Star Trek: Picard - Raffi's Pain

Ouch, this is something I should've jumped on right away.

Raffi's pain.

When we first met Raffi she was living in melancholy isolation far from the maddening failure that Starfleet had become.  Moreover, the focus of her ire was directed at one Jean Luc Picard.

As we learned, Picard was defeated in his attempt to rescue the Romulan people from near extinction.  He had submitted his resignation to Starfleet in order to force their hand in restarting the rescue effort after the Mars disaster.  They declined and accepted his resignation.

The fallout of which immediately consumed Raffi and she was let go in unceremonious fashion.  Picard retreated to his hermitage and Raffi was left rudderless.  

Her sense of abandonment by Picard was so tortured that she greeted him at gunpoint when he came looking for her help.

Those of us that watch "Picard" on a weekly basis have been "treated" to a seemingly endless amount of flagellation directed at Picard for his leaving Starfleet.  There seems to be no end to the people or institutions that blame Picard for his retreat.  There is the resentment of the Romulans.  The contempt of Starfleet.  Raffi's pain.  Elnor's sense of rejection.  Even Seven of Nine got in a zinger with her reference to quitting when left with no other option.

Double ouch.

But, we learned there was something more to Raffi's resentment.  

I have to confess I was a bit startled at the depth of Raffi's animosity.  Yes, her commander had left her.  True, her Starfleet career was over.  No moral compass, no institutional lodestar.  But, living in near poverty with a penchant for smoking certain herbs and consuming "mass quantities" of alcohol.  Annnd, drawing a weapon on your former leader.  Well, that was some real pain there.

But, as it turned out, there was more.

With her career gone and her father figure missing, Raffi descended into substance abuse and paranoia.  The victims of which were her family.  They administered the most unkindest cut of them all, rejection.  To be rejected by your own family is the cruelest blow.

To see Raffi's son, Gabriel, lean in with laser focus and reject any notion of rapprochement was a bit jolting.  Gone was the opportunity to be a mother.  Gone was even the thought of being a grandmother. Gabriel's bitterness was palpable and it cut like a rapier.  Raffi's insistence she was clean didn't sway Gabriel at all and her long dormant anger stirred when her son reminded her of her conspiracy theories.  This flash of anger did nothing to assuage Gabriel of his fears.  

It made them worse.

Star Trek: Picard has a lot on it's plate.  There are far greater problems to solve than to resolve what is troubling Raffi.  At the end of the last episode I was glad to have her aboard the La Sirena again.  Although, I would have rather seen her than hear her whisper through a door.  A short talk like the one Picard had with Seven would have been nice.  (Seven's talk with Picard was one of the best parts of the show.)  It may have seem redundant to the writers to have two talks.  But, I think Raffi's worth it and besides, Michelle Hurd has been absolutely killing it.

Missed opportunity.

So, Raffi's back with her new family on La Sirena.  I hope that provides some solace for her.  Of course, one of her new family members just murdered someone so that could be a problem.  How will Raffi handle it?  Sad indifference or absolute rage?

We'll know more Thursday!

Thanks for reading and leave any comments below.