PATRON TAKES - TNG S6E15

Too late, but still - this is one of the best episodes of TNG full stop. Picard finding out what his life could have been, and that late-on scene with Picard laughing with a dagger through his heart. So memorable!

Picard’s biggest problem with being a Lieutenant is that his Earl Grey is served cold.

Sliding Doors... in Space. Josh & Alex - what would you say your own turning points in life are, and do you wonder how different your lives would have played out..?

I always considered Picard to be a role-model who shows that even intellectual introvert types can still be badass. As a result, I dislike things like this episode that suggest that no, even Picard went through a reckless selfish dudebro-sih time in his life.

An absolutely legendary episode, with Patrick Stewart and John De Lancie bringing their A-game as usual. It's fun to see Star Trek's take on the "It's A Wonderful Life" concept, and I love how it ties back to the story that Picard told Wesley about why he has an artificial heart. An easy S for me. Patrick Stewart playing his character's younger self with no makeup or effects or anything is silly, but it allows him to give a great performance where I think a different, younger-looking actor might have fallen more flat and been harder for the audience to accept as being Picard.

You have now seen the birth of such classic lines as “Play Domjot, Human?” and “ You talk and you talk, but you have no Grandma!”.

Picard would rather die the man he was than live the life of a risk-averse, low-level officer. Do you think the episode sends a positive message to take chances and have ambition or a bad message that your life is worthless if you aren’t successful and confident?

I'm late to the party. But this is the BEST "Q" episode!

Another strong Picard episode. Now we know what makes Picard tick or maybe just his pace maker. I can appreciate how this one episode molded his personality into the captain he has become.

This one of my favourite Q episodes, Stewart and de Lancie's chemistry is just so evident in this. Picard pulling the bed sheets up is just… great. Moore’s original script had Jellico as captain in the alternate timeline, I think it would have been a nice touch to keep that in.

It’s a wonderful life! Or at least the Star Trek version!

Sign of good writing how they found a way to re-use Patrick Stewart, already paid on contract, to avoid paying the young Picard actor for more than an afternoon on set.🤣 "Here, stand in front of this mirror quick & then we're gunna get this big alien guy to shank you. Now get out."

It was nice to see Q not act like a total prick for once, for the whole episode. Gave him some more needed depth since "Deja Q".

This one I gave up on. Stewart cannot play a college kid, or whatever that was, and that's when I shut it off. it was all quite dull for me because I don't care enough about Picard to want to see his life, and I'm just over Q; he is the new Ferengi.

This was the episode for me that solidified that Q and Picard were close friends. For an omnipotent entity who has free roam of the universe to be this invested in one mortal being’s past, present and future…this is as close as Q will ever allow himself to care about someone. Picard understood this. S tier.

Captain Kirk would say: "Of all the Q-Episodes I have encountered in my travels, this was the most... Human." For me the second strongest Q episode right after Q Who

One of my favorites. It makes you think how every decision good or bad led you to where you are. S tier

Is this one of the best uses of Q in the series so far?

One of my favorites- S tier. A great use of Q. So when Picard first tells Wesley about getting stabbed you guys said you were glad they didn't show it. What do you think of its usage here?

I love a well-done piece of retroactive lore. I sometimes see the reason for his laugh post-stabbing described as a ret-con, which is exactly wrong. That's when you fuck with lore (sometimes for the better, like the Trill changes in DS9). This is a perfect puzzle-piece addition to established lore. A.

Good not great. Spoiled a bit by some shaky acting performances from the day players. Also, I always found it bizarre that Starfleet kept the same uniforms for 50+ years and then had three variants in six. I know they had no choice after Yesterdays Enterprise but it looks terrible on Stewart.

Best Q episode, especially after the last few kinda felt average

Do you see Picard differently in past episodes now?

All these years later, this one sticks with me more than almost any ST episode…I think we all have regrets, but if you pull on those threads too much, you fundamentally change who you are, probably for the worse. I think about this one whenever I’m caught up in past decisions I thought were mistakes. PS: As a Pacers fan, looking forward to tracking your moods the next few reactions as they (likely) will play your Cavs the next few weeks.

The best Q episode has not Q in the title.

THIS is what I think of when I think of Q

Probably one of the best hooks in a while and one of my favorite Q episodes.

Imagine you die and you meet Q, one wrong word and you're reborn as a cockroach.

One of my favorites. I’ve heard others criticize that changing that one decision wouldn’t have made Picard into the meek junior officer he becomes. I always saw it that he would have had to be that meeker man to have made that decision

Q-Is there one event in you past you would change? And how do you think your life would be different?

