The opening Flashback leads us to... the show's third episode. Dr. Jurati is approached by Commodore Oh, who is wearing sunglasses in an unsuccessful attempt at subtlety. Oh asks about Dr. Jurati's recent interactions with one Jean-Luc Picard. But this time the scene keeps going. Dr. Jurati, who's bad at lying, tells Oh what they talked about. Oh charges her with a special mission on behalf of Starfleet Security, asking Jurati to help her prevent The End of the World as We Know It. To explain what she means, she applies a Mind Meld, showering Jurati in a chaotic whirl of death, destruction and murder. Jurati, overwhelmed, asks what she has to do. The first step is for her to chew and swallow a Tracking Device, so that Oh can follow her at all times...
In the present day, Narissa has Hugh at gunpoint, along with a bunch of other xBs. Alas, Hugh has diplomatic immunity because of the treaty that allows a Federation presence aboard the Artifact, and Narissa cannot kill him. But she can kill his friends. And does. She then comms Narek and asks if he's in position.
La Sirena is still caught in the Artifact's tractor beam. Rios, Raffi, and Jurati are brainstorming what can be done about the situation. Jurati suggests they just ask to leave: after all, the Romulans are after Soji, and Soji is demonstrably not on board. However, the tractor beam is released, and the ship loops away... followed by Narek in his "snakehead" fighter. Rios then tries to contact Elnor, but the Romulan has linked up with Hugh and refuses to leave, deciding that he has found a cause even more lost than Picard's.
Picard and Soji emerge from the Sikarian trajector on a habitable planet. Almost immediately, they are menaced by a youngish humanoid wielding a bow-and-arrow, but Picard asks if they are safe, and Kestra Troi-Riker replies that they are. She takes them to her parents' cabin. She asks if Soji is related to Picard, and Picard absently replies that Kestra must have heard of Cmdr. Data. Kestra realizes that Soji is an android. So does Soji, and she begins to question her Fake Memories.
Kestra's parents — Cmdr. Deanna Troi (Starfleet, inactive) and Capt. William Riker (Starfleet, inactive) — are delighted to see Picard, and offer him the sanctuary of their house for as long as he needs. (Will orders the house's Deflector Shields raised, and Picard recommends anti-cloaking scans as well.) Troi mentions that, although Soji appears to be a bog-standard human muggle, Troi (who is half-Betazoid, a species known for their telepathy) cannot pick up on any thoughts or feelings from the young woman.
Soji uses the outdoor shower while Kestra asks if she can play the violin, if she likes Sherlock Holmes, if she has Super-Speed or Super-Strength— all things that Kestra knew Data could do. She finds it "weird" that Soji has blood, saliva, and mucus, but admits that this makes sense. Data wanted nothing more than to be human: to have dreams, tell jokes, learn how to ballroom dance. Were he to create an offspring, a Ridiculously Human Robot is precisely what he'd have created. Kestra tells her that she thinks she's "amazing," partly because of how real she seems... and partly because, since Soji is only three years old, Kestra gets to be in charge.
Picard and Troi catch up on what they've missed of the past 13 years. Troi mentions that their son, Thaddeus, would have had his eighteenth birthday last week; Kestra is still getting over the loss. He was a linguistic genius and invented at least twelve languages— one of which, "Viveen," Kestra still speaks in his honor. She reiterates that they will do what they can for Picard, but her dead son has instilled worries in her. Picard replies warmly that she is simply gaining in wisdom.
Aboard La Sirena, Rios has detected Narek tailing them. Jurati unexpectedly throws a tantrum: she wants to go home and let someone else find the fucking synth. Rios is taken aback by the violence of her emotions, but "Auntie Raffi" sweeps into action, promising that she will provide everything that Agnes needs. ("Is it cake?" Agnes asks.)
Picard helps Riker tend a wood-burning pizza oven (fresh tomatoes, basil, and non-venomous bunnicorn sausage). Picard refuses to tell Riker exactly what's going on, concerned for the safety of his friends. Riker muses pointedly on the idea that ignorance of danger is the same as protection from danger. They are interrupted by Kestra and Soji, who are conversing fluently in Viveen; Soji absorbed Thaddeus' entire 300-page dictionary in several minutes. He then tells Picard what he's picked up just from the couple hours that they've been together: anti-cloaking scans means Romulans, and Picard's evident caution means the Tal Shiar, plus he recognized Soji's Quizzical Tilt as a Character Tic from Data. "How'm I doing?" Picard is helpless in the face of his former subordinate, and Riker criticizes him for doing the headstrong thing where Picard decides who's in the loop and who's out. Picard replies that he's been doing okay for himself so far, and Riker acknowledges this as such; but he also points out that Picard is now up against something that he's not exactly prepared for: teenagers.
