There's a big difference in the way Kirk and Picard react to the destruction of their respective ships.
With Kirk it was like the entire world had changed. "My, God, Bones, whathaveIdone?". In one brief moment, the legendary James T. Kirk questions his actions (not for the first time, but it's clear he treats it like a big deal). And to be sure, this could be because he knows there will be consequences: an official hearing into his conduct, if/when he eventually makes it back to Earth.
With Picard, it's a completely different story. He comes back from his jaunt on a bridge with Soran to find that Riker's totalled his ship while he's been away. And what's his reaction? He just kind of goes "Meh, they'll just build another one".
I mean, sure, Enterprises were ten-a-penny by the time Picard and his crew came along, whereas Kirk was blowing up the original. But still, the difference in attitude between them astounds me.
Especially given Picard himself had already lost Stargazer, and as we know a big deal was made of that. Wasn't it mentioned somewhere that he faced an enquiry into his actions of that day, but was ultimately cleared of blame? I suppose Riker would have needed to face an enquiry too after allowing one of Starfleet's most advanced ships to be shot down by a creaky old Klingon rust-bucket.
(Of course, the real-world explanation for the general lack of sadness over the Enterprise-D's destruction was that the writer's didn't care, they'd already decided to replace the ship in the next movie anyway, so the characters were effectively just expressing the same blaise attitude as the production crew themselves.)
It does make me wonder about explanations in universe, though. Picard just assumes a new ship will come along, and the 1701-E was indeed apparently commissioned not so very long after it's predecessor was shot down.
It might have been that an already-under-construction Sovereign was simply rechristened Enterprise when news got back that 1701-D had become a flaming mass over Veridian III.
Or maybe.... just maybe.... 1701-E was built from scratch, but techniques have improved to the point where starships can simply be constructed very quickly by TNG's time? So, for example, the fleet is actually fairly expendable, hence Picard and Riker's reactions that the death of the Enterprise is no big deal really.
Maybe starship construction in the 24th century is as simple as going down the local IKEA, getting a flat-pack for the next starship class, taking it home, and following the instructions to attached Tab A to Slot B?
Of course, this does jar a bit with Wolf 359 and the apparent (implied) problems Starfleet had getting fully operational again after the Borg incursion.
With Kirk it was like the entire world had changed. "My, God, Bones, whathaveIdone?". In one brief moment, the legendary James T. Kirk questions his actions (not for the first time, but it's clear he treats it like a big deal). And to be sure, this could be because he knows there will be consequences: an official hearing into his conduct, if/when he eventually makes it back to Earth.
With Picard, it's a completely different story. He comes back from his jaunt on a bridge with Soran to find that Riker's totalled his ship while he's been away. And what's his reaction? He just kind of goes "Meh, they'll just build another one".
I mean, sure, Enterprises were ten-a-penny by the time Picard and his crew came along, whereas Kirk was blowing up the original. But still, the difference in attitude between them astounds me.
Especially given Picard himself had already lost Stargazer, and as we know a big deal was made of that. Wasn't it mentioned somewhere that he faced an enquiry into his actions of that day, but was ultimately cleared of blame? I suppose Riker would have needed to face an enquiry too after allowing one of Starfleet's most advanced ships to be shot down by a creaky old Klingon rust-bucket.
(Of course, the real-world explanation for the general lack of sadness over the Enterprise-D's destruction was that the writer's didn't care, they'd already decided to replace the ship in the next movie anyway, so the characters were effectively just expressing the same blaise attitude as the production crew themselves.)
It does make me wonder about explanations in universe, though. Picard just assumes a new ship will come along, and the 1701-E was indeed apparently commissioned not so very long after it's predecessor was shot down.
It might have been that an already-under-construction Sovereign was simply rechristened Enterprise when news got back that 1701-D had become a flaming mass over Veridian III.
Or maybe.... just maybe.... 1701-E was built from scratch, but techniques have improved to the point where starships can simply be constructed very quickly by TNG's time? So, for example, the fleet is actually fairly expendable, hence Picard and Riker's reactions that the death of the Enterprise is no big deal really.
Maybe starship construction in the 24th century is as simple as going down the local IKEA, getting a flat-pack for the next starship class, taking it home, and following the instructions to attached Tab A to Slot B?
Of course, this does jar a bit with Wolf 359 and the apparent (implied) problems Starfleet had getting fully operational again after the Borg incursion.
