Recap / Star Trek: Picard S1E02 "Maps and Legends"

You can't fight F8, err, fate.

In a Flashback, a synth called F8 reports for work on Mars. It has the same yellow-gold skin and gold eyes that Data did. Its human coworkers mock and befriend it in equal measure. Breaking from its dormancy, it disables the planetary shields and slays the humans. Was it hacked? Is it a rebel? The only witnesses who might know are dead. F8 then puts the cutting laser to its own head and fires.

Picard, with his housekeeper Laris, visits the apartment of the slain Dahj Asha. Laris performs some forensics to try to reconstruct what happened. Intercut with this investigation is an Info Dump where she and Picard's groundskeeper Zhaban explain what they learned when they were members of the Tal Shiar, the Romulan Secret Police (which explains Laris' forensic skills). Apparently, there is a cabal within the Tal Shiar, an Ancient Conspiracy called the Zhat Vash who are fanatically opposed to synthetic life. Back in Dahj's apartment, Laris discovers that a Romulan Cleanup Crew came by and scrubbed everything down to the molecular level... but by playing a hunch, they get into Dahj's computer and discover that the calls with her sister went off-world.

Back on the Borg Cube, Soji and Narek have been getting to know each other. He asks about what it's like to live on a Borg ship, extracting its technology and trying to un-assimilate its drones. She asks if they're allowed to sleep together, and he simply suggests they keep it a secret— something that Romulans are good at doing.

Picard is visited by his physician, Dr. Moritz Benayoun, who served with him on the Stargazer. Picard is trying to get himself certified for active service, but Benayoun informs him he has an abnormality in his parietal lobe; it could cause any number of problems, but all of them end the same way. Having said that, Picard meets (and in many cases exceeds) all minimums for interstellar duty, and is cleared. Unfortunately, Picard's next trip, to Starfleet HQ, ends even worse. He visits Adm. Kiersten Clancy, C&C of Starfleet, and requests to be reinstated with a ship and crew assigned to him, so that he can go save a Ridiculously Human Robot; in the event this causes too much interstellar furor, he is content to be demoted to Captain. Clancy yells him out of her office for "sheer fucking hubris"— asking for favors after denouncing Starfleet on live broadcast. She points out that Starfleet's decision to leave the Romulans to their fate was about The Needs of the Many: helping them was unpopular throughout the Federation, and a good fourteen species had threatened to secede. In Picard, she sees not greatness, but the ramblings of an old man. She sends him away, request denied.

Aboard the Borg Cube, Soji helps a new Trill intern suit up and walks her through the safety spiel: certain sections of the cube still have active Borg drones, and the reclamation crew wear badges (which turn green in the presence of trouble) to keep them safe. Having said that, the dangers are largely on a personal level: Soji and Narek are able to reassure the woman (Dr. Naáshala Kunamadéstifee, of Trill Polytech) that the Borg have essentially "cauterized" this cube away from the Collective. Narek then joins Soji as she and a Romulan doctor surgically remove Borg implants from a now-former drone. Although the doctor is dismissive, Soji speaks to the recovering former drone in its mother tongue: "You are free, my friend."

Admiral Clancy contacts Commodore Oh, an Asiatic-looking Vulcan who heads Starfleet Security. She mentions Picard's ramblings about the Romulan assassins that killed Dahj, and has Oh look into it. Oh immediately calls for a "Lt. Rizzo," a human woman who arrives as Oh is scrutinizing surveillance footage from the fight in which Dahj was killed— and catching details that someone apparently forgot to scrub, like the reflection of disruptor fire off a metal pole. Oh informs Rizzo that Picard has information about clandestine Romulan operations on Earth. Oh also reports that Picard mentioned Zhat Vash by name, and that he tried to get a ship to find Bruce Maddox, although she adds that Clancy didn't mention either of those points. (She refuses to answer how she knows.) She commends Rizzo for her passion, but reprimands her impatience— a bad thing for a Deep Cover Agent to have. (Fun fact: Romulans and Vulcans are two tribes of the same species, and there is literally nothing that would prevent a Romulan from Hiding in Plain Sight as a Vulcan. In fact, it's happened several times before.) She wants Rizzo to stay on mission — even though their Romulan death squad screwed up by killing instead of capturing Dahj — and Rizzo claims that she already has an asset working with Soji as well.

