Star Trek: Picard (2020–…): Season 2, Episode 7 - Monsters - full transcript

Previously on
Star Trek: Picard...

You need me, Agnes.

How will you survive without me?

[grunting softly]

I think I'll steer the ship
for a while.

Wait, I'm in control.

Not anymore.

You've been walking around

with that big, goofy smile
on your face,

ever since you were locked up
with that doctor.

If you ever need anything.



Did you know that she built
that clinic from the ground up?

Rios, do not even think about
going there.

You remind me a bit of
my mother.

She, too, loved the stars,

and she, too, struggled.

Why do I feel like I know you?

[tires screeching]

[Picard grunts]

TALLINN:
[gasps] Oh, God.

RIOS:
He's got a pulse.

TALLINN:
Okay, we have to get him
to a hospital.

RIOS:
I know someone.

[pads whirring]

Clear.



[Teresa gasps]

He's stable, but nonresponsive.

Everything's working.

I'm not sure
why he's not waking up.

TALLINN:
All of his synapses are firing.

Brain activity should be minimal
in a coma.

TALLINN:
He's stuck in there.

I could go in,

using
my neuro-optic interceptor.

Once I gain access to his mind,

I can hack into whatever memory
or thought he's fixated on.

RIOS:
We don't protect Renee,

we don't get our future back.

And we need Picard awake
to do that.

[distant crackling]

MAN:
The true sovereign of nature.

Giving life.

Allowing life.

And yet, we know
it will be the thing

that one day swallows us all.

[Picard clears throat]

PICARD:
Shall we, um,
get back to it then?

MAN:
Oh, yeah, let's.
Let's, shall we? Yes.

So, forgive me, I'm just,
I'm rarely in the sky.

Where were we?

You were, uh, humoring me,
I think.

You have a fear
of enclosed spaces,

was the last thing
you said to me.

I don't mean to do
your job for you.

Yeah. Naming your fear
is not my job.

But analysis is. So, shall we?

- Of course. Proceed.
- [sighs]

The man who hates enclosed
spaces spends his life

in the infinite cosmos.

[laughs]

Eh, it's almost too obvious.

- Isn't it?
- But then,

the man chooses
a life on a vessel

where his only access
to the outside is...

holographic.

Now the man becomes
more interesting.

Does that concern you at all?

Does that bother you in any way?

You're not very interesting.

It's not my job
to be interesting.

But aren't we more
than our jobs?

- Maybe not.
Maybe not, in your case.
- [sighs]

Even your closest friends
call you Captain.

So, uh, Jean-Luc?

Who's he?

This line of questioning
is absurd.

I've been humoring you
for the last 40 minutes.

Look, th-this is just
a routine psych evaluation.

No need to get head up.

[stammers] You seem to be
a little uneasy.

You are making me uneasy,
if we're being truthful.

This is highly unorthodox.

It's as if you're looking
for something, anything to...

- pull me apart.
- Well, for your information,

we've actually been here
for 20 minutes, not 40.

To put a point on it,
you need to give me something.

And if you don't want to talk,
that's fine.

I have to tell someone
that I spent an hour with you.

So, in the meantime,
we're just stuck here.

Know any good jokes?

Okay, tell me a story.

- I beg your pardon?
- A story.

Like a kid's story.
Like a children's story.

Any kind of story.

It can be a simple exercise

to help with opening your mind.

[sighs]

I wouldn't know where to begin.

No?

Why don't you begin with that?

Make something, you know...

Once upon a time...

...there was a queen

with fiery red hair.

Like the sun.
That's very good.

Carry on.

And she...

...was female.

Telling stories,
not really your thing, is it?

No.

But it was hers.

Who?

The Queen...

with the red hair.

QUEEN:
"I suppose you win," said the
prince to the evil sorcerer.

"Oh, but just one more thing."

The Sorcerer, poised to reduce
them to fractions of dust,

stopped.

