I think you are reading/expecting too much in that scene. It was safe to assume Picard hadn't seen them since Picard gave them the bad news... PIcard's demeanor in that scene makes sense.
It has been mentioned several times over the years that Picard was the one that went back to wherever Beverly and Wesley was living at the time well before Violations came out (they never make it clear where it was, though Violations does imply it was at a starbase....), and told them that Jack had been killed.
So when Picard said "I knew your father", Wes unexpressed thought was: "Sure you did! You're the one that told me he was dead!"
I suggest you rewatch the series. It was made clear Jack had been killed under Picard's command, and that he was the one that went to Beverly to deliver the bad news...across several references or whole scenes, some of them poignant....well before they did Violations.
But you must admit that if he's the one that told Wes the bad news, his "I knew your father" is rather clumsy, nay insensitive.
As Wesley was quite young at the time...I've met people who couldn't recall anything before they were seven, Picard's statement is understandable. He looked uncomfortable, as if he was experiencing a lot of emotion... not to mention he couldn't be certain that Wesley remembered him, or at least fondly which would be very appropriate considering.... Alright...I just rewatched that scene in Encounter at Farpoint...I suggest you rewatch it. When Beverly tried to remind Picard the last time he saw Wesley, Beverly was choking up, as if it was a sad and/bad memory. In the following seasons, they make it clear that Picard was the one who delivered the bad news well before Violations.
I'm surprised if people couldn't recall anything before they're seven, I have vague memories from being 2. Then again, when I was 7 or so, I remember somebody telling me that I wouldn't remember the things that happened when I was under 5, and this kinda freaked me out so I made a point to focus on specific memories from back then and focus on them to reinforce them. Guess it worked. But I agree, if Picard delivered the bad news at that age, he wouldn't remember a specific person delivering it. Except he was probably told over the years the story of his father's death. I don't think his comment was insensitive so much as it comes off as dumbfounded and speechless.
Yes. They presented it as an impossible idea. They were pursuing the idea only under duress. It's perfectly understandable for Moriarty to WANT it though.
The ultimate irony of the Moriaty situation is that the Enterprise crew's solution was to 'trick' Moriaty with a mini holodeck box because there was still no way to have him actually exist outside of the holodeck, but only three years later every new Starfleet ship has a hologram in sickbay who can exist through use of holo-emitters in the room. It seems Zimmerman's breakthrough must have happened just after the Enterprise crew's solution to the Moriaty problem, otherwise they could've just told him about Zimmerman's project and told Moriaty to chill his tits for a couple more years until this new holo-emmiter tech could be rolled out, lol.
And unleash hurricane Holo-Khan in the process? They wanted to be rid of him without being rid of their consciences. He had all the characteristics of being another Khan, so they put him back in the box. But maybe he got to take over the galaxy that existed within the storage device. It would've been interesting to pop in and see.
I learned French when I was four, but I still remember a time way back when French sounded to me like Jibberish and the only language I knew was my native tongue. So that means that I have clear memories of when I was no more than three. I also remember clearly my grandfather on his deathbed and I was barely three when that happened. I remember the doctor, that he was fat and all sweaty (Fyi: that's the only time I saw that man as he wasn't our family doctor), I remember my grandmother weeping in a chair in the corner of the room... In fact, I remember that day better than my brothers who are much older than me.
The sleeper ship in The Emissary. Why have a sleeper ship for 75 years to attack in the future? Why waste resources on such a preposterous idea? Imagine how much technology would change in 75 years? Wouldn't that ship had been spotted before then, or just that it is spotted within 3 days of the crew waking up? The whole idea is just super stupid.
I don't think I saw Data in the simulation. Maybe it's his simulated day off. That's one simulated lucky android!!!
There's a tractor beam in "Time Squared" that's perfectly vertical. Where's the emitter? (Really, there's a long extensible metal tube that pops out of the ship above and beyond viewing angle of the shuttle bay door that allows this level of precision guidance?) No worries, there's a backup bit o' stupid: That same episode features another, and only-time-ever-seen emitter inside the ship is thankfully placed at a bizarrely awkward angle when the laws of physics, assuming those would allow tractor beams, would take a lot less energy and put less stress, less shearing, etc, etc, if it were aimed directly forward. Plus it'd look more believable too. "Time Squared" is a great episode but that's beside the point. And I never bought into the otherwise lovely idea atmosphere-retention-yet-ship-permeable forcefields left on all the time (TNG, DSC, Orville) - Yes, it looks nice to see outside but once the power system goes out or depletes, everything will be blown out into space, so hopefully the corridor doors are airtight... well, TNG's might be - those look and sound big and heavy when opening.