STAR TREK: Picard Episode 7 Breakdown + Ending Explained

This article we’re going to be breaking down episode 7 of Picard.

Our mission is to boldly go where no one has before and give out thoughts on the new entry as well as what could be happening in the future.

After Picard and Soji finally came face to face the series has started to wind down and with just three episodes left there’s a lot to unpack.

Throughout this, we’ll be discussing the ins and outs of the seventh episode’s plot, it’s easter eggs and what we thought of it as a whole.

We will be ENGAGING with heavy spoilers here so if you haven’t had a chance to catch the show yet and don’t want to know what happens then I highly suggest that you turn off now.

With that out the way let’s get into our breakdown of Picard Episode 7.

Picard Episode 7 Recap

Picard picks up with the titular character and Soji’s escape from The Borg Cube. The episode brings back some familiar faces and reunites us with some old friends that really make the entry feel like one of the most nostalgic entries thus far.

Like all episodes, we open in the past and this time it’s a flashback to the Daystrom institute three weeks ago.

Oh No You DIDN’T

This is the enigmatic meeting between Commadore Oh and Doctor Agnes. Oh looks like she’s been watching NWA videos from the 90s but either way they must have helped her inconspicuous because it appears she’s been stalking Agnes. She details meetings that she’s had with Bruce Maddox and also brings a powerful message.

Last week we theorized that the reason Agnes killed Maddox is because Oh had shown her the dark secret that the Zhat Vash knows about synthetics that causes the group to hate them.

Early on in the season, it was said that learning this secret can break someone’s mind and this is why she decided to murder someone she was in love with.

We see that theory come true here with Oh showcasing the annihilation that would happen should synthetics be allowed to exist.

So, in her head, her mission is of the utmost importance and Oh hands her a tracker, using her as a mole to find out what’s going on with Picard’s mission.

Narissa Rises

In the present, we jump back to Rios and Co who aren’t having the best of times. They’ve been tractor locked to the Borg Cube and aboard it, Narissa is questioning Hugh as to exactly what’s happened. She doesn’t mind killing a couple of people to get answers and the entire ship is in full search mode with Narek heading out into space to follow Rios and the group.

They’re let free from the Tractor beam and Narek does his best Boba Fett impression in tailing them.

Narissa really comes into her own as the villain here I think and we do know that she was very close to Oh at some points so it could be possible that she has been feeding Oh the visions that she passed on to Agnes.

We did see Oh herself in the vision so it is likely that it has been planted there by Narissa in order for the Romulan’s to achieve their goals.

Why Elnor Is Here

Elnor is left aboard the ship and I did have a feeling last week that he would be important here. They just randomly dropped him on the ship right at the end of the episode and it was obvious that they’d only done that because they needed him to do something in this episode and just had no other reason for why he would be on the ship.

I remember them doing it in Man Of Steel with Lois and depending on whether you like the show or not probably will determine whether you forgive this writing or not.

He has a very forced arc on the ship I feel with him discovering some plot devices that are just a bit…meh.

Kestra

After the intro, we jump to Nepenthe, a forest planet where they are greeted by William and Deanna’s child Kestra. Kestra speaks Viveen, a wild language of the woods and she actually has some deep ties to the lore of Stark Trek.

Deanna’s sister was also called Kestra and she drowned when she was very young. It’s a nice little tribute that ties in well with Star Trek lore and shows how much they are thinking about the past of the show.

She’s an awesome addition and I’d love to see her pop up in other shows down the line. She’s played by Doris Zander who is a great actress and she’s done a great job in everything I’ve seen her in.

We also learn that Kestra’s brother died and William and Deanna have been through some stuff. Deanna has had to deal with feel the loss not only herself but also the grief that the others feel due to her abilities. There’s a really heartbreaking moment in the episode and this episode, though quite slow-paced, does indeed tick the boxes in terms of character development.

Kestra leads them to the pair but along the way, Soji almost has a breakdown after realizing that her entire reality was a fabrication. Jean Luc calms her down by telling her that her sister Dahj was real but just as she perks up, her tells her that she’s dead…which was nice of him.

Ranch Riker Reunion

At ranch Riker, we get to see a really nice catchup. Troi seems to use her extrasensory empathy to pick up on the disease that is slowly killing Picard but he assures her it will be alright.

Riker has made his house formidable and it’s the perfect sanctuary for Picard to hide out and rest. I absolutely loved this reunion and it reminds us that Picard is truly strong because of his allies and ability to make long-lasting relationships with people that would truly risk it all for him.

Kestra questions Soji and we learn that she’s a complete replication of a human even down to her mucus. Data is hinted towards being behind everything which questions the theory of Maddox’s involvement. We do know that Data painted a picture of Dahj and Soji that showed he did have designs for the girls but who was involved as of now is still up in the air.

