“Penance” is the second episode of the second season of the TV show “Star Trek: Picard” and follows “The Star Gazer“. It’s available in the USA on the CBS All Access streaming platform and in many other countries on Amazon Prime Video.
Note. This article contains some spoilers about “Penance”.
Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) finds himself in a situation he doesn’t understand and Q (John de Lancie) tells him it’s penance and little else. 7 of 9 (Jeri Ryan) discovers she’s known only as Annika Hansen but she has the resources at her disposal to find other people who may have passed through the space-time anomaly.
The original Star Trek series had episodes with time alterations, an alternate timeline, and time travel. The subsequent shows explored different variations of that type of story and added episodes set in the mirror universe. “Penance” is full of, sometimes explicit references to those episodes with Q mentioning “Yesterday’s Enterprise” and Jean-Luc Picard mentioning Kirk’s time trips. This abundance of fanservice confirms how much this show is aimed towards fans of the saga, who can enjoy recognizing all the references.
I wonder if so many people were needed to write “Penance” given that the screenplay is written by the two showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Terry Matalas and by Christopher Monfette while the story was written by the three of them together with Michael Chabon, who this season is no longer showrunner but “only” executive producer. Fanservice aside, all in all, the plot contains rather common elements for this type of story, even having some clichés. The other elements are the ones that make this episode valuable.
A strong point of “Penance” is in my opinion in the use of the characters. The initial part shows a particularly aggressive Q, who even physically attacks Picard. We were used to a sly and sarcastic Q but this time he seems to have the intensity of someone who is in a serious situation that leaves no room to play. Picard, after losing his temper to the point of swearing, asks him if he’s sick. Q’s motivations seem different from what he’s used to and could be important this season.
In the case of the other protagonists, each one reacts to the situation in a very personal way, suited to their individual personality. For this reason, they represent the familiar element in the Confederation’s timeline, which represents the opposite.
However, the setting is easy to understand for the audience because typical elements of fascist regimes were used. From this point of view, something more is shown compared to the episodes in the mirror universe seen in the various Star Trek shows. Jean-Luc Picard watches a holographic speech in which his alter-ego utters words that seem to mock Star Trek’s foundations. Even that Picard version’s trophies offer a deeper insight into the Confederation and humanity’s xenophobia in that timeline. There’s also the link between the fascist-like regime and the lack of interest in the health of the planet, seen as a resource to be exploited without restraint.
In the end, in my opinion, “Penance” is a good episode because it uses a plot that is in many ways predictable to enhance the other elements. This episode also ends on a cliffhanger that gives the impression that this season is built on one big story even more than the first. Building an entire season on this type of storyline isn’t easy but the presence of the Borg Queen and Q-related doubts could help build a strong story.
