Through the prodding of Jurati, who is slowly being assimilated as the new Borg Queen, we see the Borg for the first time being presented a new way. An era currently being defined by democracies sliding closer and closer toward fascist futures highlighted by poverty, racism, and a gigantic wealth gap. There has been a lot of talk through the years about the Borg being overused and being a Trek antagonist with nothing left to mine, but here showrunner Terry Matalas has turned the Borg into something vital in our 21st century life. The deconstruction of the Borg that takes place in “Hide and Seek,” is nothing short of brilliant. Raffi (Michelle Hurd) and Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) catch their breath. People that have been disenfranchised by the Borg and ICE (yep, you read that right), or who have suffered without help or sympathy from debilitating mental health issues. Or put in another way, the world is filled with people that need our help. Through those many machinations of “Hide and Seek,” we see two heavy themes of the season collide in the episode, where the basic tenet that the galaxy is filled with lives that need saving is being showcased. That heroic crew quickly splits up into three sets of pairs: Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Tallinn (Orla Brady) in the tunnels underneath Chateau Picard, Seven (Jeri Ryan) and Raffi (Michelle Hurd) working their way through a number of fire fights to get all the way back to the ship, and Rios (Santiago Cabrera) and Ramirez (Sol Rodriguez) being beamed back to Tallinn’s apartment to protect her and her son. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) is still exerting her influence from inside the emerging new Borg Queen, who is trying to seize control of La Sirena - while simultaneously utilizing Adam Soong’s (Brent Spiner) new drone army to hunt down the crew. The structure of this episode is a simple one. But who knows, maybe the finale will!) Jurati (Alison Pill) in a mental stand-off with the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching). (Of course, let’s be clear: if you already have an issue with the Picard narrative choices –basically a full season of Star Trek taking place on modern day Earth with nary a spaceship in sight - this episode will do nothing to change your mind. In many ways, this episode could have served as a satisfying season finale - albeit with more than a few threads left to untangle - so the fact we still get one more episode to deal with things like Q, Renée Picard, time travel and more, just further imprints exactly how successful this unique 10-chapter season of Star Trek has been. From the anguish of mental health, to the power of connection, to a mind-bending deconstruction of the Borg, “Hide and Seek” packs a wallop or two or three as the powerful, impactful, game-changing penultimate episode of Star Trek: Picard’s second season.
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