On the finish of the earlier episode, Picard lastly met a mysterious character referred to as the Watcher, who was in some way instrumental in a divergence of the “Star Trek” timeline, at the moment threatening to tilt into dystopian fascism, as seen in episode two. The Watcher is performed by Olra Brady, who additionally performed Picard’s Romulan home servant Laris, however the Watcher is, we be taught, positively not Laris. The Watcher spirited Picard away with a mysterious transporter, and, firstly of “Fly Me to the Moon,” arrives in … an extraordinary Los Angeles house. The thriller of the Watcher’s id was inflated for dramatic functions, as Picard may have simply knocked on her house door. She reveals that she has been employed by an as-yet revealed, even extra mysterious entity to look at over Renee Picard, an aspiring astronaut who doubts her capacity to hold out her newest coaching. Picard and the Watcher see by way of spy-cam footage that Renee’s shrink has been discouraging her from finishing up her coaching. The shrink is none apart from Q (John de Lancie). Musical sting.
On the finish of episode 4, Q had in some way misplaced his godlike powers and is now — bafflingly — getting his palms soiled, so to talk, in intentionally tainting the timeline and actively making a fascist world by discouraging Renee (to not be confused with René, Picard’s nephew). Q may also have conferences with Dr. Soong, and can help him in his genetic analysis by e-mailing him mysterious QR codes. Soong can be granted the secrets and techniques of his daughter’s genetic illness that stops her from going exterior or respiration unfiltered air.
The next remark could sound just like the closed-minded ravings of an ageing Trekkie, however that is extremely out-of-character for Q. Beforehand, Q was conceited and assured, capable of manipulate actuality to his will. He isn’t a schemer, however a trickster, utilizing playful chaos and a scarcity of decorum to check and prod the in any other case well-behaved diplomats of the “Star Trek” universe. Right here, Q is … manipulating one girl’s remedy and unduly affecting the way forward for genetic analysis? Q could perform as an antagonist to Picard, however he was hardly ever an out-and-out villain. The one time Q was caught tormenting decrease life types (within the NextGen episode “Déjà Q”), he was duly punished (he was remodeled right into a human) and seemingly realized a lesson. Right here, Q serves the identical plot perform as a SMERSH spy would in an early James Bond film: He is as much as no good.
