In the opening flashback (this one going back thirteen years instead of fourteen), a man lies on a table while someone pulls his eye out of its socket. A flash of phaser fire, and the "surgeon" is dead. The shooter is Seven of Nine, ex-Borg, former crewmember of USS Voyager (see VOY: Seasons 4-7). The man on the table is Icheb, another xB, the only sentient life form to migrate to the Alpha Quadrant aboard Voyager. Seven is here to rescue him, but Icheb knows that he's too far gone. At his request, and with tears in her eyes, Seven sets the phaser on "Mercy Kill."
A second flashback, two weeks ago, shows a woman with the preposterous name of Bjayzl holding court in a casino on Freecloud. Her second-in-command, Mr. Vup, informs her that Bruce Maddox has arrived, and although Bjayzl's first instinct is simply to have him killed, she instead sits down to talk to him. He reveals that the lab that he built, after securing a loan from Bjayzl, has been dissolved to the molecular level; he suspects that the Tal Shiar are involved. Bjayzl drugs him and decides to ransom him to the Romulan Secret Police for cash.
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 Vigilante Militia patrolling what used to be the Romulan Neutral Zone; Picard admires their devotion to law and order, but deplores their Vigilante Man 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 "Save This Person, Save the World" elements in front of her, she's intrigued.
On the bridge, Raffi quickly hides a data file on one "Gabriel Hwang" when Rios comes up to comment on the "strange cargo" that he's brought aboard. He mentions that Seven and Picard seem to know each other, and when Raffi identifies Seven as an ex-Borg, Rios remembers who she is. Meanwhile, in her quarters, Jurati watches a recording of Dr. Maddox baking chocolate chip cookes the old-fashioned way; the recording ends with him and Jurati kissing.
La Sirena enters orbit around Freecloud. After dismissing a bunch of annoying pop-up ads (Elnor, to his disappointment, doesn't get one), Musiker declares that she's found Bruce Maddox. However, to get him, they'll have to go undercover and hatch a deal with Bjayzl. Rios will pose as an 'interfacer,' an intermediary who facilitates business deals; this forces Rios to drop his "broody, existentialist spaceman routine" for something a bit more flamboyant. (Seven: "You need a feather in your hat.") Picard will play the opposing business interest, adopting a French Jerk persona and (what he believes to be) an "appropriately sinisterrrr" accent. Elnor, who never learned how to lie, plays Elnor. (Seven: "An Elnor that never talks.") Dr. Jurati will remain aboard to operate the transporter. And Seven plays the one thing that Bjayzl wants more than anything else, the only person that she would offend the Tal Shiar for: Seven of Nine.
Raffi arrives at Stardust City Reproductive Health Services, where she's tracked down Gabriel Hwang. He's not happy to see her: "I don't think you understand just how much it sucked to be your kid." Raffi claims that she's clean, having given up on her job in Starfleet Intelligence; but Gabriel is having none of it, questioning whether her "crackpot, tin-hat conspiracy" was worth alienating her family. Raffi turns right around and declares that she's Properly Paranoid: there is a Government Conspiracy, something about the "Conclave of Eight"... rather putting the lie to her claim that she's changed. Just then, a Romulan woman comes by, heavily pregnant. Gabriel introduces his wife Pel to his mother Raffaela, who he claims is "just passing through" and was about to leave, before hustling her away.
After some tension with Mr. Vup, a Beta Annari who can smell lies, Picard's party manage to get in to speak with Bjayzl. They are shown Maddox, rather beaten up but alive, and Bjayzl gets her hands on "Annika." Meanwhile, up on the ship, Dr. Jurati — a cyberneticist by trade, and per Word of God also a trained MD — is starting to hyperventilate at the thought of having to operate the transporter. The EMH shows up and asks about the nature of her psychiatric emergency, but she deactivates it to concentrate on her job. Meanwhile, Seven and Bjayzl trade barbs, the latter about how she carved up Icheb for parts and the former about how she managed to escape despite being literally the most valuable thing in the universe to a Borg technology broker like Bjayzl. Seven deactivates the trick handcuffs and takes her nemesis by the throat, and Picard is struck by the dawning understanding that, for Seven, It's Personal. However, she's still a Byronic Hero, and realizes that her revenge would complicate things; and so she gives up, and beams back to La Sirena with Picard, Maddox, Rios, and Elnor.
