I spoke too soon, we don’t get rid of him just yet. Once again directed by Doug Aarniokoski with Matthew Okumura editing, and staff writers Christopher B. Derrick, Juliana James, and Kiley Rossetter returning. The teleplay is written by the returning Akiva Goldsman and Terry Matalas, as well as Christopher Monfette, who’s best known for probably working on the 12 Monkeys show of 2015, Fox drama 9-1-1, and previously working for IGN. All three above also worked on the story, but so did Michael Chabon, in his last act of touching Star Trek: Picard. That’s something for which we can all thank Christ.

Following the reveal of Q’s intervention due to Picard’s suicide, the group (minus Soji) wakes up in this dystopian nightmare of “The Confederation of Earth.” Oh good, I was just starting to enjoy a bit of new Star Trek, I’m so glad you came along and defecated all over it with “Picard is a warmongering racist full of hatred, now.” Of course, the one we see isn’t, but the man of this time period, this divergence in the timeline, or however it is supposed to be phrased is, as that was explained in a clunky manner. I get it, before there are comments, it just isn’t written well to explain it in-universe.

JL gets the “down low” from yet another dying artifact of TNG (oh, how I love these depressing stories), on how he’s the butcher of the Klingons, the Cardassians, and every known alien in every known sector of the galaxy. Agnes is still lonely, Rios is back on the Confederation-dressed La Sirena, and Rafi is still looking out for Elnor because she views him as a child. Meanwhile, Annika Hansen has to deal with the fact she’s not got metal over her face from her prior designation as Seven-of-Nine, and take on the duties as President of the Confederation of Earth.

I’ll admit, I think my “complaints” with the episode (and episodes to come) are partially from knowing where it is going. As was the case back in season 1. As an episode “Penance” isn’t bad, which I hate repeating so often, though it does languish in trope-y, “aren’t I so grown up now” TV writing all because of its dystopian beginnings. Despite nothing last time out, we’ve returned to the swearing to lazily show urgency or anger – another attempt to pretend this Hunger Games-influenced nightmare induced by Q is for adults.

The trouble with saying that “Penance” isn’t bad is that I’ve only got one more thing I like about the episode and it is Annie Wersching. I’m bringing this up because by all things holy is she good, almost so much you’d think Alice Krige had returned despite her hatred of the makeup. No, the Bosch, 24, Vampire Diaries, Enterprise, Timeless, Runaways, and of course, The Last of Us actor who passed due to cancer in 2023 took up the role and ran with it. This goes throughout the season, but she nails it beautifully. From tiny movements to simple expressions, she’s a joy of the season overall.

So let’s get back to hating on Picard: How I don’t like Pill’s rambling as if she’s reading from another Aaron Sorkin script, I could not describe the ways. Nor could I describe how much I hate the endless use of lens flare: my Christ, are you trying to blind me so I can’t write up rude things in my notes? As I complain, I might as well throw in Elnor’s blasé attitude to murder, even if they are Nazi space-confederates, why would I (a Star Trek fan) cheer on the murder of sentient beings? Knock them out, sure, but slitting throats?

I’ll get into it in later episodes, but it is surprising to know Goldman is heavily involved with Strange New Worlds as well as all these other live-action Treks we’ve gotten over the years. We already had a bit of what I’ll complain about with “The Star Gazer,” trying to explain away Guinan’s simple existence with a bit of midwifery about slowly aging if she wants to. Meanwhile, we’ve got Carol Kane in Strange New Worlds as a Lanthanite, similar to an El-Aurian, but where one is described as long-living, the other has a lifespan of “almost forever.” We’ll get back to that.

I think what breaks my illusion of “Penance,” beyond the use of Édith Piaf’s “Non, je ne regrette rien,” is the fact I don’t know how exactly the group are supposed to know how any of this time travel nonsense works. They realize the timeline is wonky, they can see that the great Jean-Luc Picard isn’t going senile and chopping up aliens like Boone Helm, so they devise a plan to go back in time. Luckily there are saucepans for exposition falling down the stairs as the Borg Queen can see the cracks in time. Fantastic… Are we sure she’s not got her own motives?

The whole plan for saving time and returning to the Federation (not Confederation) is that we’ll do the Kirk maneuver, which even The Orville did in its third season. It is a simple time travel trick for sci-fi to employ and use to great effect in sparing situations, mostly on account of it being noted as quite dangerous. It isn’t precise, so who knows when you could end up? However, that’s my question. At this point, I don’t think JL, Annika, Agnes, Rafi, or Rios (sorry, kid, you ain’t the smart one) know when the fracture in time came to be, so we’re trusting the Borg Queen to do the calculations?

As Annika notes, the Queen knows all of the fractures in time – she’s driven mad and is mumbling to herself in Nazi-Agnes’ lab, how do we know she’ll hit the right date and how long does she give the team? Narrative-wise, it works out, of course, but in the writing I’m left wanting someone double-checking the Queen’s sums here. I want a bit of a guarantee the people we’ve grown to care about are going to be safe and protected from evil plans; I do know where this evil “plan” leads and it isn’t much of one either.

“Penance” isn’t a bad episode, and it isn’t as slowly paced as “Maps and Legends” or “The End is the Beginning.” We’re still in that same vein of slower storytelling, but I’m not holding my breath we’ll be in 2401 for long. The series overall has picked up a bit of pace from this same point last season, however, at this point I’d want some well-worked-out plan of where we’re heading. Unlike season 1, I am more confident there is an end goal, it is simply how we get there that’s going to be the problem, and reflectively, why.

Ultimately, “Penance” is that episode where our heroes have to fight the oppressive overlords of the horrible, climate-collapsed, xenophobic, hate-filled timeline and make it back home. So 2024. A fairly standard fare of finding and figuring out if everyone is happy to head home or if they want to do the Pill-Special and triple-cross so she can flare her nostrils again. The shining light, aside from the sad reminders of JJ-Trek’s influence on the franchise, is of course Annie Wersching’s fantastic debut as the Borg Queen.

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Star Trek: Picard "Penance"

6.5

Score

6.5/10

Pros

• Annie Wersching is absolutely stunning in this role.

Cons

• Damn you JJ-Trek!
• Did we need to explain Guinan's aging?
• That's it Elnor, slit up more people. This is clearly Star Wars.