Star Trek: Picard (TV Series) Broken Pieces (2020) User Reviews

Ibn Majid

[asp5197 · 7/10 · 12 March 2020]

I was waiting for this Chekhov's Gun to rear its barrel. I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. Rios is by far the best character in this show; he is both the angsty existential character and the plucky comic relief wrapped up into 5 or 6. The backstory of the ibn Majid and the surprising twist that came with it didn't disappoint at all.

We finally have some motivation for Narissa. It's a bit too little too late but it filled plenty of gaps in the plot. We know now why the sub matrix collapsed and that they are in fact brother and sister, not in some cult term of endearment. (Side note: why must every show now have a Jaime and Cersei?)

Seven's plot line was sadly underwhelming. Hopefully we see more next week, but it was a lot of promise with little delivered.

I feel like with every show Allison Pill has ever been in I grow tired of her writing by about half way through. "I'm done murdering people now" was just plain lazy writing. Seems like Hollywood goes out of her way to make her the quirky ditzy blonde, and she deserves much better. (Remember Maggie from The Newsroom? "I thought LOL meant 'lots of love.'")

Also, did anybody get the Tapestry Easter egg?? Rios' captain was Marta's first officer (the classmate Picard slept with in Tapestry)

At review time this episode is a 7.6, which I honestly think is about right. Definitely should hold in the high 7s. Low 8 is pushing it.

Less action but solid plot advancement

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 13 March 2020]

This episode was mostly about plot advancement with various secrets being revealed to those aboard the 'La Sirena'. Some of these facts the viewers and a single member of the crew would already have known about, others were completely new. Picard has to decide what to do about Dr Jurati after he learns what she did; even though there were clearly mitigating circumstances. There were several interesting scenes involving Soji; as she still tries to come to terms with the fact that she is synthetic she must ponder what it really means to be alive.

An even in Rios' past causes him to retreat to his quarters, Raffi quizzes the various emergency hologram versions of him to try to establish just what happened in his past... these scenes are particularly fun as Santiago Cabrera plays each of them as different characters with different accents.

Back on the Borg cube Narissa orders Elnor's capture but he is helped by Seven of Nine. She intends to take control of the cube and save those Borg still aboard. Narissa has other ideas though. These scenes were a real treat and provided some solid action.

There are some weak points though; I don't know why it is necessary for characters to swear occasionally. It somehow feels out of place, as though the creators wanted to show they were free of old network restrictions but didn't want to go too far... like films with one obscenity to push the rating up from PG to 12 (PG-13) but no further.

Overall though I enjoyed the episode; I never found the talky scenes boring and really liked how it finally became clear why there are those amongst the Romulans who wish to end all synthetic life.

O My Gosh ...still on the edge of my seat

[ErinsGloma · 9/10 · 13 March 2020]

7 of 9 takes on the queen's armor! What!?! Did the evil lady (with the cute brother) get assimilated or did she get beamed out? What happened to Elnor? Is 7 of 9 taking him with her? Can't wait for next week.

This will take some time to absorb. Are we about to arrive at a planet of Datas?

I suppose we had that in common...

[dafoat · 10/10 · 14 March 2020]

This episode was just brilliant. The scene between Soji and Picard in the mess hall, talking about Data was magnificent. And it pays off the entire history of Picard's relationship with Data. When Picard tells Soji how he hoped Data saw him, it's one of the best descriptions of a father I've ever heard. That's why Data's death hit Picard so hard. He might never say it out loud, but he thought of Data as a son.

Plus Raffi dealing with all of the holograms was a hoot, and Seven was a badass. Really a great episode.

Warning: This show has depth and human connections.

[wolfechylde · 10/10 · 12 March 2020]

This episode has a lot of what I personally enjoy about television. It makes you think about big topics like morality versus consequences, has a great reveal about a multi-episode mystery, and then has a nice Salt Bae level of action to keep the whole thing from getting too philosophical.

I do understand that good character development, taking a few minutes to show realistic human interaction, and making an attempt to elicit empathy from the audience feels "boring" to anyone who can sum up their own life experience with an emoji.

Just my opinion, but I think this show is a good tool for measuring maturity. Not age, mind you, that is relative. If you have real emotional depth and value actual IRL human connections, you will probably enjoy it. If social media is your biggest source of human interaction, then you really should be watching something with more explosions and less dialogue.

Santiago Cabrera is briliant

[mehrtashfm · 10/10 · 12 March 2020]

He had to play 6 -7 different characters That was awesome, he truly is a brilliant actor.

only giving 10 because of him.

