"Without the mission, there will be no hope. Without hope there will be only darkness..." - Seven of Nine. The line itself is very quotable and it has a lot of meaning for different people. Thing with the hope and I believe we have discussed this in various threads, is that it's not a singular thing. It's a subject, or a subjective on a larger context, and it doesn't go away on a snap of fingers. It diminishes or blooms and Picard's Alt Reality US of A doesn't look going down the first path.
It is kind of blooming even if the on-screen policies resemble a police state ideas. And a space mission to Europa is certainly a full of hope and dread, because it's going past the Mars orbit and for our knowledge, Picard's Alt Reality doesn't have a Mars base, not talking about Moon one.
None of the media is speaking about it going further than before and it being a manned mission. Not just a probe. So in 2024 they're kind of further into a possible future than we have ever been and yet, somehow they're also kind of backwards.
"You did it again, Picard. You called me Laris," Tallinn said, with a slight wink in her eye.
Admiral sighed and said, "I thought, uh, you might be an ancestor. But she's... um, Romulan so it's impossible." Man, he didn't even try to hit the lady and to be honest, he didn't even needed as the Watcher had already been lured by old man's charm. I don't know how he does it, but I swear that getting an offer for the nightcap was coming as the Watcher drilled into him during the festivities.
The look on her face and the change in her demeanour, when Picard asked, "Who is looking after you?" told me that she got weak knees, and hot flashes. Yet, the old man played it cool as if it was a normal thing for him to showing caring heart for strange ladies.
I did find it funny when Admiral observed Renee downing a shot on bar and he asked, "Does she normally drink like that?" without understanding the pressures of young ladies in the gala. Luckily Tallinn dismissed it with, "Well, she's going into quarantine tomorrow." And knowing what Viv did before same things, I'd claim it's more of norm than an occasional thing. With an Europa mission being the headline, I'd say that she has pressures of whole world on her shoulders.
Luckily Picard didn't take Tallinn's blocking efforts, but went to speak with his great-great-great-great-great grandma without acknowledging it.
If a Borg Queen would live inside my head I would scream, like a girl. Not only did she inject the nanobots to do things, the whole psyche transfer is kind of freaking me out, especially with the Queenie making apperances like any other Horror story imaginary friends. This is also dire threat, because Dr Jurati already lived in fringes of the La-La Land, like many hackers. Queenie putting an arm around as if they're lover, would have sent me straight a whisky bottle. Not her.
She had no problem on accepting the Queen making her super-strong and the cuff's on her wrists didn't even leave a mark as she pulled through the shackles like a superman. Since the Queen is kind of the antagonist I also suspected that Jurati/Queen were responsible for capping Adm Picard.
I liked that Queen made Rios inquiries to go away with a simple kiss. We men are such a simple creatures.
Picard is kind of best time-traveller there is as he stayed so cool, when Dr Soong stepped on his way with a message from Mr Q, "I cannot allow Renee to complete this mission. Stay away. You don't understand who you're dealing with!"
Admiral smiled and looked him in the eye, "I could say the same thing to you. You don't really know who you're dealing with." What I didn't guess was Soong using money to buy a position in Europa board and making Picard to back away from dealing with Renee.
Bigger surprise came from the Queen taking over, blowing an EMP, and then proceeding to sing a song as if it was number for the show and nothing happened to the electronics. Luckily the band was able to play on fly and nobody noticed the transformation.
That allowed Picard to approach the ancestor in the guise of a security guard. He repeated the "Sometimes those who shine the brightest, feel the sting of fear and melancholy, in way others can never understand," line to the young lady, without providing the reference point. I cannot point which movie it's from, but I'm certain it's one of the OG ones.
He pushed the envelope with the "Fear is fear," line as he continued building up the foundation by claiming, "Fear means you're smart. You understand the risks."
Renee squinted and launched back, "So what are you afraid of?"
Borg's I answered. Picard however chuckled and said, "I don't know where to begin..."
"And you found a way to live with it?"
Admiral looked down and said, "I've found that even in the darkest circumstances, there is a light. Sometimes only a glimmer. Trust that light. Find a way back. No matter what it takes."
It is so true and it is so super hard to lay everything on that hope and take a leap of faith. He could not have said a better thing for the pep talk. It was a good one and it did the thing, before Dr Soong unleashed his anger and drove over the old man. Effing *******.
"Does he have any implants?" Dr asked.
"Yeah," Raffi nodded.
"How many?"
"All of them," she answered, just before doctor plastered pads on Picard's chest and then proceeded to 'restart the system.' When the scope let out the blue smoke in the result, I couldn't hold it in. Man, how do tell doctor that the old man is actual a biomechanoid, an android that has humanmind living in it?
They didn't. Nobody said nothing. They were all quiet when Teresa told the vacate the emergency room. Like rats leaving the sinking ship. In the aftermath Tallinn found that Picard had locked himself inside his mind and she did super critical thing by hacking admiral's mind.
Pure SF there and my suspicion is that there is some sort of temporal thing in the play. Something that is connected to Q and whole heap of things. Some that might be a bit smelly. But what a lover wouldn't do to another than tying the impossible.
Man, I don't know how Kore climbed that mountain of madness and stayed sane? Dr Soong has done awfully lot in regards of the genetic experimentations, being a father to Cpt Kirk's Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaan, is one of them. He has fallen so deep into his lies on making genetic clones and trying to keep them alive in any way possible.
It is the biggest lie you can find about your life. About it being complete fabrication. That is quite a thing to stomach.