Recap/Review: ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Runs Deep In “Seventeen Seconds”

“Seventeen Seconds”

Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 3 – Debuted Thursday, March 2, 2023
Written by Jane Maggs & Cindy Appel
Directed by Jonathan Frakes

A taut action episode with strong classic movie vibes still finds time to deliver emotional punches and move the season plot forward in a big way.

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WARNING: Spoilers below!

RECAP

“What might I have been?”

Red alert! Our heroes use the nebula to try to evade the Shrike as Vadic casually fires volleys of torpedoes, making good on her threat to peck away at the Titan, but eventually, they lose her. Nebula stuff is causing havoc, preventing warp and blinding sensors, requiring them to station officers to literally look out a back window… including Side Eye Guy, hmm. After a quick uncanny flashback (including some Deanna FaceTime) to a quieter moment with Riker telling Picard about his son’s difficult birth and the seventeen seconds (episode title alert!) he spent in the “longest turbolift ride” of his life worrying he might lose him, we jump back to the Titan to learn the nebula features “fun” (according to an ironic Liam) electrical and biological(?) surges. The Titan settles in for some classic hiding with a shift rotation and the captain piping in some Mozart to calm his crew, so Sidney uses the time to visit Seven, who has been confined to quarters, to give the ex-Borg a nice little pep talk, name-dropping her famous dad, naturally… and calling her “Commander Seven.”  Respect will now commence.

It’s also red alert in sickbay: Everyone clears out so Jean-Luc and Beverly can finally get into it over Jack, and another battle commences. Crusher reveals just when their child was conceived and explains it was maternal instinct that convinced her to leave Jean-Luc and Starfleet behind without a word to keep her son away from the threats that seem to follow Picard. He is not buying it, angry over how she took choice away from him and pondering what might have been if he could have chosen a life with her and a family. Even seeing the pain she caused, Beverly is resolute, but says she did eventually encourage Jack to make a connection with his father, a suggestion the kid declined… also he got his accent from some time at a school in London. Picking up on plot stuff, Bev can only conclude Vadic’s interest in Jack must be another threat tied to Jean-Luc. (She is really one note on this topic.) After Riker gives Jack some good fatherly advice, Picard grabs him to head to the bridge just as the Shrike inexplicably finds them, tearing into the Titan in a brutal attack that leaves Captain Shaw severely injured. He hands Riker command as he is led away, bleeding badly. Together, Riker and Picard pull off a sneaky little maneuver with a torpedo and phaser to knock the Shrike back, flipping their classic roles. Later, they will look back at this fun moment as the good old days.

Is it weird how in the middle of a battle, everyone left sickbay?

“I’ve heard worse from bigger legends than you.”

Back on M’Talas Prime, Raffi awakes on La Sirena with the worst hangover and news that Starfleet has swept the attack under the rug, pinning it all on the severed head of T’Luco the renegade Romulan. Searching the ship, she finds a Klingon doing some tai chi—who says hello with his knife, naturally. More formally, Worf introduces himself, now going full Khaleesi with his titles, but he still enjoys a nice cup of tea. Raffi is impressed to have such a legendary Klingon warrior on her ship, but he reveals he has been working on himself since his storied days with her old pal JL, now acting as a “subcontractor” for Starfleet Intelligence. She puts the pieces together that he is her mysterious handler as she starts to remember his sword-fighting introduction while she was tripping hard on splinter, trying to shake down (the now headless) Sneed the Ferengi gangster. Drug withdrawal and her whole life is dragging her down, but Worf rallies the struggling operative and tells her she has the heart of a warrior; together they are going to follow his next lead, tracking the lowlife who paid off Sneed… and so she is back in the game. Soon enough. the pair is on the streets, full of fun banter as they quickly find and capture Titus Rikka, who not looking so good.