His magic was gone,

stolen back in the very manner
he had arrived by it

in the first place.

Beaten at his own game,
he melted,

and all was right again.

In time they would forget
he was ever there,

but they would never forget
the lesson.

There is no better teacher
than one's enemy.

PICARD:
She was quite an unusual queen

in how she chose to spend
her days, telling tales.

Perhaps it was because she knew

her time with him was borrowed.

You're like your father.

Expression comes from his hands,
not his mouth.

I don't want to be like him.

It's not all bad, my love.

I want to be like you.

Nevertheless, you're a prince.

You must learn to lift people up
in times of grave danger,

to lead them
with inspiring speech.

I'll never be able to do that.

But you will.

I know,
because I know the future.

PICARD:
In a way she did.
Like an animal,

she could feel danger
in her bones

before anyone else in the room.

Perhaps she was magic,
or that's what happens

when you live in a world
where monsters are real.

[soft growling]

[snarling]

[growling]

♪

[snarling]

I want you to understand
how deeply I love you.

No matter what
your life brings--

if I know you forever
or if I know you for moments--

in every breath, who you are

is who I am so proud of you
for becoming.

[roaring]

Hurry.

[roaring]

Hurry!

[both panting]

[monster snarls]

Go.

Go!

- [grunts]
- [gasps]

Get up.

[monster snarling]

- [panting]
- [growling]

- [growls]
- [gasps]

- [grunting]
- Maman!

♪

♪

♪

♪

What's going on in there, JL?

- All right, ready?
- Uh-huh. Yeah.

Jurati's still MIA.

So we're gonna use
the Sirena's sensors

to try and track her combadge.

Given her slightly
alarming behavior.

- Singing.
- Kissing.

- Sorry, what now?
- Ask her.

Ugh. Just be careful. Okay?

You sure that'll work?

- Not in the slightest.
- [door closes]

RAFFI:
Is she out of her mind?

Kissing Rios? [groans]

Look, if that whole thing
starts up again,

I-I... I quit the gang.

- No, seriously, I-I don't
think I have it in me.
- [chuckles]

What? Oh, oh, you and me?

Nah, see,
we're-we're totally different.

No, our pain's beautiful
and tragic,

and everyone loves
hearing about it.

Absolutely.

Plus, we're the main event.

Now, Jurati and Rios,
they're like a side story.

And obviously you know
how the main story ends.

What, you mean once we're
through all this shit?

[scoffs]

Well, the premonition
I'm having is...

us old, and we sit
on park benches,

- tripping teenagers on
floaty things with our canes.
- I'm better at it than you.

- Of course.
- Initiating scan
for Jurati's combadge.

- Wh-Whoa, what did you do?
- Nothing.

I tried to access the ship's
optical data network,

and it kicked me out.

And now I'm locked out.

By who?

Not who. What.

This encryption isn't human
by design.

- It's Borg.
- The Queen?

- What the hell did she do
to our ship?
- I don't know.

But if we can't get access
and something's wrong

with Jurati,
we're never gonna find her.

Not to mention,
this ship is our only way home.

Parental controls disabled.

This should allow me
into his mind.

What you said, um,
"Take his lead,

let him show you
how to help him out."

How?

Leap of faith?

It's kind of how I roll.

I'm hoping it makes sense
when I get in there.

[sighs]

- [wind whistles]
- What is this?

Do you need a moment?

I'm fine.

I wasn't aware
Starfleet employed

psychologists like you anymore.

Well, Starfleet, obviously,

judge and jury
of all things meritorious.

Is that resentment?

It's true, the human version
is clearly a lesser model.

But there are those who have
built such walls

around their wounds

even a Betazoid can't get
a read.

[Picard laughs sarcastically]

You're implying that's me.

Well, you never finished
your story.

Sometimes a story ends

with a boy lost and alone
in a dungeon.

[scoffs softly]

Right.

