In Review: Star Trek: Picard (S3 -EP6) – The Bounty

Synopsis: In The Bounty. Now on the run, Picard and the skeleton crew of the USS Titan must break into Starfleet’s most top-secret facility to expose a plot that could destroy the Federation. Picard must turn to the only soul in the galaxy who can help: an old friend.

The Story

Now on the run from Starfleet and The Changelings. Picard and the crew reunite with Worf and Raffi and make plans to visit the Daystrom Station and find out what it was that Vadek and the Changelings stole. As they arrive they soon find themselves surrounded by Federation ships, which forces Picard and The Titan crew to leave Riker, Raffi, and Worf on the Daystrom Station where they go about figuring out what Vadek and the Changelings stole.

Looking for help to rescue Riker and the others. Picard heads to the Starfleet Fleet museum where he reconnects with his former Engineer Geordie LaForge who is reluctant to help, fearing what it will mean for his family. However when his daughter Sydney talks with him. Geordie changes his mind and helps Picard with the Rescue mission.

While awaiting transport from the Daystrom Station. Riker is captured by the Changelings while Raffi and Worf get beamed back to the Titan with an Android that appears to be Data along with various other personalities, which include Lore. The Android also happens to be the Manifest of the Daystrom Station.

The Acting

We get some great performances and nice character moments in this episode. I really enjoyed the scene between Jack Crusher and Seven of Nine (Ed Speleers) and (Jeri Ryan) where Jack is admiring the different Starships at the Museum. I also enjoyed the following scenes with Jack and Sydney LaForge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) where they try to install The Bounty’s Cloaking Device on The Titan.  As it leads to a nice bit of plot development that brings Geordie (LeVar Burton) into the fray. It was also nice to see LeVar Burton have the opportunity to explore different aspects of Geordie. Specifically the concerns of being a parent and balancing that with his career in Starfleet.

We also get a fun guest appearance from Daniel Davis who reprises his role of Professor Moriarty, which just happens to be Daystroms security program. This was a nice little cameo role, but like most fans who were fond of the two TNG Moriarty episodes. I found myself wanting to see a little more of Davis in the role.

Overall

This episode packed a hell of a punch and included a lot of plot development as well as plenty of fan service. I loved the sequence of events that took place at Daystrom where Riker is trying to figure out the tune that Moriarty is trying to play. This was a really nice call back to the scene in ‘Encounter at Farpoint’ where Riker first meets Data who was trying to figure out the tune to Pop Goes the Weasel.

The episode also features some nice callbacks to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home with the inclusion of The Bounty in the Ships museum. But we also got a fun callback to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan with the inclusion of a Genesis Device.

Overall The Bounty is a fun episode that is packed with references to Star Trek’s past.