Picard, approving of Seven's decision, offers her a lift. She declines, as the Rangers have sent her a replacement ship by now, although she does borrow a couple phaser rifles. In return, she gives him a Distress Beacon that he can ring "In case you need a vigilante." This will be important later.
Before beaming back down to the planet, she asks Picard if he recovered his humanity after being separated from the Collective; Picard, proud, replies "Yes." "All of it?" she asks, and Picard, saddened, replies no.
- Picard: But we're both working on it, aren't we?
Seven: Every damn day of my life.
Back inside the casino, she disposes of Bjayzl's bodyguards and then holds the wretched woman at phaserpoint. Bjayzl is impressed by Seven's Character Development, forsaking her Roaring Rampage of Revenge 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. 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, Phasers Akimbo, her fate uncertain. (Don't worry; she survives.)
Picard goes to talk to their "stowaway"— Raffi, locked in her cabin, refusing to come out. Then he tends to Maddox in Sickbay. Maddox isn't able to say much, but he does mention that Soji is on the Artifact— sent there for the same reason that Dahj was sent to Earth: to get to the bottom of the Ban on A.I.. Picard then leaves him to rest, and Maddox greets Agnes. Despite his exhaustion, he is triumphant: he succeeded. In Dahj and Soji, he has created synthetic life... and Jurati herself played a vital contributing role. "Just one more thing I have to atone for," Jurati mutters, shutting off the biobed. The EMH materializes once again, inquiring after Agnes' psychiatric emergency, but Jurati turns it off, watching with tears in her eyes as Dr. Bruce Maddox dies.
Tropes:
- Advert-Overloaded Future: When La Sirena enters orbit around Freecloud (which is essentially Space Las 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 at being left out.Elnor: I didn't get one.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: One of Bjayzl's bouncers is a purple-skinned alien.
- Ambiguously Gay:Bjayzl: I take it you had no awareness of Annika and my close, personal relationsh—
Seven: (shoves her down to the table) Shut up! - And This Is for...: The last thing that Seven says to Bjayzl is that she's killing her for Icheb.Seven: He was a son to me, Jay. This is for him.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Gabriel's pointed questions about the synth attack break through Raffi's attempts to portray herself as reformed, and she insists that she was right, especially with what she knows now. This is more than enough proof for Gabriel to conclude that she's being insincere, and thus he rejects her overtures.
- Back for the Dead:
- Icheb shows up for the first time since Voyager's series finale "Endgame", only to be vivisected by Bjayzl's gang and given a Mercy Kill by Seven.
- Bruce Maddox appears in the flesh for the first time since The Next Generation's "The Measure of a Man", and he's killed by Agnes at the end of the episode. (Though, unlike the rest of the show's returnees to date, he's played by a different actor.)
- Bad Liar: Because Elnor was indoctrinated into the Qowat Milat philosophy of the Way of Absolute Candor, he has virtually no experience telling lies, so naturally, he's awful at it. He has great difficulty even recognizing that his crewmates are playing roles for their undercover op. ("It's a lie! Everyone's behaving as if they were someone else! Everyone except me.") After he puts on his disguise, he tries to pretend to be someone else ("Agua-arrrrdiente!"), but the others react by rolling their eyes and uttering "Ugh" in unison.Elnor: (disappointed) I don't know how not to be Elnor.
Picard: Then be Elnor.
Seven: An Elnor who never talks. - Bait-and-Switch Gunshot: Mr. Vup produces a blaster from his sleeve and starts to raise it. A shot is fired, and he drops dead from Rios shooting him in the back.
- Bilingual Bonus: The name of the planet Vergessen, where Icheb dies, is German for "to forget." Could double as an ironic Meaningful Name, as Seven never forgot Icheb, and instead opted for a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
- Bloodier and Gorier: While Star Trek has portrayed Medical Horror, Revenge, and Sickbed Slaying before, it has never been this horrific.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: What the Tal Shiar views as honourable behaviour is very different from ours.Rios: They are treacherous, violent, ruthless, and subtle. Their concept of honour is rooted in their skill at deceit.
- Book Ends: At the beginning and the end of this episode, a blond woman (Seven and Jurati, respectively) is crying when she kills a man she loves (Icheb and Maddox, respectively) who is lying helplessly on an operating table.
