Monsters is probably my least favourite episode of Star Trek: Picard Season Two, and perhaps the whole series in general. It changes several things about Picard’s (Patrick Stewart) established past, though they can be argued the other way, the age of his mother, Yvette (Madeline Wise) when she died, there’s next to no mention of his brother, but we do finally meet his father, or this incarnation of him, played by James Callis.

Written by Jane Maggs the episode first aired on 14 April, 2022.

While Seven (Jeri Ryan) and Raffi (Michelle Hurd) return to La Sirena to try to track down Jurati (Alison Pill) who is in the process of becoming the new Borg Queen, Rios (Santiago Cabrera) reveals the truth of his situation to Teresa (Sol Rodriguez). So much for not messing with the timeline.

Picard remains in a coma, but his mind is incredibly active. Tallin (Orla Brady) is able to use tech to project herself into his mind and we explore the personal trauma that marked Picard for his entire life, his mother’s mental illness.

I love the fact that mental health is spoken of and dealt with in the series, but it just doesn’t work as well as one would hope.

Still, Tallin rouses Picard, and he returns to Guinan (Ito Aghayere) for help. She attempts to summon Q (John de Lancie), and instead, the government shows up to arrest the pair of them.

There are no glimpses of what Renee Picard (Penelope Mitchell) is up to, or Soong (Brent Spiner) and Kore (Isa Briones).

I like the idea of exploring more of Picard’s depths, but I don’t think this was the best way to do it.

Mercy was written by Cindy Appel and Kirsten Beyer. It debuted on 21 April, 2022.

Picard and Guinan find themselves in FBI custody, and interrogated by Agent Wells (Jay Karnes) who may be the right man in the right place at the right time, as Guinan learns something from Q, and humanity’s nature to remain stuck in the past.

Raffi and Seven continue their hunt for Jurati, and discover that there is something of the scientist left in the blossoming Borg Queen, when she spares Raffi’s life. The pursuit also gives the pair a chance to work on their frayed relationship and for Raffi to admit that yes, she does manipulate the people she loves to get what she wants.

Seven and Raffi put together Jurati’s plan, she’s headed to Soong’s to use him and his lab to continue her assimilation, and from there use La Sirena to boost her abilities and take over the Earth, and more. She appeals to Soong’s ego, and he folds, still smarting from the fact that Kore has left him, discovering her true nature, and being given her freedom by Q.

And speaking of Q, we learn that he may be dying, or at least this form of him may be coming to a close.

Picard and the team have to get back to La Sirena before Jurati, Soong and their government provided military squad show up. We’re racing to the conclusion now. This one was a step up from the previous episode, but some of it feels like they’re just trying to fill time until the final episode of the season.

Still, watching them all consecutively like this, without a week-to-week break, makes the narrative race along, and lets characters and moments shine a little brighter.

You can check out Picard in season sets, a series set, or in the limited edition boxed set, Star Trek: The Picard Legcacy Collection available now from Paramount Pictures. Boldly go!