Spoilers for Star Trek: Picard Episode 4 follow.
Star Trek: Picard slowly put together her crew over the course of the first few episodes. In episode four, to be completely frank, we met a new member: the sword-wielding Elnor, a Romulan raised on the planet Vashti by Milat Qowat, a group of warrior nuns. In an ill-advised moment at the end of the episode, Elnor beheads a man in order to save Picard, a brutal outcome that the company is not happy with. However, his results in Elnor leaving the planet with Picard ready to follow him throughout his journey.
We spoke with actor Evan Evagora about Elnor's story in episode four, and what we can expect from the character for the rest of the season. "He gets into a fight with Picard and he ends up beheading who he's known since he was seven or eight years old," Evagora says, "He kills for the first time in this episode and we see him handling this kind of moment. We see him grow up a bit and we also see that he is finally off the planet, he's stuck for 10 or 12 years. He finally gets to reach the stars, and will go on an amazing adventure, and see this world he just did not hear and dreamed of. He is finally on his way to becoming who he should be."
This episode establishes that Picard has known Elnor since he was a young boy, so this is a drastic change in their relationship. “They have a complicated relationship. It's been a while since they saw each other," says Evagora.
“Elnor has a lot of questions for Picard: why did he leave him, I think he feels very abandoned by him. And the thing about Elnor, he's an orphan and he considers Picard like a father figure. What happens when that person appears and disappears from your life, you know? He deals with all of that and then this person comes back into his life and we just pick up from there and deal with Elnor and Picard's reaction to that."
The Romulans are in a difficult financial situation in Star Trek: Picard, having been ousted by a supernova, was first seen in JJ Abrams' 2009 Star Trek film. Evagora believes Elnor offers a different perspective on the Romulans than we're used to seeing in a way. “He has a very strong influence on what happened to his home planet. With him, I found that even when I had to go back and do some research for the role, I found when I was given the script and spoke to the writers, especially Michael Chabon [Picara showrunner], I found what I knew about the Romulan culture I had to throw out the window. It sheds light and gives us a different perspective on the Romulans than we've ever seen before."
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Star Trek: Picard is careful to portray the Romulans with real depth in what is obviously a politically turbulent time for the people. We saw a lot of Laris and Zhaban this season, for example, both of whom Picard live and work in their vineyard.
"Back in TNG, with Worf as the Klingons were clearly enemies, Worf goes to the show to show that not all of them are evil, not all of them are bad," Evagora says. "I think Elnor shines that light on the Romulans."
'Absolute Frankness' ends with Elnor aboard La Sirena, ready to continue Picard in search of soji, two Dahj's. We ask Evagora how Elnor will interact with other crew members, given his very different realms. “He obviously didn't make it to the ship, and everyone already has some form of relationship, and this guy rocks. It's going to be interesting, the dynamic he has with all the other characters, though he's also a very obsessive person, especially when it comes to social interactions. It's so cute and annoying at the same time [laughs]."
Evagora won't be drawn to the details of how his character develops in the rest of the Picard season, just that he won't be predictable. “You'll have to wait and find out. It's not what you expect. I'll probably have to leave it at that."
Star Trek: Picard can be viewed on CBS All Access every Thursday in the US, and every Friday on Amazon Premier Video internationally.
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