Star Trek Picard: Everything You Need To Know About The Borg

A true villain cannot be one-dimensional. Evil for evil's sake can offer a threat but it holds very little opportunity for story. TNG's fifth season added a new element to the collective. It challenged the idea of the individuals who were trapped inside the many. Johnathan Del Arco, who has recently returned for Star Trek Picard, steps into the role of Hugh, a Borg survivor from a crash site. He is saved from death by Dr. Crusher, beamed aboard the Enterprise and locked in the brig.

The episode is key for several elements but chiefly for showing without any uncertainty that the Borg Drones do not question their purpose while connected to the collective. When they are part of the One, they are tools to a function. However, separated from the rest of the Borg, Hugh's individuality begins to assert itself. He grows, learning to speak in the singular rather than the plural, taking on his name and expressing genuinely curiosity at the crew's hesitance to be assimilated. It is only in his friendship with Geordi that he comes to understand that individuality is more desirable that the collective.

I, Borg is a key factor of Picard's growth as well. Since his assimilation and liberation, he has carried the anger and pain toward the Borg with him, though unexpressed. Here, he is able to display it. He happily agrees to a plan that would see Hugh become a carrier for a pathogen that could wipe out the collective, seeing no moral or ethical issues.

It takes Guinan, a survivor of a race destoyed by the Borg, to convince him to meet with Hugh. Hugh recognises him as Locutus and Picard works this angle, testing the sensibilities of the drone. Once he sees that Hugh is no longer part of the collective but rather a frightened young man, he cancels the plan.

Though Hugh would return to the collective for the safety of the crew, he takes with him the lessons taught by the Enterprise crew and they in turn learn from him. The Borg may pose the greatest threat in the galaxy when they come in force but when viewed alone, they are a race of slaves, condemned to help enslave others.