The old crew is back together

Unfortunately, one of the ubiquitous background characters, Lieutenant T’Veen (Stephanie Czajkowski), will not make it out alive. (Luckily, Vadic doesn’t target the series’ non-binary character, Ensign Kova Rin Esmar (Jin Maley).) It’s a shocking death. During the hostage crisis, stern Captain Shaw (Todd Stashwick) snaps at Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), pointing out that their penchant for breaking rules has led to their ruin. Shaw’s continued status as the sole naysayer on “Picard” remains unbroken and utterly appealing.

Vadic is eventually blown into space through an airlock on the bridge, previously unmentioned, thanks to a complex coordinated effort. It seems to this finicky Trekkie that an airlock on a starship’s bridge is a massive design flaw, but whatever. Vadic is sucked into the vacuum of space, where she freezes, drifts into the hull of her own ship, and shatters into thousands of pieces. Nitpicking Trekkies might point out that a changeling like Vadic might be able to survive such an ordeal, but in terms of an action movie’s death, it will do. Importantly, Vadic will be gone from history. Prior to Vadic’s death, Seven had to bark “Get off my bridge,” a line she copied from Captain Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager.

With two episodes to go, it’s a relief to see Vadic gone. That means the season’s climax won’t be melee combat, another spaceship battle, or an act of boring revenge-based action movie violence. Trek isn’t an action franchise, and Picard seems poised to close smarter.

However, the silly “Space Jesus” notions introduced last week remain. But it may be time to turn things around.