Best Picard episodes?

[ReadyAndWilling]

hey all, next to data, Picard is my favorite character in the Trekverse. i was hoping i could find a couple episodes that highlight him, particularly episodes from S6 and S7 as the production quality seems much higher here. i was reading about an episode in S7 where Picard stops Vulcan isolationists from carrying out a terrorist attack, but i couldn't find the episode. does anyone know what i'm referring to?

thanks

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Sounds like the Gambit two parter from season 7.

 

[BlueStuff]

The best Picard episode (and possibly the best episode of the series) is in my opinion Tapestry, Season 6.

 

[BillJ]

Symbiosis
Pen Pals
The Drumhead
Ensign Ro

 

[AdmiralScreed]

These are not only my 3 favorite Picard episodes, but my 3 favorite TNG episodes ever:
Family
The Inner Light
Tapestry

Other noteworthy Picard episodes include:
I, Borg
Lessons
All Good Things

And yes, Picard is my favorite Trek character ever!

 

[Mojochi]

Some others from S6 &S7 that haven't been mentioned

Bloodlines (Picard finds out he might have a son)

Genesis (Picard & Data try to return the devolved crew to normal)

Attached (Picard & Beverly can read each other's minds)

The Chase (Picard solves the mystery of his old professor)

Starship Mine (Picard alone must stop criminals aboard the Enterprise)

 

[AdmiralScreed]

Attached (Picard & Beverly can read each other's minds)

Oooo, I forgot about that one, but you're right. Attached is another terrific Picard episode.

Another notable episode I forgot to add was Darmok.

 

[TroiFan4ever]

hey all, next to data, Picard is my favorite character in the Trekverse. i was hoping i could find a couple episodes that highlight him, particularly episodes from S6 and S7 as the production quality seems much higher here. i was reading about an episode in S7 where Picard stops Vulcan isolationists from carrying out a terrorist attack, but i couldn't find the episode. does anyone know what i'm referring to?

thanks

The Season 7 episode you're describing sounds like the "Gambit" episodes as the person below you stated.

Not a two-parter but if you're in the mood for a good Picard episode from Season 6, I would HIGHLY recommend "Starship Mine".

Another Season 7 episode I personally favored is "Genesis". I mean, it doesn't focus entirely on Data and Picard but they do return to an unmanned Enterprise... I don't know if you saw this episode before so I'm not gonna reveal the rest if you didn't.

For a good Data episode try the "Descent" episodes.

 

[indolover]

The Drumhead and Devil's Due. they highlight Picard's strengths.

 

[nnnnnnn]

The best Picard episode (and possibly the best episode of the series) is in my opinion Tapestry, Season 6.

I wish people would stop saying Tapestry is a great Picard episode. It's mostly about his personality as a youth. It's an interesting and important episode, but it doesn't show who Picard is now. Also, Q is so miscast and mis-directed it's hard for me to watch anything with him in it. It's just not one of the great Picard episodes.

And it is certainly not a candidate for the best episode in the series, that is absurd.

If you suggest Tapestry could be the best episode of the series, you just don't understand the series. There are many episodes far better than Tapestry: you should watch the series more closely again, or watch a greater variety of films to learn to appreciate good plot and acting.

And please, I am sick of people saying all opinions are "subjective." Some people have greater or lesser understanding of and appreciation for nuances of acting, direction, and plot. To say "Tapestry" could be the best episode could be a genuine emotion, but it's one based on ignorance of the series and of the genre.

 

[Dr. Crusher]

The Drumhead
Family
Sarek

Those are my favorite Picard episodes, but all of the episodes that feature Picard are excellent.

 

[clark054]

The best Picard episode (and possibly the best episode of the series) is in my opinion Tapestry, Season 6.

 

[BlueStuff]

So, in conclusion, Tapestry could well be one of the best episodes of the series.

 

[nnnnnnn]

Pen Pals

Wrong. It's a bad episode for TNG in general and it's a bad episode for Picard in particular. Here's why:

(1) Wesley is in it, with some terrible lines even for him;

(2) Pulaski is in it, and she calls Worf a "coward" for wanting to uphold the Prime Directive.

(3) Data's actions seem out of character for him. It was never clear to me why he, of all characters, would be so cavalier about breaking the Prime Directive.

Point (2) above kills the episode. It is as if the writers were clueless, or the character of Pulaski was so obnoxious that Picard would just have thrown her off the ship at the first opportunity.

Frankly, point (2) also kills your theory that this is a good Picard episode. Because Picard would never have put up with Pulaski calling Worf a "coward" just because Worf wants to obey regulations in this case. This is nothing like the famous "kill you where you stand" scene in First Contact: Pulaski's insult was just out of the blue. Picard well knows the significance of that epithet to a Klingon and would simply not hire underlings who would use that term to a Klingon in such a gratuitous way.

One facet of Picard's genius is his ability to get people to work together and also his great respect for Worf, and this line is 100% out of character for his ship.

So this episode just has characters acting all out of character, and some just generally terrible lines to boot (all the Wes-Riker conversations).

I will concede that the line about the "whisper in the darkness" or whatever it was (can't remember exactly) was a great line, brilliantly delivered; and I will concede that Stewart's performance was spectacular as usual. But unless you can reconcile point (2) with the rest of the canon, I don't think this can be considered a good Picard episode.