This show is a gift

[weiss4307 · 10/10 · 12 March 2020]

Elnor: "Are you going to assimilate me now?"there are so many amazing parts to this episode I can't hardly stand it! This show overall is such a gift to Star Trek fans! The new cast are such talented actors and the overall story is so powerful!

Broken Pieces

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 13 March 2020]

This episode seems to be showcase for actor Santiago Cabrera. Not only does he play Rios, but several holograms based on his personality which includes a Scot ship's engineer.

The medical hologram along with Raffi finally point an accusing finger on Jurati. Picard still remains unconvinced despite the overwhelming evidence.

At least there is forward motion with the overarching plot. A Romulan sisterhood saw the dangers of synthetic life forms and vowed to put a stop to them.

It really is an allegory of superstitious religious beliefs which Picard tackles head on by the end of the episode.

Seven of Nine returns and the Borg ship is powered up however the showdown with the Romulans was disappointing and rather one sided.

It has taken episode 8 for Picard to really get down to the bolts and nuts of its story.

Meaning, action, conspiracy, paranoia

[skipperkd · 10/10 · 13 March 2020]

Well, I'm hooked. Each episode we learn more, gain a few more puzzle pieces. This time we get to hear Rios - and his 5 holograms - tell his backstory with Captain Vandermeer. We also see / hear about The Admonition. Picard has the best line: "Fear is the Destroyer."

Finally coming together

[anton-j-huber · 13 March 2020]

There is a constant stream of bad reviews complaining that this is not the old Star Trek. They are right it's the new. And now after a few mediocre episodes it really starts to come together.Still addressing the big philosophical questions like old Trek while building strong connections with TNG, Voyager and a little DS9. And I got the feeling there lurks also a deep connection to the second and possibly third season of Discovery which in itself is far better than its reputation ( if you discount the rather bad first season) And the sequence with the five emergency holograms is just perfect.

All of this has happened before, and will happen again.

[mikepitcher1 · 7/10 · 13 March 2020]

A strange prophecy from a distant world, of a species that creates artificial life, but that artificial life evolves and turns against the colonies of its creators... I feel like this has happened before, and will happen again. So say we all.

Parts of this episode felt like a BSG episode wrapped inside the Star Trek universe, which isn't a bad thing (BSG being one of my favourite shows of all time, alongside DS9). I would like to see less of Alison Pill, and more of Seven and Elnor in the Borg Cube. Also, I'm waiting for Picard to shake off this "frail old man" persona.

Overall this is definitely one of the better episodes so far in this season.

The series is getting better.

[marianthenightman · 10/10 · 12 March 2020]

I really like this series and this episode is a very good one and it seems the youtube leaks diggers and haters ( they don't really like anything ) are very wrong about this series,the ending is getting better .I stil can't understand how they managed to produce this little masterpiece ,because they are the same people who produced Discovery which is officially the worst rated Star Trek series ever.As a fan i would like (just like the rest of the fans) to see a sequel to this series ,with a ship like Prometheus or Voyager (the design of the Starfleet ships from Voyager is better than the design of the ships from the other movie or tv series) ,with a nice and good looking captain and with the TNG/ENT versions of the aliens ,which should be about exploring the former neutral zone and about dealing with the remains of the Dominion.

The show has definitely arrived

[petergeorgii · 6/10 · 19 March 2020]

I feel the show has finally arrived. While there is still a lot of 'air' (the sometimes comedic and dragging Rioses scenes seemed out of place) I feel the writing has picked up and the show is finally moving faster. The initial six episodes as intended build-up failed miserably and I had started downright dreading to sit through the show. But a true ST fan gives it another shot. And another. Love for the old characters prevailed - Riker and Troy in the previous episode and Seven in this one. Jeri Ryan is saving this one as well as a strong story around Oh's vision and the horrible ending of the Borg drones. Wil Wheaton's aftershow 'Review Room' had Jeri and the actor of 'Hugh' on and I highly recommend his witty summaries and interviews. They both talk how they got back into their respective roles after some 15-20 years. Glad to see Seven will have a continuing role in the show. 'Annika still has work to do!' Last not least the amazing dinner Soji enjoys with Picard. Really liked the episode. This is Star Trek finally engaged.

