STAR TREK: PICARD 3×09 “Vox” Review

Review

This is it Trek fans. After this there’s only one more episode of Star Trek: Picard remaining before the series signs off for good. With that in mind nobody is leaving anything behind as the spectacular “Vox” brings us to Frontier Day along with huge revelations and devastating reveals.

With the cliffhanger of “Surrender” looming large the series can no longer escape revealing just what has been going on with Jack (Ed Speleers). Writers Sean Tretta and Kiley Rossetter do give us a little run around first. Opening the red door to reveal a shot of Troi (Marina Sirtis) that we’ve seen in the trailers for months now. But when the eventual reveal does come it opens the flood gates to so much more.

Tretta and Rossetter dive deep in to the techno-babble and history of Trek throughout the script for “Vox”. In explaining Jack’s connection to the Borg there’s plenty of metaphorical nano probes reaching out to connect to all of the history surrounding both Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart) and his former captors. What’s most important here is that all of their exposition feels organic – literally – to Trek lore. Never does it feel contrived purely to make for an exciting narrative.

But “Vox” doesn’t stop there. The episode snowballs through a series of gut wrenching reveals that just keep pulling the rug out from under the audience. To say I was on the edge of my seat is an understatement. For much of this episode I struggled to catch a breath and the hits just kept on coming. It’s a bold move on the part of showrunner and episode director Terry Matalas to connect two of Starfleet’s biggest enemies together. It’s even bolder to have them team up and enact the plan which is exposed in this episode.

It’s fair to say that Star Trek: Picard season 3 may be the biggest plot line the franchise has ever tackled. Not just on the small screen but even theatrically. It puts a huge amount of pressure on next week’s finale to bring the plot home. But the ramifications of “Vox” could be felt for years in a similar vein to how devastated the Federation were after the Dominion War. If there is to be a Star Trek: Legacy series then there’s no doubt that there is huge mileage in future storytelling.

With our legacy characters now fully reunited, “Vox” gives each of them the chance to really get to work. That’s not to say anyone has been phoning it in this season. But now the family is together absolutely every single cast member, old and new, is firing beyond all cylinders. The first act hangs on Sirtis and Speleers who are both fantastic at carrying much of the emotional weight. When Sirtis hands the batten over to a shattered Beverly (Gates McFadden) and Picard the emotional resonance only increases. Much like the rest of the episode it just continues to escalate from there.

“Vox” also has plenty of room for franchise payoff. Finally fans are able to see the U.S.S. Enterprise-F, one of several Enterprises in this episode I might ad. The reveal of her captain is a jaw dropper which fits in beautifully with the trajectory of the storyline. Though the brief glimpse at her bridge will undoubtedly leave you wanting more. There’s another tantalising cameo which may be being saved for the finale. But more on that next week perhaps?

At its core, “Vox” is an action-thriller in the vein of Star Trek: First Contact. It perfectly hits every beat from production design to score. Much has been written about this season being a love letter to Picard and The Next Generation and it’s never felt more abundantly obvious.

Verdict

“Vox” is nothing short of a Star Trek movie crammed in to a 45 minute runtime. Apocalyptic sized stakes, breakneck pacing and fraught emotions are a sure fire combination to keep fans on the edge of their seats until the rousing, nostalgia-tinged ending.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