- Call-Back: The surgeon working on Icheb can't find his cortical node. He donated that to Seven back in the Voyager episode "Imperfection" when her own failed.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Raffi's estranged son Gabriel wants nothing to do with her, saying that 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 difficult it was to be her son.
- Casino Episode: Most of the action is set in Bjayzl's casino, and the planet Freecloud itself is Space Las Vegas.
- C-List Fodder: Icheb was brought back and killed just to show that things are much darker and edgier now, as well as to give Seven something specific to be upset about.
- Comfort the Dying: Seven offers this to Icheb, but he's in so much pain that he begs her to Mercy Kill him, to which she complies.
- Commonality Connection: It's not revealed to what extent Picard and Seven know each other otherwise (Raffi doesn't recall them having met before), but they have a familiar demeanor due to their time in the Borg Collective Hive Mind.
- Continuity Nod:
- A black market for Borg parts was hinted at back in "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 Romulan Neutral Zone, that trade has evidently expanded greatly.
- There are also several discussions about Seven and Picard being xBs, although it's implied that this isn't widely known (Rios claims to have forgotten that Picard was assimilated briefly, and he struggles to recall Seven's name).
- There is a Quark's Bar on Freecloud, implying that it became a franchise since the conclusion of DS9 (of course, it doesn't hurt when one's brother is the Grand Nagus).
- The Enterprise-D's barber has a franchise too, Mr. Mot's Hair Emporium.
- The Umbrella Drink Temtibi Lagoon is named after a location on Risa which was featured in DS9's "Let He Who Is Without Sin..."
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Seven of Nine guns down Bjayzl and her entire security detail at the casino without so much as breaking stride.
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Discussed when Seven asks Picard if he got his humanity back after being liberated from the Borg.Seven: After they brought you back from your time in the Collective... do you honestly feel that you regained your humanity?
Picard: Yes.
Seven: All of it?
Picard: ...No. But we're both working on it. Aren't we?
Seven: Every damn day of my life. - Defiled Forever: How Picard describes Seven as part of the op."Defiled is what you are! Damned! Cursed!"
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Icheb dies in Seven of Nine's arms, whom he loves like a mother.
- Dies Wide Open: Maddox passes away while looking at the camera.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?:
- The harvesting of Icheb's Borg parts is analogous to Organ Theft.
- "Freecloud keeps your secrets" sounds a lot like "Whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."
- Raffi's attempt to reconnect with her son is framed in the same way as an addict trying to get in touch with family after getting clean, which Raffi incidentally actually says when making her appeal.
- Picard describing how the Borg "entered" and "defiled" Seven as a child continues to drive home the "assimilation as rape" metaphor.
- Downer Beginning: The episode opens on a flashback to thirteen years prior, where Seven arrives too late to save Icheb from Bjayzl's surgeons, who are harvesting Borg technology from former drones.
- Dramatic Unmask: Seven is transported with a black hood over her head, and Picard twice hams up its removal. Ironically, it turns out to be a Dramatic Unmask In-Universe too, as Bjayzl and Seven are old acquaintances.
- Dress-Up Episode: As part of their undercover op on Freecloud, Picard, Rios, and Elnor wear costumes that are very different from their normal attire.
- Drink-Based Characterization:
- When Picard offers Seven of Nine a drink, she requests, "Bourbon, straight up." It reflects her tough, blunt, no-nonsense personality, and it draws a contrast to her time on Voyager when she was laid out by mere synthehol.
- When Rios orders a Temtibi Lagoon on Freecloud with two umbrellas, it's the opposite of his "broody, existentialist spaceman routine" because he's pretending to be an ostentatious 'facer.
- Everything Sensor: The EMH on La Sirena 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.
- Eye Scream: Icheb gets his cybernetic eye torn out without anesthetic by a surgeon.
- Faction Motto: The motto of the planet Freecloud is "Freecloud keeps your secrets."
- Family-Unfriendly Death: Unlike the typical clean disintegrations from phasers set to vaporize, we clearly see Bjayzl briefly turned to Ludicrous Gibs before vanishing.
- First-Name Basis: Although it's obvious to the audience that Seven is seeking revenge for Icheb, Bjayzl calling her "Annika" shows that matters are a lot more personal than that. Seven in turn calls her "Jay" before she kills her.
