“Surrender” is the eighth episode of the third season of the TV show “Star Trek: Picard” and follows “Dominion“. It’s available in various countries on the Paramount+ streaming platform and in many other countries on Amazon Prime Video.
Note. This article contains some spoilers about “Surrender”.
Vadic (Amanda Plummer) appears to have taken full control of the USS Titan and threatens to kill her hostages one by one if Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) doesn’t turn himself in. The only hope seems to be using Data (Brent Spiner) to regain control of the ship’s systems but he can only do so if he prevails over Lore.
Much of this season has seen the USS Titan in danger in situations that were at least seemingly hopeless. That’s even more true when the ship is under enemy control. It was predictable that someone would be killed even if no hostage was wearing a red shirt, so it was difficult to figure out who would be the sacrificial victim.
After the end of the previous episode, we were waiting for the final revelations regarding Jack Crusher’s nature and this plot element, which has become crucial, has also become the problem. Episode after episode we have seen Jack’s abilities and Vadic provided various clues about them and the fact that the Changelings want him but, at this point, the writers are bending over backward to still keep some revelations. I understand the will to keep some twists for the last episodes and I hope it’s worth having this long wait but there’s a risk of being disappointed. Having Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) involved might get us through the red door, at last.
Where this episode succeeds is, again, in the connections to “Star Trek: The Next Generation” that are more profound than ever. For old fans, seeing the old crew of the Enterprise at the table together is an emotional moment. In the confrontation Data to Lore, old memories are crucial as well, with the inclusion of Spot and Tasha Yar. For Data, what appears to be surrender is actually the key as well. The interactions between William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Worf (Michael Dorn) don’t strike me as the best comedy but you can’t have everything.
Overall, “Surrender” seemed to me an imperfect episode, as it continues to go round and round concerning the crucial problem of Jack Crusher’s abilities. On the other hand, it offers many emotions to the old fans by bringing together the historical characters of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. At this point, the expectations for the final episodes are really high!