At Chateau Picard, Laris reacts poorly when Picard expresses his intention of going back into space. However, given Clancy's reaction, he still has no idea how he's going to do that. When Zhaban suggests Putting the Band Back Together — Riker, Worf, La Forge — Picard declines, not wanting his old friends to endanger themselves out of loyalty to him. Instead, he contacts an old associate: Raffi Musiker. Of course, when he arrives at her house (at Kirk's Rock, identified by their real name in chyrons), she greets him with a phaser rifle, telling him to turn around and get back on his taxi. He agrees, mournfully mentioning that now no one will ever get to the bottom of a Romulan conspiracy on Earth... Raffi asks if the bottle of wine that he brought is the '86.

Aboard the Borg Cube, Narek receives a holographic visitor: it's Rizzo, whom Narek makes fun of for having undergone cosmetic surgery to get rid of her pointy Romulan ears. He — the asset that Rizzo has assigned to Dahj's sister — reports that he has made progress with establishing friendly contact with the other target, and that he's on top of the situation. (Rizzo smirks at the rumpled bed.) She informs him that, if he hasn't gotten any results by the time she visits, she'll take over the operation herself.

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Tropes:

• Admiring the Abomination: Soji, much to Narek's surprise, refers to the inert Borg Cube as "beautiful," although Soji clarifies that she considers active Borg Cubes to be as horrifying as anyone else (rightly) would.
• Always Someone Better: The Zhat Vash is even more secretive and conniving than the Tal Shiar. Laris even hints that the latter is a mask for the former.
• Ancient Conspiracy: The Zhat Vash is a secret society within the Secret Police that is the Tal Shiar, having been engaged in covert operations inside and outside the Romulan Star Empire for literally thousands of years.
  Zhaban: "Zhat Vash" is a term sometimes used to refer to the dead— the only reliable keepers of secrets.
  Picard: Ominous.
  Laris: No, fitting, because that's the sole purpose of the Zhat Vash— to keep a secret so profound and terrible, just learning it can break a person's mind.
• Anger Born of Worry: Zhaban tells Picard that Laris's outburst at his idea of going back into space was because she worries for his safety. Picard replies that he knows.
• Ate His Gun: F8 terminates himself with a laser welder.
• Autokitchen: On the cusp of the 25th century, griping about the food will still be a popular pastime.
• Big "WHAT?!": Laris exclaims this after Picard announces that he's going to try to rescue Dahj's "sister" from the Zhat Vash and the Tal Shiar.
• Blatant Lies: Laris is an ex-Tal Shiar agent, so she would know perfectly well that her device is not permitted within the Federation.
  Picard: Romulan methods of forensic molecular reconstruction are illegal in the Federation.
  Laris: Really, I had no idea.
• Bloodless Carnage: Averted. The laser welder that F8 uses in the flashback burns big, messy holes in whatever it hits compared to a phaser.
• Buffy Speak:
  Agnes: People in the synthetic humanoid field tend to get a little secret-planny.
• Call-Back:
  • In "The Measure of a Man", Guinan warned Picard that The Federation might create an army of "disposable people." Well, they did just that— and lost control of their creations.
  • The discussion of Picard having a brain abnormality harkens back to the anti-time future of TNG's "All Good Things", where he suffered from Irumodic Syndrome. In the present time of the same episode, Dr. Crusher did confirm that he had markers that indicated the potential for developing such a condition.
• Cleanup Crew: The Zhat Vash cleaned up all the evidence of their attempt to kidnap Dahj, leaving her apartment immaculate. Laris even notes that they went to the trouble (and risk) of erasing all the evidence down to the molecular level just in case someone with Romulan equipment decided to investigate.
• *Click* Hello: The first thing that Raffi does when she sees Picard is pull out a phaser rifle and tell him to turn around and get back in the taxi that brought him there.
• Commonality Connection: Picard and Jurati are both fond of Earl Grey tea.
  Picard: Your preference? We have a selection.
  Jurati: Earl Grey?
  Picard: (smiling) I knew there was something about you.
• Continuity Nod:
  • One of the Utopia Planitia workers mentions the "Una Matrix" that was used in the food synthesizers on Captain Pike's Enterprise.
  • Dr. Moritz Benayoun, whom Picard consults on his fitness to rejoin Starfleet, served with him when he commanded the USS Stargazer.
