History Recap / StarTrekPicardS1E05StardustCityRag

In the opening {{flashback}} (this one going back thirteen years instead of fourteen), a man lies on a table while someone [[EyeScream pulls his eye out of its socket]]. A flash of phaser fire, and the "surgeon" is dead. The phaser-firer is Seven of Nine, ex-Borg, crewmember of USS ''Voyager'' (see [[Series/StarTrekVoyager VOY]]: the whole series). The man on the table is Icheb, another ex-B, the only sentient life form to migrate to the Alpha Quadrant aboard ''Voyager''. Seven is here to rescue him, but Icheb knows he's too far gone. At his request, and with tears in her eyes, Seven sets the phaser on "MercyKill."

In the opening {{flashback}} (this one going back thirteen years instead of fourteen), a man lies on a table while someone [[EyeScream pulls his eye out of its socket]]. A flash of phaser fire, and the "surgeon" is dead. The phaser-firer is Seven of Nine, ex-Borg, crewmember of USS ''Voyager'' (see [[Series/StarTrekVoyager VOY]]: the whole series]]). The man on the table is Icheb, another ex-B, the only sentient life form to migrate to the Alpha Quadrant aboard ''Voyager''. Seven is here to rescue him, but Icheb knows he's too far gone. At his request, and with tears in her eyes, Seven sets the phaser on "MercyKill."

In the opening {{flashback}} (this one going back thirteen years instead of fourteen), a man lies on a table while someone [[EyeScream pulls his eye out of its socket]]. A flash of phaser fire, and the "surgeon" is dead. The phaser-firer is Seven of Nine, ex-Borg, crewmember of USS ''Voyager'' (see [[Series StarTrekVoyager VOY]]: the whole series]]). The man on the table is Icheb, another ex-B, the only sentient life form to migrate to the Alpha Quadrant aboard ''Voyager''. Seven is here to rescue him, but Icheb knows he's too far gone. At his request, and with tears in her eyes, Seven sets the phaser on "MercyKill."

In the opening {{flashback}} (this one going back thirteen years instead of fourteen), a man lies on a table while someone [[EyeScream pulls his eye out of its socket]]. A flash of phaser fire, and the one responsible is dead. The phaser-firer is Seven of Nine. The man on the table is Icheb, the only sentient life form to migrate to the Alpha Quadrant aboard USS ''Voyager''. Seven is here to rescue him, but Icheb knows he's too far gone. At his request, and with tears in her eyes, Seven sets the phaser on "MercyKill."

In the opening {{flashback}}, a man lies on a table while someone [[EyeScream pulls his eye out of its socket]]. A flash of phaser fire, and the one responsible is dead. The phaser-firer is Seven of Nine. The man on the table is Icheb, the only sentient life form to migrate to the Alpha Quadrant aboard USS ''Voyager''. Seven is here to rescue him, but Icheb knows he's too far gone. At his request, and with tears in her eyes, Seven sets the phaser on "MercyKill."

In the opening {{flashback}}, a man lies on a table while someone [[EyeScream pulls his eye out of its socket]]. A flash of phaser fire, and the one responsible is dead. The phaser-firer is Seven of Nine. The man on the table is Icheb, the only sentient life form to migrate to the Alpha Quadrant aboard USS ''Voyager''. Seven is here to rescue him, but Icheb knows he's too far gone. At his request, and with tears in her eyes, Seven sets the phaser on "MercyKill".

* BilingualBonus: The name of the planet Vergessen, where Icheb dies, is German for "to forget". Could double as an ironic MeaningfulName, as Seven never forgot Icheb, and instead opted for a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.

* LikeASonToMe: Seven tells Bjayzl that Icheb was the closest thing she will ever have to kin, and later expressly refers to Icheb as "a son to me".

* PlanetOfHats: Freecloud is Space Las Vegas, a den of hedonism which provides numerous forms of entertainment, including casinos and luxury hotels. Its motto, "Freecloud keeps your secrets", is similar to "Whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."

* ShoutOut: One of Rios' attempts to remember Seven of Nine's name is "[[Series/StrangerThings Eleven]]". Another one is "[[Series/GetSmart Ninety-Nine]]".

* KillTheOnesYouLove: At Icheb's urging, Seven of Nine performs a MercyKill on her surrogate son, who's dying in agony after being mutilated by a black market surgeon for his Borg components.

* SlowMotionDrop: The scene slows down when Maddox drops the glass which contained the drugged tranya and it smashes on to the table.

* OhCrap: When Bjayzl realizes she is about to get killed by a very pissed off MamaBear.

* AndThisIsFor: The last thing Seven tells Bjayzl is that she's killing her for Icheb.

--> "Defiled is what you are! Damned! ''Cursed!''"