The continued decline

[Peoples_Popular_Front · 4/10 · 14 March 2020]

Student level writing meets amateur direction in an episode that may as well have been on the radio. Such wonderful promise and an excellent premise established in the pilot has been steadily chipped away, culminating in the most exposition heavy episode to date. No imagination or creativity has been utilised here to help deliver the crucial plot revelations to the viewer. Scene after scene of static characters talking. The show and the cast deserve more.

Love.

[jotaylormade · 10/10 · 14 March 2020]

This show continues to bring me joy. From the appearance of old friends, to the nuances and thrill of new ones. Patrick Stewart is the heart and soul, and he is wonderful to watch, but he doesn't have to carry it alone. The creators have given us so much more than expected. Santiago Cabrera is glorious every moment he's on screen. Star Trek: Picard is simply a delight.

Just great!

[oscar-montanez · 10/10 · 13 March 2020]

Great episode. Very well made it keeps all the spirit of star trek. Rios's history clarifies a lot in this episode and he is a great actor. Rios's holograms are fantastic. Picard acting is great and he reminds me of the super judge that Dworkin mentions in his law lessons. Data's daughter is just like Data but more human and very smart. Data was my favorite always. The bad romulans are not just plain bad, they are bad for a reason, and a valid one is is not just pure evil but fear of droids and what they did. One could not avoid thinking they could even be right, and so does Rios. Just great. A 10 well deserved.

Pieces are all coming together now

[cheryl-y-oconnor · 9/10 · 13 March 2020]

This was a pivotal episode in as far as many of the unanswered questions in this series are being answered and like a jigsaw puzzle the pieces are taking shape and finally the who premise of this story is explained. Hopefully the two part finale will be the culmination of an excellent first season

Queen of the Borg

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 13 March 2020]

Remember when Belanna Torres was trapped on the "Greece" planet, the one with all of the actors?

It was revealed at that time that 7-of-9 could possibly have been a future Queen of the Borg. Maybe this was revealed even sooner than that...

When Voyager picked 7 up as an unwanted guest as they tried to skirt the "Northwest passage" of the Delta quadrant, she wasn't in a regular Borg alcove.

Instead she was in a secluded box, an "impossible" box, and she had all kinds of extra accoutrements attached. And it was right at the moment when Janeway mentioned "give us somebody like Locutus" that the box flew open and 7-of-9 was revealed.

What was she doing in there? And why was the Secondary Borg queen (Played twice by Susanna Thompson) and the alpha Borg queen (Alice Krige) so interested in her? They even invaded her dreams and her visitations to Unimatrix zero...

Meanwhile Picard's crew is flipping out just a little bit more- Jurati, now outed as the shill for FakeCommodore Oh and regretting that decision, now has to face everybody else.

Rios is going to drink himself to death, which is something that we would expect Raffi to do.

But instead she is remarkably sober and she figures out that by having a Tete-a-Tete with the Rios Holloclones, she can maybe piece together what is going on.

And what is going on is almost as conspiratorial as the entire film "JFK" by Olly Stone(d).

"It's a mystery wrapped in an Enigma"

On the other hand, Legolas/Elnor now has a Borg to help let him into the Queen's chamber, thanks to Picard dropping his handy-dandy 7-of-69-Summoner.

Hell (and is my review going to be held up because I used that word), even our Romulan spies are busy. They need to get out of Dodge so they can bombard the planet that Soong and Maddox built.

There had to be a point when Soji came into full self-realization of who and what she is, and why.

And that time is now.

It's unbelievable that I sat through this episode gripping the arms of my chair, while the same Reddit/4chan trolls who have infected IMDb are still reciting their verbatim bulleted lists of complaints, which are somehow identical to the ones that they left for discovery's first episode. Blah blah blah.

But Annika still has work to do- It would be interesting to see if a leftfield last minute assist comes from the Borg.

But so far I have not been able to predict where the story was going to go and this particular episode is as much of a surprise as the first episode was.

a map

[Kirpianuscus · 15 March 2020]

This episode represents a large map. Connections, secrets, fights, origins, memories of past. Not exactly Star Trek but something more profound deserving be perceived in its senses and nuances.

Series still finding its feet, but there is potential

[che-233416 · 7/10 · 13 March 2020]

Today's episode had flashes of what made Star Trek great in the 'good old days'. It seemed much more character focused, contained an intriguing scientific riddle and a Picard speech navel-gazing about the nature of morality. It's not without its flaws, such as the fact that the Borg drones were killed by being jettisoned into space, whereas we know from First Contact that the Borg were quite happily walking around on the surface of the Enterprise without any protective gear, so simply being in space wouldn't have killed them. I also find enormous fault with the notion that Data's memories/personality/essence could be reconstructed from one 'neuron' (why do they keep calling any part of Data a neuron?). It's entirely unreasonable to assume that given the technology used to create Data that just one 'cell' of his positronic brain could store all of his higher functions and his memories. It doesn't make any sense and I imagine this is going to become a big problem for me down the line when they undoubtedly reveal more about this process (and my personal theory that they will find some version of Data on Soji's homeward). It's a fundamentally flawed concept.

