There was a line that Troi said about Jellico that always puzzled me.
The line was said after Jellico had stormed out of the room where he and his Cardassian counterpart were suppose to negotiate. Jellico was essentially playing mind games with the Cardassian.
RIKER: Well, I'll say this for him. He's sure of himself.
TROI: No, he's not.
Was that just a throwaway line?
The first time I saw the episode and heard the line, I thought that maybe later on Jellico would have a nervous breakdown or something. Unless I missed it, was there any scene later on where it was shown that Jellico wasn't sure of himself in anyway? To me, Jellico seemed like the same self-assured guy from beginning to end.
No. He kept steady the remainder of the episode, & nothing ever came of that comment from her, nor was she ever called up to answer for it. That's one reason why I think she's wrong. My theory is that she DID sense some uncertainty from him. Why else would she say that? However, there is a big difference from a person being uncertain that what they are doing will succeed, vs them being unsure of
themselves, on the whole. (Which is what she implied) However, emotionally? It's almost indistinguishable. They are both forms of hiding some kind of doubt. Can she really tell the difference between doubt about what's going to happen vs doubt about himself? I doubt it, myself. lol
Jellico never gave any sign of doubting himself in how he should be handling this, but he did outright tell Picard earlier that no matter what they do, he expected this mission to fail, & war would be the result. So, yeah... uncertainty
The question then becomes how sensitive is Troi's ability to differentiate between someone who doesn't think what they are doing will succeed, but knows they are following the only course they can, vs someone who doesn't know what the hell they are doing at all, & is just bluffing that they do. Those are both forms of hiding how you feel, putting on airs etc...
Troi knows he's putting on a front with the Cardassians, & that's probably why she said that. That doesn't mean he doubts that he is proceeding accordingly, & since he played them rather well, I'd say he knew exactly what he was doing. I'd also say it is pretty poor judgement for her to undermine the captain by announcing his inner thoughts to subordinates, when that possibility of being mistaken, in some way, could exist
For all we know, that comment factored into Riker's assessment of the captain, overall, & could've played into why he ended up getting as extreme with him as he did, which ultimately got him relieved. Frankly, if we have to ask ourselves how sensitive Troi's ability is, it's probably wise to lean toward saying "Not very" given that she is so often so damn vague or inconsistent that it is literally a joke to some fans