"Family"

[M-Red]

Just re-watched this one after not seeing it for quite awhile and I have to say it's a much better episode than I had remembered. Maybe just because it followed "The Best of Both Worlds," I didn't appreciate it at first.


But this is a very important episode for JLP and TNG in general. Following the TBoBW epic, this is a very fitting episode in the larger TNG story for so many reasons. More generally, I liked how it depicted the family experience from several different points of view -- siblings, parents, and children. And the moral of the story is timeless: cherish those around you while you still can.


To top it off, the "let him dream" line --with the shot of an imaginative youth looking up at the heavens --is a perfect ending. This one might always be underrated because of what came immediately before it, but it just moved up on my personal TNG list.

 

[Admiral Shran]

I rank it pretty high as well. It will mostly likely never make my top ten, but it's up there.

 

[sbk1234]

It was an excellent, engaging episode. This is very amazing when you consider that there was no danger, no lives at risk, no engine problems or transporter mishaps, and the holodeck worked properly.

 

[M-Red]

It was an excellent, engaging episode. This is very amazing when you consider that there was no danger, no lives at risk, no engine problems or transporter mishaps, and the holodeck worked properly.

Yes. And it's a story that just gets so many things right: "going home" to find comfort is a theme that dates back to antiquity, and TNG does it well here. Plus, in our postmodern times, "going home" is always an adventure of sorts in its own right. It's something that's easy to relate to.


When he arrives, JLP remarks, "Wow, nothing's changed. Everything looks exactly the same as I remember it, like this place is outside of time, etc." That's a great way to JLP's growth as a person...and it makes it easy to relate to him. The sibling fist fight, soaked in mud, then laughter and tears...then followed by a wine induced make-up song and a farewell hug....great stuff.

 

[Red Ranger]

I've always liked this ep. I think seeing Picard in the unfamiliar role of being attacked by his older brother, and examining how the dynamics of family rarely change. Even though Jean-Luc's brother, Robert, was a jerk, in his own way he did want to help him.

I always find the following scene moving. It's when Picard finally breaks down and admits to his brother that he couldn't stop the Borg from using his knowledge to kill. "I wasn't strong enough! I wasn't good enough!" Even the hard-hearted Robert feels sympathy, and says, "So. My brother is a human being, after all." Then he poetically says Jean-Luc can either live with that realization "below the waves with Louis, or above the clouds with the Enterprise."

Their love is complicated, as is often the case with sibling rivals. It reminded me of my own tough relationship with my younger brother. It also reminded me of Ritchie Valens and his older brother Bob in La Bamba.

 

[M-Red]

good points, RedRanger...completely agree. And in the end, Jean-Luc helped Robert as well.


Robert had been a cranky wet blanket about Rene's dream of traveling the stars. Jean-Luc was the dreamer and the optimist...the one who looked to the future. Robert was the rigid pragmatist....bitterly holding onto the past.


But after getting over much of his anger toward his brother --the starship captain --the episode ends with Robert saying that it's OK if the boy wants to stay outside for awhile longer and look at the stars. "Let him dream."




Great Trek.

 

[Red Ranger]

^Agreed!

 

[Trek Survivor]

This has always been in my Top 10 TNG list since the first time I saw it.

 

[Vasquez Rocks]

Family is such a beautiful episode. It was so different from the previous episodes at that point in the series, that it really stood out. For me, it's the absolute best of The Next Generation.

I always find the following scene moving. It's when Picard finally breaks down and admits to his brother that he couldn't stop the Borg from using his knowledge to kill. "I wasn't strong enough! I wasn't good enough!" Even the hard-hearted Robert feels sympathy, and says, "So. My brother is a human being, after all." Then he poetically says Jean-Luc can either live with that realization "below the waves with Louis, or above the clouds with the Enterprise."

I still get choked up from that scene. Patrick Stewart did a phenomenal job, as did Jeremy Kemp, playing his brother. I think this was the moment that Picard became my all time favorite character.

 

[sbk1234]

I read somewhere that Patrick Stewart and Jeremy Kemp didn't get along too well in real life. That worked well to help them portray the animosity the two brothers shared.

I was very much moved by JLP's line about how his sister-in-law's correspondance made him feel "like" part of the family, indicating that he felt that alienated from them. I could completely relate to those genuine emotions.
Also, his relationship with Rene. Personally, I don't think much of my own brother. I think of the two of us as only children. But I have a very close relationship with his daughter. Much like JLP's relationship with his nephew.
Just to reiterate what everyone else said, this one was a real home run!

 

[Dee007]

I loved that episode myself.

 

[Anji]

It was a much needed episode. We really began to understand Picard after that one. He had always been grumpy and a little demanding...and it was refreshing to see what may have caused him to be that way.

 

[Hober Mallow]

Piller had to push for this episode. This was back when serialization wasn't common and the studio certainly didn't want any hint of serialization on the show. But Piller said he felt that it dehunanized Picard to have the character essensially raped one week, then perfectly fine the next. It made for a great episode. Unfortunately, the ratings dropped, so it was a kind of story they never did again. (It's also, I believe, the only episode of the series where we never once see the bridge.)

Funny thing is, they once again put Picard through the ringer in "Inner Light," only to have him perfectly fine the following week.

 

[Anwar]

Well, what happened in "Inner Light" was less rape than it was "surprise sex he didn't know he wanted".

 

[MikeS]

Family is definitely in my top 25. I consider it to be part of the BOBW trilogy.

Funny thing is, they once again put Picard through the ringer in "Inner Light," only to have him perfectly fine the following week.

They did kind of follow that up with "Lessons"

 

[Elzie]

It really was a good episode. It was nice to see Picard with his family, since we don't get that too often.

And who couldn't love the final shot of René sitting outside watching to the skies with the shooting star and everything?

 

[Mary Ann]

This is one of my favourite episodes. It shows Picard as vulnerable, and Stewart plays the part well.

I equally enjoy Worf's story in this episode. The interaction with his adoptive parents is both funny and touching, and I enjoy seeing Worf become a more three-dimensional character.

I admit to fast forwarding through the Wesley bits. I've never taken to that child.

 

[Hober Mallow]

And who couldn't love the final shot of René sitting outside watching to the skies with the shooting star and everything?

Then Moore and Braga burned his ass.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The other thing that made this episode a challenge to get approved was that there's no fantasy or science fiction aspect to the story itself at all, beyond the century it's coincidentally set in.

 

[Steve67]

When I saw "Family" during its first run, I thought it was the perfect kind of story to tell after the intensity of "The Best of Both Worlds"--I still prefer watching it after seeing TBoBWs--which was the last time I cared how a TV story played out and waited on edge all Summer--anyway, "Family" was a breath of fresh air because we got to see what Picard left behind and a bit about who his family was. I love the "personal" episodes and found the Picard vineyard comforting, too.


What a shame that the Picard family angle was thrown away in Generations. There was some great potential there.