“Two of One” is the sixth episode of the second season of the TV show “Star Trek: Picard” and follows “Fly Me to the Moon“. It’s available in the USA on the Paramount+ streaming platform and in many other countries on Amazon Prime Video.
Note. This article contains some spoilers about “Two of One”.
The time travelers and Tallinn (Orla Brady) must try to prevent Renée Picard (Penelope Mitchell) from giving up on the Europa mission. Any direct contact would be very risky and the dangers of time alterations are only the most obvious ones. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) has her problems to deal with while Adam Soong (Brent Spiner) steps in to do what he feels he must do.
The second episode of the season directed by Jonathan Frakes seems to belong to the category of the ones produced to reach a certain number of episodes. It serves to make the plot proceed from a certain point to another but its substance is limited, so it gives the impression of being stretched even if it’s the shortest of the entire show. It’s a way of doing television for streaming platforms that is very different from classic television, even today in which there are shows that focus a lot on story-arcs.
The choice to focus on the musical side of the gala seems to be due precisely to the need to have fillers between the various conversations and some significant moments. For this reason, probably, especially people who appreciated that element liked it.
However, the episode has its moments in which each of the protagonists seems to have some development that could lead to a certain path in the next episodes. Sometimes the term moments must be taken literally as for example, 7 of 9 (Jeri Ryan) remains in the background, where she seems much more relaxed than usual and enjoys her humanity. Her path seems opposite to Agnes Jurati’s. Instead, in Jean-Luc Picard’s case, there’s a sort of chain of moments that continue to tie him to his past, to both his mother and to his ancestor who finds herself at the center of the developments that will decide the future of humanity.
In an episode that seems above all a setup for what the protagonists will have to face in the final part of the season, the leap forward made in the subplot about Adam Soong and his daughter Kore (Isa Briones) is curious. It appears to be the first time the girl searched her father’s computers, as the geneticist’s secrets are easily accessible. The results of that research are unsurprising and cast a sinister light on Adam Soong’s work.
Overall, “Two of One” is a bit of a strange episode for the handling of the various parts of the plot. The season is approaching its grand finale and at this point, the substance will have to become prevalent to avoid weakening the entire story-arc.
