Picard season 2 episode 5 spoilers follow.
There's nothing that Star Trek fans like to do more than assimilate clues and Easter eggs that fuel new theories. And with all the wibbly-wobbly timeline stuff going on in Picard's second season, there's now more to unpack than ever.
The latest episode, 'Fly Me To The Moon', includes big nods to previous canon like Gary Seven, who fans will remember from Kirk's series in 1968. And then there are more subtle references too, like René Picard's birthday, which happens to be November 22, 1996 – otherwise known as the day that Star Trek: First Contact hit cinemas.
It's no coincidence that Jonathan Frakes directed both that film and this latest episode of Picard...
But what's most fascinating about this latest entry is how it seems to confirm the biggest fan theory that's circled this season. Namely, that Agnes Jurati, friend to Picard, is actually the Borg Queen who kicked off this whole mess at the start of season two.
She was masked, after all, and her non-lethal approach to battle didn't feel particularly Borg-like, let's say. And then there's that reference the Queen makes to a story only Picard's closest friends would know...
Crazy, right? Well, in a season that's given us a canon-busting Rick and Morty reference, not to mention a multiverse-defying MCU crossover, we're starting to think that nothing's off limits at this point.
There's a lot going on, but all you really need to know about this week's episode is what happened after Agnes accidentally fell asleep while on Borg watch. Seizing that opportunity for chaos, the Queen hacked their ship to lure a French policeman on board. This resulted in a tense stand-off where Jurati ended up shooting the Borg Queen in order to save her hapless victim.
While these actions were commendable, it's also worth noting that the crew needed to keep the Borg Queen alive so everyone wouldn't be left stranded in the past. However, we actually learn at the very end that she is indeed alive and well, albeit in the form of psychic energy inside Jurati's mind.
Agnes isn't fully assimilated in the way you might expect, but she now shares headspace with the Borg Queen nonetheless. And while that's handy when it comes to returning home, Jurati might not come out of all this unscathed, especially if she does end up transforming into the Borg Queen herself.
In an earlier interview with TVLine, actress Annie Wersching started to unpack her character's fascination with Agnes:
"She's so used to human beings being so beneath her. All of a sudden, there's this human mind that she's like, 'Wait a minute, yours is different. Why do you know so much? Aren't you clever?' It's this amazing cat-and-mouse game."
While this interview took place early on in season two's run, Wersching was already hinting that the Borg Queen has bigger plans for Agnes than we first thought:
"One of the interesting things about the Queen is that, as we go along, you still just don't really know what her game plan is. She seems to be wholly and fully obsessed with Agnes Jurati.
"She doesn't seem to concern herself with getting back to the Collective or finding other Borg. She seems to be wholly obsessed with Agnes Jurati, which there are reasons that we will come to see why that is, and what her game plan truly is."
Of course, diehard fans saw through this from the beginning. For weeks now, Reddit boards have claimed that the unusual Borg Queen who boarded Picard's ship is actually Agnes (thanks to time travel). And while that might have seemed unlikely at first, it sure would explain the helmet, not to mention how the Queen knew of words spoken long ago by Picard's mother.
Ok, fine, we haven't actually heard Jean-Luc tell the 'Look Up' story to Agnes yet, but there's still time for that to happen this season, whether it's on or off screen.
So what does this mean for "Borgrati", as she'll affectionately be known as from here on out? If Agnes does indeed become the Borg Queen we met in season two's premiere, that means our beloved Jurati is probably gone, at least as we know her.
But at least there's a chance then that everyone might get home safely by the season's end. That's assuming the Borg side of her doesn't end up trying to kill everyone. We're hoping that won't be the case though given how the masked Borg Queen took great pains to keep her "enemies" alive in episode one.
Agnes has outsmarted the Queen before, and with her extensive knowledge of synthetic lifeforms, she could end up being the one who bridges humanity and the Borg in ways never seen in this franchise. And no, not in a murderous, assimilation kind of way.
When the masked Queen first arrived in episode one, she asked to join the Federation, and it's probably no coincidence that Agnes suggested even then that the Borg could one day become their "greatest ally". If she can take control of Borgrati's power for herself, there's every chance that Agnes will try to make that happen, hence her timey-wimey actions in the season-two premiere.
This could even explain why Q decided to test Picard at that exact moment of conflict, just when Jean-Luc blew up the ship. Perhaps he's trying to show Picard what happens if big decisions like this are born of fear.
If so, this whole ruse could be in place to finally make him trust the Borg and overcome his own personal fears of assimilation. Which, to be fair, won't be easy given their history.
And given how devious the usual Borg Queen is, we're not convinced peace is on the horizon just yet. As Wersching pointed out in her aforementioned interview: "The audience is left to believe in certain situations that Jurati got one over on her. I just wonder if maybe some of that isn't part of the Queen's plan to let Jurati think she's a little bit in control..."
Star Trek: Picard season 2 airs Thursdays on Paramount+ in the US and Fridays on Amazon Prime Video in the UK.
![Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 1-7 [Blu-ray] [Region Free]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1568037652-51748LgoZAL.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 1-7 [Blu-ray] [Region Free]")
Paramount Home Entertainment Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 1-7 [Blu-ray] [Region Free]
After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