--> '''Picard:''' I thought I looked... ''(puts on accent)'' appropriately sini''sterrrr''.\\

Back inside the casino, she disposes of Bjayzl's bodyguards and then holds the wretched woman at phaserpoint. Bjayzl is impressed by Seven's CharacterDevelopment, forsaking her RoaringRampageOfRevenge for Picard's life; Seven replies that Picard still believes in mercy, and didn't want to disillusion him. When it's just the two of them, though, there is no mercy to be found: "[Icheb] was a son to me, Jay. [[MamaBear This is for him]]." One second later, Bjayzl is a cloud of red mist. And then, as Bjayzl's back-up security arrives to avenge their boss, Seven strides into battle, [[GunsAkimbo Phasers Akimbo]], [[BolivianArmyEnding her fate uncertain]]. [[spoiler:(Don't worry; [[Recap/StarTrekPicardS1E08BrokenPieces she survives]].)]]

* C-ListFodder: Icheb was brought and killed back just to show things were darker and edgier now as well as to give Seven something to be upset about.

* C- ListFodder: Icheb was brought back just to show things were darker and edgier now.

Aboard ''La Sirena'', Seven visits Picard in his holodeck study. In the two decades since ''Voyager'' made it home, she's joined the Fenris Rangers, a VigilanteMilitia patrolling what used to be the Neutral Zone; Picard admires their devotion to law and order, but deplores their VigilanteMan tactics. Seven asks why Picard has come out this way, and he explains that he's on a diplomatic mission, which doesn't hold her interest. However, when he dangles the "SaveThisPersonSaveTheWorld" elements in front of her, [[ChronicHeroSyndrome she's intrigued]].

** A black market for Borg parts was hinted at back in "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS7E6InsideMan Inside Man]]", where Ferengi traders were willing to violate Starfleet security and kill the entire crew of ''Voyager'' just to gain access to Seven's nanoprobes. With the collapse of the Neutral Zone, that trade has evidently expanded greatly.

* DiedInYourArmsTonight: Icheb dies in Seven of Nine's arms.

* DramaticUnmask: Seven is [[BlindfoldedTrip transported with a black hood over her head]], and Picard twice hams up its removal. Ironically it turns out to be a DramaticUnmask InUniverse too, as Bjayzl and Seven are old acquaintances.

* EverythingSensor: The EMH on Rios's ship is programmed to automatically activate when the ship's passive sensors detect someone in medical distress. It can even distinguish between a medical emergency and a psychological emergency by interpreting vital signs.
* EyeScream: Icheb gets his cybernetic eye torn out by a surgeon without an anesthetic.

[[caption-width-right:350:"I thought I looked...appropriately sini''sterrrr''."]]

[[caption-width-right:350:"I thought I looked appropriately sinister."]]

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: When Picard uses a MauriceChevalierAccent for the first time, Elnor, who's standing behind him, has a "What the heck is my father figure doing?" expression.

* KnightInSourArmor: Seven as a Fenris Ranger.

* ParentalNeglect: After being dismissed from Starfleet, Raffi became obsessed with what Gabriel considers to be conspiracy theories about the synth attack on Mars, and her subsequent drug addiction made things even worse. She acknowledges that even when she was there, she wasn't ''really'' there for him or her husband. They became estranged, and when Raffi meets Gabriel again on Freecloud years later hoping for a reconciliation, he rejects it.

* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Bjayzl has a [[TheReptilians Beta Annari]] enforcer named Mr. Vup who is shown to be quite eager to beat, kill or vivisect people.

* SickbedSlaying: Jurati kills Maddox in his bio-bed by shutting off the support systems keeping him alive. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone She watches in horror]] as her former lover gets TaintedVeins as he dies of internal hemorrhaging.

* AdvertOverloadedFuture: When ''La Sirena'' enters orbit around Freecloud (which is essentially Space Vegas) and Rios transfers its Orbital Control to his ship's Conn, personalized holographic adverts hijack his projection system to spam the crew. Rios gets an ad for starship repairs, Picard is shown one for high tea at a luxury hotel, Raffi receives one for a drug emporium, and Jurati is "attacked" by a futuristic Rock-Em-Sock-Em robot that has to be punched before it'll go away. Elnor actually seems a bit disappointed not to get one.

* [[CallingTheOldManOut Calling The Old Woman Out]]: Raffi's estranged son wants nothing to do with her, saying she was so focused on her "crackpot" theories (and later, lost in substance abuse) that she didn't care about him or his father, and that she had no idea how hard it was to be her son.
* CommonalityConnection: It's not revealed to what extent they know each other otherwise (Raffi doesn't recall them having met before), but Seven and Picard have a familiar demeanor due to their time in the Borg Collective HiveMind.

** There are also several discussions about Seven and Picard being [=xBs=], though it's implied this isn't widely known (Rios claims to have forgotten Picard was assimilated briefly, and he struggles to recall Seven's name).

** Picard describing how the Borg "entered" and "defiled" Seven as a child continue drive home the "assimilation as rape" metaphor.

* EyeScream: Icheb gets his cybernetic eye torn out by a surgeon.

** Picard describing how the Borg "entered" and "defiled" Seven as a child continue driving home the "assimilation as rape" metaphor.

** Seven grabs a pair of phaser rifles to shoot her way out of the casino after beaming back down for revenge.