- The Fixer: 'Facers' serves as interfacers between criminals and their clients, setting up introductions for a fee.
- Flashback:
- The episode opens on a flashback to the Seven Domes on the planet Vergessen, which plays host to an operation which is harvesting Borg technology from former drones. Icheb is one of their victims, getting his cybernetic eye ripped out before Seven shows up and kills the surgeons. Unfortunately, his injuries are too severe and she has to Mercy Kill him herself to end his suffering.
- A second flashback, a mere two weeks earlier at Stardust City on Freecloud, shows us how Bruce Maddox wound up there. He explains that the Romulans found and destroyed his lab.
- Funny Background Event: When Picard speaks with a Maurice Chevalier Accent for the first time, Elnor, who's standing behind him, has a "What the heck is my father figure doing?" expression.
- Gratuitous French: Picard goes all-in on his French Jerk persona:Hammy!Picard: When the Borg entered her, she was just a jeune fille.
- Guns Akimbo:
- Elnor takes two phaser pistols and points them at Bjayzl's female bodyguards.
- Seven grabs a pair of phaser rifles to shoot her way out of the casino after beaming back down for revenge.
- Guyliner: Bjayzl's male bartender has black eye make-up, and it's the least flashy display among her casino's staff and customers, where looking tacky is the norm.
- Happier Home Movie: Jurati watches an old video of Maddox making cookies.
- "Hey, You!" Haymaker: Seven beams back down to Bjayzl's place, gives a casual "Hi!" then blasts her bodyguards.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Raffi hides the transport enhancer on Seven so it'll blend in with her many Borg implants when she's scanned.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: Agnes tells the EMH that she doesn't need a sedative, then starts hyperventilating.
- Impairment Shot: Bjayzl appears hazy to Maddox after he drinks the drugged tranya.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Seven is out in the open, walking in a straight line, and none of Bjayzl's mooks can hit her.
- Internal Reveal: Picard learns of Soji's location from Maddox.
- Interspecies Romance: Raffi's son, Gabriel Hwang, is married to a Romulan woman named Pel, and they are expecting a baby girl.
- It May Help You on Your Quest: Before she beams out, Seven leaves Picard a portable transmitter in case he needs help from the Fenris Rangers.
- It's Personal:
- Seven agrees to help Picard rescue Maddox because she has a personal grievance with Bjayzl, who ran the operation that killed Icheb. Furthermore, Bjayzl only knew to target Icheb because she learned of him through Seven.
- Jurati is revealed to be a former lover of Maddox. However, it's subverted when it's revealed that she has another agenda for going on the mission.
- Judge, Jury, and Executioner: Picard isn't happy that the Fenris Rangers have appointed themselves judge and jury, although Seven points out that there's no law and order there anyway. By the end of the episode, Seven shows that she's entirely willing to be the executioner as well.
- Kill the Ones You Love:
- At Icheb's urging, Seven of Nine performs a Mercy Kill on her surrogate son, who's dying in agony after being mutilated by a black market surgeon for his Borg components.
- As a Zhat Vash mole, Jurati deactivates the medical program that was treating Maddox's injuries, which causes him to die. He was her boyfriend before the Federation's synth ban.
- Knight in Sour Armor: Seven describes her work as a Fenris Ranger to Picard.Seven: It's hopeless and pointless and exhausting, and the only thing worse... (gives Picard a Meaningful Look) ...would be giving up.
- Leave Me Alone!: After her confrontation with her son, Raffi returns to the ship and locks herself in her room. Picard leaves her in peace with just a "Welcome back."
- Leitmotif: The Voyager theme briefly plays when Seven beams down to Freecloud and exacts her revenge for Icheb's death.
- Large Ham:
- Picard really leans into playing the villain this time, compared to his more realistic act as Galen back in TNG. He even wears an Eyepatch of Power.
- An Invoked Trope with the 'facers, who dress to impress to make themselves stand out from their competition. Raffi tells Rios that he's going to have to present himself a bit more loudly if he wants to pull off the impersonation.
- Like a Son to Me: Seven tells Bjayzl that Icheb was the closest thing that she will ever have to kin, and later expressly refers to Icheb as "a son to me."