 

[AdmiralScreed]

Pen Pals is another terrific episode I forgot to mention. I consider that episode and Tapestry to be among some of the best episodes of the series!

 

[BillJ]

I'd also add We'll Always Have Paris. While I'm not a huge fan of character romance episodes, this one actually works.

 

[Alrik]

Three that you might want to check out are:

Allegiance (Season 3)
Darmok (Season 5)
Liaisons (Season 7)

 

[Worf'sParmach]

I love character pieces that really explore who these people are beyond the science and technology of the 24th century. So that said, my Picard faves (in no particular order):
1. Tapestry
2. Lessons
3. All Good Things
4. Family

I wish people would stop saying Tapestry is a great Picard episode. It's mostly about his personality as a youth. It's an interesting and important episode, but it doesn't show who Picard is now.

Having read your posts I do realize that you love to use inflammatory language. That said, why can't "best Picard episode" include plots focused on his earlier years? Wasn't he still Jean Luc Picard? By looking to the past you can really understand why he is who is he now, which makes is relevant.

 

[nnnnnnn]

I love character pieces that really explore who these people are beyond the science and technology of the 24th century. So that said, my Picard faves (in no particular order):
1. Tapestry
2. Lessons
3. All Good Things
4. Family

I wish people would stop saying Tapestry is a great Picard episode. It's mostly about his personality as a youth. It's an interesting and important episode, but it doesn't show who Picard is now.

Having read your posts I do realize that you love to use inflammatory language. That said, why can't "best Picard episode" include plots focused on his earlier years? Wasn't he still Jean Luc Picard? By looking to the past you can really understand why he is who is he now, which makes is relevant.

It is relevant. I specifically said "it's an interesting and important episode." But it does not highlight what's truly remarkable about Picard as do more standard "Picard episodes" like, say, Darmok or Inner Light or any of the others. I hardly think that is inflammatory. All it is showing about his character is that he was a brash youth whose personality had changed significantly, and the importance of his early encounter with his own mortality to his later personality. But it does not show the depths of that later personality.

The reason it is not a great episode, is that it has so many Q scenes. Q is just miscast, he's too obvious and ham-handed in his obnoxiousness. Obviously Q is not as bad as Wesley, but you cannot call an episode "great" when one of its main characters is portrayed (from the standpoint of writing and of acting) with such lack of subtlety.

I do not think any of these three claims are "inflammatory":

(1) Although important, Tapestry does not show what's remarkable about Picard's personality in the way that other episodes do;

(2) If a major character in an episode is badly acted, then that episode cannot be "great"; and

(3) Q was badly acted.

 

[Cyke101]

I love character pieces that really explore who these people are beyond the science and technology of the 24th century. So that said, my Picard faves (in no particular order):
1. Tapestry
2. Lessons
3. All Good Things
4. Family

I wish people would stop saying Tapestry is a great Picard episode. It's mostly about his personality as a youth. It's an interesting and important episode, but it doesn't show who Picard is now.

Having read your posts I do realize that you love to use inflammatory language. That said, why can't "best Picard episode" include plots focused on his earlier years? Wasn't he still Jean Luc Picard? By looking to the past you can really understand why he is who is he now, which makes is relevant.

It is relevant. I specifically said "it's an interesting and important episode." But it does not highlight what's truly remarkable about Picard as do more standard "Picard episodes" like, say, Darmok or Inner Light or any of the others. I hardly think that is inflammatory. All it is showing about his character is that he was a brash youth whose personality had changed significantly, and the importance of his early encounter with his own mortality to his later personality. But it does not show the depths of that later personality.

The reason it is not a great episode, is that it has so many Q scenes. Q is just miscast, he's too obvious and ham-handed in his obnoxiousness. Obviously Q is not as bad as Wesley, but you cannot call an episode "great" when one of its main characters is portrayed (from the standpoint of writing and of acting) with such lack of subtlety.

I do not think any of these three claims are "inflammatory":

(1) Although important, Tapestry does not show what's remarkable about Picard's personality in the way that other episodes do;

(2) If a major character in an episode is badly acted and badly written, then that episode cannot be "great"; and

(3) Q was badly acted and badly written.

In truly "great" episodes, like say Inner Light, the performances of the supporting actors are also strong, but certainly not horrible, and certainly not hammy and over-acted.

It's not your points that are inflammatory, it's how you state them. You just called someone's opinion wrong, for instance, and then assert your own opinions as if they were facts, rather than as your theories and ideas, especially since it pertains to something fluid and not quantifiable as the art of writing and acting. In the thread about people's favorite TNG episodes, you openly asked "What is wrong with you people?" and then left, without even stating your own favorites.

With that said, you could make the finest point in the history of mankind, but if you do it in a confrontational style that treats posters like they're your inferiors, no one's going to agree with you. A little civility goes a long way.

****

On a side note, I think Q has to be ham-fisted and campy at times. I dislike episodes where Q deals with anyone else but Picard (Get outta here, Riker, Sisko, Janeway, and Q-Girl). But Picard is so dignified, stoic, and honorable that his nemesis would have to be a trickster, the anti-Picard. Note, some of Picard's greatest personal achievements were in All Good Things..., but that only came about because of his self-revelations, which were nudged by Good Guy Q. Whether it works for Tapestry or not is one thing, but Q is purposely a devious one, and oftentimes his lack of subtlety, like all good trickster gods, only masks his true motives.