Two episodes in and fans are still asking when is "Star Trek: Picard," going to start. With two episodes under its belt, it feels like a table setting for adventures to come. The question is, how long will it take before we witness those adventures.

Episode 2, "Maps and Legends," is a continuation of the premiere episode. It's a serialized show, so that's to be expected. These two episodes act like a comic book's prologue, rather than the actual adventure. This is where showrunner Michael Chabon's background is a blessing and a curse. In this episode's script, there's a richness of character, for certain, but also an overpowering dialogue that's easy to visualize on paper, but somehow never quite make the jump to the screen.

"Picard" is a show that draws from multiple genres

While we've only seen 90 minutes of "Picard," it's enough time to establish what the show will become, since it's clearly following an elaborate structure. "Picard," gives off the vibes of a detective series, while this week's episode "Maps and Legends," gave us a horror-film cold opening, set 15 years ago on the day when the Date inspired "synthetics," destroyed Starfleet's shipyard on Mars.

This episode's director Hanelle Culpepper did an amazing job of building up the tension. From the moment when the human tells the squad of androids "Good morning plastic people!" to the synthetics taking control of the system, and destroying the shipyard, an action that will force a weakened Starfleet to call of their rescue of Romulan lives.

'Picard' pays homage to past characters and events

The layout of Utopia Planitia is the best part of world-building we've seen in "Maps and Legends," and possibly a throwback, it looks like the Martian shipyard in the "Star Trek: Ships of the Line." The ships around look like other Starfleet vessels fans saw around the time of "Star Trek: Insurrection," "Nemesis," and "Deep Space Nine." I enjoyed seeing the what and how of the synthetics revolt, but I would have preferred to be shown the why.

We finally learn where Soji is really working: a Borg Cube that's become a Romulan base/research site, which Soji refers to as "The Artifact." Soji spends her day performing surgeries on drones' to remove their cybernetic implants, helping them regain their individuality. So what started as a detective show turned into a medical show.

A doctor friend of Picard's returns and tells him he has a terminal condition that has progressed. This means he will end up suffering from dementia, meaning the clock is ticking for Picard. Next week is expected to focus on Picard's attempt at finding his own barebones crew for a ship.
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