- What are you writing?
- Only that you're
hopelessly bleak.

I'm actually recommending
that you be relieved

of your command position
immediately,

lest you take the crew
on a suicide mission

- just to feel something.
- [laughs]

There are 1,000 ways
to die out there.

♪

What did you say?

Come on, Jean-Luc.

- Dig deeper.
- Fine.

The boy was alone in the...

No, wait...

He wasn't.

[low growling in distance]

PICARD: [distorted]
I am Locutus of Borg.

[distorted, overlapping voices]

You are dangerous.
They're only victims.

You make them what they are.

I'd rather die...

[echoing,
distorted chatter continues]

Picard?

[Picard screaming]

[roaring]

[gasps]

- [snarling]
- [gasps]

[roars]

So, this is your mind sober.

I bet five-drink Picard is
a blast.

♪

♪

- Hello?
- [gasps]

I'm trying to help someone.

You seem to be on his mind.

Why are you down here
by yourself?

Because I can't leave.

She always said
if we get separated to stay put.

It's okay.

Who said?

My mother.

I have to stay put,

or she won't know
where to find me.

Well, you're the only one
down here.

And you seem pretty stuck,
so I'm thinking

maybe I should help unstick you.

How do I do that?

I'm not leaving
without my mother,

and you can't just find her.

You'd have to save her.

All right.

Then let's try that.

A monster took her,

and everything down here is
on his side.

- [roaring]
- [gasps]

Come on! This way!

PSYCHOLOGIST:
The hour-long evaluation
is complete.

You may terminate your session
now.

Go on.

Go on.

Back to wherever it is
you're hiding from yourself.

I can't say I wasn't warned.

You're stubborn.

It's one of the things
I was told about you.

You've been told
things about me?

Inquired about me specifically?

I've had enough.
What is this?

Something else.

Define something else.

Something...

else.

Something else
is happening here,

and this is not real.

- Or it is, but it's...
- Ah. Maybe,

but it's all
within your control.

Ironic, isn't it?

We're all here for you, Picard.

Only you can stop it.

Say something real.

- [takes deep breath]
- One real thing.

Why do you think we're here?

Because...

...I'm stuck.

We are.

What does that mean?

And who are you?

I'm a studier
of the human condition.

You are a captain.

Ethical, diplomatic, cultured.

An affinity for the arts,
intellectual thought,

and yet perpetually untethered
in the ways of the heart.

Untethered?

Relevance?

Why do you find it so difficult
to be open, Jean-Luc?

To let people in?

You hold them, you hold
everyone, at arm's length.

Lest-lest what?

Perhaps there's a version
of yourself you're hiding?

Something you're afraid
others will see?

A darker version, perhaps?

A secret shame?

A guilt?

What is it?

- What is it
you define yourself by?
- [loud banging]

What is this?
What is this banging?

[banging continues]

I think we both know
where that's coming from.

The ever-righteous Jean-Luc.

You like others saying it.

You need others to say it,
because if they do,

then that allows you
to push the truth away longer.

You're so obsessed with virtue,
Jean-Luc,

that the very story
you're telling me is

- one of good
prevailing over...
- Stop!

[banging stops]

I never said anything like that.

And you don't know...

how it ends.

[monster growling]

[panting]

PRINCE: [whispering]
We need to get
to the white door.

It moves.

It's not always
in the same place,

but she's behind it.

She always is.

[hissing]

[echoing laughter]

[growling]

[snarls]

- [screaming]
- [gasps]

[grunting]

- [imitates rocket blast]
- TOY: Roger. Liftoff.

[chatter continues]

Cool EVA suit.

Hope you're up on your
zero-gravity combat training.

He's nine.

A spaceman.

Better.

His babysitter flaked.

Oh, we borrowed some clothes
from your lost and found.

I-I hope that's okay.

How's the patient?

Who, Picard? Oh. [sputters]

He's fine.