Kestra takes Soji to the garden, where Troi offers Soji a tomato— a real one, grown in the fertile soil of Nepenthe. Soji can't recall ever tasting one before, nor tasting any tomato nearly as good; she admits that real is always better. Troi replies that this is not so: their son Thaddeus died of a rare disease that could easily have been cured with a positronic matrix to culture some cells in. Given the Ban on A.I., none were available. Soji admits that, being only 37 months old and being implanted with Fake Memories, she has no idea what's going on; everyone's being nice to her, but this is only making her trust them less. How does she know that Picard isn't trying to trick her? Picard, walking in on this, replies sarcastically that he is trying to trick her... but Soji, not in the mood for jokes, shoves past him. Troi then criticizes him roundly, pointing out that Soji has every reason to be distrustful, as she can't even be sure at this moment that she herself exists.
Aboard the Artifact, Elnor and Hugh are heading back to the queencell so they can use it to seize control of the Artifact from the Romulan Free State. Alas, Narissa overhears Hugh's plan for an open insurrection, which is a treaty violation, and now she has the authorization to kill him. She does, despite Elnor's attempts to interfere. Hugh, with his dying breath, asks Elnor to bring an xB to the queencell and complete the takeover.
As Riker serves dinner, Picard remains unable to contact Rios, and wonders if he needs another ship. Riker and Troi suggest the spaceport at Infinity Lake, and Kestra suggests Captain Crandall and his ship, the Inside Straight, which she admits is somewhat broken— just like Crandall, Riker adds. Even if Picard were to get another ship, Riker wonders where he would go with it. Soji says that they would go "home," explaining how Narek uncovered her homeworld. Picard explains that when Dahj first came to him, she had just experienced her Traumatic Superpower Awakening. He asks her to judge his honesty via the timbre of his voice, the fluctuations of his heart rate, the dilation of his pupils. Soji admits that he believes that he's telling the truth, but that doesn't mean anything. Picard explains that she was created from the remnants of Data, who had given his life to save his, and that was part of the reason that he wanted to help her find her home. But mainly, Picard admits that when Dahj found him, he was simply wasting his days at home, not truly living his life; now he has a purpose in life. Soji finally reveals the two red moons and lightning that she saw during the Zhal Makh ritual. Riker speculates that this was where Maddox went to restart his research. Of course, the Romulans have a head start, and Troi believes that, given what the Romulans did to Dahj and attempted to do to Soji, the planet is in danger. Riker suggests that Picard reach out to Starfleet... but first Picard has to know where they're going. Kestra, fiddling with a comm device under the table, reveals that she asked Captain Crandall: They're looking for a planet in the Ghulion system in the Vayt sector, which doesn't have a name, only a number.
Raffi serves Dr. Jurati a freshly-replicated slice of cake, and the two talk. Raffi gets as far as discovering that Agnes is still upset over Dr. Maddox's death before Rios interrupts them with news that their Romulan stalker (i.e. Narek) is still tailing them. Dr. Jurati vomits on the floor, and Rios takes her to Sickbay, despite her protestations that she just had too much cake. However, Rios admits that he has another reason to discuss with her: he's figured out that there might be a Romulan agent aboard (it would explain why Narek keeps re-acquiring their trail)... And he thinks that it's Raffi. He points out that she left on Freecloud, claiming that she would never come back... and then immediately came back. Jurati points out that it might be her, but he retorts that she hasn't once been off-ship. However, the discussion is interrupted by the news that Narek has (surprise surprise) once again appeared on sensors. Left alone in sickbay, Jurati replicates a hyprospray of noranium hydride, which she then injects into herself. Narek, alarmed, watches as the tracking signal fades from his HUD— and back on La Sirena, Jurati collapses, foaming at the mouth.
- EMH: What is the nature of your... oh, bloody hell!!
Aboard the Artifact, Elnor huddles in a corner of a room in a Troubled Fetal Position because he feels guilty for failing to protect Hugh. He then notices a Fenris Rangers distress beacon hanging below the desk of one of Hugh's workstations. Seven of Nine had given it to Hugh sometime in the past, and since Elnor could use a vigilante — and, more importantly, an xB — he activates it.
Picard and Soji are getting ready to go after a good night's sleep, and La Sirena has arrived overnight: they have indeed shaken their Romulan tail, although the EMH has some questions as to why Dr. Jurati is now in a coma. Within the house, Kestra and Soji admit that they will miss each other. Kestra at least has her parents, and the memory of her brother... but she points out that Soji could have Picard, if she wanted. Nursing this thought — and Kestra's compass, which she gives to her new friend — Soji beams up with her caretaker.
