![Star Trek: Picard – 2.9 Hide & Seek [RECAP & REVIEW]](https://thathashtagshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/project_20220429_1125003-01-1200x640.png)
Episode Summary: Hide & Seek
The Variable
In Star Trek: Picard – Hide & Seek we find ourselves on La Sirena. Rios evacuates the Doctor and her son as the Borg soldiers and Juratti board the ship. They meet up with the rest of the crew who begin to plan to retake the ship but are quickly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of Borg who begin to appear. Inside Juratti, Agnes’s consciousness fights with the Borg Queen. To keep the Queen out of La Sirena, she implemented a system-lock out, entrusting it to an emergency combat hologram, programmed from Elnor. The Borg soldiers are no match for his digitally enhanced Qowat Milat training and he starts to make his way through them. Meanwhile, outside of the ship, the team fights the Borg soldiers. One of them drops a flash grenade, which knocks out Jean-Luc and sends him back into the memories of his childhood.
Rios tries to get the team access to the ship, to prevent the Borg from taking over the ship and assimilating the 21st century but he is locked out. The teams then split up in an attempt to flank the Borg. Picard and Tallinn split off and find themselves being called out by Dr. Soong. Adam tries to convince Picard to surrender and let Juratti complete her mission (and solidify his future as the “savior” of humanity). Picard declines and he and Tallinn run into the tunnels under Chateaux Picard to hide.
A Thousand Ways to Die
While in the Tunnels, Tallinn tells Picard that she saw these tunnels in his mind and asks him what happened there. Jean-Luc tells her the story of when he followed his mother into the tunnels and was trapped, nearly dying.
On the other side of the Chateaux, Raffi and Seven continue to fight their way to the ship. Raffi tells Seven that she should have joined Starfleet with her command skills. Apparently, Seven tried that route but was rejected (over the objections of Janeway) due to her Borg past.
Soong and his Borg soldiers make their way into the Chateaux to find Picard and Tallinn. They track them into the tunnels and work to surround them. They block the other exits and corner Picard and Tallinn, forcing them out of the only available exit.
Back on the ship, Holographic Elnor retrieved his sword and continues his assault on the Borg soldiers. He runs right into Raffi and Seven (who have boarded the ship). Raffi is overtaken with emotion at seeing Elnor. He tells her that he’s not truly Elnor, but has Elnor’s memories. The two of them share a moment when he absolves Raffi of her guilt at his death. Elnor gives Seven access to the ship’s systems so that she can implement her plan against the Borg Queen. Seven is able to beam the Borg soldiers off the ship and into the walls of Chateaux Picard, killing them and leaving only Borg Queen Juratti. In the ensuing fight, Borg Queen Juratti destroys hologram Elnor and fatally wounds Seven.
I Think We Are Becoming Something New
As Borg Queen Juratti tries to deal the fatal blow to Seven, Juratti stops her. She shows the Queen that in every universe, the Borg loses. That civilizations always unite to fight them. If she wants to keep her connection, longevity, and discovery she needs to change her approach. Instead of forcing conquest, the Borg can seek out life forms that are dying and offer them the choice to join the collective. The two of them partner, take La Sirena, and offer second chances to those species that are dying. She convinces the Borg Queen and, in exchange, she saves Seven’s life – but with the cost of Seven having her Borg implants yet again.
Picard and Tallin make their way out of the tunnels, only to be cornered by Soong and his soldiers in the Greenhouse. After giving his “Big Bad” speech, he orders the soldiers to kill Picard. Rios, safe with the Dr. and her son, is able to fix his transporter, says his goodbyes, and beams in to save Picard at the last minute. However, Soong is able to escape. In one last memory of Picard’s childhood, we learn why the greenhouse was so meaningful to him. When he was a boy, he let his mother out of her locked room (the one his father had locked her in for her own safety). She left that room and hung herself in the greenhouse, only to be found by a young Picard.
Borg Queen Juratti takes La Sirena to implement Juratti’s proposition. Before she leaves, she tells them that the mission must not be postponed and for success, there must be two Renees, one who lives and one who dies.
Star Trek: Picard – Hide & Seek Episode Analysis
This is the penultimate episode of the season and by far, the darkest episode of Star Trek I have ever seen. Through interwoven flashbacks, we learn far more about Jean-Luc’s backstory, especially his troubled childhood. He blocked out so many of these troubled memories, especially his mother’s suicide (for which he felt tremendous guilt). However, it was this pain and guilt that seems to have driven him to help others (and likely why he never committed to a woman).
The Juratti Borg Queen is an interesting combination. I liked how they combined the lonely figure of Agnes Juratti, a woman who can never quite fit in or connect to others, with the isolation of the Borg Queen. The idea of a more empathetic, savior-like Borg collective is an interesting one – we’ve seen other iterations of the Borg (such as when Hugh and his comrades form a new collective under Lore), but they have never worked out well. Perhaps Juratti’s plan is the right one? Of course, now the Borg have a 400-year head start on the Delta Quadrant. Also, how will the crew make it home without a ship?
Seven’s adventures as a “normal” human have ended. She was clearly distressed to have her Borg implants back. I liked that Seven got a hint of herself as “normal” but I hope she appreciates how special she is. I loved the storyline of her attempts to join Starfleet; it must have been painful for her to experience that rejection.
The one complaint I have of this season is the relationship between Rios and the Doctor. In all seriousness, what was the point of that?! He should have known not to get her involved, never bring her on the spaceship, and for god’s sake – stop making out with her!
Now we are left with the season-ending with a Dr. Soong clearly set to stop the Europa mission. With Borg Queen Juratti’s warning about one Renee who dies and one who lives, what does that mean? My guess is that we will see the return of Kore (perhaps the one who will die at the hands of her father?). Do we learn what the lifeform she finds is?
And what will happen with Q? We still don’t know what’s going on with him? Why is he dying and what is driving him mad? Why does he want Picard to see these painful memories of his childhood? And why is he trying to stop the Europa Mission?
Give me your predictions in the comments!
Stay tuned to THS for more recaps, reviews, and breaking news!