Can we talk first?

Okay?

You didn't even say
the good swear words.

[chuckles]

Just, um...

k-keep an open mind.

[machine beeping steadily]

What the hell is this?

A procedure.

Why are you walking toward me
like a serial killer!?

[tools clattering]

I need to explain
something to you

without breaking time.

[gasps]

This is not your journey.

You're not supposed to be here.

So no one will miss you
when you die.

[panting] Let him go.

[sinister laughter]

He's not responding to
the lorazepam.

- We have to take him
to the hospital.
- No, no, no.

- We-we can't go to the hospital.
- We are at life and death.

I am not equipped for this.
He could die.

Equipped. Okay.

Raffi, I need some kind of,
uh, stabilizer, stat.

It's for Picard.

- Who are you talking to?
- It's-it's for his brain.

[rapid beeping]

I don't know what's happening.

Neural oscillator.

- Oh, my God.
- Teresa, just be in the moment.

Okay, neural, neural.
It-it affects brain waves.

Amplitude, frequency, phase.

Gamma waves?
Are you kidding me?

How is this real? Who are you?

Focus. You're gonna have to...

If you tell me to trust you
one more time...

Am I gonna kill him?

I'm not a doctor,
but I trust you.

[Picard groaning]

♪

Are you doing this on purpose?

You don't want to be unstuck.

What if it's not different
this time?

What if it's the same
as every other time?

You're never gonna know
if you don't get there.

But if you don't leave now,
you could be stuck here forever.

And this time, you're not alone.

[grunts]

[steady beeping]

RIOS:
You did it. He's stable.

[sighs]

Are you from outer space?

No.

I'm from Chile. I just...

I work in outer space.

♪

♪

♪

RAFFI:
Mmm.

At least the replicators work.

Wait. You're in?

The lock was based
on a cryptographic algorithm

I remembered
from the Collective.

Good?

I thought Agnes had purged all
the Borg programs from the ship

- after we crashed.
- Landed.

I wanted to understand
how she broke into the system,

so I called up
the last occurrence of Borg code

being introduced
into the computer.

You haven't touched your coffee.

- You never don't touch
your coffee.
- This is what came up.

That is definitely Borg code
she's implanting.

We have to find her, now.

[monitor beeping]

QUEEN:
There is no better teacher
than one's enemy.

[indistinct voices]

[doors bang open]

You?

Oh, Picard.

I-I was not...

I was, um...

- [banging]
- My ready room...

What's that banging?

- He's a monster.
- TALLINN: Whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa.

She's in there!

She's in there! You...

[pants] Hey.

You've been guarding it
all this time.

Her.

You lived longer than I did,
but I got to keep my hair.

Not exactly a fair trade, is it,

son?

You were relentless,

Father.

Your cruelty.

You ruined her.
You broke her.

You are a monster.

Am I?

Perhaps.

But not in the way you think.

You thought you couldn't
save her from a monster.

Look again.

The tunnels...

You said, "Don't go."

- Thousand ways...
- Thousand ways to die
down there.

[banging]

Take what you love, hurry.

Come on. We have to go.
It's just a game.

Hide and seek down below.

But I'm frightened
of the dark.

Yes, but I can't breathe here.

We'll go. You and me.

I won't be sad.
Everything will be better now.

You want to be with me?

[shushes]

- [beeping]
- [groaning]

- [panting]
- Maman!

I'm stuck! Maman!

- [rapid beeping]
- [groaning softly]

- [gasps]
- It was hours
before I found you.

If you hadn't dropped that pad,
I never would've known.

[groaning]

Your mother suffered cycles
of terrible darkness.

- [Young Picard shouting]
- An irrational exhilaration.

She needed help.

But she wouldn't accept it.

- [groaning]
- YVETTE: Please,
I'm-I'm so sorry.

You have to get me out.

I love you, please.

No light.

- Labyrinth.
- [thunder rumbling]

Rain coming.

