Star Trek: Picard season 1, episode 6 recap: The Impossible Box

After retrieving Bruce Maddox, the La Sirena crew now have the location of Soji on Star Trek: Picard! Now it’s a battle against time to save her.

In a shocking turn of events on the previous episode of Star Trek: Picard, Dr. Agnes Jurati killed Bruce Maddox, even though the two of them were once lovers. The La Sirena crew is unaware of her actions. Why did she kill Maddox? What did the Zhat Vash show her that has Jurati so frightened? We do not find out in episode six because Jurati is too busy romancing Captain Rios. That pairing was broadcast from the moment the La Sirena crew came together. Aside from that heteronormative subplot, episode six is quite intense.

Soji’s Dream

This episode of Star Trek: Picard begins with a dream – Soji is a young child frightened by thunder and lightning. She enters her father’s lab, but we are unable to see him since her father is hidden behind orchids. As Soji inches further into her lab, we hear her father bark her name.

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Soji wakes up and Narek immediately attempts to probe her for more information about her dream. Soji doesn’t relent, though it’s still surprising that she went back to him considering his accusation about Soji being an imposter. Narek and the viewers know that Soji’s life is a lie, but we probably would have eased her into that knowledge in a better fashion than Narek has. Soji decides to ask her mother about her dreams.

Narek reports to Narissa that Soji has a recurring nightmare and this detail is of significance. There’s a chance that the dream is the collision of Soji’s fake memories and her reality. In other words, if Soji reveals the details of her dream, it could lead the Zhat Vash to the location of the other synths. Narissa is skeptical, but Narek demonstrates the importance of patience by unlocking a Romulan Rubik’s cube, aka the impossible box of the episode title. Narissa always took a hammer to the boxes to open them. If she’d hammered Narek’s box, Narissa would have destroyed the delicate figurine inside.

Fun fact: Romulans keep their true names secret from outsiders. They use fake names to remain anonymous, only disclosing the name to their one true love. Because Romulans are ridiculously devious and paranoid. Narek’s name isn’t real but he refuses to reveal it to Soji when she asks him.

Picard and the Borg

The Borg Reclamation Project is in Romulan space, which means La Sirena entering it is breaking Federation law. The only way for Picard to land is by forging a diplomatic license. Time for Raffi to crawl out of her drunken stupor and call in a favor from an old friend. Picard gets his diplomatic ticket, but Raffi’s friend never wants to speak to her again.

With yet another relationship down the drain, Raffi heads back into her quarters. As Rios tucks her in (they’re obviously extremely close and Cabrera and Hurd have far more chemistry than him and Pill), Raffi reveals that she has a son who now wants nothing to do with her. Instead of judging her, Rios quietly admits that she’s not alone in making some mistakes in her life. I wonder if Rios is dwelling on his escapade with Jurati or there’s something else on his mind.

The prospect of stepping foot on a Borg ship has shaken Picard to the core. Director Maja Vrvilo includes a juxtaposition of Picard looking at an image of himself as Locutus and we watch as Picard desperately claws at his phantom Borg implants. Seems like Picard never got help for his PTSD, which is a surprise, considering Counsellor Deanna Troi was literally sitting next to him on the Enterprise. What’s also strange is how extreme Picard’s reaction is to being in proximity to the Borg cube. He was very calm in Star Trek: First Contact, but perhaps time on his hands has added to his trauma.

Picard is allowed to board the cube alone, much to Elnor’s consternation. Being on his own is a bad idea. Picard has a virtual breakdown and is rescued by a couple of X-B’s preventing his fall. To get him out of his funk, Hugh appears.

The Executive Director

We learned earlier this season that Hugh is the Executive Director of the Borg Reclamation Project. Though it is peopled by Romulans, Hugh’s work is for the betterment of the liberated Borg. He’s also fighting another corner – to redeem the name of the most hated species in the universe.

Hugh shows Picard around the project and so deftly handles the former captain’s unease. The way Del Arco holds Sir Patrick Stewart, calming him down without belittling him, is some of the most touching moments in all of Star Trek. Be it because of Del Arco’s performance or Maja Vrvilo’s direction, the interaction between Hugh and Picard is memorable.

