Picard season three, episode four, No Win Scenario, gives Star Trek its competency back, and I didn’t realize how much I’d missed it until it was sitting right there in front of me.

Man, this show gets good, and I’m loving everything about it. When you get up as early in the morning as I do to watch these things and review them, you’ve got a different lens on. It’s almost surreal. And this show keeps hitting me, constantly, with wonderful things.

The Flashbacks Are Going Somewhere

The episode starts with what I consider a really awesome moment. You see Picard, clearly at Ten Forward, or so we assume, and some cadets come in. They really want to ask him some stuff, and of course he starts talking to them. It’s pure. It’s beautiful, wonderful Star Trek, in my opinion.

They come back to it, too. It’s a flashback, then we’re in the present, and they do that a couple of different times through the episode. You’ve got to be careful saying things like time skips in Star Trek, because then everyone thinks you’re doing something with time travel, and that’s not the case here. It’s just storytelling that jumps from the past to the present. I noticed early on and said, these are going to be relevant. We’re going somewhere with this.

And it’s a good story too. Hearing the story he tells, it’s stuff we’re familiar with, and it’s fun to hear.

It Isn’t My Crew, But It’s My Star Trek

Then you move to Riker in the middle of the bridge, and he’s workshopping. That’s really what this was. If you remember, back in the day they’d do that. This whole thing’s got to happen, well, what about this, and all these people talking and collaborating. It’s that air of collaboration. I think that’s one of the tenets of Star Trek that cemented it in my heart, and it’s why I love the show. I think that’s who we always should be. Very collaborative.

It’s very classic, and it tells a story in and of itself. Each of these people on the bridge is talented and knows their role, and in that one scene, in my eyes, they elevated the crew. We’d seen Shaw as the set dressing. Titan, Shaw, Hansen, La Forge, sure, those are our key people. Now all of a sudden I want to know the name of the lieutenant, the science officer, that helm guy, that ops person. I want to know who these people are, because they seem like they’re competent.

That’s what I love about what this episode does. It gives Star Trek its competency back. I realize I’ve kind of missed that in all the action and shoot ‘em up, which I’m down for. I didn’t notice we’d lost it until now, when we’re getting more of it back, and I can feel the shift. Stylistically, the cinematography, we’re going to keep all these new elements that I feel have freshened it. But we’re throwing back in some of what made it, I don’t know. I’m starting to feel like that one Rick and Morty part where he’s like, “I don’t even know what that note means.” Because I’m about to say it feels more like classic Star Trek, and I don’t even know what that is anymore.

It feels comfortable. It’s funny, I don’t think of it as nostalgia. It’s wrapping this really nice warm blanket around you, and they’re doing it well. Is that just good nostalgia? I don’t know.

Seven Does It by the Book, Off the Books

I do love that Seven is very wary of changelings now. You can tell she’s on her game. She finds Foster’s body and she realizes what this is. So who do you turn to?

She goes and talks to Riker, and they agree. Terry Matalas and you guys over there at Paramount, you’re doing such great work marrying different elements and concepts. Now you have Seven and Riker talking, and Riker’s like, look, we’ve got a limited amount of time here if there’s a saboteur. He’s not telling her so in so many words. What he’s saying is, just keep it off the books. And she’s like, okay.

So who does Seven go to? Seven goes to visit Shaw.

The MVP of this episode for me is Shaw, when this is all said and done. He’s his snarky self, but she’s very real with him. And you know why she goes? Because she’s a good officer. Despite the foibles and the nonsense, one, that’s what you should do. But also, who knows the ship better than the guy who was a former chief engineer and was part of the people who did the refit? She’s so on point it’s ridiculous. And she’s establishing key elements of her character that, God, in a spin-off show. I want the Titan, Shaw, Seven show. I want that show so bad.

Shaw with the confirmation that cannabis exists is one of my favorite admissions from them. They’re talking about pot in a different context, and it’s hilarious.

