SinceStar Trek: Picardfirst aired, one thing has been true about the series. First in Season 1 and now in Season 2, there is a lot of ups and downs when it comes to the plotting and storytelling of this particularStar Trekspinoff. Unfortunately, Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Episode 7, “Monsters” might be one of the worst episodes of the series and it’s certainly the worst episode of the season, and one of the most frustrating because of what the previous episode set up and could have led into.
It’s also frustrating because up until now, none of the episodes of Picard could be characterized as “spinning its wheels” but it’s hard to take anything from this particular episode other than something as filler because the story that is unfolding is simply not long enough to fill an entire season. How that’s possible is a question that needs to be asked because there certainly appears to be plenty of stories there to more than fill up the rest ofStar Trek: PicardSeason 2.
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The episode opens interestingly enough, though with the obvious intention of confusing as Picard is sitting in his “Ready Room” on the Enterprise and is talking to a Starfleet appointed psychologist. The actor who plays this nameless character is an interesting addition since it’s not other than the man who played Gaius Baltar inthe reboot ofBattlestar Galactica. The two are engaged in a conversation that Picard is definitely not enjoying. The two share some banter back and forth and then the doctor asks Jean Luc to tell him a story. Eventually Picard does exactly that and it turns out that it’s a fantasy story about monsters and he and his mother fleeing from them.
This story, it turns out is the main theme of the show, as the real Picard is trapped in his own mind and in a coma in the real world, apparently unable to awaken because being hit by a card triggered some sort of memory issue. It appears the show wants the viewer to believe that this story is so important to the captain that he is unable to function anymore until the story is resolved and some incorrect memories are repaired. The story does indeed fit like a puzzle piece intoprevious episodes ofStar Trek: Picardbut it also feels like something that didn’t really need to be included.
It’s important to note that the story, that actually has to do with Picard’s childhood is supposed to fit into why exactly theentity known as Qsent the crew of the Star Gazer into their alternate universe by tampering with the past. However, instead of leading into any sort of clue as to why they are still back in the past, the story instead allows Picard to realize that something that happened in his past is being misremembered by an adult that changed the vantage point since he was a child.
While interesting enough as an allegory about how a child can remember important events, especially when trauma is involved, it was also a very trite way of doing that and seems to only create more questions as to why there has been such a focus on Picard’s mother. Considering that Picard’s mother was born decades after 2024, it doesn’t feel as if anything that happened with her had any effect on the past that is needed to be fixed. Certainly, a good television show like this is going to have mysteries that need to be solved in future episodes, but generally, there need to be bread crumbs for the audience to pick up and start to figure out. With just a fewmore episodes ofPicardleft to go, there have not been any real bread crumbs for people to travel down this path.
Instead of connecting the dots and really taking steps towards explaining what the story has to do withwhy the Star Gazer crewis in 2024, the show continues to spend entirely too much time on what was a burgeoning romance with Laris, even though The Watcher has been set up to not be Laris. The Watcher is able to help Picard get past the trauma and the two have a moment that Picard describes as “intimate” because she was also in his head. After a quick reveal about who and what she really is, the mystery as to why the group is there deepens, but not in a remotely good, or well-written way.
Outside of Picard’s mind trip, the show has left more than a few strands that were laid out inEpisode 6 ofStar Trek: Picardjust sitting there. Certainly more than what seems like could get resolved in just two more episodes. Instead, the show continued down some rather odd paths that are about as inconsequential to the larger plot of the story. And they did so by also dismissing one of the bigger plotlines by saying “it’s safe.”
Instead of laying down the bread crumbs to continue to try and figure out just why the crew is in the past, there was a ratherodd scene with Guinanthat introduced quite a bit of canon in the form of dialogue that didn’t make a great deal of sense and came off mostly as just weird.
There was also the budding romance between Rios and the 2024 doctor that continues to maybe be a situation where he’s going to decide to say in the past. If that does come to pass, it’s going to be interesting to see how the series deals with his very real impact on the crew’s “present.” There was also the budding romance(?) between Seven of Nine and Raffi where they talked about being together when they are old and wanting to trip kids.
And finally, there was the very short interlude thatincluded the Borg Queen, who busted up a window in a bar and then faded into the background once again. Overall, it was an episode that seemed to deal far too much with plot points that were not only unimportant but downright time wasters and it all combine to leave a bad taste in the mouth. Especially with so little time to go until the season is over.
Star Trek: Picardseason 2 is streaming on Paramount Plus with new episodes available every Thursday
