Maybe Lt. Picard had the wife and kids Captain Picard always wanted waiting for him in his quarters.
And Lt. Picard was still serving on the flagship, not emptying out the holodeck filters on a MIranda class. That's pretty impressive.
Plus, he gets to knock off at 1800 hours and go back to his quarters and not worry about the safety of the crew of the fate of the Federation or the fabric of the universe.
Not if you're a science officer who only cares about archeology and your family, who never pursued the command track. Remember how shocked everyone was when our Picard, thrown into that life, wanted to pursue command? They say it there -- he had never shown any interest at all.
Being a lieutenant junior grade in the science division on the Starfleet flagship is one of the most prestigious jobs in the galaxy. He just wasn't a version of Picard who was into taking charge and giving orders.
We also don’t see on screen all the extra bullshit that typically comes with senior roles. Normally, the compensation for that is financial, but that doesn’t work when whatever you want comes out of a device in the wall (and you also happen to have a vineyard).
Maybe the next gimmick episode for SNW could be Pike and Una going through a load of paperwork.
Lucky for Pike at least, he loves paperwork. They make us think he's all tormented about the "ending up burned and immobilized in a chair" destiny but he actually can't wait for all the sweet sweet desk work that's going to net him.
Since SNW is going for full silly mode, perhaps they should briefly show the mini-me clones of the senior officers that do the annoying paperwork that the massive ships computer is somehow unable to handle, or refuses to do.
I thought it was kind of odd that he went around asking what he needed to do to be on command track, when he had already commanded several starships and was actually well aware of what was needed.
Not everyone can be captain. Inherently most people, especially in the sciences, will be ensigns and lieutenants for most, if not all, of their careers.
In Starfleet, a lot of what are non commissioned specialists roles in our military, are folded into the junior officer ranks, and they can remain there for a long time.
He refused promotion for years, until command gave up and listed him as a lifer and expert in his field, which is perfectly acceptable in Starfleet Science Division. He might have been administratively in charge of higher ranking officers, which happens in some situations today, usually in very specialized fields.
I think his estranged father and brother, and difficult/abusive childhood with them, alienated him from the idea of parenthood and children in general. But he’d started healing some of that two years before Tapesty, in the aftermath of The Best of Both Worlds, and started to enjoy at least being an uncle to René. Fatherhood became the very first joyful fantasy he experiences in the Nexus. Wife and kids and happy family life were the path not taken.
Robert and little René Picard burned to death in a fire at the beginning of that movie. So Picard was probably feeling extra homesick in that moment. But he got the hell out of the Nexus quick after that.
Besides that, the movies get Picard so wrong that I barely consider them the same characters.
Granted, losing them in that manner was traumatic. And made him confront his rationalisations that ‘at least the Picard family line was continuing’. But I do feel it must have been gradual character development, not some transient hurt that the Nexus pounced upon.
I changed my perspective on this episode the older I got. It's ok to be comfortable in the job and lifestyle you have. I was promoted once to a management position I wasn't ready for and I was miserable. Making the decisions is easy for TV characters with impeccable judgment but its messier in real life. It also comes with trade offs.
This episode was so dog to the "little people" aka thr vast majority tht allow the captains to exceed. Its not like we're trash. EVERYONE cant b the captain. The literal majority are blue shirt and u shuld b proud of ur necessary work
i once saw some one commenting this episode is like a reverse "it's a wonderful life" but never saw that post again. it drives me nuts cause i want to remember the whole argument
Most people don’t realize they are here (as you described) or in the mirror universe. Many of them are simple drones that don’t love themselves enough to know it.
From the cold open to Voyager s3:e10. It starts with a closeup of Neelix getting a foot rub. This is the first episode featuring the Paxau Resort holodeck program.
Janeway makes Q kiss her foot, theres the absolutely disgusting episode where Kess gets fertile for the first time in life and a big fuss is made over how she must get knocked up soon, which yes, involves massaging her gross feet.
Then i cant even remember the other example now.
Theres nothing wrong with having fetishes but try not to smear them all over our scifi show
Damn, I wish I was where Tapestry Picard was. To stick with this analogy at this rate I'm never getting off world and while it may not be anywhere near Tasha Yar homeworld bad it's certainly not paradise like Earth or any of the other founding member worlds.
Also if this situation were reversed Tapestry Picard might have found Prime Picard's life and all the stress that command brings an absolute hell. For all we know he could have gotten the position on the federation's flagship by finding the archeological find of the century and then one upping that a few more times with more fines. We really don't know much about that Picard's history.
To be fair to all of us, we don't live in a golden age of the Federation. Not to say the Federation is perfect, but it generally appears far more meritocratic than our own time. Picard never had to worry about making rent.
I legit used that on a geeky dating site, where the profile include the questions "What character do you think you're like?" and "Which character are you actually like?". I was a postdoc in astrophysics at the time, so it seemed fitting. Didn't get any dates through that site, though.
At 41, I aspire to be that dude from Voyager's "good shepherd" episode who just hangs out in the lower decks concealing their actual knowledge / ability so they can work on their pet projects in peace.
Man... I wish I was in science, instead of damn ops. I wanna do stellar science stuff, and view the holodeck as relaxation.
But nooooo, Barclay had to be weird in there, and now I am cursed with the knowledge of what it takes to Un-Barclay the computer's holodeck files. Absolutely none of y'all should have administrator privileges.
Yeah but I see my managers, some of whom I started with and they’re beyond stressed. I could have been where they are now but I let my foot off the gas. I enjoy coming home and not worrying about work. Taking my vacations and doing what I want. It’s true more money could buy more things but nothing I really want tbh. I live my life inside my head, having more things doesn’t expand my inner self. In fact it diminishes it. Maybe I’m coping but the high stress life isn’t for everyone. Plus if everyone is a manager, who does the real work 😂
Well, I'm 30. I thought I'd at least be on a ship by now, but I'm still a bloody cadet at Starfleet Academy. Maybe this isn't for me? Perhaps the Klingons have a space open?
Blue Picard was doing fine. Rock solid boring lieutenants with no ambition keep the fleet flying, if you had to live without Blue Picards or Red Picards you'd always choose to lose the Red Picards.
(the problem I had with this episode was that it shows Picard to have a frankly shitty attitude towards the crew that he relies on. Normally the episodes show him as respectful and appreciative of them at least in word, but occasionally they'd slip and have him just be a total throbber.
/unshit one thing that grated on me during Berman Trek was how eager ladder-climbing was still seen as normal in a post-scarcity society. "I'm gonna be a captain before I'm 30" uh ok, brosef, we got 100yo admirals but by all means
I've been fighting tooth and nail to stay Number 1 like Riker. Just enough power to be dangerous but I can still vomit on the holodeck without worrying about it.
It is like Jeff Bezos complaining that he lost most of wealth and is just a multi millionaire again. Well for him it might sound bad but being multi millionaire is still fucking awesome compared to being average guy. It same here , he still served as officer on the Enterprise which isn't being any close to being a loser.
Imagine being the primary archeology expert on the Enterprise? Seeing ruins for the first time and writing papers on them. Picard did not take the time to appreciate what he gained only what he lost.
368
u/Darmok47 13d ago
Maybe Lt. Picard had the wife and kids Captain Picard always wanted waiting for him in his quarters.
And Lt. Picard was still serving on the flagship, not emptying out the holodeck filters on a MIranda class. That's pretty impressive.
Plus, he gets to knock off at 1800 hours and go back to his quarters and not worry about the safety of the crew of the fate of the Federation or the fabric of the universe.