They’re talking about how you know whether someone’s a changeling or not, and the compliments start coming, right up to “if you weren’t such a colossal jerk,” and the comeback is that that’s exactly what a changeling would say. I feel like it’s a very telling moment. You can tell his desire to work with her comes from a place of respect. She may not like the way she’s been treated, but she respects who he is as an officer, and at the end of the day he’ll do the right thing. I believe the same going the other way. I believe he wouldn’t work with her if he didn’t have some level of respect for her.

Shaw gives her the idea about the residue. He says, listen, you want the fastest way to find this thing, you’ve got to get a good solid residue scan on one of its buckets, and then the ship’s sensors can track it down. So Seven’s searching people’s quarters, and while she’s on this hunt she gets attacked.

All of this is happening in whatever little time the ship has before it’s going to explode. They’re packing in so much story, and I’ve got to tell you, it doesn’t feel rushed. At least it didn’t to me.

Riker’s Message in a Bottle

As soon as Riker believes there’s no hope, after he finishes his round table with the bridge crew, he goes straight to Picard. They have this awkward moment where maybe it’s conciliatory, because obviously they left off last episode on bad terms. Right in the middle of it he says, look, you have very limited time. Go spend it trying to connect with your son. And Picard realizes he does have to do that.

Then you cut to this really touching moment that’s very telling at the same time. Riker wants to send a message home. It’s a message in a bottle. If the ship’s going to collapse and break apart, he wants at the very least to leave a message behind. And he can’t. He starts out and it sounds very formal, then he tries to get personal, and he just can’t make the words connect. He ends up leaving it alone, and you’re like, oh golly, dude. Really? Come on, man.

The Holodeck, and a Father Who Needs It More

I’d forgotten this until I looped back. After last episode, we were talking in the comments about one of the images, where it looked like they were going to be in a Ten Forward of some sort. We were speculating whether it was a flash forward, a flashback, or whatever else, and someone said it’s the holodeck. Sure enough, it’s the holodeck.

So we get to see the holodeck, how it’s functioning, and by the way, it’s still looking pretty darn good. I also get to see a redress of the same set, which saves a little on the cost of production, because you already have the Ten Forward set. I think they actually made it an experience in San Diego, San Francisco, somewhere.

They walk in and have a drink. It’s funny, Picard tries to be all wine, Jack’s like nah, and it winds up being whiskey or whatever. Jack is of a mind to tell him, look, if you think this is something I need, I don’t. And that’s when Picard says, but I think I do.

Okay. We’re going somewhere. When you pull this big of an emotional string, a son, this late in this guy’s life, you’ve got to find reasons and you’ve got to make it make sense. I feel like they’ve done that. I’m sold on the reasoning. It was rocky in the beginning for me, not that my opinion totally matters, but I’m sold now, and I’m able to go with you on that story.

We finally go back to Vadic. Vadic gets ordered to go in, because she’s also a changeling. She cuts her hand off, and apparently they have, like, a Great Link mobile. I don’t know how they explain it. Once she puts her parts in there, it becomes a face, and it talks in this weird way. It looked like it was going to be one of those aliens from the original series with the big heads, and I was going to be like, oh my God, mic drop, who knew. Can you imagine? I’m done. I’m sorry, I’m being ridiculous.

But Vadic has to go in. She’s not going to have any more portal technology, because there’s too much gravimetric whatever the heck. So they literally have to disengage the system from their ship. The little clamps come off, the thing floats off, and they go in after him.

Shaw and Wolf 359

Then we get this really interesting moment where Picard’s telling Jack a story. It’s a shuttle story, and it’s an allegory that’ll come in handy later. Shaw walks in, and Shaw is angry.

We get so much character development from Shaw. It’s so meaty that if it were a sandwich, I’d want to eat it. He explains an encounter he had, his secret villain origin story with Picard. He’s a survivor of the Battle of Wolf 359. He explains exactly where he was and who he was. He was an engineer at the time, just a grease monkey. You find out he’s from Chicago, which, my wife’s from Chicago. Mrs. Know-It-All’s from Chicago. Trust me, it explains so much, and that’s when I realized I love this guy.

It was a very traumatic story. And you see a different side of Picard, or at least how Picard is seen, for his son. Jack has to see it. Picard says no, it’s cool, don’t, I’m good, and he walks out, because Picard realizes he must own it.

