We finally get into space but don’t seem to get very far, again this episode felt as if it was treading water. The b-plot with Soje and Narek on the cube was slow with only tidbits of information disgorged leaving the a-plot to carry the show.
It was good to see some of the success of the Romulan relocation programme and the Romulan nuns were interesting and added much needed colour to the Romulan people. Star Trek relies heavily on stereotyping its alien races but it also goes someway to explore diversity within each of those races in the same way that there is diversity amongst the denizens of Earth.
Picard in his summer suit seemed anachronistic and I would have preferred him in uniform and I preferred the young Elnor to the grown one.
I liked the idea of a planetary defence grid and loved the battle sequence between the La Sirena and the Romulan Bird of Prey. We got to see more Holograms of Rios and I can’t be the only one wondering if he too is a hologram.
The use of the vineyard on the holodeck was an interesting choice, a ready room would be the obvious choice but it goes to show that although he no longer feels at home in La Barre that it is his farmhouse that he turns to to feel comfortable.
The interaction between the crew is good and there is some reasonable banter but my suspicions about Agnes are still raised.
Many have commented that Picard acted uncharacteristically in provoking the hardline Romulans on the colony but it seemed to fit this new older character. Picard due to his illness is now prone to acts of anger. The sign ‘Romulans Only’ angered him deeply, the colony had started as a symbol of hope and now he had returned to see it dirty and squalid. He needed to understand what had happened and to challenge this. He of course forgot his age and abilities and got out of his depth. This could be a calculated attempt to get Elnor to intervene but Picard has never struck me as so Machiavellian, it also shows us that Picard whilst appearing okay is not on his top game and these could lead to further problems down the road.
No review is complete without the end scene, Picard loves the end reveal and the arrival of Seven of Nine was most welcome perhaps now the crew is all assembled we can start to kick things in to top gear and start really telling the story.
Into the Nebula 
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