- Living Lie Detector: Mr. Vup, a Beta Annari, can literally smell lies.
- Lured into a Trap: Icheb was captured when he responded to a false Distress Call.
- Mad Doctor: The black market surgeon cuts up Icheb while he's still alive, without anesthetic, while listening to piano music.
- Malicious Misnaming: As part of his French Jerk guise, Picard addresses Mr. Vup as "Mr. Vip," which sounds silly and makes the latter seem much less intimidating.
- Mama Bear: Seven kills at least one of Bjayzl's mooks in her failed attempt to save Icheb. Thirteen years later, she kills Bjayzl and several more mooks in a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
- Manchild: Invoked by Rios when he refers to Elnor as a kid.Rios: But the kid and the old man, they don't stand a chance with a price on their heads.
- Maurice Chevalier Accent: Picard's overdone French accent during the op. Sir Patrick has previously remarked in interviews (such as in a 2014 appearance
on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me) that the silliness of his attempts at a French accent is the real-life reason that Picard ended up with an English accent.Picard: I thought I looked... (puts on accent) appropriately sinisterrrr.
Raffi: No comment. - May–December Romance: If Agnes' age is at all similar to Alison Pill's, then she was born within a few years of "The Measure of a Man", when Bruce Maddox was introduced as a lieutenant commander. This easily makes him old enough to be her father... or, quite possibly, her grandfather.
- Meaningful Appearance: Seven of Nine sports a pair of fingerless gloves, and they visually project that she's a steely Action Girl that you don't want to mess with.
- Mercy Kill: Seven kills Icheb herself after she arrives too late to stop the people harvesting him for Borg tech from doing fatal damage.
- The Mole: Commodore Oh evidently either explained the secret of the Zhat Vash to Dr. Jurati or performed a mind-meld as seen in the series teaser trailer, who was so horrified by it that she has now joined with their cause. Whether or not it is voluntary is left as The Unreveal.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Jurati is weeping profusely as she kills Maddox.
- Needle in a Stack of Needles: Raffi hides a transport enhancer on Seven, since it will blend in with her Borg implants and not raise suspicion when she's scanned.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Seven of Nine is a Rogue Drone from the other side of the galaxy turned Ace Pilot Action Girl Vigilante Woman.Rios: Seven, the ex-Borg Fenris Ranger from the Delta Quadrant.
- Non-Action Guy: A Teleportation Rescue that would be routine for any Star Trek hero almost makes Jurati panic. This makes her subsequent Sickbed Slaying even more unexpected.
- The Nose Knows: Mr. Vup has an extremely heightened sense of smell (thanks to 1253 genes devoted to this ability) that allows him to detect the physical cues for lying, among other, more useless facts like the person's last meal or who the person most recently had sex with. Raffi anticipates this and gives Rios a beta-blocker so he can lie without betraying himself.
- Not So Above It All: Picard is clearly enjoying himself playing an over-the-top flesh merchant.
- Number Two: Mr. Vup is Bjayzl's second-in-command. In addition to being part of her security detail, he personally interviews 'facers who want to do business with his boss, and he also inspects any "merchandise" (living or otherwise) that's being offered.
- Off the Grid: Played for Laughs. As the rest of La Sirena's crew are bombarded with holographic pop-up ads related to their personal histories (tea for Picard, drugs for Raffi, robots for Jurati, and starship repair for Rios), Elnor crestfallenly bemoans that he didn't get one— because he'd spent most of his life living in a monastery on a backwater planet and was effectively invisible to Freecloud's advertising server.
- Oh, Crap!:
- When Bjayzl realizes that she is about to get killed by a very pissed off Mama Bear.
- Picard learning that Soji is on the captured Borg Cube, meaning that he has to go to the one place in the quadrant where he would never have wanted to.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted. Gabriel's Romulan wife Pel shares a name with the Ferengi Sweet Polly Oliver last seen exiled to the Gamma Quadrant in DS9.
- Organ Theft: A variation is done by Bjayzl's gang, who peddle Borg technology and don't care if they have to vivisect liberated drones to get it.
- Overcrank: After Maddox lets go of his glass, the shot of it falling and then shattering when it hits the table is done slowly to visually convey that he's drugged, and one of the side effects is that his perception of time has noticeably changed.
