Star Trek: Picard is an American television series created by Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Kirsten Beyer, and Alex Kurtzman for the streaming service CBS All Access (later rebranded as Paramount+). It is the eighth Star Trek series and was launched in 2020 as part of Kurtzman's expanded Star Trek Universe. The series features a retired Jean-Luc Picard, who has been deeply affected by the death of Data in the film Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) and the destruction of the planet Romulus in the film Star Trek (2009).
Star Trek: Picard premiered on CBS All Access on January 23, 2020, and its first season ran for 10 episodes until March 26. The second season is set to debut on Paramount+ on March 3, 2022, with the third premiering in early 2023. The series was met with positive reviews from critics, who praised Stewart's performance and the focus on character over action, though some criticized the series' slow pace. Several tie-in projects were created for the series, including an episode of the companion series Star Trek: Short Treks.
Season ONE
1 "Remembrance"
In an interview, retired Starfleet Admiral Jean-Luc Picard reveals that he resigned in protest after Starfleet abandoned plans to rescue Romulan citizens from a supernova when rogue synthetics attacked the rescue fleet. Starfleet banned the creation of synthetics after the attack. Romulan assassins attack a young woman named Dahj and kill her partner. This triggers something in Dahj, and she is able to kill the assassins. Experiencing visions of Picard and seeing his interview, Dahj seeks him out. After meeting her, Picard visits Starfleet Archives and finds a painting that features a figure who resembles Dahj. Entitled "Daughter", the painting was given to Picard by his android former lieutenant commander Data. More assassins attack Picard and Dahj, and Dahj is killed. Picard meets with Dr. Agnes Jurati at the Daystrom Institute, who explains that Dahj could be Data's daughter due to an experimental procedure known as fractal neuronic cloning, which results in twin androids with organic bodies. Meanwhile, Dahj's twin, Soji Asha, is working in a Borg Cube that has been reclaimed by Romulan refugees.
2 "Maps and Legends"
Hoping to find Soji before the assassins get to her, Picard investigates Dahj's apartment with his Romulan employee Laris. The latter believes the assassins may be members of the Zhat Vash, a secretive organization with a deep-rooted hatred of synthetics, and helps Picard discover Soji's location from Dahj's computer. On the Borg Cube, called the "Artifact", Soji develops a relationship with Romulan agent Narek while she works on a project to remove Borg technology from former Borg drones. Despite the onset of a terminal illness, Picard asks Starfleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy for a ship and crew to find Soji. She refuses him and refers the incident to Starfleet's security chief Commodore Oh, who discusses it with a lieutenant; this is Narek's sister Narissa in disguise. Narissa led the assassins to kill Dahj while Narek is approaching his target, Soji, with seduction rather than violence. Picard decides to find and save Soji himself and begins to assemble a new crew, starting with his former Starfleet first officer Raffi Musiker.
3 "The End Is the Beginning"
When Picard resigned following the synth attack on Mars, Starfleet fired Raffi. Now she resents him for that, and for not helping her in the subsequent years, and refuses to join him. However, she does find him a freelance pilot named Rios. On the Artifact, the reclamation project's director, the former Borg drone Hugh, allows Soji to interview a Romulan that has been reclaimed from the Borg. This Romulan declares Soji to be "the destroyer" and tries to kill herself, but Soji unknowingly uses her enhanced speed to stop this from happening. Narissa warns Narek not to get emotionally attached to Soji. Oh approaches Dr. Jurati, who reveals her discussion with Picard. Shortly after this, Picard is attacked by Zhat Vash operatives. Jurati helps kill all of them but one, who also calls Soji "the destroyer" before committing suicide. Picard agrees to take Jurati on his mission to find Soji, and the pair transport aboard Rios's ship La Sirena. There they are also joined by Raffi, who believes that Soji's creator Bruce Maddox is on the planet Freecloud and will travel with them that far.
4 "Absolute Candor"
Picard asks Rios to make a detour to the planet Vashti, where he helped relocate Romulan refugees before the attack on Mars. Picard had befriended a young boy named Elnor and promised to return for him, but abandoned the boy after he resigned from Starfleet. Elnor was then raised by the Qowat Milat, warrior nuns who have sworn an oath of absolute candor. Picard asks Elnor to join his quest; Elnor initially refuses, but changes his mind when Picard is attacked by Romulans who resent Starfleet for abandoning the evacuation effort. Picard and Elnor beam up to La Sirena, where Rios and Raffi are fighting with a local warlord. A mystery ship helps La Sirena win the battle but is damaged in the process. They beam the pilot, former Borg drone Seven of Nine, to La Sirena. On the Artifact, Soji tries to learn more about the Romulans that were assimilated by the Artifact and their prophesied "destroyer". Narek offers to get her information on the Romulans, but the pair have a falling out when he expresses doubt about Soji's past. Narissa gives Narek one week to get information on other synths from Soji.
5 "Stardust City Rag"
Years ago, Seven of Nine was forced to euthanize her close friend Icheb after his Borg implants were ripped out by black market dealer Bjayzl. Now, Seven travels with La Sirena to Freecloud, where Raffi learns that Bjayzl has Maddox captive and intends to sell him to the Romulans. To free Maddox, Picard's crew stage a prisoner exchange with Seven as the bait. Meanwhile, Raffi unsuccessfully tries to reconnect with her estranged son Gabriel before returning to La Sirena. When Bjayzl recognizes Seven, the latter drops the charade and reveals her true intention: to kill Bjayzl and avenge Icheb. Picard convinces Seven not to seek revenge, and Maddox is safely beamed to La Sirena. Later, Seven returns to Freecloud and kills Bjayzl without Picard's knowledge. In the La Sirena sickbay, Maddox tells Picard that he sent Soji and Dahj to the Artifact and Earth, respectively, in order to discover the true motivation behind the Starfleet synth ban. Once left alone by Picard, Jurati confronts Maddox and discusses the fact that they used to secretly be in a relationship together. Jurati then murders Maddox.
