Did Sisko ever forgive Picard?
- Thread starter retroenzo
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Well, luckily for the rest of us fools, you were not a writer.
I am sure it is. Sisko never finished that clock.
We never saw it work.
Of course, they don't need clocks in the 24th century, the computer can tell them the time anywhere. Plus they have their tricoders when they are far from civilization.
Except for the fact that we've never seen it work.
Does it really matter? Is it really worth an argument?
Is anything?
Surely as a measure of how humans actually behave in a situation, having an overwhelming majority freely endorse the irrational, illogical behaviour of Sisko as entirely understandable (note the careful wording there) should in itself be telling, regardless of the strength of any given argument (and theirs do hold water).
Sisko was not an ass, not unless one is prepared to assert that said overwhelming majority are also asses, with a minority of one having a clearer grasp on the situation.
However if Sisko IS an ass for his really rather polite, er, slight raising of the hackles over the death of his wife and colleagues, what does that say about someone who would seemingly stand his ground over the imagined completion of a fictional clock?
Sisko was not an ass, not unless one is prepared to assert that said overwhelming majority are also asses, with a minority of one having a clearer grasp on the situation.
However if Sisko IS an ass for his really rather polite, er, slight raising of the hackles over the death of his wife and colleagues, what does that say about someone who would seemingly stand his ground over the imagined completion of a fictional clock?
We also need to consider that acting, even of somewhat reserved personalities, requires some degree of projecting. The purpose of the scene is to emphasize Sisko's difficulty moving on. It is heavily suggested that his pain affected his career choices and interpersonal relations. Unless his emotions are put into context--without being able to see how Sisko's emotional state affects his performance--the character's background is meaningless. It would be little more than fluff.
Avery Brooks had to over-emote in that scene to help the audience grasp just how much pain he's still in.
Humans are not rational. Sure Sisko knows Picard isn't Locutus, but the whole point is that he's been unable to move on from the death of Jennifer. It isn't so much he blames Picard, but that emotionally the loss is still very close to his thoughts, and Picard is just a reminder of this moment. And does anyone seriously believe that in the years since Wolf 359 Sisko is the first Wolf 359 veteran Picard has run into?
It's quite possible that Chekov had to deal with relatives of Reliant crewmembers who may have died on Ceti Alpha V and the Regula One scientists, do we have any guarantee they would have gone "Oh it's okay, you were mind-controlled, it's cool"? Kirk still held a deep hatred of all Klingons in Star Trek VI following the (officially disavowed actions) of Kruge in killing his son, which was an even longer period than between Best of Both Worlds and Emissary, and he never even had a long relationship with David having only really known him for at best a couple of months.
It's quite possible that Chekov had to deal with relatives of Reliant crewmembers who may have died on Ceti Alpha V and the Regula One scientists, do we have any guarantee they would have gone "Oh it's okay, you were mind-controlled, it's cool"? Kirk still held a deep hatred of all Klingons in Star Trek VI following the (officially disavowed actions) of Kruge in killing his son, which was an even longer period than between Best of Both Worlds and Emissary, and he never even had a long relationship with David having only really known him for at best a couple of months.
I'm of the opinion that Sisko wasn't blaming Picard, but Picard was a figurehead for the slaughter and seeing his face was an unpleasant reminded to Sisko about what had happened and it would have brought a lot of feeling to the surface again.
Not that Sisko could be blamed anyway, like has been said many times - emotion is a powerful thing that usually overpowers logic.
It's like how my anger is directed at the bloke my wife cheated with, and not my wife herself - when she was the only one who actually cheated
Not that Sisko could be blamed anyway, like has been said many times - emotion is a powerful thing that usually overpowers logic.
It's like how my anger is directed at the bloke my wife cheated with, and not my wife herself - when she was the only one who actually cheated
I just saw the scene again and it was not a visceral reaction to his face. That would imply that he was surprised by Picard's face and indirectly, passively reacted on an emotional level. He immediately walks into his meeting with Picard with a hostile attitude. The first thing he says to Picard is "It's been a long time ... We met in battle. I was on the Saratoga at Wolf 359." He walked in with a plan to confront Picard passive-aggressively long before he saw his face.
There's no "should" about feelings. They just are. What you do about those feelings is where the should part comes in - but not in having them in the first place.
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