  • The new Starfleet combadges are the same ones seen in previous glimpses at Starfleet's future from both DS9 and Voyager.
  • The Romulan surgeon maintaining that "Nameless" is itself a name recalls Odo from DS9, in that his name was a contraction of odo'ital, which was the Cardassian word for "nothing," as that was the rough translation of the Bajoran labelling that called him an "unknown sample" after he was first discovered^note as he basically was a cupful of goo at the time, which the local scientists could not identify, before he developed the skills to mimic solid form.
    • This doubles as a call back to Diane Duane's Rihannsu novels as well, which are not canon, but do establish the importance of names in Romulan culture.
• Converse with the Unconscious: While the "Nameless" patient is still under anesthesia, Soji whispers to him in an alien language, "You're free now, my friend."
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: The circumstances of the failed Romulan evacuation are fleshed out, including how several species threatened to leave the Federation if they helped them. This episode was released on the day that the UK left the EU, one of the reasons being xenophobia. Some of that xenophobia was the result of an inability to separate modern Germany from the Nazi regime, which is paralleled in the Romulan Star Empire being the Federation's oldest enemy and those species being unable to see beyond that.
• Don't Ask, Just Run: Workers at the Romulan Reclamation Site, actually a dormant Borg cube, wear grey hexagonal badges, which are implied to have anti-assimilation properties. As the Romulan overseer warns:
  "...if your gradient badge starts to glow green, run."
• Do Not Go Gentle: Being told that he might have a medical condition that could lead to dementia only fuels Picard's determination to find Dahj's twin sister.
• Double Entendre: Narek assures Rizzo that his methods of getting information out of Soji will work and he's "on top of it." She pointedly looks at the rumpled bed where he and Soji spent the night together and quips, "So it would seem."
• Dramatic Drop: Laris drops a tray filled with teacups when Picard tells her and Zhaban of his plans to get back in the saddle.
• Eating the Eye Candy: Soji and her Trill friend check out Narek, a Romulan Pretty Boy.
  Trill: I didn't know Romulans could be so hot.
  Soji: Me neither.
• Electronic Eyes: The rims of F8's irises and pupils suddenly glow when he turns rogue.
• Enemy Mine: The reveal that Picard's trusted servants are former members of the Romulan secret police says a lot about how the political landscape has changed, given that in the TNG-era they would regard each other, if not as enemies, then certainly with suspicion.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: The famously xenophobic Romulans employ a variety of species, including humans, Trills, Tellarites, and Andorians, to work on the Borg Cube, although part of this may be Pragmatic Villainy, as after the loss of Romulus, there may not be enough Romulans left for them to occupy the Cube with only their own people.
• Facial Horror: During the reclamation procedure, we get a lovely look at a Borg drone getting his ocular implant removed, exposing the raw, red flesh beneath, with more tech where the drone's eye used to be.
• Fade to White: The Teaser ends with the entire screen filling up with a bright white light, so we don't see the aftermath of F8 shooting himself in the head.
• Failed a Spot Check: In-Universe when Oh points out disruptor fire reflected on a handrail on the security footage of Dahj's assassination.
• Fanservice: Narek and Soji are seen in their underwear after having sex.
• Fantastic Fruits and Vegetables: A Utopia Planitia employee complains about the space pineapples in her replicated meal, so the fruit in question is not from Earth, and it presumably has a similar appearance and/or taste to pineapples.
• Fantastic Racism:
  • The flashback to 2385 shows a few of the workers on Utopia Planitia mocking and insulting the synthetic workers without caring if they're in earshot, one of them justifying this with a dismissive "it's not like they're people." The group's supervisor also calls them "plastic people." And this is before the synths rebel and start killing everyone.
  • Laris explains to Picard that Romulans, and the Zhat Vash in particular, are notoriously hostile towards synthetic life, outright considering it an abomination.
• Fate Worse than Death: Implied regarding Picard's impending neurological degeneration.
