Star Trek: Picard Episode 4, “Absolute Candor” Recap With Spoilers

At four episodes in, it seems opening each installment of Star Trek: Picard with a flashback that fills in some of the events of the past 20 years is going to be standard practice. In this instance, we see Picard visiting the Romulan refugee settlement on the planet Vashti. The scene is illuminating in that shows a side of Romulan culture Trek hasn’t spent much time on before, its religious practices, and it shows Picard much more at ease with a child, Elnor, than ever before.

In the present, Picard has given Captain Rios the order to make a pit stop by Vashti. Knowing he’s going up again the Tal Shiar, he hopes to enlist the aid of one of the Romulan warrior-nuns he helped settle on the planet during the relocation project. He’s surprised by the state of settlement, now impoverished and harboring enmity towards all non-Romulans. He’s also surprised to find Elnor is still living with the sisters.

At the suggestion of Zani, one of the nuns, Picard pleads his case to Elnor. Elnor refuses at first — he’s still angry at Picard for not returning to Vashti after the synth attack on Mars — but later comes to Picard’s aid when Picard is threatened by a local. He binds his sword to Picard’s hopeless cause and comes aboard the La Sirena.

Meanwhile, Soji is still aboard the Artifact studying Ramdha’s work. She watches an old interview where Ramdha discusses the Day of Annihilation when the Destroyer will end all life. Later, Soji tries to get more information from Narek, but Narek distracts here with a flirtatious faux “Borg ritual.” He then counters her questions with some inquiries of his own about how she’s not listed on the manifest of the ship that supposedly brought her to the Artifact. This angers Soji and she storms off. Narek later gets a visit from his sister, who gives him a deadline for finding the synth nest. Otherwise, she’s going to take matters into her own hands.

Back in Vashti’s orbit, an old Birds of Prey controlled by a local warlord comes after the La Sirena. Things are looking grim until another ship arrives and aids the La Sirena. The La Sirena beams out the ship’s pilot just before the ship crashes into Vashti’s defense shield. It turns out to be Seven of Nine.

Some notes:

• Using a bribe to get what you want in Star Trek feels like cheating.
• “Promises are prisons” seems like a theme that’s going to resonate past this episode.
• Our first real space battle! Seven of Nine! What a way to end the episode.

New episodes of Star Trek: Picard become available to stream Thursdays on CBS All Access.

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