They kind of lampshade it, but we’ve always said, how in the world does someone become part of that level of destruction, having been taken and kidnapped, turned into Locutus and the whole bit, and still get command back? So Shaw’s not making arguments that aren’t valid. You sit here and go, man, just how much has he had to deal with? And then it all comes into focus.

Give Todd Stashwick all the everythings, man. I love that guy. He is my new hero. I want him in other things. Thank you, by the way, for giving us such rich characters, who I believe will fuel further stories. If nothing else, give me a comic book series with the whole Captain Shaw Titan crew. Let’s go. I’d love to see those stories, and there’s so much character there that they could easily work with.

Beverly Sciences the Problem

Then we enter a whole new phase of this thing. They’ve packed so much into this show that I feel like I’m going long, but there’s this amazing moment. Beverly’s talking to Picard, Jack is there, and they’re exchanging ideas. She walks in and says, look, my conclusion is based on this. I tested it. I’ve been measuring. It’s the repeated result, and this is the logical conclusion. She scienced the problem to identify it, and then they get together and figure it out.

Oh my God, this is my Star Trek. They’re just coming up with stuff, because that’s literally how it used to be. The idea was that sometimes you reach the edge of space, the edge of knowledge, and you just have to go with your gut. That’s what these people are trained to do. That’s what makes them role models. That’s what made me want to be a member of Starfleet for so long. What really locked me into this series was realizing all these people were the best of the best because they had striven to be, and this whole organization lifted them. It was amazing. Sorry, I don’t mean to preach. I feel so many things about this show.

Jean-Luc, You Have the Conn

When Riker comes around, it’s such a pure moment. You still see angry, belligerent Riker, who’s like, what are you talking about, stop being crazy. And then it clicks. I don’t know which one of them says it, but it’s something along the lines of, why don’t we go out doing the thing we always do best? Which is exploring. It’s boldly going. It’s finding new life, finding new ways, understanding, really pushing the boundaries. It felt like the pure essence of Star Trek to me, and I’m just eating the whole thing up.

He turns around and suddenly he has a thought, and it’s great, because then you’re like, Riker, you’re back, bro.

Then Riker says, if we’re going to do this, you’re the guy who knows how to fly us through this craziness. Jean-Luc, you have the conn. And you see Picard, for the first time in all these seasons, genuinely. I know there’ve been moments that kind of mirrored this, but this is on a Federation ship, man. This is the closest thing to being on the bridge of the Enterprise again, and it’s literally them. He sits down, he gives some orders, he’s doing his thing. You get a moment, or a couple of moments, where they look over at each other and Riker’s like, yeah, man, you still got it.

Very, very pure moments of true joy. It’s that warm feeling of comfort again, comfortable in a way that makes me want to keep watching this show, and that’s something to notice and think about.

Seek Out New Life, and Here It Is

The thing works. They have the big burst of energy Beverly’s been monitoring, and what we find out is that this entire nebula is giving birth to something. Sure enough, when the final energy blows out, the ship absorbs the power, it’s able to get back into warp, and they move forward into an ocean of space jellies, or really more like space squids. It’s beautiful.

You get this wonderful moment where they reflect on the fact that this is it. Seek out new life, man. Here it is. And then Riker’s like, can we boldly get the hell out of here, please? Right on, dude. Just go. You’re good.

They make it out, and you get past a major point in the storyline. Vadic’s got an hour of repairs behind her, so they’re long gone, leaving her behind. I’m interested to see where the series goes from here. We’ve connected with Shaw, we’ve connected with all these characters, and I’d really love to see this continue. Let’s see where this mission goes next.

The Verdict

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 4, No Win Scenario, is a solid 9 out of 10 on the Know-It-All Index.

It had all the working parts I needed. Maybe it needed just one or two more things. If you gave me a cameo, maybe that would’ve knocked it up into the nine and a half or the ten. Who knows.

Is there such a thing as good nostalgia, or am I crazy? Tell me where you land, and tell me what you thought of No Win Scenario. The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.