Star Trek: Picard – Nepenthe

Soji (Isa Briones) and Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in Nepenthe (Image courtesy CBS All Access / Amazon Prime Video)
Soji (Isa Briones) and Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in Nepenthe (Image courtesy CBS All Access / Amazon Prime Video)

“Nepenthe” is the seventh episode of the TV show “Star Trek: Picard” and follows “The Impossible Box“. 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 “Nepenthe”.

On the Borg cube it’s time for the showdown with Narissa (Peyton List) who has no restraint in acting to find Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and especially Soji (Isa Briones). The two of them teleported to the planet Nepenthe, where they find William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), who live there together with their daughter Kestra (Lulu Wilson).

In the initial part of the episode we find out how the meeting between Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) and Commodore Oh (Tamlyn Tomita) went. Very fragmentary images of destruction are enough to shock Agnes, and that’s important for understanding her inner conflicts and her behaviors that seemed contradictory. She has reached a point where guilt becomes dominant and there will be more consequences. This is a character development I liked because it adds new elements episode after episode.

On the Borg cube the pretence of collaboration with the project directed by Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco) has come to an end, with serious consequences in the few minutes this subplot had. Elnor (Evan Evagora) makes a choice whose developments will be seen in the next episode.

Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco) and Narissa (Peyton List) in Nepenthe (Image courtesy CBS All Access / Amazon Prime Video)
Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco) and Narissa (Peyton List) in Nepenthe (Image courtesy CBS All Access / Amazon Prime Video)

“Nepenthe” mainly represents William Riker and Deanna Troi’s appearance. The two of them live together with their daughter Kestra, named after Deanna’s sister. Their presence offers a sense of family to Soji, who has lost everything, including herself, and no longer trusts anyone. The episode lasts almost an hour, and on the planet Nepenthe has a really slow pace even by the standards of this show, but for once the development of the story isn’t rushed and Soji has the time to create a connection with the others.

In Nepenthe’s still quite wild landscape, it’s easy for Picard, Riker and Troi to show Soji that they’re old friends who have seen a lot together, moments stressed by the music of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. There’s certainly an element of nostalgia for old fans but it seemed to me well included in the new story with a precise sense. Kestra heard so many stories from her parents and is the first who tells some of them to Soji and ask her if she’s an android. That moment represents the end of her identity’s destruction and the beginning new identity’s construction, also thanks to what was Data’s family.

“Nepenthe” is an episode that has various facets and could represent the quiet before the storm we can expect in the last few episodes. The Zhat Vash knows Soji’s homeworld so we can expect more fighting.

William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) and Kestra (Lulu Wilson) in Nepenthe (Image courtesy CBS All Access / Amazon Prime Video)
William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) and Kestra (Lulu Wilson) in Nepenthe (Image courtesy CBS All Access / Amazon Prime Video)

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