Geordi got his friend back in a synthetic body alongside his brother, and Deanna and Bill are prisoners of Vadic, but at least we’ve got Tuvok. Kind of. Directed by Deborah Kampmeier, Kampmeier is known for directing some indie things, that Walking Dead anthology, an episode of Discovery, and of course that Josh Brolin-led neo-Western Sci-fi thing that was canned after two seasons, Outer Range. While “Dominion” was once again written by a sole writer, Jane Maggs. The last of Maggs’ run, she co-wrote “Seventeen Seconds” alongside other episodes, and notably wrote some Anne and The Man Who Fell to Earth.

After playing a game of hide and seek with everyone working for the Changelings, the Titan sets a trap that could have worked if it wasn’t for some lore with Lore. Told you I could sum “Dominion” up in a sentence, even if that wasn’t very detailed. Not as good, I’ll say that much off of the bat, but not bad either. Even the plateau episodes of Star Trek: Picard season 3 are pretty good. I want to say “Dominion” was an emotionally heavy episode but unlike our previous outing in “The Bounty,” it is heavier in a darker sense.

Getting a little more back story on Vadic, what makes her the way she is, and whose form she stole, we’re once again dredging up the Deep Space Nine-based past. Hell, there was a whole discussion in a boardroom about morality and genocide, what is this, Star Trek? Oh yeah. Not only do we get Vadic looking into the past, but we’ve got Seven talking to “Tuvok” and Geordi pleading with Data as Lore attempts to take a stranglehold of the synthetic body the two are in. I might have even gotten a little emotionally connected to Jack.

I hate saying it because it truly isn’t as bad as— you know where I was going. Unlike season 1 or 2, the “less memorable” episodes if we can call it that, or maybe episodes focused on throwing us forward instead of pushing, “Dominion” is good from a technical aspect. It may not be the best from a larger emotional connection and wholly Star Trek perspective though. For one, it is a touch more action-orientated: The Titan crew laying a trap that maybe goes a bit sideways by the end. That’s hardly a spoiler, the next episode is called “Surrender.”

Before that the Changelings were attempting to set up a trap of their own, now we know they want Picard and Jack, it becomes something a bit different. Seven attempts to bleed information from Tuvok, or “Tuvok.” That’s the trouble with these Changelings, they know how to replicate faces better now, and they know how to blend in. I don’t often do this because I think it is mostly incidental when you can hear it, and when it calls attention to itself it distracts from something more important, but the score here was great.

The tension screams that something is concerning, Seven does that “remember our thing only we know,” the Changeling gets it right, and she does it again on another bit of Tuvok-Seven lore, and the mask slips. It is not just the music swell as the revelation happens, it is the tone it sets. The first bit, which is about games of Kal-toh, it goes from high strings putting you on edge, swelling into that low brass-based TNG-sounding theme, which Picard season 3’s theme sounds like too. As that fades away from our false security of TNG, we’re thrown back to more high-tension “generic” beats to remind you it is tense.

That piece of music or that segment that brings in a true sense of tone is emblematic of what “Dominion” is. It is something doing the very basics well, it shows off with a bit of nostalgia to make your groin tingle and returns to doing the basics without trying to overdo it. All the big emotional bits: Geordi trying to get his friend back and pleading with Lore, talk of the Dominion war, and Jack trying to do the right thing, that’s all well and good. That’s the nostalgia. Everything else feels very much like going through the motions to get to the next segment, which is mostly action.

To return to where I left off before talking about the opening and music, the trap is a rouse of handing over Jack. Basically offering themselves up to Vadic as she feels the grip tighten around her from Skull Face, as played by a weatherman for KCBC-KCAL instead of Scar from Disney Dreamlight Valley. Maybe I can go one week without doing obscure, connect-the-dots referencing, but that isn’t this week. As I say, it is an episode that is moving the plot along but not very much else of note.

It is big nostalgic pieces connecting the dots between action bits of Vadic’s minions running around the ship and breaking free from the barriers. Lore is the one dropping them from the central main frame of the ship’s computer or something. Really I couldn’t care to pay attention to where exactly, we’ve got Brent Spiner doing a one-man production of 12 Angry Men, or 1 Angry Robot and Pinocchio. It felt like every time Bono snapped his fingers we went from Data to Lore, to Data, and back to Lore.

In the broader strokes, “Dominion” certainly feels more Star Trek than its prior parts, but more so the supplemental episodes of the 24 episodic season. There is a big emotional beat or two, some more subtle ones too, but where “The Bounty” and “No Win Scenario” succeed, “Dominion” is leaving something on the table. As much as I’ll praise Amanda Plummer in her role as Vadic, the episode that takes a more central focus on the character just isn’t quite… there? It is difficult to explain, especially as we hear about her and other Changelings being tested on, tortured, and so on.

The very thing that makes us empathetic to Odo is being used once again for the villain. There is a bit more of a nuanced rant to go on about Dr Mora Pol and Odo’s relationship, the Cardassian occupation, and generally how despite being called “nothing” he was very much loved and adored. It paints a darker picture of Starfleet, of course, but does little (thus far) to make Vadic’s actions seem even slightly justified. We’re supposed to feel that Thanos thing that some psychos do, it is supposed to be justified but realistically seems like the quickest way to get to a cruel “ends justify the means” conclusion.

Don’t get me wrong, it hits the metaphorical notes that it tries to hit, I just don’t think they were as high or powerful as we’ve seen elsewhere in the season. The line about genocide and how Starfleet “voted not to give [the cure] to us,” that’s impactful, for multiple reasons. Yet the goal feels like that of a Saturday morning cartoon villain with the veil of Shakespeare cladding, masking the simplicities of a plan that is effectively thwarted in my mind as a viewer. The second act falls for our brave intrepid new adventurers before the third act triumph, if you will.

I’ve tried to say it throughout, “Dominion” isn’t a bad episode. The biggest beats that hit are those of Vadic being interrogated and Lore looking Geordi in the (blue) eyes, telling him that his friend won’t save them this time. What “Dominion” is, is an effective “Tune in to the next exciting episode” episode, but not much else.

Ultimately, “Dominion” is a good vehicle to get us to the next point in the plot, but the journey outside of a few metaphorical landmarks hardly stands out. Where “The Bounty” and “No Win Scenario” are memorable from scene to scene for the most part, there is a handful of scenes to memorize from minute to minute here. Especially forgettable are the action scenes, with super-soldier/sleeper-agent Jack getting in people’s heads.

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Star Trek: Picard "Dominion"

7

Score

7.0/10

Pros

• Those musical stings in the "Tuvok" scenes.
• Talk of morality, it might even suggest this is Star Trek or something.
• Lore-Data, Brent Spiner was too good to be wasted on previous seasons.

Cons

• Serviceable, but just to get us to the next point in the story.