Tropes:
- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: A variation and parodied. Upon (good-naturedly) asking why Soji called Picard 'the greatest Captain ever', Kestra retorts this 'nonsense' (as Riker put it) came from her father's own lips. Riker jokes he must have been drinking at the time.
- Alien Blood: After Elnor slashes the face of a Romulan soldier with his tan qalanq, the large wound is full of green blood.
- Alien Sky: Nepenthe has at least three moons, and strange rock arches visible in the background, but otherwise looks very Earth-like.
- Almost Dead Guy: After receiving a fatal wound, Hugh survives just long enough to provide Elnor with vital information about the queencell, convince the Qowat Milat disciple to Take Up My Sword because it's a lost cause, and utter a few touching final words. Hugh then conveniently expires right after he's finished.
- Anachronism Stew: The Troi-Rikers live in a house that wouldn't look out of place today, protected by Deflector Shields and cloaking-detection systems. After all the trouble that they've gotten into over the years, they're Properly Paranoid enough to get the most advanced defense systems for their otherwise simple house.
- The Atoner: Jurati deliberately puts herself in a coma to neutralize the tracker that she has in her system.
- Become a Real Boy: Kestra relates to Soji how important this trope was to Data.
- Big Brother Is Watching:
- Commodore Oh knows exactly what Picard and Jurati talked about during their first conversation. Jurati figures that Oh has her under surveilance.
- Narissa knows that Hugh aided Soji and Picard because their movements were being tracked. Narissa has never met Hugh before because she was on Earth posing as a Starfleet officer, but she's aware that Soji is Hugh's protégé, so the Tal Shiar observes the social interactions of everyone on the Artifact.
- The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In: Narissa murders Hugh by throwing her knife at his neck, and its sharp tip lands exactly where his jugular vein is. Elnor would've struck her down with her own blade in retaliation, but she beams away before the pointy end of the knife hits her.
- A Bloody Mess: Jurati vomits after eating some red velvet cake, causing Rios to assume that it's blood before Raffi corrects him.
- Breather Episode: The scenes with Picard, Soji, Troi, Riker, and Kestra on Nepenthe are this in the context of the season, as a brief respite before the final three episodes of the season bring it to a close. It's downplayed, though, as the scenes on La Sirena and on the Artifact are anything but quiet.
- Broken Tears: Hugh undergoes a nervous breakdown after his fellow xBs are slain, and he sobs uncontrollably over their corpses like he has lost everything in the universe that mattered to him. He doesn't seem to care or notice that he's bleeding because Narissa's dagger has pierced the skin of his neck; he merely continues to cry in agony, wholly oblivious to what's going on around him.
- By the Hair: Narissa grabs Hugh's hair in order to pull his head back so that her dagger has better access to his neck.
- Character Death: Alas, poor Hugh...
- Combat Pragmatist: When it's clear to Narissa that Elnor is the superior fighter, she kills Hugh as a distraction and beams herself out.
- Comfort Food: Raffi delivers the cake that she promised, as well as a glass of chocolate milk. Jurati eats too much and throws up once the cause of her stress returns.
- Commonality Connection: Elnor and Hugh are strangers, but they develop an instant affinity for each other in this episode because they're both Good Is Not Soft Nice Guys who dedicate themselves to helping the helpless. This is confirmed by Jonathan Del Arco in this interview,
and he even portrayed Hugh as being in love with Elnor because of the selfless qualities that they share in common.Del Arco: I think there were a lot of things about Elnor that for me resonated as a gay man. You know, I think [Hugh] loved [Elnor]. I think in essence he might've been in love with him in the time that he was there. I think that the hope was really someone loves him. Someone who was idealistic. I think he saw a lot of himself in Elnor. Hugh used to have that sense of innocence, of righteousness. And all those things were hopeful to him, because he hadn't been in a space of hope for all this time. And I think for a minute he thought, 'You know, I think me and the kid can go all the way with this. We could take the cube. We could save it.' - Compartment Shot: The camera is located on the inside of the replicator as it generates a slice of cake while Raffi watches.
- Constantly Curious: Kestra continuously asks Soji questions about her android abilities, much to Soji's annoyance.
- Continuity Nod:
- Picard's artificial heart has been mentioned before.
- Riker has previously shown an interest in cooking.
- Riker mentions the Kzinti while activating his home's defenses.
- Riker apparently named his son after the Civil War soldier Thaddeus Riker.
- Kestra talks about how Data served with her parents and Captain Picard aboard a ship called the Enterprise, and how he always wanted to do stuff like have dreams, tell jokes, and learn how to ballroom dance.