As Picard walks around watching so many Borg being liberated from their implants, he acknowledges that the Borg are nothing more than victims. They’re not the ‘monsters’ of his mind. That’s all well and good when they’re X-Bs, it’s a different story when there’s a giant cube coming at you and threatening to assimilate your ship.

One curious aspect of these X-Bs is that the removal of their implants leaves them disfigured. Hugh himself has facial scarring and mismatched eyes. Over the course of the Star Trek shows, we’ve seen that Borg implants can be removed completely from the new Borg. For long-term Borg, like Seven of Nine, Hugh and Icheb, some implants remain. Voyager’s Doctor chose to give Seven and Icheb complete cosmetic makeovers, but Hugh’s team has not. Maybe they don’t want to or need to. Will the X-Bs’ look be addressed on the show?

Hugh hopes that Picard can bat for the X-Bs and in return attempts to locate Soji. Easier said than done.

Soji Remembers

When Soji and Narek meet again, she tells him that she fell asleep while talking to her mother. Narek informs her that he checked the communication logs and discovered that Soji’s calls to her mother last 70 seconds every day.

Soji puts this to the test and finds herself falling asleep again. She tries hard to stay awake but it doesn’t work. When Soji wakes up again, she scans her personal belongings – looks like she brought tons of printed photographs, a picture frame, her childhood stuffed toy which we saw her holding in her dream, as well as her necklace. When Soji scans all these elements, each one appears to be 37 months old. Nothing is older.

Shocked by this knowledge, Soji runs to Narek. How can none of her possessions be older than three years when she’s well into her twenties? Narek offers to take her through a Romulan meditation that will allow Soji to unlock her memories. In fact, Narek is using the opportunity to get Soji to spill details about her dream and the location of the synths.

This is the first episode where Narek’s actions have made some sense. It actually confirms the idea that Narek’s role needn’t have been stretched out for so long. He should have been part of a one-episode arc, but it’s been dragged out for no reason. Narek reinforces Soji’s faith in him by giving her his real name, it’s Hrai Yan.

In Soji’s dream, she sees a binary system and her ‘home’ was on a planet with electric storms. Narissa – listening from afar – has the information she needs. But Soji is disturbed to see herself on the worktable as a disassembled doll. This imagery harks back to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode ‘Phantasms’, where Data had dreams that needed to be interpreted.

Once Soji has divulged the location, Narek kisses her goodbye, locks her in the meditation room and sets off a poison gas from a different ‘impossible box’. The threat of death activates Soji and she punches her way out of the ground.

To the Rescue

As soon as Soji is out of the meditation room, Hugh finds her. He and Picard run to Soji and they escape into what was once the Borg Queen’s chamber. Hugh remembers every detail about using the cube from his time in the hive mind, including activating a teleportation device called a spatial trajectory that the Queen had installed for emergencies.

Narek has ordered Tal Shiar to kill Soji and they reach the chambers as Hugh is still powering up the teleporter. Picard hails Rios and tells him to fly to Nepenthe, where he and Soji will escape to. Rios isn’t happy about it but they have their orders. As La Sirena is about to leave, Rios notices that Elnor is no longer aboard.

He transported to the cube and saves Picard and all from being shot by Romulans. Why Elnor insists on killing people is beyond me. Just incapacitate them. Picard is pleased to have Elnor by his side, but the boy refuses to go to Nepenthe. Elnor decides to stay back and fight the Romulans – that’s a good thing because Hugh also stays back to work the teleporter. Someone has to save Hugh. Picard and Soji disappear and the episode fades to black with Elnor pleading with the Romulans to choose life. He doesn’t mean it – Elnor likes using his sword.

Like ‘Stardust City Rag’, this episode has a few missteps that are down to unimaginative writing and storytelling. The direction, though, was spot on. So full of emotion, suspense, and tension. I feel like the music is desperately trying to evoke a sentiment that hasn’t been earned yet. As Picard holds forth on the horrors of the Borg, we should have relied on Sir Patrick Stewart’s stupendous acting and the actual soliloquy rather than the music. But after such a rough start, the show has picked up and reached its rhythm.

What did you think of this episode fo Star Trek: Picard? Be sure to tell us in the comment section below!