On the whole, this episode wasn't too bad. There were some funny moments, some emotional ones and a sense that there is still some of the Jean Luc Picard we all remember in there (but he's still not being characterised as well as he could be - would Jean Luc Picard really be okay with someone who'd murdered Maddox just wandering in and sitting down for a chat?). I enjoyed the scene between Soji and Agnes; Agnes' reaction to meeting Soji seemed suitably layered and emotional. I thought it was very well acted. I also enjoyed the multiple holograms. I particularly liked the hospitality hologram getting too close to Raffi as he was speaking to her and her attempts to get away - my husband and I always chuckled at how close people stood to each other in conversations during the TNG and particularly Voyager era and it's an in-joke between us now. I liked to think that scene was making fun in the same way, but I doubt it was.

The part with Elnor and Seven was a little anticlimactic to me. I am hoping that they're going to appear with the Borg cube later on in the story to save the day in some capacity, otherwise, what was the point in showing Seven taking control of it? That has to serve a function later, or it was a pointless addition to this episode. Elnor in general is growing on me, though I can't seem to stop thinking of him as an Elf from Lord of the Rings - in fact the whole opening sequence, their way of dressing, the fantasy-esque nature of the whole thing, feels very out of place in the world of Trek.

I'm not too bothered by the swearing and the grunginess of this post TNG future. Look at our own societies. There is a sweeping movement throughout many Western societies to the right, to isolationism, patriotism, xenophobia. It isn't too difficult to imagine the Eutopia that had been created within the Star Trek universe from slipping backwards too. Fear (in that case of synthetic life) and massive upheaval (the destruction of a star system) can do terrible things to people, even in the future. They're still human, still have the same instinctual, gut reactions. I'm hoping we see more of the federation ideals creeping in to steer the ship back on course, which ultimately, feels like the endgame they are moving towards.

I'm curious to see where this is going and while I'm not 100% enjoying the ride and do miss the 'good old days', I'm trying to watch this series with an open mind. Discovery was a bitter disappointment; I'm hoping this won't leave the same unpleasant aftertaste in my mouth when it concludes its first series (and they had better not kill Picard!)

The best yet

[GwydionMW · 10/10 · 13 March 2020]

I feel sorry for the people who keep moaning about this new Star Trek. If people don't like it, fine. But they clearly get upset because it has now grown beyond the original vision.

All through, we have seen discrimination against two minority groups - synthetics and former Borg. But neither are safe. The discrimination is wrong but not without cause.

I had expected Seven of Nine from the mention of a 'stowaway' - how else could she be instantly available to help Soji?

I assume we get a flashback later to give details, and Raffi may have been involved. Showing she had been married and had a child might be significant: we shall see soon, maybe.

Also though Seven is released under the name 'Annika', we can't assume the disconnection is safe. I'd be surprised if this didn't come in later, though maybe not this season.

Note also that this Mini-Collective know what the secret Romulans know, and might agree with them.

Apart from all that, we see the five hologram versions of Captain Rios, played very nicely. And the reason the man himself has problems.

All of this justified the slow build-up that annoyed some people. There is so much that it had to be brought in slowly. And now can logically extend to at least one more season and probably more.

great story thin showcase

[bgbrunocom · 7/10 · 14 March 2020]

Every time I think it's worth something and it's full of action, it's just a thin story - they pull it like a mucus 🙈

Good Episode

[efd-10467 · 8/10 · 13 March 2020]

While at times the space between the storyline is annoying it comes together here, finally the characters are set and finally we have a plot to steer by.

It has taken a while but Picard has arrived in Ep8, now I look forward to next week, we have a couple of Romulan baddies, the Borg are back and Picard's crew are working as one, quite relieving really.

Santiago Cabrera carries this one

[Nominahorn · 7/10 · 24 March 2023]

1.08 "Broken Pieces"

En route to Deep Space 12 for reinforcements, the crew is forced to confront a number of difficult truths about themselves and their mission. Meanwhile on the Borg cube, Elnor and Seven try to save the ex Bs from being slaughtered by their Romulan overseers.