- Parental Neglect: After being dismissed from Starfleet, Raffi became obsessed with what her son 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.
- Parental Substitute: In continuation of Seven's surrogate mother-son relationship with Icheb from Voyager, her final words to him are:Seven: (tearfully) I'm so sorry. My child.
- Planet of Hats: 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."
- Plucky Comic Relief: Elnor's main role in this episode is to provide levity; all of his lines are lighthearted and they poke fun at his naïveté.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Before Seven kills Bjayzl."[Icheb] was a son to me, Jay. This is for him." (shoots Bjayzl)
- Properly Paranoid: When Jurati was first brought onto the mission by Picard, Raffi complained that she hadn't had time to do a background check on her. Turns out that Raffi was right to be suspicious, as Jurati is following the Zhat Vash agenda to sabotage Picard's mission.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Bjayzl has a Beta Annari enforcer named Mr. Vup whose appearance and voice are more "alien" and more intimidating than most Rubber-Forehead Aliens that humans normally interact with. He's shown to be quite eager to beat, kill, or vivisect people.
- The Reveal:
- Raffi's business on Freecloud is an attempt to reconnect with her estranged son, Gabriel. Sadly, the same paranoia about the Romulans which consumed her life and led to her estrangement from her family the first time is only magnified now that she knows that she was right, so he rejects her overtures and she returns to the crew.
- Confirming earlier hints, Dahj and Soji's mother is an AI designed to watch over them.
- Maddox sent Dahj to Earth and Soji to the Artifact to learn about the conspiracy against them.
- Jurati has known about Dahj and Soji all along, as she helped Maddox create them.
- Jurati was recruited by Commodore Oh, and by extension, the Zhat Vash. Whatever they showed her scared her so badly that she kills the man that she loved, Maddox, for them.
- Revenge Is Not Justice: When it becomes clear that Seven desperately wants to end Bjayzl, Picard tells her that her bloodlust is not justice and persuades her to beam back to La Sirena without killing anyone. It's then subverted when Seven beams back with a pair of phaser rifles and annihilates Bjayzl and her mooks.
- Rewatch Bonus: Dr. Jurati is tasked with operating the transporter on the ship while the rest of the crew is on the surface, a task that she clearly wasn't expecting. Later, Jurati is pacing and worrying about doing something that terrifies her. She's so stressed that the EMH activates for her "psychiatric emergency." We think that she's simply extremely nervous about having to operate the transporter. But after The Reveal that she's a mole, and a similar "psychiatric emergency" at the end of the episode, we realize that she's actually talking herself into going through with murdering Bruce Maddox.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Seven of Nine got her bloody satisfaction against Bjayzl for the death of Icheb.
- Sacrificial Lion: Icheb was an important recurring character in the last two seasons of Voyager, but he's sacrificed in a gruesome Organ Theft to illustrate to viewers how much Darker and Edgier this series is compared to the previous ones.
- Sarcasm Mode:Elnor: Are we still pretending?
Picard: (exasperated glance) No, Elnor… (glares at Seven) I think everyone has finally stopped! - Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: After Seven goes back and takes out two of Bjayzl's bodyguards and clearly intends to kill Bjayzl, the other patrons do the sensible thing and get the hell out, either by running or beaming out.
- Shout-Out: One of Rios' attempts to remember Seven of Nine's name is "Eleven." Another one is "Ninety-Nine."
- Sickbed Slaying:
- Seven of Nine euthanizes Icheb at his request, as he's slowly dying from his injuries on an operating table.
- Jurati murders Maddox in his bio-bed by shutting off the support systems keeping him alive. She watches in horror as her former lover gets Tainted Veins as he dies of internal hemorrhaging.
- Simple Solution Won't Work: Rios suggests that they simply buy Maddox from Bjayzl, but Raffi rejects this because the Tal Shiar has expressed interest and it would take far more than money for Bjayzl to break a contract with them. Seven offers herself as a Trojan Prisoner instead, as her wide range of implants would be extremely valuable.
- Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Bjayzl mocks Seven over how her idealism made her so easy to manipulate.
- Slipping a Mickey: Bjayzl slips a sedative into Maddox's tranya while pretending to be a good friend.
- Slow-Motion Drop: The scene slows down when Maddox drops the glass which contains the drugged tranya and it smashes onto the table.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: Light piano music plays while Icheb is being mutilated.