- Riker calls Troi "Imzadi," a callback all the way to "Encounter at Farpoint", the TNG pilot.
- Contrived Coincidence:
- Picard has apparently memorized the exact coordinates of the Troi/Riker house, to the point that the Sikarian Trajector — believed, again, to have a maximum range of 40,000 light years — can dump him and Soji within walking distance of their home and right where their daughter Kestra happens to be hunting.
- Elnor experiences a Heroic BSoD and nestles into a Troubled Fetal Position in the exact place where Hugh hid the Fenris Rangers SOS tag that Seven of Nine gave to him sometime in the past, inside a giant Borg Cube.
- Crazy-Prepared: The Troi-Rikers' home is equipped with shields, scanners, and even an anti-cloaking package.
- Critical Hesitation Blunder: Elnor is surprised when Narissa points a knife at him because their Qowat Milat-Zhat Vash Duel to the Death is supposed to be unarmed as custom dictates, and she takes advantage of his hesitation to throw a second knife at Hugh's neck, which kills him.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: From the moment that Elnor performs a flip through the air, he slices through four of Narissa's minions in about ten seconds.
- Cyanide Pill: Agnes replicates a hypospray of noranium hydride, which is a potent neurotoxin when used on humans. The intent is to neutralize the Tracking Device in her bloodstream, her survival being secondary to that goal.
- Dead Guy Junior: Riker and Troi name their son Thaddeus after Riker's Civil War ancestor Colonel Thaddius Riker (the same one whose life was saved by a Q), and their daughter Kestra after Troi's older sister, who drowned as a child.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Hugh passes away in Elnor's arms.
- Dies Wide Open: Elnor (and the audience) can see the precise moment when Hugh bites the dust by the latter's lifeless eyes, which remain open.
- Diplomatic Immunity: Narissa can't kill Hugh for helping Picard and Soji escape the Romulan Reclamation Site because he's a Federation citizen running a joint Federation-Romulan research project, and that would cause a major diplomatic incident. The other xBs, unfortunately, don't have that protection... Of course, once he tells Elnor his plan to take control of the Artifact from the queencell and kick the Romulans off it, she thanks him for giving her a justifiable reason to execute him.
- Distress Call: Stuck on the Artifact without help and in need of an xB to reach the queencell, Elnor triggers a Fenris Ranger SOS beacon.
- Diving Save: A split second after Narissa begins firing her disruptor, Elnor lunges at Hugh in order to shove the latter out of harm's way. Luckily for Hugh, he avoids getting shot because Elnor can Dodge the Bullet due to his Super-Reflexes.
- Dodge by Braking: Rios' plan to shake Narek is to make a brief warp jump, drop back to sublight, and plot a new course while Narek overshoots. It may have worked if not for the tracker.
- Dodge the Bullet: Elnor handily avoids multiple disruptor shots thanks to his Super-Reflexes; Narissa and her minions might as well be shooting blanks. He even does so while pushing Hugh out of the line of fire.
- Do Wrong, Right: When Kestra holds Picard and Soji at bow-point, Picard advises her to aim at his head instead of his duranium-encased artificial heart.
- Do You Trust Me?: After being nearly murdered by her lover, Soji is not willing to trust Picard, and even accuses him of carrying out more mind games on her.
- Duel to the Death: Narissa challenges Elnor to a duel because it's a time-honored tradition for a Zhat Vash and a Qowat Milat (who are each other's Arch-Enemy) to engage in unarmed combat.
- Dutch Angle: When La Sirena is caught in the Artifact's tractor beam, the camera is titled diagonally while Raffi explains to Rios that "The underlying code's all freaky Borg machine language" and after Jurati suggests, "Just tell them we want to go home."
- Empty Bedroom Grieving: The Troi-Rikers have kept Thaddeus's room exactly as it was when he was alive.
- Entertainingly Wrong: Downplayed when Rios assumes that the Romulans can follow La Sirena because they slipped a Tracking Device on Raffi. He's right about the tracker, but wrong about who's being tracked.
- Facial Dialogue: When Picard and Troi first embrace, her face makes it clear that she knows about his brain condition, or at least knows that he's aware that he's not long for this world. Neither of them voice this fact aloud, Picard merely assuring her that he's fine.
- Famed In-Story:
- Data, at least for Kestra. She goes on and on, telling Soji about how amazing Data was, which she probably learned from her parents, considering that he died years before she was born.
- She similarly speaks of Picard, and the adventures that he had with her parents "aboard a ship called the Enterprise."