This was the first Q episode that was written by Ronald D Moor and I think he did a great job. The episode did a great job I think highlighting how Picard in this youth was quite arrogant and almost got himself killed for it. We are thus given a good illustration in retroactive way of Picard's growth as a person.

This is a very good episode, 8.4/10 (A-) for me (and abt my weird scores that's since I'm very strict with higher scores). Good emotion, Great to finally see Q in a good episode again, and I think this is perfect use for him. Very interesting concept and good execution, placing this below Conundrum and above The Menagerie, Part II

There were in seasons 2 - 4 some episodes that you guys didn't like all that much but which were extremely popular among the fans at large and a few times various people commented that part of the difference was that you were used to a certain idea of Picard which didn't mesh well with the episode but that fans who had seen the full development of his character over the full series saw things very differently. This episode is a huge part of what they were talking about.

Up to this point, this is my favorite episode of TNG. As a person who used to dwell on their past mistakes, the point of this episode hits hard.

I saw Alex on that wrestling stream. Clearly, he could take the Nausicaan. Ensign Batanides, though...still an open question.

Prediction: you guys will love this one, partially because Q isn’t spoiled in the title! Nice callback to Picard’s story in season 2.

So here we get to fully see how Picard was a wild cadet, who along the way became more serious and subdued. A total opposite to James Kirk who was a "Stack of books with legs" as a junior officer, but then became more easy-going and a woman chaser.

Just went back and watched the Samaritan Snare reaction after Picard describes getting stabbed through the heart. Here's a reminder of your words then: Josh: Yeah, I know we joke about it, but I hope we never see a flashback... Alex: No, No. Yeah, the picture is painted perfectly just with his words.

TNG meets “It’s a Wonderful Life”! The followup to “Samaritan Snare” that we never knew we needed. Love the ambiguous ending. Did Picard really experience it? Was it just a dream? Finally, a Q episode worthy of that superior S grade…that’s S for “stupid human play dom-jot!”

Imagine you are a middle aged Lt and you hear about this "yeah Picard couldn't stand being some tipshit Lt who people don't even stand aside for in the hall ways. So he tried to get killed but Q brought him back anyhow".

So Picard laughs when he gets stabbed. He's obviously happy because he "did it his way" (Frank Sinatra style not Fred Durst style). But if you remember back to when he told Wesley the story,he related that he smiled and I think laughed then as well.

My one issue with this episode is that you can kind of read it as devaluing the work of people like alt-Picard, who quietly do their work well but aren't in leadership positions. On the other hand, it's an incredible episode.

An Q episode with no Q title!

Simply the best Q episode since Q Who. Best use of the character as a frenemy, and a guide. Perfectly written.

"Fuck this shit, I'd rather die than be one of our piece of shit junior officers." --Jean Luc Picard.

“Tapestry” is a truly great Q episode. Definitely up there with “Q Who”.

Season 6 surprises us again with another second appearance by one of the recurring characters.

I enjoy this episode, but I think it's sort of funny how small scale it is. Turns out that in a universe in which Picard never truly became Picard no one else would have been inconvenienced in any way. It's easy to imagine a catastrophic version of this scenario where Picard's choice results in a universe where the Borg conquered Earth, but nope, It's just Picard would've had to call Riker 'sir.'

Before I ever saw TNG I saw Picard's name in print. I pounced it in my head like the land lady in times arrow. Looks like Q did the same thing as the delivery boy in this episode.

On first watch, I liked it and appreciated a non-traditional more practical lesson about character. But the ending is too rushed and leaves a bad taste in my mouth on repeat viewing, regarding how repulsed Picard found the possibility of him being a regular person. It undercuts the message.

This is one of the three or four fan favorites that I really hate. I hate the underlying implication that Picard making a more sensible choice in his 20s than helping his friends doing something stupid would result in his being a cowardly milquetoast in his middle age. This is possibly the episode that makes me with there never was a Q.

This, I think, might be my favourite TNG episode.It's definitely my favourite Q and favourite Picard episode. No bullshit de-aging, Picard smiles when he's stabbed, I learned a word like "bereft"... what more can I want?

Top five TNG episode. Best Q episode.

I really like this one. Definitely one of the best, if not the best Q episode. Love the idea of exploring a life not lived, or the chance to change something we regret, but ultimately it shows how even our mistakes help to define us and build our character. Good to see a bit more Picard back story, building out the events mentioned in previous seasons. Also nice to see the red movie uniforms again.

This is it. This is the best Q episode. And talk about a callback, from way back in season 2! This episode has really stuck with me, showing how all your mistakes made you who you are, and fixing your regrets irrevocably alters who you are. Personally I wouldn’t change a thing about my own past, and I owe it all to an uncharacteristically wise Q.

