Star Trek: Picard season 3 streams new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+ in the US and on Paramount+ and Prime Video in the UK on Fridays.
Synopsis
Vadic forces Picard to make an impossible choice: deliver what he can never give… or watch his crew perish. Their only salvation lies in the mind of an old friend and old foe.
Review
When I teased last week that “Dominion” and “Surrender” were really a two-part story I wasn’t kidding. Now that the eighth episode of the final season is out in the world, it’s time for fans to embrace each other and rejoice in finally seeing the entire Next Generation cast share the screen.
“Surrender” is a belter of an episode. Systematically knocking down all the pins setup last week and providing hugely satisfying conclusions to some of season three’s plot lines. With only two episodes to go it’s clear that Star Trek: Picard has a singular focus moving forwards, Frontier Day.
But before we can get to the celebration if Starfleet history there’s still the problem of Vedic holding the U.S.S. Titan hostage to be dealt with. These episodes have given Amanda Plummer the opportunity to really flex her villainous muscles. Lording it over the Titan bridge crew is some of her most ferocious work on the show to-date. With Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart) and many of the legacy cast trapped elsewhere, their helplessness only serves to compound their anguish. Matt Okumura‘s script also perfectly elicits those feelings in us as an audience.
In fact, I found “Surrender” to be the most visceral episode of Star Trek: Picard season three so far. For several reasons. Firstly Okumura and director Deborah Kampmeier inject a real sense of jeopardy. There are multiple – yes MULTIPLE – character deaths in this episode and I truly felt that nobody was safe. That’s a huge victory for a franchise in which the lead cast are often always safe. Secondly, this episode puts fans on the most intense rollercoaster of the season. We tensely climb to the highest peaks, revel in the thrill of the drop and when it comes to an end we’re absolutely left screaming for more.
Okumura has a number of huge plot points to contend with in “Surrender”. Finishing up the Vadic storyline is fittingly thrilling. Whilst handling the next steps in the development of Jack (Ed Speleers) is tantalising as Star Trek: Picard toys with fans right down to the very final frame of the episode.
But what will likely be the biggest takeaway for long-time fans is a moment teased during the marketing of season 3. The entire Next Generation family together once again and sat around the conference table. The moment itself put tears in my eyes. In just one small scene all the sourness left behind after Nemesis was cleansed. A beautiful moment of the family reuniting fully galvanises the series and its audience ready for Frontier Day and those finale episodes.
Verdict
“Surrender” is an emotional rollercoaster. I laughed, I cried and I most definitely screamed at the TV. Mixing the best of Trek old and new, it’s the perfect way to cap off a two-part story which leads in to the final episodes of the series.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
