Picard strolls through a vast archive that looks a lot like a Jedi Holocron temple. What information is he seeking? Borg technology, or something even more sinister? We hear him plead with a Starfleet admiral, “We have an obligation to investigate.”
She dismisses him quickly with, “There is no we, Jean-Luc.” His time with Starfleet is over. He belongs in the vineyard, and not amongst the stars. Picard, of course, is a stubborn man. He will forever seek the truth even if that leads him to a dark dungeon of android slaves. Who is this F-8 with his locker of duplicates? The last we knew, both Lore and Data were destroyed, and their simple-minded brother B-4 could barely whistle a tune. Their design was far too complicated to replicate, but someone solved the riddle.
Picard will not discover his answers on Earth or with the organization that once trusted him so implicitly. This is no longer his house. He needs to get off-planet, and he’s going to have to work outside the usual channels to get the job done.
In a shot more reminiscent of Blade Runner than anything else we’ve seen in the Star Trek franchise, a couple watches a series of holograms through a storefront window. Each one depicts Picard’s face chattering away. Why’s he on the news? Is he making waves that Starfleet won’t appreciate? Most likely. Picard is going to have to go full-Kirk and risk treason.
David Paymer, an actor new to Star Trek, asks Picard if he really wants to go out into the cold?
You’re damn right. “More than ever,” states Picard, and we see him slap his old USS Enterprise-E combadge on his chest.
Cut to Vasquez Rocks. Possibly the most famous location in all of sci-fi, serving as the backdrop to the Kirk vs. Gorn royale rumble of the original series as well as Vulcan in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and a dozen other locations in a dozen other franchises.
Cast in its shadow, Picard sits with his first recruit, Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd). Well, she might not be that “new.” She seems to know the drill, “Another top-secret, unauthorized rescue mission?” So, maybe Picard hasn’t just been chilling in the vineyard these past 20 years. Maybe there have been a number of skirmishes we haven’t been privy to yet. Based on her mocking tone, and the touch of contempt she seems to hold for the former captain, we can assume that she was part of some failed mission and possibly the firefight we glimpsed at the start of the trailer.
Related Topics: Patrick Stewart, Shot by Shot, Star Trek, Star Trek: Picard, Trailers
