Previously on Star Trek: Picard...
You need me, Agnes.
How will you survive without me?
I think I'll steer the ship for a while.
Wait. I-- I'm in control.
Not anymore.
You've been walking around with that big goofy smile on your face
ever since you were locked up with that doctor.
If you ever need anything...
Did you know that she built that clinic from the ground up?
Rios, do not even think about going there.
You remind me a bit of my mother.
She, too, loved the stars.
And she, too, struggled.
Why do I feel like I know you?
Oh, God.
- He's got a pulse. - We have to get him to a hospital.
I know someone.
Clear.
He's stable but not responsive.
Everything's working. I'm not sure why he's not waking up.
Brain activity should be minimal in a coma.
I could go in using my neuro-optic interceptor.
Once I gain access to his mind,
I can hack into whatever memory or thought he's fixated on.
We don't protect Renée, we don't get our future back.
And we need Picard awake to do that.
The true sovereign of nature.
Giving life.
Allowing life.
And yet, we know it will be the thing that one day swallows us all.
Shall we, um, get back to it then?
Oh, yeah. Let's. Let's, shall we? Yes.
So, forgive me, I'm just-- I'm rarely in the sky.
Where were we?
You were humoring me, I think.
You have a fear of enclosed spaces, was the last thing you said to me.
I don't mean to do your job for you.
Yeah. Naming your fear is not my job.
But analysis is. So, shall we?
Of course. Proceed.
The man who hates enclosed spaces
spends his life in the infinite cosmos.
It's almost too obvious.
Isn't it?
But then, the man chooses a life on a vessel
where his only access to the outside is holographic.
Now the man becomes more interesting.
That concern you at all?
Does that bother you in any way, you're not very interesting.
It's not my job to be interesting.
But aren't we more than our jobs?
Maybe not. Maybe not in your case.
Even your closest friends call you captain.
- So, uh, Jean- - Luc, who's he?
This line of questioning is absurd.
I've been humoring you for the last 40 minutes.
Look, thi-- this is just a routine psych evaluation.
No need to get head up.
You-- you seem-- You You seem to be a little uneasy.
You are making me uneasy.
If we're being truthful, this is highly unorthodox.
It's as if you're looking for something, anything, to...
pull me apart.
Well, for your information, we've actually been here for 20 minutes.
Not 40.
To put a point on it, you need to give me something.
And if you don't want to talk, that's fine.
I have to tell someone that I spent an hour with you.
So, in the meantime, we're just stuck here.
Know any good jokes?
Uh, okay. Tell me a story.
- I beg your pardon? - A story.
Like a kids' story. Like a children's story.
Any kind of story.
It can be a simple exercise to help with opening your mind.
I wouldn't know where to begin.
No.
Why don't you begin with that?
Make something, you know...
Once upon a time...
there was a queen...
with fiery red hair.
Like the sun. That's very good.
Carry on.
And she...
was female.
Telling stories is not really your thing, is it?
No.
But it was hers.
Who?
The queen...
with the red hair.
"I suppose you win," said the prince to the evil sorcerer.
"Oh, but just one more thing."
The sorcerer, poised to reduce them to fractions of dust, stopped.
His magic was gone.
Stolen back in the very manner he had arrived by it in the first place.
Beaten at his own game, he melted.
And all was right again.
In time, they would forget he was ever there.
But they would never forget the lesson:
There is no better teacher than one's enemy.
She was quite an unusual queen
in how she chose to spend her days, telling tales.
Perhaps it was because she knew her time with him was borrowed.
You're like your father.
Expression comes from his hands, not his mouth.
I don't want to be like him.
It's not all bad, my love.
I want to be like you.
Nevertheless, you're a prince.
You must learn to lift people up in times of grave danger.
To lead them with inspiring speech.
I'll never be able to do that.
But you will. I know.
Because I know the future.
In a way, she did.
Like an animal, she could feel danger in her bones
before anyone else in the room.