  Benayoun: I don't know what kind of trouble you're planning to get into. Maybe, if you're lucky, it will kill you first.
• Flashback: The episode opens to a flashback of the synth attack on Mars, this time as seen on the planet's surface, as opposed to news broadcasts like in "Children of Mars". A synth on the surface suddenly shuts off the planetary defenses, kills all the humans present, and then blows its own brains out.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus:
  • The Romulans in charge of the Borg Cube would like you to know that it has been 5,843 days (precisely 16 years including leap years) since there was an assimilation.
  • An In-Universe example: Commodore Oh pauses a doctored recording of Picard where traces of the fight from the previous episode have been erased, and asks Rizzo if she sees the glare of disruptor fire reflected on a nearby lamppost.
• He Knows Too Much: Laris is afraid that, since Picard knows about Zhat Vash, they'll try to eliminate him.
• Hiding in Plain Sight: As Romulans are externally indistinguishable from Vulcans, Oh has been able to pose as the latter and achieve the rank of Commodore within Starfleet.
• Hologram: Rizzo (who's on Earth) communicates with Narek (who's on the Romulan Reclamation Site) by activating a holographic projection of herself that can interact with him in his quarters.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: Played for tragedy when Clancy's discussing her meeting with Picard to Oh. While she's obviously still angry, Clancy's also genuinely saddened that a great, respected officer like Jean-Luc Picard has been reduced to, from her perspective, the rambling and raving old man who came into her office. Oh agrees, saying it's tragic (albeit as part of her cover identity).
• I Knew There Was Something About You: Picard says this verbatim when he finds out that Jurati loves Earl Grey tea.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: A second-person variant— when Benayoun visits Chateau Picard to deliver the medscan results, he tells Picard to pour himself something stronger than Earl Grey.
• Informed Attractiveness: Soji and her Trill friend agree that Narek is a hot Romulan.
• Interspecies Romance: Soji, an android who thinks that she's human, is in a casual sexual relationship with Narek, who's Romulan.
• "It" Is Dehumanizing:
  • Commodore Oh refers to Dahj as an "it" and also calls her "the thing."
    Oh: Your team destroyed the thing before it could be interrogated.
  • Lieutenant Rizzo uses "it(s)" twice for Soji:
    Rizzo: Has the machine given up the location of its fellow abominations? Really, has it told you anything at all?
• Kirk's Rock: Picard goes to the actual Vasquez Rocks in California (appearing as themselves for the first time in Star Trek history, there's even a caption) to meet Raffi Musiker at her home.
• Lack of Empathy: A Romulan surgeon performing the reclamation procedure on a Borg drone callously dubs one subject of an unknown species "Nameless," to Soji's disdain; as far as Soji is concerned, not knowing a species' name doesn't mean that they should pretend that they don't have one. The Romulan doctor replies that "Nameless is a name."
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
  • Picard refusing to go Putting the Band Back Together for his former Enterprise command crew carries some heavy invokedReality Subtext, in that the whole TNG cast are also very close friends in real life, even over the years since it stopped airing and the films came and went. As noted under the Trivia page for Picard, Patrick Stewart only agreed to the new series once it was clear that it would not simply be a TNG reunion and continuation.
  • Picard finds Jurati reading Isaac Asimov, and says that he just doesn't "get" science fiction, which is a trait that he shares with his actor.
• Lingerie Scene: Soji and Narek are in bed together in their underwear. We get to see Soji in her Black Bra and Panties as she gets up and gets dressed. Narek has roughly the masculine equivalent (although he exposes less skin than Soji) with a black tank top and boxer shorts.
• The Mole: Commodore Oh and Lieutenant Rizzo are working for the Zhat Vash, and it's all but stated that Rizzo is a Romulan Deep Cover Agent that underwent plastic surgery to make her ears look human.
• Mythology Gag: The Vasquez Rocks have appeared in the franchise several times, most famously in The Original Series episode "Arena", as a go-to locale for a barren planet setting. Here they finally appear as themselves, identified by a caption.