You'd have never made it out.

But she...

she would've kept on trying.

There was no monster chasing
your mother.

No, there was.

There always was.

But I couldn't save her, either.

Not from her own mind.

Perhaps I never really knew you.

- [steady beeping]
- [gasps]

♪

You do so much with this pain.

You save worlds with it.

YVETTE:
Let me out, Jean-Luc. Please.

- Only you can save me.
- TALLINN: Wait.

There's more to this,
isn't there?

♪

Not bad.

Thanks.

I was talking to my child.

He's a spaceman alien

that can make things appear
out of thin air.

You promised, little man.

Not cool.

First off...

- ...I am human.
- Oh, my God.

When someone has to earnestly
convince you they're human,

you should not have brought them
around your kid.

You have instincts about me,
good ones.

I know you do.

You know how many times
in my life I've been wrong?

Not this time.

You're loyal to that man.

Respect him.

You know,
I never really knew my dad.

He wasn't around much, so...

I tend to
seek out father figures.

- What do you mean?
- Picard.

He feels like a father to me.

Even though I'm not a son
to him.

His loss,

whoever you are.

Who do you want me to be?

A good guy.

[chuckles]

I am.

And if I wasn't...

...I would become one,
right now.

If you're lying,
and I brought you around my kid,

they will never find your body.

Oye,Ricardo.

I want to show you something.

♪

Welcome to La Sirena.

My ship.

My... spaceship.

I'm gonna go touch everything!

♪

Do you understand
what this could mean?

A Borg Queen loose
in Los Angeles.

She's not the Borg Queen.
Don't say that.

She's Jurati, or she's...

Exactly. Is it Jurati
with a side of Borg Queen?

Or vice versa? There.

This is last night.

RAFFI:
Maybe she's still there.

SEVEN OF NINE:
I don't know.

I got the feeling a lot of
people's lives

are gonna depend on us
figuring it out.

[woman singing inside]

♪ ...I will be the last♪

♪ I know what people see♪

♪ And I know what they say♪

♪ No one's stopping me♪

♪ And no one is leaving today♪

♪ You ain't leaving today♪

Whoa, miss, miss!

Hey, hey, hey!

[panicked chatter]

[whispering voices]

RAFFI:
All of that happened today.

Jurati?

Not the kind of thing
you want to wake up to,

but we're on it.

Well, keep safe
and keep me informed.

I've got something here
to take care of.

- [knocking]
- [door opens]

Renee?

She's fine.

All quiet.

No sign of Q or the new one.

For now. Soong.

Picard...

you saved her.

I feel you and I just made
a quantum leap

past personal boundaries.

[sighs] Well, mine,
without doubt.

Well...

how about I give you
this much?

Romulan.

I knew it.

[both chuckle]

- You could be an ancestor.
- Usually,

we're recruited
to watch over our own,

but, on occasion,
a similar species.

That technology could be
very useful.

It has its limitations.

Once I switch it off, can't
use it again for eight hours.

Now...

I've got to walk around all day,
hiding my truth.

[both laugh]

- Are you all right?
- Oh. Yeah.

We're losing time.

Doing more harm than good.

The mission, Renee...

I'm not talking about
the mission.

All of that was
part of Q's plan?

That you experience that?

That you relive those memories?

I have to take that on board.

You know there's more
to that story, don't you?

Whatever it is,
it is irrelevant

- with what we are trying to fix.
- Not if he wants you to know it.

"There is no better teacher
than one's enemy."

But I've been letting him
control the lessons.

Know thyself.

That's what he wanted.

Know myself.

What if the lesson I take is...

...know him?

I'm not sure I'm following.

I always filed Q as unknowable.

But here he is,
so late in my life,

still fixated on me.

He needs this trial to happen.

He's saying it's about me,

but it's deeply personal
and urgent to him.

If we understand why that is,
we can go on offense.

