Star Trek: Picard Review: The Impossible Box (Season 1 Episode 6)

Star Trek: Picard Season 1 Episode 6, “The Impossible Box,” brings us to the convergence of the two overarching season arcs, along with sweeping nostalgia, thrilling high stakes action, and moving character moments. 

Very quickly, Star Trek: Picard perfected a storytelling style of a steady build-up throughout an episode leading into a heart-pounding final act, leaving the audience on the edge of their seats, yearning to see what’s going to happen next. 

This episode feels fresh while also being over 20 years in the making. 

On The Artifact, Soji is beginning to unravel and Narek proves he might actually be a halfway decent spy for the first time since he got here. There’s something truly insidious about the way Narek pushed Soji to this point and then left her for dead. At no point did we ever assume this man had an ounce of goodness in his heart, but his careful deliberation as he takes her psyche apart is almost more damaging than it would’ve been if Narissa had come in as a blunt instrument of torture.

Their differences are consistently more and more evident, and the use of the Romulan Rubiks cube is just such a perfect metaphor for how they each approach a problem. Narissa breaks her target to get what she wants, simple as that. Narek takes his time in unraveling the pieces — thinking that it makes him better than her, and everyone else. 

Narissa knows she is evil, and she doesn’t pretend to be anything else. Narek thinks that he’s the good guy, and even while falling for Soji, he uses his feelings to manipulate her and toss her aside.

Narek: You weren’t real, you never were. 

Narek tells Soji she isn’t real as a final blow before locking her up and filling the room with radiation. He says it as much to convince himself as he does to hurt her. Now that Soji’s activated, I hope she’s the one who gets to take Narek out.

 

Meanwhile, on La Sirena, each member of the crew is dealing with personal trauma. They’re running the gamut of coping mechanisms as they race against time to rescue Soji.  

Jurati and Rios decide to redefine their relationship and use each other as a distraction for the night. I’ve seen several people admit to disliking how quickly this ship went there, but I’m actually okay with it. They are both very upfront about what this is right now, they know it’s not the smartest choice to make. However, they’re not lying to themselves that it’s anything more than a coping mechanism from the knawing emptiness they both feel for different reasons. 

This adds a new level of tension between them, and it’ll be interesting to see where the cards fall when it’s revealed that Jurati has been lying to the team about her intentions. 

Rios gets several good character moments throughout “The Impossible Box;” in addition to his refreshing, straightforward openness with Jurati, we also get to see him be exactly the friend that Raffi needs right now. 

Raffi lets herself backslide after the rejection she received from her son, hitting a debatably necessary rock bottom before she begins what I hope is a character arc of putting herself back together again. 

Rios: No one gets it all right, Raf. 

“The Impossible Box” features some of Michelle Hurd’s best acting so far on Star Trek: Picard. Hurd is talented to say the least, but the scene where Raffi has to finesse Artifact clearance out of an old friend is nothing short of art. Raffi is not in a good place, but she is damn good at her job. 

Hurd hiccups through Raffi’s lines until it’s time to put on a show for an old friend, and then she turns on a seemingly endless well of charm in order to get what they need, which immediately dissipates at the end of the call when she sinks back into her own despair. 

Rios does a good job of being there for her without judgement, giving her the tools to bring herself back from the brink without shaming her for going there in the first place. 

Raffi comes around by the end of the episode, spiraling down another conspiracy-rabbit hole that I can’t help but join her in. I love the way Raffi questions why the Tal Shiar would keep Soji alive and what purpose that serves leads right into Narek finally getting a location from Soji’s memories. 

Each side of this story has a delicious give and take that keeps audiences on the edge of their seats. It pushes the story forward in a way that keeps you rooting for the good guys, while always worrying that the bad guys just might get there first. 

This episode of Star Trek: Picard also gives us our first real look at Picard interacting with the Borg since First Contact. He’s very clearly plagued by PTSD from the time when he was assimilated. The previous episode with Seven does a great job of leading us into this unresolved hurt inside Picard. 

Patrick Stewart — as well as the entire creative team behind Star Trek: Picard — all do such an excellent job of showing us the chaos, fear, and distress in Picard’s mind as he heads back into a Borg cube for the first time in over 20 years.

He has a lot of justified fear and hatred towards the Borg for what they did to him, and what they’ve done to countless others. His time with Hugh on “The Impossible Box” goes such a long way in teaching Picard that every other member of the Borg is just as much a victim as he was.