THE GOOD

-I was initially skeptical of the holograms all being played by the same actor, but I have to admit after seeing him play them all in one ep, that I am extremely impressed by Santiago Cabrera. His performances were all highly entertaining.

-Raffi decided to stop with the self pity and instead makes herself useful. Detective Raffi was fun to watch.

-I'm glad the show is actually dealing with the murder of Maddox. It definitely looked for a minute like they were going to breeze right past that.

THE BAD

-Why is Jurati's dialogue always so awful? "You drink when you are thirsty? You are the pinnacle of creation!" and "I'm done committing murder now." She passed Raffi in this ep for being the new worst character on the show. I'll actually take the nails-on-chalkboard "JL" nickname over Jurati's braindead dialogue. That's how bad it is.

THE UGLY

-Picard's speech to Rios at the end is great, if only the show lived up to the vision he espouses. Still, between that and Picard's acknowledgement to Riker in the previous ep that his crew is incredibly overdramatic it feels like the writers are starting to have the tiniest measure of self-awareness and that gives me hope for the show's future.

-Picard mentions being an ensign on the USS Reliant. I recognized the name from The Wrath of Khan, but after some research I determined that the Reliant Picard served on was a different ship (obviously since that Reliant was destroyed at the end of the movie). It's a pet peeve of mine when Starfleet ship names get reused without the appended letter like the Enterprise gets, but the re-use of the Reliant name as Picard's first posting is actually first mentioned in the great TNG ep, "The Measure of a Man" and so that ep is the one that deserves my peevery, not this one.

small world: picard

[daniewhite-1 · 3/10 · 13 March 2020]

Episode 8 'Broken Pieces' begins to formulate the pretext for the finale of the first series of 'Picard' and it does this by reducing the active agents in the piece to the level of only the known characters of the series. What chance and coincidence brought these various and varied people together: fate, destiny, pre-ordination and predetermination must be responsible for such an agglomeration of "right people right time right place" to occur, or possibly just determined and distinctive writing decisions. This is not because so many people are involved, rather its absolutely the opposite: so few characters are indispensably involved from a galaxy of so many trillions of diverse lives.

This leads to the second necessary requirement of the writing: namely that issues of fate vs free will are being referenced by writers not equipped or inclined to do them justice or, well, simply put, they are writing for a series where the production scale does not match the scope of the story and therefore a horribly unbalanced and the fictional 'compression effect of time and space' for dramatic urgency has reached the point of being the "cross-hairs of time and space", so out of proportion are the tales to the means of telling them.

As an episode in its own right 'Broken Pieces' features a lot of characters revealing why facets (or entire personalities in the case of Rios.) have been conspicuously underwritten until now; because we needed a sit down and get to know your characters motivations and justifications before we start doing genuinely weird and extreme things to them as the series climaxes. Personally, by this stage in proceedings, I do not have any regard for whatever the series does with any of these characters so, necessarily, I was bored for almost the entire run time of this episode.

Also absent without leave (if you are interested ask the writers), was Narek, who possibly appears at the very end of the episode, or rather his ship does. Frankly I couldn't care less whether it is him or whether he has hit an asteroid and died a futile and forgotten death thereby ceasing to have any involvement with this plot line. However I am resigned in fact to seeing rather more of him in the next pair of episodes.

What seems odd at this juncture is the idea that the doings of all the participants in this series are essentially the byproduct of a conspiratorial worldview on the part of a secret faction of Romulan society. Unfortunately this idea must be a red herring because if it does contain the central thrust of this story then it is simply inadmissible to my mind as a remotely acceptable basis for me to suspend my disbelief.

The only plus point that I gleaned from the episode was that Jean-Luc Picard actually had a slightly better level of "meta" deconstruction of his character traits here: his disposition to believe the best of people, a psychological trusting and openness that his intellectual mind has to guard against when appraising other people.

For this alone I give some points.

The episode does begin also to reconstitute the disparate behaviours of Captain Rios in the forms of his choice of reading material, plus his environment of space solitude.....but having five holograms that look identically like him which up to now has seemed a forced and glaring contrast. I personally do not have any interest in this but it seems that the episode wanted to dwell on it and move towards a resolution for this character and I think that in its own terms the episode achieved this. Myself I would have cut the lot out and had a much leaner episode featuring hardly anything but the conspiracy theory exposition and the change of ownership of the Borg cube, and the scene where Picard received his personality critique.