That sounds like
you want to summon Q.

Flattered, but that might be
beyond my capabilities.

Yours maybe.

But there's someone else.

YOUNG GUINAN:
Wait a minute.

No "So nice to see you,
my new old friend.

Thanks for sticking around
an extra few days."

I wouldn't ask if I could
possibly keep you out of it.

Ask? Is that what just happened?

'Cause usually asking comes

with a question mark
at the end of it.

You know,
an up inflection in tone.

But we need answers now.

You can't really want me
to summon a Q?

A long time ago,
after a long cold war,

my people and the denizens of
the Q Continuum struck a truce.

Denizens?

Well, I'm not gonna call them
gods, that's for damn sure.

No, I'm-I'm sorry. Go on.

We El-Aurians believe
food and drink unite us,

so the truce was made
over a bottle.

This one.

To my people,
every action vibrates,

every word has resonance.

Metal and liquid can capture
the half-life of a moment.

So when I say the truce
was made over a bottle...

You mean the moment itself
is still inside?

El-Aurians hear the world
like music.

Dial in the right note,
right memory,

find the right chord
and pluck it back...

[overlapping whispering voices]

...and you can get the attention
of the player.

In our case,
our friendly neighborhood Q.

[overlapping voices continue]

[shrieking]

- [overlapping voices stop]
- [coughs]

[lights buzzing]

Where is he?

What happened?

It didn't... work.

I don't understand.

RAFFI:
How do we track something
we don't understand?

What?

What? [scoffs]

Wh-What are you doing?

Understanding.

Okay.

Pull it up again,
her breaking the window.

That rush. Endorphins.

She's trying to
speed up the process.

Nanoprobes multiply,

Queen gets stronger,
less and less Jurati.

How long? Before she's strong
enough to assimilate others?

No idea. We're witnessing
the birth of a new queen.

And if that happens,
forget butterflies.

She'll want to start an empire.

She could assimilate every being
on this planet.

We've brought the Borg to Earth

before humanity can
defend itself.

We're supposed to
save the future,

but we might have
just doomed it.

We need Picard.

I mean, what happened here?

An El-Aurian summons a Q,
a Q appears.

[entry bells jingle]

Is it him?

[sighs]

Mm-mm.

- Hello?
- We're closed.

Oh, it's just,
the-the sign says open.

Sorry, owner trumps sign.
Good night.

It always worked.

I-I'm celebrating.

One drink, and
I'm out of your hair, please.

Fine. What? What do you want?

Hmm. Well, uh, let me think.

Let me see.

Allow me.

You're the type of guy
that orders a bourbon

when he really wants
a white wine

and to cozy up
to some boring-ass nonfiction.

You're very good.

I've done this for a while.

The truth is, there's no reason
that I'm aware of,

in the history of time
that this should fail,

unless something's really wrong.

Boy, you really got me pegged.
[chuckles]

Except the, uh, nonfiction part.

Me, I'm more of
a sci-fi guy myself.

You?

Not really the spacey types?

Most definitely not.

Come on.

We could all use a dash of extra
with all this ordinary.

You don't think
we're alone out there.

I think we're alone down here.

[laughs]

For me, uh,
science is aspirational.

Science fact, science fiction.
Love it all.

Especially the strange,
the, uh, less explainable.

And I'm not talking about
UFO's scooping up cattle

or putting their
John Hancock's on cornfields.

I'm talking about, uh...

Well, this here.

W-Wait.

Hold on now. That-that...

[forced laughter]

Funny thing, I used to have
a camera system down here.

Damn thing glitched so much

you'd think this bar
was for ghosts.

[chuckles] Yeah, yeah.
That's probably it.

Uh, all the same.

Federal agents!
Hold it right there!

[indistinct radio chatter]

Don't move.

Hands where I can see them.

What is this?

Law enforcement.

I'm gonna need you two
to come with me.

[handcuffs click]