- Riker also lightly pokes fun at this when Kestra reminds her father that he once calld Picard 'the greatest Captain ever'. Riker jokes he must've been drinking at the time.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: From the exterior, a Nepenthean bunnicorn appears identical to a Terran rabbit with the exception of a small horn on its forehead. However, the bunnicorn has venom sacs, which makes it a Killer Rabbit.
- Fantastic Racism: Narissa expresses her disgust at the Borg and the xBs when she's threatening Hugh, and she also calls them "things" for good measure.Narissa: I hate this vile Cube. It's obscene, as are you and your... xBs. That isn't why these things died.
- Fearless Fool: Elnor declines to return to La Sirena because he wants to assist Hugh and the other ex-Borg drones on the Artifact rise up against their Romulan oppressors. His crewmates believe that he's both nuts and courageous for doing so.Elnor: Go without me. [The massacre of xBs] will not happen again. My help is needed here.
Rios: Everyone here thinks you're crazy.
Jurati: And brave.
Rios: And brave. - Flashback: The episode opens on a flashback to Commodore Oh's conversation with Jurati three weeks prior. Oh mind-melds with her to show her visions of what would happen if the synths are allowed to exist. In the visions, Romulans can be seen mutilating and killing themselves, and Earth is destroyed.
- A Friend in Need: Troi and Riker immediately realize that Picard is in danger. Not only do they not hesitate to offer him sanctuary, but Riker berates Picard for trying to protect them by refusing to tell them what's going on.
- Funny Background Event: At the Troi-Rikers' dinner table, the adults are all stumped about the location of the planet with two red moons that Soji identifies from her dream as her homeworld. Kestra appears to be "playing" on her 24th century version of a smartphone, uninvolved in the conversation, hiding the phone below the table like a typical kid. Then she surprises everyone with the location of the planet, which she determined using social media contacts.
- The Ghost: Sadly, we don't get to meet the redoubtable Captain Crandall.
- Godzilla Threshold: Hugh spent his time on the Artifact ignoring the power of the queencell out of fear that he'd be tempted by it. Once his fellow xBs are killed, however, he decides to use it.
- Good Parents: Despite Troi's willingness to help Picard in any way she can, she admits that she fears for what could happen to her daughter Kestra, her last surviving child.Troi: I'm not as brave as I used to be, Jean-Luc.
Picard: Then you're getting wiser. - Go Out with a Smile: As Hugh's life is slipping away, he smiles at Elnor because he's grateful to the young man for giving him hope again. Jonathan Del Arco also elaborates that Hugh is content to die in Elnor's arms because he's in love with him.Del Arco: [...] we shot the death scene last (same day) at that point it was about [Hugh's] love for Elnor and letting go.
- Gratuitous Spanish: Rios calls Elnor "Hermano" (Brother) note , and later bids him "Adios" (Goodbye).
- Heroic BSoD:
- A traumatized and heartbroken Hugh has a Thousand-Yard Stare while sitting next to the corpses of the xBs who were massacred by Narissa and her goons, an atrocity that he witnessed firsthand.
- When Elnor is evading Romulan guards who are pursuing him, he finds a quiet a corner and assumes a Troubled Fetal Position, mildly rocking back and forth. He feels guilty for failing to protect Hugh and is traumatized after watching him die. To make matters worse, Elnor also sustained an injury which is at least causing him discomfort because he's limping.
- History Repeats: A very tragic case, as Deanna Troi lost her firstborn child, Thaddeus, just like her mother.
- Hit-and-Run Tactics: Elnor takes out Narissa's guards by darting in and out of various crawlspaces and gaps to perform sneak attacks.
- Human Shield: More like Romulan Shield; Elnor places one of Narissa's underlings in front of him to discourage her from firing her disruptor pistol. The strategy works because she lowers her handgun and returns it to its holster.
- I Choose to Stay: Rather than returning to La Sirena for the trip to Nepenthe, Elnor stays on the Artifact with Hugh to protect the xBs.
- Impairment Shot: Jurati's vision becomes blurry and she sees doubles of Emil as the neurotoxin begins to take effect.
- Incredibly Obvious Tail: Downplayed. Rios notes that Narek is making an effort to be stealthy, trying to hide just outside of La Sirena's sensor range, but the fact that he keeps showing up again every time they evade him makes it apparent that he's tracking them somehow, so they stall until they can manage to lose him.
- Instant Death Stab:
- Three of Narissa's lackeys are instantly slain after Elnor strikes them down with his sword.
- It's averted with the fourth mook because he's still alive (although he's not able to move) after Elnor lacerates his face, and we hear the man groan as Elnor shoves him to the floor.
- It's also averted with Hugh, who becomes the Almost Dead Guy after Narissa's knife pierces his jugular vein.