• Neck Snap: Done Offhand Backhand by a synthetic while he hacks into an LCARS panel.
• Ninja Maid: Laris and Zhaban are revealed to be former members of the Tal Shiar, the Romulan secret police.
• Noodle Incident: Dr. Benayoun mentions a secret mission that happened while he and Picard were serving on the Stargazer.
• No OSHA Compliance: Both played straight and averted.
  • At the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, energy tools powerful enough to punch a hole through a person are left lying unsecured on rack where anyone can pick them up and use them to kill their coworkers.
  • Averted with the Romulans in charge of the Artifact. They are seen delivering a workplace health and safety talk to the researchers about to start their day, reminding everyone of the hazards that they may encounter on the derelict Cube and the procedures that they should follow in case of an emergency. Granted, the procedure in case of an emergency is just "run," although this may be a Romulan joke.
• The Noun and the Noun: The episode's title is "Maps and Legends."
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: The Romulan Free State is a bureaucratic nightmare.
  Naáshala: My residency was supposed to start six months ago, but the Romulan Free State revoked it when I was halfway here. I have no idea why, or why they finally reinstated it.
  Soji: Well, that sounds about right.
• Office Romance: Narek initiates one with Soji, although he tells her that they have to keep their dalliance a secret from their coworkers and their employers.
• Orange/Blue Contrast: At the Utopia Planitia Shipyards, the glowing blue graphics on the LCARS screens juxtapose the dark orange walls.
• Precision F-Strike:
  • Laris refers to the Zhat Vash in the most Irish way possible.
    Laris: Cheeky feckers...
  • Admiral Kirsten Clancy calls Picard's request to be reinstated as "sheer fucking hubris."
• Properly Paranoid:
  • The Romulan overseer on the inert Borg Cube gives a speech extolling the virtues of extreme caution, although anybody there who assumes anything different of the Borg or their technology is just being plain stupid.
  • Clancy informing Oh of Picard's claims of clandestine Romulan activities on Earth. Oh (as part of her cover) scoffs at this claim, pointing out that if there were such activities on the Federation capital world, SI would be aware and monitoring them. Clancy agrees, but still informs the Director of, as she puts it, an excess of caution (and of course without realizing Oh is part of said clandestine operations).
• Putting the Band Back Together: Defied; Zhaban suggests that Picard reunite the old Enterprise command crew for his mission, but Picard refuses. He knows that they would all join if asked, but after Data's sacrifice, he doesn't want to put them in danger again.
• Realpolitik: Starfleet's abandonment of the Romulans gets a bit more nuance, as we learn that many races threatened to pull out of the Federation if the rescue effort went through. The synth attack provided an excuse because they no longer had the ships necessary to aid the Romulans.
  Clancy: Even before the synthetics attacked Mars, fourteen species within the Federation said "cut the Romulans loose or we'll pull out." It was a choice between allowing the Federation to implode, or letting the Romulans go.
  Picard: The Federation does not get to decide if a species lives or dies.
  Clancy: Yes, we do. We absolutely do. Thousands of other species depend upon us for unity. For cohesion. We didn't have enough ships left. We had to make choices.
  • This can also double as Foreshadowing for the third season of Star Trek: Discovery, where promotional materials and trailers indicate that the Federation ends up as The Remnant of itself in the 32nd century. Eventually, plenty of species did secede and brought the union to ruin, although exactly how that will have come to pass is an open question.
• Red Alert: Occurs when the synthetics are hacked and take over the orbital weapons. Not that the alert does anyone the slightest good; F8 kills anyone who intervenes, then everyone else including himself.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Laris and Zhaban take the red and blue roles, respectively, upon learning of Picard's plans. Laris angrily chews Picard out for wanting to do something so foolish, while Zhaban calmly tells him that he needs backup.
  Laris: No one but the Tal Shiar could ever protect you against the Tal Shiar.
  Zhaban: She's not wrong. You can't go without us.
  Laris: (gives Zhaban a Dope Slap) Idiot! He cannot go at all!