Using La Sirena’s engine bay as an interrogation room, Raffi and Worf play some good operative / bad operative, with Raffi channeling some Martin Riggs crazy energy. Worf tries his new zen approach, but the heavily sweating criminal won’t say anything about who stole the tech from Daystrom. Raffi thinks this guy is suffering from withdrawal, but the lure of a fix doesn’t help. As the interrogation drags on, including a lame attempt to pin things on the Romulans, Rikka fesses up that he did the tech heist, along with some “like-minded souls” who hate the Federation. As he (literally) starts to come unglued, Rikka is now singing like a canary: The portal tech was just misdirection from something else more dangerous. He wants to be released really badly and Worf works it out… “How long have you been away from the Great Link?” If you had changelings on your villain bingo card, you are a winner! With the game up, Rikka goes full baddie, calling them “solids” (classic) and gleefully predicting their plot will destroy the Federation before he goes all liquid, then gets promptly (and casually) vaporized by Worf. (This is not his first founder rodeo.) The former Niner gives us a quick recap of the Dominion War, revealing he has known of a terrorist faction that broke away from the Great Link who are seeking revenge. Now he and his new partner Raffi will go to Daystrom to figure out what Starfleet-destroying thingie the baddies really stole.

Dude, you are more messed up than I am.

“We fight or we die.”

Things are also getting tense on the Titan, with Picard suggesting offense and Riker preferring defense, telling “Crash” La Forge to keep the ship “squirrely.” (Is that in the Starfleet helm handbook?) Science officer Lt. T’Veen Vulcans out the energy pulses have a biological signature, so they are actually inside an unknown anomaly, and logic dictates not to go any deeper. Riker takes the hint and plans an escape as Picard’s continuing needling to take the fight to Vadic really gets on his nerves. As soon as they start to emerge, the Shrike is on them, firing a portal weapon to draw them right back in… and they do it again for good measure. A frustrated Riker orders the ship deeper into the anomaly as a pained Picard loses another debate to turn to attack. Meanwhile in sickbay, Beverly is saving Shaw’s life as he works through the agonizing pain to ask Jack with the key question: How does the Shrike keep finding them? Jack goes to Seven for help, sorting out there must be “blood in the water,” which she concludes could be a space gas leak. Taking down her guard, the pair confirms the leak and determines it’s not due to damage, it’s sabotage… or is that sabataage?

Picard sees this news as a chance to set a trap, but Riker is not having it and accuses Jean-Luc of being “amped up” over the Beverly/Jack thing. In the gas-filled engineering compartment, Jack is confronted by the saboteur—and of course, it’s Side Eye Guy. The pair fight, and before getting knocked out, Jack notices when he punched the bad guy, his face got all swirly. (Yep, it’s another one.) Left to die without his breathing mask, Jack has a weird vision of Seven and vines and a red door before the real Seven pulls him out. Learning Jack is injured, Picard has his own agonizing seventeen seconds in the turbolift to sickbay, arriving as the boy is flatlining. Dr. Crusher does her thing and brings him back, putting an actual smile on his father’s face. With new determination, Picard returns to the bridge to accuse Will of acting out of fear of loss, only to get shut down and told to “Sit down, Admiral!” Ouch. Ensign Changeling has one more trick and blows up a warp conduit, so they aren’t going anywhere. As running away is now off the table, Riker tries Jean-Luc’s plan to get behind the Shrike for an attack… but Vadic’s ship comes straight at them and after Riker fires “everything we got,” the Shrike uses the portal to send the torpedoes right back at the Titan, crippling the ship as it falls deeper into the anomaly’s dangerous gravity well. An incensed Captain Riker orders Picard off the bridge, accusing him of getting them all killed as we fade to black. Cliffhanger? No!

Remember when I said you could call me “number one”? I take it back.

ANALYSIS

Running silent and running deep

“Seventeen Seconds” amps up the action in a big way, bringing classic submarine movie (along with some classic Trek) vibes with intense battle sequences that make this a worthy episode on its own. But once again, the show truly shines in the dramatic moments between characters, with these more personal battles proving even more harrowing. Two Takes Frakes kept the story flowing with pacing that balanced this action with some quieter character beats, along with some great gags, mostly from Michael Dorn’s still wonderfully deadpan Worf. Throwing in some major character and plot reveals extended the anomaly battle to make this more of the first installment of a two-parter, but that still works as a solid Star Trek episode.

