IR TV Review: PICARD - EPISODE 9 ("Et In Arcadia Ego - Part I") [CBS All Access]

The proliferation of a journey resides in the impact of the ending point and the lessons learned in its transgression. "Picard", as it continues in "Et in Arcadia Ego - Part 1" as a man is a continually flawed character, one we could not have likely seen back in the Next Generation phase. He is a man blinded in certain ways by his altruism and ego. He has a mortality that he doesn't want to face but also an ambition that basically he can't cash. He wants to be a savior but is stuck in the certain visage of a false messiah. This of course is not his fault. It is simply the crux of the story he finds himself in. The pilgrimage of sorts to a lone planet led by Soji opens both answers and more questions. The reality is that the motivation of humans as the predominant force in the universe is the crux of the conversation at the heart of the series. Even going back to "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" and even into the original series with "I, Mudd", this reflects on the idea of what it means to be a synthetic being. The discussion also resides in the idea of what has happened before will happen again.The Romulans, in many perceptions have the right idea but the progressions of the series is based in a false assumption. It is the idea of ego and assuming what something or a certain vision might mean, and not what it actually is. The introduction of an offspring of a certain positronic scientist is an interesting one but also an imbalanced introduction, though certain details point to an interesting construct. When it comes down to it an apocalypse is coming but what is interesting is that the deliverance, in all seriousness, might come down to those who exist halfway between worlds. It will reside in those that understand both the sides of pure machine intelligence and a bit of humanity. These decisions can only be made by those with views on both sides which encapsulates a couple different characters, so the narrative push could go in a variety of different ways. But that is what makes the adventure worth exploring, especially if a certain redemption is in the cards.B+

By Tim Wassberg