- I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: Narissa systematically executes the xBs in an attempt to make Hugh talk. When he still refuses, she orders her soldiers to kill everyone, only sparing Hugh because the treaty protects him.
- Killer Rabbit: A bunnicorn looks like a cute bunny rabbit with a small horn on its forehead like a unicorn, but it carries venom sacs. Anyone who ingests its toxin will vomit black bile and die.
- Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: Narissa persuades Elnor to sheathe his sword and to fight her unarmed when she instigates the customary Duel to the Death between a Zhat Vash and a Qowat Milat. After getting kicked in the face so hard that she falls down, she cheats by grabbing her knife and throwing it into Hugh's throat, distracting Elnor long enough to attempt to shoot him with her disruptor.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: After watching the xBs get murdered, Hugh decides that it's time for him and Elnor to start kicking ass.Hugh: (angrily) I'd forgotten the immense power hidden [in the queencell]. Maybe I was afraid I'd be tempted to use it. But now, I promise to defend and protect the xBs. I've failed them all. I've been a fool. We're going to take this Cube away from [the Romulans] forever.
(Elnor nods in agreement) - Let's Split Up, Gang!: The heroes have been split into three groups: Picard and Soji use the Sikarian spatial trajector to travel to Nepenthe; Elnor and Hugh stay behind on the Artifact to ensure that the Romulans can't follow Picard and Soji; and Rios, Raffi, and Jurati are on La Sirena with instructions to rendez-vous with Picard and Soji at Nepenthe, which is a few days away at maximum warp.
- Living Is More than Surviving: Picard discusses this with Soji, noting that since leaving Starfleet, he has merely been existing, marking the days until he dies. But since meeting her sister, he has a mission and a purpose. He's alive again.
- Living Lie Detector: Invoked by Picard when he coaches Soji through the various physical cues that her enhanced android senses can detect to prove to her that he's not lying. While she confirms that he believes what he's saying, she's still not quite willing to trust him, but Troi and Riker help her along.
- Lodged-Blade Recycling: When Elnor runs to Hugh's aid after Narissa throws a knife into his throat, she pulls a disruptor on him while his back is turned. He responds by pulling the knife out and throwing it at her, which she avoids thanks to a Teleportation Rescue.
- Manchild:
- Narek plays with an unidentified Romulan toy in the cockpit of his scout ship when he's following La Sirena.
- Although Rios initially addresses Elnor as "hermano" ("brother"), he resumes his previous habit of calling him "kid" after he realizes that Elnor is a Fearless Fool.Rios: Adios, kid.
- Man Hug: Picard and Riker share one; the latter even exclaims, "Oh, man!" as he does it.
- Manly Tears: Hugh openly weeps over the bodies of the xBs that he personally cared for. They were gunned down by Narissa and her soldiers in front of his eyes.
- Mind Rape: Commodore Oh's mind meld with Doctor Jurati is clearly not consensual.
- Modesty Towel: Kestra hands one to Soji after she showers.
- Mundane Solution: When La Sirena is caught in a Romulan-controlled Borg Tractor Beam, Jurati suggests just asking to be let go, as the synthetic that they want is not on board. It appears to work, but only as a Trick-and-Follow Ploy.
- My Greatest Failure: Hugh is responsible for the well-being of the former Borg drones on the Artifact, so when about a dozen of them are gunned down by Narissa and her guards, he feels guilty that he was unable to shield them from the cruelty of the Romulan Free State.Hugh: I've failed them all.
- Nerds Speak Klingon: Kestra manages to pull this off in a show where Klingon actually exists as a real language, by speaking Viveen, a Conlang that Thad had created when she was younger. She uses it while cosplaying as a Wild Girl of the Woods.
- Never Bring a Gun to a Knife Fight: Narissa and her mooks try to shoot Elnor with their disruptors, but he's too fast for them, and he succeeds in butchering all of her guards with his sword. He would've killed Narissa — who was just about to fire her disruptor — with her own knife if it weren't for her timely Teleportation Rescue.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Which Will claims is Newton's Fourth Law of Thermodynamics. Picard saved the Romulans, and now his life is in danger because of them.
- No-Sell: As an android, Deanna's telepathy simply doesn't work on Soji. As Deanna notes, in every way she shows emotion, but Deanna can't read her.
- No Sense of Personal Space:
- Elnor and Hugh are touchy-feely with each other even though they have just met. Hugh responds positively to Elnor touching his shoulder, cradling the back of Hugh's neck, and covering Hugh's hand with his own. Hugh grabs Elnor's elbow and stands very close to him when he says, "We're going to take this Cube away from [the Romulans] forever." Elnor doesn't mind, though, as he was the one who initiated the physical touch between them in their previous scene. As Hugh lays dying in Elnor's arms, he reaches out for the young man's face and holds it tenderly. Jonathan Del Arco confirmed that he intended to depict Hugh as being in love with Elnor.