- Space Clothes: Bjayzl's outfits have odd shoulder extensions for no discernible reason. Then again, tacky fashion seems to be the norm on Freecloud, with Picard lamenting the outfits that Raffi comes up with for their op.Picard: Raffi, are you serious, sending us down there looking like this?
- Sunglasses at Night: It's nighttime when Rios beams down to Freecloud with his Cool Shades, and he still keeps them on when he enters Bjayzl's casino and orders an Umbrella Drink from the bartender. He doesn't remove his sunglasses until he meets Mr. Vup.
- Teleport Interdiction: Bjayzl's casino has a shield which prevents the crew from beaming in or out from orbit. Seven is given a transport enhancer that allows them to bypass the shield once they get her inside.
- Tempting Fate:
- The surgeon working on Icheb asks where his cortical node is, then boasts that she'll find it soon enough. It does show up, as does the pissed off Mama Bear that it's attached to.
- Maddox has no idea how he's going to pay off Bjayzl's loan after the Tal Shiar destroys his lab. As it turns out, she knows perfectly well how she's going to recoup her losses.
- They Would Cut You Up: Icheb is shown being vivisected while he's still conscious, and Seven's implants are said to be particularly valuable as they're fully integrated into her body since she was assimilated as a child.
- Time Skip: The episode features two of them. After Icheb's death scene, the story jumps ahead thirteen years to the point where Maddox came looking for Bjayzl, and then another two weeks ahead to the point where the story left last episode.
- Traitor Shot: When Picard is questioning Maddox, Jurati is standing with her back to them, but she's clearly listening in.
- Tranquil Fury: When confronting Bjayzl, the woman who had Icheb torn apart for his Borg implants, Seven is clearly boiling with rage, although her voice never rises above its normal tone even when she guns Bjayzl down.
- Trojan Prisoner: Seven offers herself as payment for Maddox, for secretly personal reasons, but rationalizing that her implants would be a fair trade. Raffi hides a small transport enhancer on her person which will blend in with her implants and rigs the cuffs to come off whenever Seven wants, allowing her to get the drop on Bjayzl.
- Trying Not to Cry: Seven of Nine's eyes become wet and redden slightly when she explains to Picard the very painful reason why she wants to enact revenge on Bjayzl.
- Umbrella Drink: Rios asks for two umbrellas for his Temtibi Lagoon.
- Unflinching Walk: After killing Bjayzl, Seven leaves the bar at a brisk walk gunning down mooks left and right without even bothering to dodge.
- Unfolding Plan Montage: As the heroes plan to enter Bjayzl's casino on Freecloud, the scene jumps back and forth between them preparing and then executing their undercover op.
- Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Zigzagged; the initial stages of the plan cut back and forth with our heroes preparing for the mission. It doesn't quite go as planned.
- Wham Line:
- The Little "No" when Seven presses Picard on whether coming back from the Collective meant regaining all his humanity. Even thirty years later, it still deeply affects him, and he was only assimilated for six days, vs. sixteen years for Seven.
- When Seven beams back down to confront Bjayzl:Seven: Picard still thinks there's a place in the galaxy for mercy. I didn't want to disillusion him.
- When Jurati and Maddox are alone, with Maddox seemingly on the mend... until he suddenly isn't:Jurati: I wish you knew what I know. I wish I didn't know what I know. I wish they hadn't shown me. I'm so sorry...
- Wham Shot: The flashback shows a surgeon ripping out someone's eye, only for distinct wires to follow it out. Then the camera switches to a shot of his face, which has a ridge going up from the nose and a distinctive L-shaped wound that shows us that this poor soul is none other than Icheb from Star Trek: Voyager.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Played with. Seven has some final words with Bjayzl before killing her, but knows that Bjayzl is stalling and knows to the second when her security will arrive, so their conversation only lasts for as long as Seven is confident they won't be interrupted. Once Seven knows that she's out of time, she kills Bjayzl on the spot.
- Wretched Hive: Freecloud is basically a place where everything that the Federation is supposed to be against can be found, from benign things like gambling to far more illicit trades like running stolen Borg tech.
- You Are Too Late: Seven arrives too late to save Icheb from vivisection, and is left to give him a Mercy Kill.