• Sadistic Choice: As Admiral Clancy makes clear, Starfleet and the Federation as a whole faced one of these, between pushing forward with a mission to save Romulans and preventing fourteen Federation members from seceding and threatening the entire interstellar union. Starfleet chose to help its own side and leave the Romulans to fend for themselves.
• Sarcasm Mode: Laris is infuriated by Picard acting as if the galaxy revolves around him.
  Picard: I don't fully understand all of it, but I know that it's important, and not only to me.
  Laris: No, of course, if it's important to Jean-Luc Picard, it must be important to the whole galaxy. Go. (points at Zhaban) And take that one with you. You can die together.
• Scannable Man: F8's designation is printed on the front and back of his head.
• Secret Circle of Secrets: Laris points out that the term Secret Police has little meaning in a society that practises compulsive secrecy. Turns out that there's an organization called the Zhat Vash that's so secret, even former Tal Shiar operatives like Zhaban dismiss it as a fairy tale.
• Shout-Out: The episode's title is named after Michael Chabon's collection of sixteen essays. He defends genre literature in some of them (which includes Science Fiction), and we learn in this episode that Jurati is a fan of sci-fi author Isaac Asimov.
• Shut Up, Kirk!: Picard asks Starfleet to return his flight status — days after he brutally criticized them in a widely broadcast public interview on FNN, and fourteen years after his resignation while protesting official Starfleet policy — and all for a mission that he can't justify with any concrete evidence. Unsurprisingly, Admiral Clancy denies his request and gives him "The Reason You Suck" Speech on top of it.
• Space Nomads: Despite the loss of their homeworld, the Romulan Empire still exists, after a fashion, just reorganized into the Romulan Free State; while the loss of Romulus was a devastating blow, off-world installations and colonies allowed the Romulans to survive, albeit in a diminished state.
• Speak in Unison: A dozen android workers at the Utopia Planitia Shipyards simultaneously greet their human supervisor with "Good morning, Mr. Pincus."
• Super-Strength: F8 and his ilk "can rip through solid titanium without breaking a sweat."
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
  • Picard has rejected the idea of recruiting Fire-Forged Friends and deliberately seeks out those whom he doesn't get along with for a mission that hasn't been authorized by Starfleet.
  • Rizzo and Narek all exchange not-so-subtle threats and insults when working together.
• These Are Things Man Was Not Meant to Know: The Zhat Vash apparently exists to protect some terrible secret, related to why they hate synthetic life. Laris doesn't know what it is, but thinks that it's the sort that could break someone's mind. It's also implied that they are everywhere and have existed for thousands of years, and they are shown to have infiltrated Starfleet.
• Uncanny Valley: It's invoked in-universe by a coworker after F8 leaves the room: "Dude creeps me out." (And to be fair, the synth's un-smile is quite unnerving.)
• The Un-Smile: When F8 grins after a coworker says the punchline of a joke, the android's amused expression looks unnatural and it's rather unsettling.
• Unusual Ears: Played for Laughs when Narek mocks his sister's Magic Plastic Surgery that's given her those silly round ears.
  Narek: That ridiculous disguise. Round ears. You look like a plucked wakak.
• Urban Legends: In-universe, the Zhat Vash are this to the Tal Shiar. Most senior Tal Shiar veterans regarded them as a boogeyman they'd use to frighten new recruits and children. As Picard, Laris, and Zhaban learn the hard way, the Romulan boogeyman is indeed quite real.
• You Are Number 6: The "Nameless" Borg drone who undergoes the reclamation procedure has the numerical designation Patient 8923 stroke 3, as stated by the surgeon.
• You Have Failed Me: Oh chews out Rizzo for botching the attempt to capture Dahj and warns her that she and Narek had better not fail with Soji, or else.
• Your Days Are Numbered: Picard is informed that a brain abnormality is showing signs of a serious and ultimately fatal condition. This only further drives him to find Soji.
• You're Insane!: When Laris learns of Picard's plans to get Back in the Saddle, she immediately questions his sanity.
  Laris: What? Have you gone mad? Is it dementia?
  Picard: I beg your pardon?
  Laris: Sorry, but you're not a stupid man, so when I hear you say such a stupid idea, I have to ask for other explanations.

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