Perhaps, she was magic, or that's what happens
when you live in a world where monsters are real.
I want you to understand how deeply I love you.
No matter what your life brings.
If I know you forever or if I know you for moments.
In every breath, who you are is who I'm so proud of you for becoming.
Hurry.
Hurry, hurry, hurry.
Go.
Get up.
- No! - Maman!
What's going on in there, JL?
- Are you ready? - Yeah.
Jurati's still MIA.
So we're gonna use La Sirena's sensors to try and track her combadge,
given her slightly alarming behavior.
- Uh, singing. - Kissing.
- Sorry, what now? - Ask her.
Just be careful, okay?
- You sure that'll work? - Not in the slightest.
Is she out of her mind?
Kissing Rios?
Look, if that whole thing starts up again, I-- I quit the gang.
No, seriously, I don't think I have it in me.
What? Oh. Oh, you and me?
Nah, see, we're-- we're totally different.
No, our pain's beautiful and tragic, and everyone loves hearing about it.
Absolutely.
Plus, we're the main event.
Now, Jurati and Rios, they're like a side story.
And obviously, you know how the main story ends.
What, you mean once we're through all this shit?
Well, the premonition I'm having is us, old,
and we sit on park benches,
tripping teenagers on floaty things with our canes.
- I'm better at it than you. - Of course.
Initiating scan for Jurati's combadge.
- Wha-- Whoa. What did you do? - Nothing.
I tried to access the ship's optical data network, and it kicked me out.
And now I'm locked out.
By who?
Not who. What.
This encryption isn't human by design. It's Borg.
The Queen?
- What the hell did she do to our ship? - I don't know.
But if we can't get access and something's wrong with Jurati,
we're never gonna find her.
Not to mention, this ship is our only way home.
This should allow me into his mind.
What you said-- Um, "take his lead."
Let him show you how to help him out.
How?
Leap of faith?
It's kinda how I roll.
Hoping it makes sense when I get in there.
What is this?
Do you need a moment?
I'm fine.
I wasn't aware Starfleet employed psychologists like you anymore.
Well, Starfleet, obviously, judge and jury of all things meritorious.
Is that resentment?
It's true. The human version is clearly a lesser mortal.
But there are those who have built such walls around their wounds,
even a Betazoid can't get a read.
You're implying that's me.
Well, you never finished your story.
Sometimes a story ends with a boy lost and alone in a dungeon.
Right.
What are you writing?
Only that you're hopelessly bleak.
I'm actually recommending that you be relieved
of your command position immediately,
lest you take the crew on a suicide mission
just to feel something.
There are a thousand ways to die out there.
What is it you say?
- Come on, Jean- - Luc.
Dig deeper.
Fine. The boy was alone in the...
No, wait.
He wasn't.
I am Locutus of Borg.
You are dangerous. They're only victims.
You made them what they are. I would rather die as the man I was...
Defend your way of life and then you discarded them.
Picard?
So, this is your mind, sober.
I bet five-drink Picard is a blast.
Hello?
I'm trying to help someone.
You seem to be on his mind.
Why are you down here by yourself?
Because I can't leave.
She always said, if we get separated, to stay put.
Okay.
It's okay.
Who said?
My mother.
I have to stay put, or she won't know where to find me.
Well, you're the only one down here, and you seem pretty stuck.
So, I'm thinking, maybe I should help unstick you.
How do I do that?
I'm not leaving without my mother.
And you can't just find her.
You'd have to save her.
All right.
Then let's try that.
A monster took her.
And everything down here is on his side.
Come on! This way!
The hour-long evaluation is complete.
You may terminate your session now.
Oh, go on.
Go on.
Back to wherever it is you're hiding from yourself.
I can't say I wasn't warned.
You're stubborn.
It's one of the things I was told about you.
You've been told things about me?
Inquired about me specifically?
I've had enough.
What is this?
Something else!
Define "something else."
Something...
else.
Something else is happening here, and this is not real.
Or it is, but it's--
Ah, maybe.
