Lessons (episode)

[Trekker82]

I couldn't find a thread on this episode and wanted to discuss in my opinion a great episode.

Every now and then, I enjoy an episode that isn't purely based on an even happening in space but based on a characters development.

Picard rarely opens up emotionally to someone as he did with Nella; especially when he revealed to her about his music and is "life" on Kataan (another favorite episode of mine).

I also enjoyed seeing more music and history being featured in this episode. I thought that Wendy Hughes' (Nella) performance was excellent throughout the episode.

I would have to say that the most surprising and emotional part of the episode for me was 1, the scene with Picard and Nella in the Jefferies tubes where the weight of command was lifted from Picard and he only cared at the moment about playing music with the woman he was falling in love with, 2, at the end of the episode where he essentially closed the door to music in his life when he thought that she had died as if both music and Nella were intertwined with each other.

I'm sure not everyone enjoyed this episode, and I'm looking forward to reading what others thought.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Oh, yes, that's one of my favorites, too. Though I prefer to think that his closing door to music was only a temporary reaction.

 

[You_Will_Fail]

Its one of my favorite episodes, very understated. I loved Wendy Hughes performance, definitely one of my favorite ever guest star turns.

 

[sonak]

boring and dreary. The kind of episode that made TNG look less sci-fi and more soap opera.

 

[Dr. Crusher]

I'm not a huge fan of "Lessons." I didn't like Nella's character from solely a professional angle--her more informal interactions were certainly better. I thought that either Hughes, the writers, or the director tried to fit Nella into what I feel was a very stereotypical "ambitious professional woman" role that lacked a lot of depth. It would have been nice, though, to have seen her character again at some point in the series. I disliked Vash a lot, and I would have much rather seen a reappearance of Nella as Picard's love interest later on.

 

[Mojochi]

I thought it worked well enough, for what it was, which in truth is a very limited way to tell a genuine romance story. It worked in no small part due to how awesome Stewart is

They could have put a manikin in every scene with him, & he'd have still made you get invested in the story

 

[tafkats]

It's a good episode, but it's probably made every HR officer who's ever watched it start yelling at their screen.

 

[Yevetha]

Thank godness Picard get some romance every now and then.

 

[Green Shirt]

I thought that Wendy Hughes' (Nella) performance was excellent throughout the episode.

She was equally good as Michele Forbes' predecessor as Chief Medical Examiner on Homicide:Life on the Street.

 

[Worf'sParmach]

I'm not a huge fan of "Lessons." I didn't like Nella's character from solely a professional angle--her more informal interactions were certainly better. I thought that either Hughes, the writers, or the director tried to fit Nella into what I feel was a very stereotypical "ambitious professional woman" role that lacked a lot of depth. It would have been nice, though, to have seen her character again at some point in the series. I disliked Vash a lot, and I would have much rather seen a reappearance of Nella as Picard's love interest later on.

Well of course "Dr. Crusher" doesn't like Lessons

 

[AdmiralScreed]

I think Lessons is a great romance episode that is very under appreciated. Trek doesn't always have to be about anomalies-of-the-week.

 

[WillsBabe]

Trek doesn't always have to be about anomalies-of-the-week.

I agree. It was a nice look at the pressures of command, and interesting to see Picard have a shipboard romance. I also enjoyed the scene with Picard on the bridge and the away team trapped on the planet. That was a nice way of having the captain correspond with his crew that they didn't use much. We also saw bits and pieces of ways the ship works in other ways. I liked it. I do remember at the time there being sighs of ridicule over the roll out keyboard. I think those things are real now!