Star Trek: Picard (1×08) Broken Pieces Review

For our review of last week’s episode, click here.

How does this episode start? With another expositionary flashback of course!

Fourteen years ago on Aia, the Grief World where the secret organization of Zhat Vash is created to protect the universe from the Destroyers. The Romulan women receive visions that cause them to go mad with Commodore Oh watching over them. Only two remain: Narissa and Ramdha, who both make it their life mission to prevent these horrors. Here’s what happened in “Broken Pieces.”

This season was doing so well after a slowly paced and information heavy first four episodes, but unfortunately it does a 180 and starts running backwards. It’s time for exposition again and lots of it. The show at least manages to answer many of its big questions rather than leave them for a later season, but it happens in one conversation where the crew dissect everything that has happened since we started following them.

The episode pushes Picard and Soji to the sidelines after they were the focus last week to instead catch up with everyone else. Seven of Nine is facing off against the Romulans with Elnor. Raffi is playing detective to find out that Rios knew Soji’s predecessor in his traumatic past. It all seems very formulaic and by extension not as interesting as it could have been. It’s lazy writing and Picard deserves better. It becomes an episode filled with illogical narrative choices, cliches and forced dramatic moments that are filler to allow more exposition to be brought into this series.

Captain’s Log

• How will Picard stop the Romulans?
• What’s in store for Picard and Soji?

What did you think of “Broken Pieces”? Let me know in the comments below!

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Dylan Phillips