wisocky) and learns a strange possibility about herself.

Jurati (Alison Pill) has an encounter with Commodore Oh (Tamlyn Tomita) and runs to Picard, just as he comes under attack by the Zhat Vash! Besting the attackers (the Picard Chateau apparently has phasers hidden everywhere) they learn the same information Soji has, and beam aboard La Sirena (Surprise! Raffi is there!) to follow their next lead … to Freecloud.

Engage!

Absolute Candor sees Jonathan Frakes settle into the director’s chair, with Chabon providing the script. This episode was broadcast on 13 February, 2020.

We get another flashback that shows where Picard was, the planet Vashti, when the synth attack happened on Mars. He had fostered a friendship with a young Romulan boy who was taken in by a sisterhood of warrior nuns, the Qowat Milat, but when the attack came, Picard had to leave the Romulan colony and the boy.

Now, aboard La Sirena, he’s asked Rios to arrange a stop at Vashti, so that he can request the help of the Qowat Milat, and he finds the boy, Elnor (Evan Evagora) has grown, trained as the only male to fight with the order.

On the Borg cube, Narek confers with his sister, Rizzo (Peyton List) about what they’ve learned about Soji, and what she means for the fallen Romulan Empire, her connection to the Borg, and the strange access she has to information she shouldn’t.

Picard attempts to patch up his relationship with Elnor, and the young warrior binds himself to Picard’s mission, just as La Sirena is attacked by a Romulan Bird of Prey. As Rios attempts to keep La Sirena out of trouble, they are aided by a Fenris Ranger, a group of ex-officers who are working to keep the law in this section of space.

When the ranger ship is almost destroyed, the pilot is beamed aboard, revealing, just in time for the closing credits, Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan)!

This is the first time I’ve watched the series since it was first aired, and I am loving it! It looks great, the production design is gorgeous, and the series incorporates some nice easter eggs while continuing not only the story of Picard but of the universe he lives in.

And you can see all of Picard’s adventures by series, or with the new Star Trek: The Picard Legacy Collection, a limited edition boxed set available from Paramount Pictures! Boldly go!