- Obligatory Earpiece Touch: Narissa presses a button to activate her earpiece just before she asks Narek if he's ready to depart from the Artifact.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: During the pursuit, Rios tells Jurati that he thinks the Romulans put a Tracking Device on Raffi, not knowing that Jurati is allowing herself to be tracked. It gets worse when Jurati hints that she's the one with the tracker and Rios laughs it off.
- One-Word Title: The episode's title is "Nepenthe."
- Pardon My Klingon: When Narek loses the tracking signal on La Sirena, he shouts "Qazh!", which is apparently the Romulan equivalent of "Shit!"
- Portmanteau: Bunnicorn, the Killer Rabbit on Nepenthe with a small horn on its forehead, is a mix of the words "bunny" and "unicorn."
- Post-Stress Overeating: After experiencing a fit of anxiety, Jurati attempts to calm herself down by gorging on two large pieces of cake, and she manages to eat a mouthful of a third before she pukes it all out.
- Prayer Pose: After Elnor activates the Fenris Rangers SOS token, he closes his eyes and clasps his hands next to his mouth in what is presumably the Qowat Milat form of prayer.
- Precision F-Strike:
- Jurati blurts out one when she's undergoing a fit of anxiety.Jurati: Picard can look after himself and somebody else can find that fucking synth!
- Rios's EMH gets one after Agnes injects herself with the neurotoxin.EMH: What is the nature of your... (sees Agnes writhing on the deck) oh, bloody hell!
- Jurati blurts out one when she's undergoing a fit of anxiety.
- Pretty Butterflies: The late Thaddeus Troi-Riker adored butterflies because they inspired him to create a Conlang for them called Pahlplah which consists solely of wing beats.
- Promotion to Opening Titles: Inverted with Marina Sirtis. Even though she was always credited in the opening titles of The Next Generation, and her role in this episode is just as big as Jonathan Frakes', only Frakes gets credited in the opening titles as "special guest star," while Sirtis is demoted to the closing credits.
- Psychotic Smirk: While walking away, Narissa smiles to herself in satisfaction after she reduces Hugh to a puddle of Broken Tears; she derives pleasure from how she has torn his spirit to shreds by ordering the deaths of his fellow xBs.
- Quizzical Tilt: A minor plot point. This is part of how Riker deduces Soji's not just an android, but an android related to Data. While watching Riker cooking pizza, Soji unconciously does Data's iconic character tic. Riker, who served with Data for 15 years and saw him do this countless times, instantly recognizes it.
- Rack Focus: The camera remains still while the point of focus switches from Elnor's face to the Fenris Rangers SOS tag that's dangling beneath a desk. After a few seconds, the process is reversed, and the token becomes blurry once more while the details of Elnor's visage gradually become sharp again just as he grabs the device. The focus returns to the beacon when there's an Extreme Close-Up of Elnor's left eye and part of his nose while he's holding it. After he activates the distress signal, his features are then made clear at the expense of the object's.
- Rest-and-Resupply Stop: Picard gets some rest (albeit brief as he's still fretting about what happened to the others), a morale boost from his old friends, and a clearer idea of where he's heading next. Likewise, Soji attempts to come to terms with being an android during her interactions with Kestra.
- Revenge: After Narissa and her goons murder the other xBs, Hugh decides that he's done living under the thumb of the Romulans and intends to use the queencell to seize control of the cube from them. Unfortunately, Narissa was following him, waiting for Hugh to give her a valid excuse to kill him, but Elnor is still around to carry out his wishes posthumously.
- Sacrificial Lion: Hugh appeared in three episodes of The Next Generation and three episodes of Picard, but he meets his end to further emphasize the latter series' Darker and Edgier tone.
- Sarcasm Mode: Kestra is annoyed that her mother would question whether she had prepared the bunnicorn meat properly.Troi: Did you cut out the venom sacs?
Kestra: Nope, I left them in so that we can spew black bile and die. - Scenery Porn:
- The Okinawan sea shore is filmed from a different angle than in "The End Is the Beginning", and the wide shot of the blue-green waves crashing upon the rocky cliff is gorgeous.
- Nepenthe is a beautiful world with pristine forests, lakes, and mountains, and we're treated to more than one sweeping vista of it.