Where things mostly diverged from the classic Trek formula was in the two personal conflicts for Jean-Luc Picard, here Patrick Stewart delivers some of his best performances of the series. The confrontation with Beverly was heartbreaking, with the reason behind keeping Jack secret seemingly inconceivable, but when you start to think about how much trauma the TNG crew really went through, perhaps there was some reason for it, with Picard showing how years of constant life-threatening events could make someone do what she did. Also new, the growing conflict between Riker and Picard, culminating in their own Crimson Tide moment, which was definitely not something we’ve been used to seeing with these characters. While it might not have been Starfleet to do it all out in the open, which could be explained away by both characters being out of the game for a while, the scene was riveting and daring, once again showing that Picard season 3 is not simply recreating the moments we love, but evolving both the characters and Star Trek storytelling. As for the conflict with Shrike itself (and a more subdued Vadic from Amanda Plummer), the show continues to impress in how they are finding new ways to do space battles, with the portal weapon a great new element to play with.

You can tell me, I’m going bald just like him, aren’t I?

Also fun to watch: Worf and Raffi bonding as the veteran Klingon taking her under his wing to lift her up as she struggles with her mission and personal issues. They make a great team, with Michael Dorn and Michelle Hurd showing off some great chemistry. And here, too, we are seeing an evolution of Worf, and not just through his new extended family titles. He is trying to evolve and find a new warrior monk path that isn’t just about violence, even after his bloody introduction in the previous episode. This B story is not just driving plot exposition but is becoming a fun character story with a lot of potential, buoyed by some great comic lines written for Worf (with “Beheadings are on Wednesdays” as a fave). Another pair-up that worked was Seven and Jack on their side adventure, with Ed Speleers going from a guy with a nice bedside manner to a smart man of action. Todd Stashwick didn’t get a lot to do but Shaw continues to be a delight; even on his sickbed, he was the only one smart enough to be asking the right question.

One scene that may be controversial was the flashback with Riker and Picard. Jean-Luc’s own “seventeen seconds” (which literally was timed to 17 seconds) was done well enough that it didn’t really need this bookended setup to get the message about him making that emotional connection to his son—and without it, we wouldn’t have to deal with the always awkward CGI de-aging. Even though it’s great to finally see Marina Sirtis, the trope of the haranguing wife doesn’t do much for the character, who is expected to have a more significant role in the back half of the season.

Smoother than an android’s bottom…

Deep space shine

There is also a lot to unpack in this episode when it comes to the season plot arc, with the revelation that Changelings are behind the conspiracy, now fully linking the Titan and M’Talas storylines with shapeshifters in both. It is commendable that this big reveal came in episode three instead of getting dragged out like another season-long mystery box, however Rikka’s mention of “other like-minded” people could include other conspirators. It also isn’t clear if Vadic and her soldiers are also Changelings or if they are just working with this “terrorist faction.” One thing about the plot that doesn’t add up is why the Titan mole Changeling tried to kill Jack if Vadic wants him alive. Maybe this indicates different factions within the conspiracy? Worf’s quick voice-over recap of the Dominion War should succinctly bring any viewer up to speed, and fans of Deep Space Nine are surely relishing all the connections, especially his mention of “a man of honor,” as his source within the Link, surely meaning Odo himself. The mention of the “real” thing stolen from Daystrom is also quite intriguing, opening up all sorts of speculation, with the earlier mention of Lore being stored at Daystrom an intriguing clue.

