Star Trek: Picard season one finale recap: Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2

Appealing to Soji

Rios, Raffi, Elnor and Narek sneak into the settlement successfully and make their way to the beacon. Just then, Altan discovers some unsettling footage. Arcana was killed by Sutra, not by Narek, and she did it for the sole purpose of rallying the synthetics who would willingly create the beacon.

Disheartened by this betrayal, Altan stumbles across the La Sirena crew and agrees to help them. Altan disables Sutra, while Narek, Raffi and Elnor fight off the synths. When Narek is pinned to the ground, he begs Soji to stop. Meanwhile, Rios is standing afar, waiting for Soji to move away from the beacon console so he can chuck the detonator at it. When Soji finally does move, Rios throws the detonator but she catches it. Soji hurls the detonator into space and goes back to revving up the beacon. Well, that went south.

It’s down to Picard. He continues to appeal to Soji’s humanity, pleading with her to choose not to be the destroyer that the Romulans have feared. We’ve talked a lot about the tone-deaf optics of Star Trek: Picard, and it comes into focus with the plight of the synths in this episode.

Picard berates Soji for believing the ban and hatred of synths leave Soji and her people with no choice. He says that kind of thinking lacks ‘imagination’. Easy for Picard to say – he’s a straight, white man from an affluent family, plus he’s a renowned figure. Soji’s entire existence has been a lie, and the people she trusted tried to use her for information and then kill her. The underlying thread in this season has been the Federation’s xenophobia towards synths, and that would have made for a rich plotline, especially give n today’s bigoted and polarized world. Instead, we get Picard, a character we love, coming across as an ignorant fool who can’t see beyond his privilege.

One Last Shot

With Soji teetering on the precipice of a decision, the Romulans close in on destroying the planet. Is there no hope left? Of course, there is! An armada of Starfleet ships arrives in the nick of time, led by acting captain Will Riker. How lovely it is to see Jonathan Frakes in a Starfleet uniform again, complete with his trademark Cheshire cat grin. I can’t help but marvel at how Frakes has so easily slipped into the character of Riker. It’s like he never stopped being the former Number One.

Riker warns Romulan Commodore Oh to stop her attack. Picard had asked Starfleet to open diplomatic negotiations on the synth planet, which ensures its protection. But Commodore Oh doesn’t relent. She threatens to fire anyway.

As Picard starts feeling the effects of his brain abnormality, he makes one last-ditch effort to get Soji to reconsider. Starfleet is willing to fight for the synths, which is why they’re pointing their phasers at the Romulans. Soji finally turns the beacon off and Oh also surrenders.

I love that Riker says goodbye to Picard, and Picard replies with ‘adieu’ only after Riker has signed off. Picard thought he would never see his friend again. Celebrations come to a halt as Picard loses his battle with his condition, dying in the arms of his new crew.

Everyone loves Picard, so it’s no wonder that the stoic Rios hides away to cry by himself. He is joined by Seven, who is also sniffling back tears. Neither is pleased with what they’ve done – Seven’s upset that she killed again, probably because Captain Janeway would have disapproved. The Captain hated when Seven killed anyone. Rios is heartbroken that he let another captain into his heart and then had to watch him die.

Raffi, who was closest to Picard, is joined by Elnor. Both these characters have a history with Picard, but Raffi doesn’t get to mourn him. Elnor breaks down into loud, raw sobs and Raffi has to console him. Evan Evagoria captures Elnor’s child-like mannerisms very well. While adult characters usually cover their faces with open hands, Elnor buries his fists into his eyes and howls into Raffi’s lap.