Star Trek has always been a series that uses the image of an altruistic future to examine the issues of contemporary society. And while the past is already written, our futures are ours to shape no matter the circumstance. In "Broken Pieces," Picard and Rios both learn they can move past these prior indiscretions to build a future worth fighting for.
During a quiet moment on the Sirena, Picard and Rios reminiscence about Rios' former Captain, Alonzo Vandermeer. Rios was traumatized by the suicide of his captain who unwillingly committed murder on account of a black flag directive given by Commodore Oh. Picard mentions he once met Vandermeer while he served as a first officer under his classmate Captain Marta Batanides.
Batanides was a close friend of Picard, and she was someone he always regretted not pursuing romantically. She was a character first introduced in a classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode called "Tapestry." This episode portrays the direction Picard's life would've gone had he not made a pivotal decision in his reckless youth.
In the episode, Picard suffers a fatal injury during a mission and dies from his resulting wounds. He finds himself in the afterlife and is greeted by the god-like alien Q. The otherworldly being laments how he would've survived his injury if he still had his natural heart as opposed to an artificial one. Picard was stabbed through the heart by a Nausicaan during a bar fight in his youth, a moment he regrets.
Q transports Picard back in the time two days before the brawl and Picard makes some changes to his past. He stops his friend Corey Zweller from starting a fight with a group of Nausicaans averting the brawl entirely. He even hooks up with his longtime friend Marta who is suddenly attracted to his mature behavior. Yet, this results in a one-night stand that strains their friendship. When Picard returns to the present, however, he finds that his life has changed for the worse.
Without this brush with death, Picard became a passionless science officer instead of the captain of the Enterprise. In this lifetime, he played it safe and didn't take any risks that would set him apart from the herd. He missed out on many opportunities and adventures and is stuck in a tedious job. In essence, Picard lost a part of himself by erasing the less than savory moments of his life.
Disgusted with the life he's led, Picard decides to go back and reverse everything, even if it meant dying on the operating table. Picard is stabbed through the heart and laughs as he is ultimately returned to his timeline alive. After his It's a Wonderful Life moment, Picard questions whether or not the whole thing was a dream, but he has a better appreciation of the life and the choices he has made.
The theme of this episode correlates deeply to the present circumstances affecting both Picard and Rios. These men are haunted by the errors of the past and by undesirable aspects of themselves. Rios especially has lived a less than amicable life after covering up the evidence of Vandermeer and his murder of the two passengers brought aboard the ibn Majid. He even developed PTSD from the incident and has grown cynical, distrusting in people.
As the Sirena is about to enter the transwarp conduit on route to a planet of dangerous synthetics, Rios wonders if the Zhat Vash were right about everything. Picard counters by saying that the Zhat Vash may have been right about synthetics at some point in the past, yet the future is unwritten. As long as you embrace that future with a sense of openness and curiosity, the future is yours to write.
Star Trek: Picard stars Patrick Stewart, Alison Pill, Michelle Hurd, Evan Evagora, Isa Briones, Santiago Cabrera and Harry Treadaway. The first season is available on CBS All Access.