6 "The Impossible Box"
Narek realizes that Soji has the same nightmare each night, and plans to use this to find where she was created. Struggling with the guilt of murdering Maddox, Jurati has sex with Rios. To board the Artifact without causing a diplomatic incident with the Romulans, Picard asks Raffi to procure official clearance from the Federation. Raffi, drunk and high following her son's rejection, convinces an old Starfleet acquiantance to provide the clearance. This allows Picard to beam aboard the Artifact and reconnect with Hugh. Due to Narek's manipulation, Soji begins to discover that her identity was recently manufactured, and he guides her through the Romulan meditation practice of Zhal Makh to explore her dreams: she is able to identify clues hinting at the place she was created. Narek tells Soji that she is not real, and attempts to poison her with radiation. This activates her self-defense mechanism which allows her to survive. Soji runs into Picard, and Hugh helps them transport to the nearby planet Nepenthe. Elnor beams aboard the Artifact to help Hugh cover their tracks.
7 "Nepenthe"
When Jurati was approached by Oh, the latter used a Vulcan mind meld to reveal the horrifying potential consequences of allowing synthetic life like Soji to exist. Jurati agreed to help destory her, and ingested a tracking device. Narek now uses that to track La Sirena until a guilt-ridden Jurati takes an injection that places her in a coma and stops the tracking. Elnor's attempts to protect Hugh on the Artifact are unsuccessful when Narissa fatally wounds Hugh. Before dying, Hugh gives Elnor a device to signal Seven of Nine's vigilante group, the Fenris Rangers. On Nepenthe, Picard reunites with his old friends and colleagues William Riker and Deanna Troi, whose son Thad died after the medical procedure he required was banned as part of the synthetic ban. Riker, Troi, and their daughter Kestra give shelter to Picard and Soji until La Sirena arrives. Troi and Riker can see Soji's pain following Narek's betrayal, and help Picard begin to earn her trust. The family also try to help Soji come to terms with being an android, and are able to help identify the location from her dream.
8 "Broken Pieces"
Picard and Soji beam aboard La Sirena, and Rios has a panic attack when he sees Soji. When Jurati wakes up she offers to turn herself over to Starfleet, and after meeting Soji she chooses not to harm her. Rios tells Raffi about his Starfleet captain, who murdered two people on Starfleet's orders before committing suicide. Raffi also pieces together that the Romulans discovered a warning from a past civilization about the horrors of evolved synthetic life, and the Zhat Vash sent the half-Romulan Oh to infiltrate Starfleet and instigate the Mars attack as part of their anti-synth plan. The people Rios's captain murdered were synths from Soji's homeworld, and one of them, Janna, looked just like her. Hearing this activates memories for Soji and she plots a course for her home, still followed by Narek. On the Artifact, Seven of Nine arrives to help Elnor fight the Romulans. She connects with the Cube and the Borg drones that are in stasis on it, but the Romulans kill all of the drones by releasing them into space. The Romulans then abandon the Artifact and prepare to invade the synth world.
9–10 "Et in Arcadia Ego"
Part 1:
Using a Borg transwarp conduit, La Sirena arrives at Soji's homeworld, Coppelius, several days before the Romulan fleet. Narek arrives and attacks, but is interrupted when the Artifact follows them through the transwarp conduit as well. A planetary defense system in the form of giant orchids drags the three ships to the planet's surface, and Picard requires medical attention following the crash. Jurati discovers his terminal illness, and Picard reveals it to the rest of the crew. After finding Elnor and Seven alive in the wreckage of the Artifact, the crew travels to the settlement where Dahj and Soji were created. They find Maddox's partner (and the son of Data's creator) Altan Inigo Soong with a colony of synths, including Janna's twin Sutra. Sutra uses a mind meld to see the vision Oh showed Jurati, and believes that it is a message to synthetic life from higher beings willing to destroy organic life. Soong, Soji, and the other synths support Sutra's plan to call these beings before the Romulans arrive. Picard disagrees, and is taken prisoner.
Part 2:
Narek convinces Raffi, Rios, and Elnor to help him destroy the synths' beacon. Jurati frees Picard and the pair escape to La Sirena, which Picard flies to confront and stall the Romulans. Narissa targets La Sirena with the Artifacts' defenses, but is stopped and killed by Seven of Nine. Soong discovers that Sutra worked with Narek to convince the other synths to agree with her plan, and he incapacitates her. Soji foils the attempt to destroy the beacon, and activates it. Picard begins to succumb to his illness, but Jurati prolongs his life long enough for him to distract the Romulans until a Starfleet armada arrives in support, led by Riker. This gives Soji the choice to turn the beacon off herself, which she does, and the Romulans retreat. Picard dies after Jurati and Soong transfer his consciousness into a device holding Maddox's copy of Data's consciousness. Picard says goodbye to Data before awaking in a synthetic "golem" body. After the Federation lifts the ban on synths, Picard and Soji set off in La Sirena with Rios, Raffi, Jurati, Elnor, and Seven of Nine.