Clearly Maddox was connected and I’ve seen a tonne of different fan theories so I don’t want to dive in and say which one is wrong and which one isn’t so I won’t.

Riker does figure out that Soji is connected to Data though and it is going to be interesting to see how things fully develop with her.

La Sirena

Aboard La Sirena, they’re trying to outrun Narek but he’s hot on their tails. La Sirena roughly translates to The Mermaid and Sirens are of course myths that used to lead sailors to their dooms.

This could be possibly hinting at the fate of the crew and the ‘Sailors’ aboard it but I guess we will see as the show develops.

Raffi notices that Agnes is slowly falling apart and that she has changed emotionally but it’s not like Raffi didn’t spend last week in bed drinking.

Anyway beyond building the story Jean Luc and Riker catch up and remember the good old days. I always love seeing characters that we once knew as younger people age and it’s great watching people reprise their roles throughout their life.

Deanna gives Soji a real tomato and she herself comes to the conclusion that real is better as she’s only ever had food from a replicator. Soji is, of course, herself a replication but that doesn’t mean that she isn’t real which is what I think the show is dealing with.

Everyone Is Real

We live in a world in which many members of society are viewed as being less than us because of where they come from. I think the show is playing with the subtext of that showing that no matter what makes us up we all have the right to be considered ‘real’.

The Star Trek episode Measure Of A Man too dealt with this in defining what rights we had over others and it’s nice to see the aesthetic reappear here.

There’s talk of Thad, Deanna’s child being fascinated with homes and how they all connect us and I think that is the message being hammered home here. He died because of the Synth bans and I love that Deanna says real isn’t always better.

It’s a nice little counseling session that I appreciated. Picard gets a scolding from Deanna and I actually think she shines the most in this episode. Marina Sirtis gets a lot to play with in terms of dramatic beats and she’s more the intelligent aspect that really cross-examines everything whilst Riker makes Pizzas.

Riker also burns a tomato which I see as a sort of a nod to the tomato from earlier and how real is often weaker. You wouldn’t get that on a replicator.

When you go through things you are hardened and made in a certain way that strengthens you.

The Death Of Hugh

Elnor and Marissa have a fight aboard the Borg Cube and she takes out Hugh. It’s a big death in the show and it kinda sucked seeing him get a pretty underwhelming death.

I know the scene was supposed to show how good Narissa was at fighting but it happened so fast for me that it kinda lost a lot of its emotional impact.

Raffi and Agnes catch up and it seemed like the latter was trying to throw up her tracker which as we learned is how Narek is tracking her. She shut down the medical hologram after killing Maddox and thus he’s not there.

Rios suspects Raffi and tells Agnes about this and she comes clean about it but he won’t really listen. She does realise that she’s been doing bad things and manages to disable the tracker herself using the replicator that sponsored this channel.

I’ll stop with that now. The toxins in it lead to her having a seizure and this sends her into a coma. Rios still suspects Raffi and as she didn’t explain this it could lead to the two going against one another.

Now last week we did learn where Soji was from and where the nest of synths could be at but no one really seemed to really be looking for the planet all that much. After a quick text to Captain Karin, Kestra finds out where it is which I think will be where the rest of the season heads off into.

Captain Obvious here.

Picard Episode 7 Ending Explained

Round the dinner table, Picard convinces Soji to trust him after she felt alone and isolated. He tells her of Dahj, his past, Data and how this mission has made him feel alive.

In Hugh’s office, Elnor finds the Fenris Beacon that was left behind last time and he reaches out. We know this is connected to 7 of 9 and from the preview next week she will be back.

Picard and Riker have a heart to heart and it feels like a farewell between the two. I don’t know if it will be but Picard thanks him for everything and for not trying to talk him out of what will probably be the character’s final frontier.

They say goodbye, Kestra gives Soji her crappy broken compass and they head off.

Now the broken compass symbolizes that though Soji is lost it is still possible to find her home and that she goes to where she feels rather than what others are telling her.

That’s what I took from it anyway and it lends itself well to the subtext of the episode I feel.

Episode 8 Preview

Next week it looks like we will discover the secret of the Zhat Vash and we are getting a return of 7 of 9. Agnes admits what is going on and it looks like a showdown.

There is also a hint that 7 of 9 may be reconnected back to the cube and the emotional stakes are really ramping up.

I can see everything coming together next week and us finally learning why Soji has been predicted as the destroyer. We are still no closer to learning if the borg queen theory is correct but hopefully we get a yes or no on that soon as its killing me.

I enjoyed this episode and whilst I wish the writing could have been a bit better with Elnor I’m still really enjoying it.