While none of the characters seem to have a clue why Vadic wants Jack alive, we as viewers may have gotten a big clue when he was having his near-death experience. That vision of Seven saying “Connect the branches” has to mean something. There was more to it, but it was clearly not meant to be fully understood in this episode (closed captions only offering “Seven of Nine speaking indistinctly, echoing”). It could be there is something hidden away in Jack’s mind, something even he and his mother aren’t aware of. Or is she? Who knows. Let’s hope this isn’t dragged out with recurring visions like Picard’s childhood flashbacks in season 2. So far, season 3 seems to have left the show’s sins in the past, but season 2 did get a bit of love when Picard noted “I know now I would never have been my father,” showing he did have a true breakthrough last season.

By the way, the nebula/anomaly giving off energy and biological readings is for sure a clue to something. Already getting some serious space amoeba vibes.

Call me a solid ONE more time, Squishy.

Final thoughts

Three episodes in and Star Trek: Picard continues to be a compelling new show finding the right balance of classic Star Trek tones with modern storytelling and evolving familiar characters. The production values are excellent, with the music from Stephen Barton worthy of highlighting in how he helps take the viewers on this journey switching from action to heart to humor. The cliffhanger of “Seventeen Seconds” did the job of leaving viewers wanting more but still feeling like they just watched a complete and satisfying episode of peak TV.

Sure I didn’t tell you about the kid, but remember how much fun we had under the waterfall?

BITS

• The flashback at 10 Forward would be around 2381, as they were celebrating the birth of Thaddeus Troi-Riker.
• Based on dialogue, Jack Crusher was also likely born around the same time.
• Beverly revealed that Jack was conceived with Picard on Casperia Prime, a vacation planet first mentioned on DS9 as the Risa-like planet Jadzia Dax planned to take her honeymoon with Worf.
• Crusher also mentioned Jean-Luc being assailed by Reman assassins in the Donatra sector. Remans were introduced in Star Trek: Nemesis, which also featured a Romulan commander named Donatra.
• Shaw’s command authorization is: Shaw-12-11-Bravo Delta.
• Among the items in Seven’s quarters was a model of the USS Voyager. Admiral Janeway had a similar model in her quarters on the USS Dauntless (in Prodigy).
• Verterium was first identified on Voyager as an element used on the warp coils of Intrepid class ships, like the USS Voyager.
• When Riker ordered the Titan to “fire everything we got,” it could be an homage to Kirk saying the same in Star Trek 2009.
  • As a side note, the ship only fired four torpedoes. Is that really everything?
• Worf practiced some Mok’bara (aka Klingon tai chi).
• In addition to his new sword, Worf also carries a Klingon D’k tahg knife and a Starfleet Type 2 phaser.
• Worf serving tea to Raffi must have been a callback to his classic “good tea, nice house” line from TNG’s “Survivors.”
• Worf’s extended self-introduction “I am Worf, son of Mogh, House of Martok, son of Sergey, House of Rozhenko, bane to the Duras family, slayer of Gowron” is a mini-history of his arc on TNG and DS9.
• Worf described himself as a “subcontractor” to Starfleet Intelligence, so it seems he is no longer officially part of Starfleet.
• Music from the episode included…
  • “Rollin” by J. Clearwater played for 10 Forward flashback scene.
  • Mozart’s “Ave verum corpus” is played by Seven.
  • Hector Berlioz’s French opera Les Troyens, listened to by Worf—the same part that Picard was listening to before the battle with the Borg in Star Trek: First Contact.
• The Titus Rikka Changeling was played by Thomas Dekker, who as a child actor played Thomas Picard in Star Trek: Generations and Henry Burleigh in two episodes of Voyager. He is best known for playing John Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
• The Changeling saboteur on the Titan (Side Eye Guy) was named Ensign Foster in the credits, first identified in episode one. Presumably, he was masquerading as the real Foster, fate unknown.

What if I made you a nice cup of tea?

More to come

We will discuss the episode in detail on Friday’s episode of All Access Star Trek. every Friday, the TrekMovie.com All Access Star Trek podcast covers the latest news in the Star Trek Universe. The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Stitcher and is part of the TrekMovie Podcast Network.

Picard streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the Americas, Europe, the Caribbean and South Korea. It also streams internationally on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave.

Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.