But it's all within your control.
Ironic, isn't it?
We're all here for you, Picard.
Only you can stop it.
Say something real.
One real thing.
Why do you think we're here?
Because...
I'm stuck.
We are.
What does that mean?
And who are you?
I'm a studier of the human condition, and you are a captain.
Ethical. Diplomatic. Cultured.
An affinity for the arts, intellectual thought.
And yet, perpetually untethered in the ways of the heart.
Untethered?
Relevance?
Why do you find it so difficult - to be open, Jean- - Luc?
To let people in?
You hold them-- You hold everyone at arm's length.
Lest-- Lest what?
Perhaps there's a version of yourself you're hiding.
Something you're afraid others will see.
A darker version, perhaps.
A secret shame?
A guilt? What is it?
What is it you define yourself by?
What is this?
What is this banging?
I think we both know where that's coming from.
- The ever-righteous Jean- - Luc.
You like others saying it.
You need others to say it because if they do,
then that allows you to push the truth away a little longer.
- You're so obsessed with virtue, Jean- - Luc...
...that the very story that you're telling me is one of good prevailing ove--
Stop!
I never said anything like that!
And you don't know...
how it ends.
We need to get to the white door.
It moves.
It's not always in the same place, but she's behind it.
She always is.
Roger, liftoff, and the clock is started.
Cool EVA suit.
Hope you're up on your zero-gravity combat training.
He's nine.
- A spaceman! - Better.
His babysitter flaked.
Oh, we borrowed some clothes from your lost and found, I-I-I hope that's okay.
How's the patient?
Who, Picard? Ah... ...he's fine.
Can we talk first?
Honey, Mama's going to use some bad words.
I've held back from asking you so many questions...
but this is my clinic,
and you don't lock the goddamn doors of my clinic.
My keys.
You didn't even say the good swear words.
Just, um, k-k-keep an open mind.
What the hell is this?
Procedure.
Why are you walking towards me like a serial killer?
I need to explain something to you without breaking time.
This is not your journey.
You're not supposed to be here.
So no one will miss you when you die.
Let him go.
He's not responding to the lorazepam. We have to take him to the hospital.
No, no. We-- We-- We can't go to the hospital.
We are at life and death. I'm not equipped for this. He could die.
Equipped? Okay.
Raffi, I need some kind of, uh, stabilizer. Stat.
It's for Picard.
- Who are you talking to? - It's-- It's for his brain.
I don't know what's happening.
- Neural oscillator. - Oh, my God.
Teresa, just be in the moment.
Okay, neural-- neural. It affects brain waves.
Amplitude. Frequency. Phase.
Gamma waves? Are you kidding me?
How is this real?
- Who are you? - Focus. You're gonna have to--
If you tell me to trust you one more time!
Am I gonna kill him?
I'm not a doctor, but I trust you.
Are you doing this on purpose?
You don't wanna be unstuck.
What if it's not different this time?
What if it's the same as every other time?
You're never gonna know if you don't get there.
But if you don't leave now, you could be stuck here forever.
And this time, you're not alone.
You did it. He's stable.
Are you from outer space?
No.
I'm from Chile, I just-- I work in outer space.
Mmm. At least the replicators work.
Wait. You're in?
The log was based on a cryptographic algorithm
I remembered from the Collective.
Good?
I thought Agnes had purged all the Borg programs from the ship
- after we crashed. - Landed.
I wanted to understand how she broke into the system,
so I called up the last occurrence of Borg code
being introduced to the computer.
You haven't touched your coffee.
- You never don't touch your coffee. - This is what came up.
That is definitely Borg code she's implanting.
We have to find her. Now.
There is no better teacher than one's enemy.
Tell me a st-- Tell me a story.
You?
Oh, Picard.
I-- I was not-- I was, um...
My ready room.
What's that banging?
He's a monster!
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. - She's in there!
- She's in there! You... - Hey.
Hey.
You've been guarding it all this time.
Her.
You lived longer than I did.
