That was when he was having a suicidal nervous breakdown, not at his friend’s dinner table.
Spoilers Post Nepenthe Uneasiness Re: Chabon
- Thread starter Arpy
- Start date
And?
Picard is able to be his most vulnerable with his friends, and that includes being rude. He is clearly struggling, depressed and hurting. I've seen people be rude with less.
I also agree with Arpy that Picard seems to be written out of character in order to meet the writer's goals.
Picard has to get a dressing down every so often, so he can have his arc and the be "the captain" he once was. He's inconsistent even in this show.
He's a sensitive man to Dahj, but with Soji he's being insensitive just so we can once again have him get lectured once again.
I don't mind him being flawed but they take it to ridiculous lengths here.
With that said, I'm enjoying the show in spite of that. I like the story as it's going now, and Soji and Elnor are my favorite characters. Picard is probably my least favorite character and I'm not a fan of his portrayal.
The cranky old man from "All Good Things..." was how I'd like to see old Picard portrayed.
Picard has to get a dressing down every so often, so he can have his arc and the be "the captain" he once was. He's inconsistent even in this show.
He's a sensitive man to Dahj, but with Soji he's being insensitive just so we can once again have him get lectured once again.
I don't mind him being flawed but they take it to ridiculous lengths here.
With that said, I'm enjoying the show in spite of that. I like the story as it's going now, and Soji and Elnor are my favorite characters. Picard is probably my least favorite character and I'm not a fan of his portrayal.
The cranky old man from "All Good Things..." was how I'd like to see old Picard portrayed.
Same here. There is an expectation of consistency in characters on a show that I don't think is applicable in real life. And, while I do not like Picard (as a character) I do think that Stewart is doing his best to create and incredibly realistic depiction of the character, including the human trend of being incredibly inconsistent.
Picard has been sensitive to a point, being willing to help, but he really didn't acknowledge Dahj's individuality--there was never that opportunity. In the last episode, he treated Soji as the problem to solve rather than a unique person whose trust he must earn.
Of course, people aren’t completely consistent in real life but the exchange in the show came across as contrived because what has been consistent is Picard getting lectured by his former acquaintances. It felt like a contrived set up, having Picard suddenly act insensitive, in order to now have Troi give him a dressing down. Raffi, Elnor, and now Troi. And I think she even repeats more or less what his Romulan housekeeper was saying about being the Captain we remember. Here Troi says you need to be Jean Luc Picard, and pretend you're back on the Enterprise to get your groove back, to be compassionate again. Be the man you once were is what both were saying, which is a little too coincidental.
Considering what Picard himself had been through I find it hard to believe he can’t imagine mistrusting reality like in Soji's case. Didn’t he experience a false lifetime so real he kept the flute? His numba 1 being in an insane asylum and thinking he was a patient, not a Starfleet officer? I'm sure Will shared that experience with him. Being a victim of Q’s shenanigans where he lives a life where he’s not a Captain? He himself should be aware of Soji’s feelings. He was there when her sister got destroyed right in front of him. Took her in when she was afraid. It makes more sense that he would have made more effort to convince her, some sort of good faith gesture, rather than act so callous.
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Well, I'm of two opinions on this. On the hand, of course its contrived since it is fiction. On the other hand, it didn't come across as contrived to me. So much of Picard's identity was wrapped up in being in command on a starship that any change would cause some incredible stress and changes in mood.
It's not that Picard isn't capable-it's that he is struggling with a profound change and needs a reminder of what he is capable of doing.
Thanks for this post. I was one of those people you describe as finding him both inspirational and aspirational. I like your idea that he was a successful leader despite these flaws. I do wish, however, that they would ease up somewhat on his flaws and let him have an episode now and again where I am not thinking "Picard, what are you thinking?" I also wish that he would start treating the people in his life better - especially Raffi. I get that it might be hard for him to acknowledge that she has an addiction issue, but bringing her wine, the clapping the other day - she needs his help and support and she certainly has earned it given her loyalty.
Don't forget all the times he shut worf down on the bridgeMore so Picard just always knew how to push Worf's buttons. From calling him a coward in FC to the alternate future in AGT where he questions Worfs honor.
Some things just always work
Isn't that the whole point of the journey?
I'm still thinking it's quite possible for a person to be in Star Fleet and not been to space.
(as in beyond the Earth/Moon orbit)
She is the least Starfleet like character, so it's understandable if you did not have the chance to read the book to make those assumptions. The show has learned heavy on the book to explain her deal. One line of dialog about her having a medical degree would've cleared confusion of her taking care of Maddox in Stardust City Rag...
I truly hope so, my friend. I see the need for him to be flawed so it's not TNG part deux, honest I do. I was eager to see him be in a different place. But selfishly I need to see him getting his act together some too. Each episode he upsets me, and I am a forgiving Star Trek fan...
But I guess this is the thing with TV now. There are no longer episodes 'now and again' where characters are put in overwhelmingly different situations that don't flow from what came before. That style of Trek - possessed by aliens this episode, fighting the borg the next, escorting diplomats after that - doesn't exist anymore because that's not how TV is made now. I'm not saying that's good or bad - although I'm certainly fine with it - but if TNG Picard comes back it'll be at the end of a long arc, not just here and there.
I notice also that nobody any longer laments 'Action Picard' in the latter seasons of TNG
I do miss shows having breathing space episodes now and then. I think that was one of the reasons I liked the recent The Witcher TV series. Every episode advanced the season's overall plot, but sometimes the plot thread was the A-plot, and sometimes it was the C-plot while the main cast fought the Monster of the Week. Really well done, overall.
haha actually in my head as I was writing the post I was thinking “what about The Witcher?” ‘Cos you’re right, that’s a good example of how it’s still possible to do Monster of the Week stories within an overarching narrative. That’s not the path Trek has chosen though...so far.
I think we're not considering how much Picard has been through in the three weeks between "Remembrance" and "Nepenthe."
Not only has he been through the ringer of seeing Dahj die in front of him, being attacked by the Tal Shiar twice (once in the seeming safety of his own home), fighting with Starfleet, facing the consequences of his having abandoned the Romulan refugee settlement he helped found, and rescuing but then losing Bruce Maddox -- but he's also had to face one of his absolute worst traumas, and step foot on a Borg cube again for the first time in 32 years. Like, the guy literally had a PTSD breakdown in the middle of everything. And then, the Tal Shiar go and try to kill him for the third time in as many weeks, and he's forced to flee for his life.
Add to this the simple fact that Picard is no longer just being a civvie. He's on a mission now. It brings back his inner commader.
So, yeah, Picard is in a totally different headspace now than he was in "Remembrance." It makes perfect sense that he'd be in his crisis/command mode, not his Sensitive Englishman-wait-I-mean-Frenchman mode. This is how real people are sometimes. Hell, I get like that sometimes. I'm way more sensitive to other people's feelings when I'm at home and not in my "manager" headspace I have to get into sometimes for work.