- Sherlock Scan: Picard refuses to tell Riker the full story behind Soji as he'd earlier noted his old crew would insist on helping. Riker quickly works it out anyway.Riker: So I'm just gonna speculate... and say out loud what I've been saying in my brain— you don't have to tell me anything, how's that sound? You're worried about cloaks; that says Romulans. And the level of anxiety and fear for our safety? Tells me Tal Shiar. Next, you're not the one that's on the run, it's her. But why? What has poor Soji done to incur their wrath? Could it have anything to do with the fact that she's clearly an android? And not just any android; I'd recognize that head tilt anywhere... kid's got Data in her DNA. And that's why you're here. How am I doin'?
- Shout-Out: Jurati makes a feeble joke about hiding in a comet that turns out to be a gormagander. It's easy to be reminded of Han Solo hiding the Millennium Falcon in an asteroid that's housing an exogorth.
- Shower Scene: Soji uses the Troi-Rikers' outdoor shower, but it's downplayed with regards to fanservice.
- Sickly Green Glow: The Romulans use the Artifact's tractor beam, which glows green, to immobilize La Sirena.
- Stress Vomit: Jurati vomits twice in this episode— the first time after Oh shows her a horrible future via mind-meld, and the second time on La Sirena when they repeatedly fail to shake their pursuer because of the tracking device that she swallowed.
- Stunned Silence: As Hugh is dying in his arms, Elnor is speechless.
- Take Up My Sword: Elnor had agreed earlier on to help Hugh enact his Revenge on the Romulans who have callously executed the xBs, so after Hugh is fatally wounded, he urges Elnor with his dying breath to finish what he was unable to start, and he even frames his last wish as a lost cause because Hugh knows that that would be irresistible to a justice-seeking Qowat Milat.
- Tastes Like Friendship:
- Soji still doesn't trust Picard or the Troi-Riker family, but pizza helps.
- Subverted when Raffi feeding Jurati cake only increases her sense of guilt and she vomits up the food.
- Teleportation Rescue: Narissa is beamed out moments before being hit by a knife thrown by Elnor.
- That Woman Is Dead: After finding out her past is Fake Memories, Soji insists on being "just Soji" rather than using the surname of a family that doesn't exist.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Hugh's gaze is totally vacant when he's sitting near the bodies of the xBs who were slaughtered by Narissa and her mooks, a horror which he was forced to witness.
- Thrown Out the Airlock: Discussed when Rios suspects that Raffi is a Tal Shiar mole.Rios: Raffi, I have one more thought about finding this guy. But I don't think you're gonna like it very much.
Raffi: Why? Does it involve shooting me out of an airlock?
Rios: I really hope not. - Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Thaddeus Riker was a dreamer who grew up on starships, but he wanted a homeworld of his own, so he made one up. The kid's life work could give J. R. R. Tolkien a run for his money, with extensive maps, histories, and languagesnote of a fictional planet. He died of an illness that could have been cured had synthetic life (and thus positronic matrices) not been banned.
- Tracking Device: Oh gave Jurati a chewable tracking device so the Zhat Vash could keep tabs on Picard in his search for Soji. When she realizes that a hostile spacecraft is using it to track La Sirena, she injects herself with a neurotoxin to disable the tracker.
- Troubled Fetal Position: When hiding from Romulan guards, Elnor curls up in a corner and rocks back and forth slightly. He's distressed over Hugh's death, and he's also injured (he was limping beforehand).
- Trying Not to Cry: Deanna struggles to hold back tears while taking to Picard about her late son.
- Un-Confession: Jurati is on the verge of confessing that she's The Mole to both Raffi and Rios, but she keeps getting interrupted.
- Unnaturally Blue Lighting: The latter part of Narissa's interrogation of Hugh and the scene where Elnor and Hugh are forced to confront Narissa and her lackeys are saturated in blue light.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Deanna gives an openly admitted uncharacteristic and deserved chewing out to Picard after he was a bit too callous towards Soji about her recent sordid experiences on the Artifact, after Picard's severity prompted Soji to give Picard a hard shove and then leave in a huff. Riker remonstrates Picard rather more gently over him trying to act like he's still The Captain of the Enterprise and making all the decisions on their behalf, instead of just leveling with them over what's going on.
- Worst Aid: Elnor pulls the knife out of Hugh's jugular to use against Narissa, which likely made him bleed out quicker. In his defense, however, it's not like Elnor would be getting Hugh medical attention either way, and no one would benefit if both of them were killed.
- You're Insane!: Lampshaded by Rios, who believes that Elnor is out of his mind for staying on the Artifact, which is crawling with Tal Shiar (the Arch-Enemy of the Qowat Milat), instead of transporting back to La Sirena.Rios: Everyone here thinks you're crazy.