The people that are assimilated by this overwhelming force have no power. They’re the most hated people in the galaxy, but they aren’t the ones responsible for the actions of the Borg. Their lives were stripped away and they were used to commit horrific acts against their will. Hugh’s work with the reclamation project is so important in separating former drones from the actual villain of this narrative. 

When Picard arrives on the cube, he goes through some very understandable trauma flashbacks, but Hugh does an incredible job of rehabilitating him in a very short space of time. These moments may seem like stalling within “The Impossible Box” as Soji sinks deeper into danger, but through the overarching story of Picard’s life, they’re absolutely essential. 

Our two stories finally converge as Narek betrays Soji, and Picard races to save her before it’s too late. Narek mourns his relationship with Soji while attempting to kill her via a frankly slow and ineffective method. Honestly, if he didn’t want to be tortured over this, maybe he should’ve considered that before he decided to be the bad guy. 

Soji activates as her life is put in danger, and Narek really should’ve seen that coming. We can’t help but notice she moves exactly like Data. Thankfully, Picard and Hugh reach her before any of the Romulan guards that Narek sends after her.

Picard does an incredible job of genuinely expressing his desire to help her and why he is someone she should trust. Watching these moments, I am still floored over the sincerity in Picard’s actions as he persuades Soji to join him — because he is there to actually help her. Patrick Stewart does so much in just these few short moments. It makes my heart ache for both Picard and Soji in the midst of such high stakes action.  

Hugh leads them through the Artifact until they end up in the Queencell with the perfect means of escape. I love the detail of Picard and Hugh having this knowledge without being fully conscious of it, and how that aids in showing their shared experience as part of the collective. 

As the chaos of these final moments reaches a fever pitch, Picard tells Rios to meet him and Soji at a rendezvous point, Picard chooses a planet called Nepenthe.  

This point in the episode is approximately where I personally lose my mind, because we now know that Nepenthe is where Riker and Troi live. It’s also a great moment in general as Soji continues her activation by having information far beyond what anyone would expect of her. Of course, we can’t forget that Elnor shows up against advisement to protect Picard with his life. 

These last few moments of the episode are nothing short of heart racing as our heroes make a daring escape bringing Picard and Soji’s stories together in a way that continues to take our breath away for both of them. 

I am continually impressed with the storytelling of Star Trek: Picard and how each episode manages to stretch beyond itself while also feeling self-contained in a really satisfying way. Each week I am given a sprawling playground of content to over-analyze and theorize about, while I am also left yearning for the next piece of the puzzle. 

Modern-day Star Trek is maintaining the pattern of reflecting the times while also continuing to push and expand this universe in ways that allow fans to indulge in exploring every part of it. 

Starfleet Communique: 

• Rios has big Riker energy and I, for one, am very here for it. 
• Y’all I am so worried about Hugh in that trailer. Narissa won’t hesitate to kill him and I feel like he would die to protect Picard. HE’S A GOOD PERSON, DON’T DO THIS. 
• Like listen, if I had to choose between Elnor and Hugh, I’m going to pick Hugh. 
• Is there a place already existing in Star Trek canon that fits the planet Soji described in her dream? Or will that be another new corner of the universe to explore?
• In that vein, the Tal Shiar already destroyed Maddox’s lab. What else are they looking for? Do you think they’ll actually find anything on this planet with two red moons and constant electrical storms?
• “The Impossible Box” gave fans two great Star Trek: Voyager references in Soji’s Flotter lunchbox and then the Sikarian technology that sling-shots Picard and Soji to their rendezvous point. 
• On The Ready Room, Jeri Ryan confirmed that we haven’t seen the last of Seven of Nine. When do you think we’ll see her again? I wouldn’t be surprised if Picard ended up calling her in at the end of the next episode.
• We get to see Riker and Troi so soon, you guys. If you know me, you know I’m unbelievably excited about this. Expect a lot of emotions in the next review. Just prepare yourselves, okay?
• Nepenthe means “that which chases away sorrow.” I’m really looking forward to this expansion of the Star Trek universe as we learn more about the characters we love, and hopefully Picard gets to indulge in a moment of respite with his old friends.
• Let me know what you’re looking forward to as we head into the back half of the season in the comments! 

 

What did you think of this episode of Star Trek: Picard? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Star Trek: Picard airs Thursdays on CBS All Access.

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