But I got to keep my hair.
Not exactly a fair trade, is it, Son?
You were relentless, Father.
Your cruelty...
You ruined her. You broke her.
You're a monster.
Am I?
Perhaps.
But not in the way you think.
You thought you couldn't save her from a monster...
Look again.
The tunnels.
You said don't go.
Thousand ways...
A thousand ways to die down there.
Take what you love. Hurry.
Come on. We have to go.
It's just a game. "Hide and seek." Down below.
But I'm frightened of the dark.
Yes, but I can't breathe here.
We'll go. You and me.
I won't be sad. Everything will be better now.
You want to be with me?
Shh.
Maman! I'm stuck.
Maman!
It was hours before I found you.
If you hadn't dropped that pad, I never would've known.
Your mother suffered cycles of terrible darkness...
- Please, Papa! Please! - ...and irrational exhilaration.
She needed help, but she wouldn't accept it.
Stop!
- Jean- - Luc, please. - No.
You have to get me out.
I love you. Please.
No light.
Labyrinth.
Rain coming.
You'd have never made it out.
But she...
She would've kept on trying.
There was no monster chasing your mother.
No, there was.
There always was.
But I couldn't save her either.
Not from her own mind.
Perhaps I never really knew you.
You'll do so much with this pain.
You'll save worlds with it.
- Let me out, Jean- - Luc. Please.
Only you can save me.
Wait.
There's more to this, isn't there?
Not bad.
Thanks.
I was talking to my child.
He's a spaceman alien that can make things appear out of thin air.
You promised, little man. Not cool.
First off... I am human.
Oh, my God.
When someone has to earnestly convince you they're human,
you should not have brought them around your kid.
You have instincts about me. Good ones.
I know you do.
You know how many times in my life I've been wrong?
Not this time.
You're loyal to that man.
Respect him.
You know, I never really knew my dad. He wasn't around much, so...
I tend to seek out father figures.
- What do you mean? - Picard.
He feels like a father to me.
Even though I'm not a son to him.
His loss.
Whoever you are.
Who do you want me to be?
A good guy.
I am.
And if I wasn't...
...I would become one right now.
If you are lying and I brought you around my kid...
they will never find your body.
Oye, Ricardo.
Want to see something cool?
I wanna show you something.
Welcome to La Sirena.
My ship.
My... spaceship.
I'm gonna go touch everything!
Do you understand what this could mean?
A Borg Queen loose in Los Angeles.
St-- She's not the Borg Queen. Don't say that.
She's Jurati. Or she's...
Exactly. Is it Jurati with a side of Borg Queen or vice versa?
There. This is last night.
- Maybe she's still there. - I don't know.
I have a feeling a lot of people's lives are gonna depend on us figuring it out.
It might well be the last ♪
I know what people see ♪
And I know what they say ♪
No one's stopping me ♪
And no one's leaving today ♪
You ain't leavin' today ♪
Whoa! Miss, miss! Hey, hey, hey!
All of that happened today.
Jurati?
Not the kind of thing you wanna wake up to, but we're on it.
Well, keep safe.
And keep me informed.
I've got something here to take care of.
Renée?
She's fine.
All quiet.
No sign of Q or the new one.
For now. Soong.
Picard.
You saved her.
I feel you and I just made a quantum leap past personal boundaries.
Well, mine, without doubt.
Well...
How about I give you this much?
Romulan.
I knew it!
You could be an ancestor.
Usually, we're recruited to watch over our own.
But, on occasion, a similar species.
That technology could be very useful.
It has its limitations.
Once I switch it off, I can't use it again for eight hours.
Now, I've gotta walk around all day hiding my truth.
Are you all right?
Oh, yeah. We're losing time.
Doing more harm than good.
- The Mission, Renée-- - I'm not talking about the Mission.
All of that was part of Q's plan?
That you experience that?
That you relive those memories?
I have to take that onboard.
You know there's more to that story, don't you?
Whatever it is, it is irrelevant with what we are trying to fix.
