On The Inner Light:
I think you guys' criticisms are legitimate, but I still think it's a beautiful episode. Everyone has a different tolerance for how much they are willing to suspend their disbelief. God knows I do my share of nitpicking. I mean, why couldn't Edith Keeler have just gone through the Guardian of Forever instead of getting splattered by the Mack Truck of Destiny?
My fanwank for Inner Light. Feel free to skip:
Ever read Theodore Sturgeon's "A Saucer of Loneliness" ? I like to think the probe is sort of like the message in a bottle in that story. It's a message meant for only one type of person.
Picard had sacrificed a lot for his career; no wife, no kids, estranged from his brother, no close friendships, and hesitant to get into a relationship with a woman.
Maybe he just used his career as an excuse because he doesn't know how or is afraid to let people get too close. I don't know.
So maybe the Ressikan probe is meant for someone like that. Someone who needs friends, needs family. It didn't choose Riker, or Crusher, or any of the hundreds of other people on the ship.
Instead of "mind rape" I like to think of it as a gift. Picard gets a second chance to make up for all the things he missed out on. and I think it changed him. What's the last image of TNG? Picard joining the poker game with the crew and saying that he should have done so a long time ago.
There are so many times I look back on my youth and think "If I'd only known then what I know now" but I'll never get a chance to relive those days. Picard did, in a fashion, and I envy him for it.
Plus he got a sweet antique flute out of the deal.