Not if he wants you to know it.
"There is no better teacher than one's enemy."
But I've been letting him control the lessons.
"Know thyself." That's what he wanted.
Know myself.
What if the lesson I take is...
Know him.
I'm not sure I'm following.
I always filed Q as unknowable.
But here he is, so late in my life, still fixated on me.
He needs this trial to happen.
He's saying it's about me, but it's deeply personal
and urgent to him.
If we understand why that is, we can go on offense.
That sounds like you wanna summon Q.
Well, I'm flattered, but that might be beyond my capabilities.
Yours, maybe.
But there's someone else.
Wait a minute, no "So nice to see you, my new old friend.
Thanks for sticking around an extra few days."
Look, I wouldn't ask if I could possibly keep you out of it.
Ask? Is that what just happened?
'Cause, usually, asking comes with a question mark at the end of it.
You know, an up inflection in tone.
But we need answers now.
You can't really want me to summon a Q.
A long time ago, after a long, cold war,
my people and the denizens of the Q Continuum struck a truce.
Denizens?
Well, I'm not gonna call them gods, that's for damn sure.
I'm-- I'm sorry. Go on.
- We El- - Aurians believe food and drink unite us.
So the truce was made over a bottle.
This one.
To my people, every action vibrates.
Every word has resonance.
Metal and liquid can capture the half-life of a moment.
So when I say the truce was made over a bottle...
You mean, the moment itself is still inside?
- El- - Aurians hear the world like music.
Dial in the right note, right memory,
find the right chord and pluck it back.
And you can get the attention of the player.
In our case, our friendly neighborhood Q.
Where is he?
What happened?
It didn't...
work.
I don't understand.
How do we track something we don't understand?
What?
Wh--
Wh-- What are you doing?
Understanding.
Okay.
Pull it up again, her breaking the window.
That rush.
Endorphins.
She's trying to speed up the process.
Nanoprobes multiply, Queen gets stronger.
Less and less Jurati.
How long before she's strong enough to assimilate others?
No idea.
We're witnessing the birth of a new queen.
But if that happens, forget butterflies.
She'll wanna start an empire.
She could assimilate every being on this planet.
We've brought the Borg to Earth before humanity can defend itself.
We're supposed to save the future, but we might have just doomed it.
We need Picard.
I mean, what happened here?
- An El- - Aurian summons a Q, a Q appears.
Is it him?
Mm-mmm.
- Hello? - We're closed.
Oh, it's just, the-- the sign says "open."
Sorry, owner trumps sign. Good night.
It always worked.
I-I-I'm celebrating.
One drink and I'm out of your hair. Please.
Fine. What? What do you want?
Hmm. Well. Uh, let me think.
Let me... see.
Allow me.
You're the type of guy that orders a bourbon,
when he really wants a white wine.
And to cozy up to some boring-ass nonfiction.
You're very good.
I've done this for a while.
The truth is, there's no reason that I'm aware of
in the history of time that this should fail.
Unless something's really wrong.
Boy, you've really got me pegged.
Except the, uh, nonfiction part.
Me, I'm more of a sci-fi guy myself.
You?
Not really the spacey types?
Most definitely not.
Come on.
We could all use a dash of extra with all this ordinary.
You don't think we're alone out there?
I think we're alone down here.
For me, uh, science is aspirational.
Science facts, science fiction. Love it all.
Especially the strange.
The, uh, less explainable.
And, uh, I'm not talking about UFOs scooping up cattle
or putting their John Hancocks on cornfields.
I'm talking about, uh...
Well... this. Here.
W-Wait.
Hold on now. Eh, eh.
Funny thing.
I used to have a camera system down here.
Damn thing glitched so much, you'd think this bar was for ghosts.
Yeah, yeah. That's probably it.
Uh, all the same.
Federal agents. Hold it right there.
Outside perimeter.
Don't move!
Hands where I can see them.
- What is this? - Law enforcement.
I'm gonna need you two to come with me.