I love the episode but I find it funny that Picard is absolutely devastated at the prospect of an ordinary life. just because he played it safe and never became a captain does not mean his life would not have been fulfilling, it would have just been...normal. Maybe Picard's brother was onto something when he called him an arrogant ass.

Coming off of the worst Q episode (Q-Less)...to the absolute best! Impossible to hate this one.

I love this episode. We all have regrets in our lives that most of us would gladly go back and change if we could, but this episode shows that it is our mistakes as well as our triumphs that shape who we are, and we may not like the person we would have been otherwise.

Also it's too bad they couldn't have used this conceit of Stewart playing the younger Picard in Rascals. I want to see Patrick Stewart go " NOW NOW NOW" and hug his #1 Dad.

I kinda feel bad about how real-Picard (and by extension the show) seems to me to view alternate-Picard. There's nothing wrong with maxing out as ensign or whatever, it's still be a life worth living. Look at O'Brien, he isn't even a commissioned officer, just an elbow-grease, sweat-of-his-brow working man who likes fixing stuff and teleporting people. But well, I can understand that this kind of life and career just isn't for real-Picard, I just don't appreciate how aggressively he dumps on him. Aside from that though, top drawer S tier episode, the morning after scene is an iconic trek-moment. xD

This might be my favourite TNG episode. It's firmly in my top 4 for sure. The best Q episode, and one of the best Picard ones too with great performances from both actors. I love a good character driven story, and it's hard to top this.

I've always interpreted Q as what Roddenberry (a vocal atheist) believed god would be. It makes total sense that you die, you see the white light, and Q is there to fuck with you.

The nice thing is how they ironed out all the kinks with TNG, so they were able to hit the ground running on DS9 with deeper characters and rich storylines. Glad you guys finally made it here!

Great episode Ron Moore channels It’s a wonderful life.

It's a beautiful story. It gets you right here, doesn't it?

Q finally coming back in a great episode. My guess is that Q Who is your favorite Q episode and then Tapestry is your second? Set me straight!

I like this episode a lot. I always wondered: was the story about his laughter far back in season 2 already a setup with this outcome in mind? Such an odd detail at that time finally got a logic explanation.

I actually really enjoy this episode, and has my second favorite TNG joke ("gets you right here" as he taps his heart). It also tells you not every Q episode going forward has Q in the title, but still wouldn't look at them.

Picard laughing after getting stabbed was referenced all the way back in Samaritan Snare. In the context of this episode, it's presented as though he's laughing because knows he got his old life back. This raises the question, was that fight some sort of predestination or bootstrap paradox in which Q was always involved, or perhaps even created? Was Q influencing Picard's life decades before Farpoint? Either way, excellent episode.

Bit of a inconsistency here. What happened with his artificial heart when the transporter turned him into a boy.

This one is my favorite Q episode of TNG.

Which one of us, wouldn't want a second chance to right a wrong. It's just that sometimes, those loose threads are the underpinning of the tapestry of our lives, as Picard realizes.

I always feel like a loser when Captain Picard talks about "Lieutenant Picard". "... a dreary man in a tedious job...", "...that man is bereft of passion and imagination". That really hurts! :D

I think about this one often. What I'd fix. More so as I get older and realize, yeah, I'd have been fine with the non-descript job Picard ended up with. A quiet, but fufilling life. Great episode.

I am split on this episode. I think it's decently put together and a solid concept, but the take away feels half baked. At the end Picard realizes he wasted his potential in this new world? I feel like it too closely defines success and happiness with station, competitiviness, and vertical movement. Just feels like a very out of step with the mentality you would expect in a post scarcity/capital Federation. Opens interesting doors to other questions, and that's a positive to me.

I like this episode for all the reasons everyone else does, but I especially like the callback to season 2's "Samaritan Snare" when Picard is telling the story to Wesley and he has no idea why he started laughing after being stabbed in the chest. Now we do. I love when the Trek writers take seemingly insignificant seeds like that and grow them in to an amazing episode.

character deveolpment + flashback + Picard + Q = epic

Out of curiosity, Josh & Alex, do either of you have regrets like this in your lives that you're willing to share? Is it something that would fundamentally change your life if you had done it differently? Not talking "I shouldn't have sold my bitcoin" type stuff, I mean actual choices that changed the direction of your lives.

I love how they softened Q. They lead him away from being the big baddy. He’s still an annoying prick, but with good intentions. I find it funny, interesting, and with good character growth and history. This is my fourth favorite of the series.

This one rubs me the wrong way. I feel like it sends a second message of if you aren't a frat boy, and you're someone like me who WOULD have acted responsibly in their youth like adult Picard, then you'll never learn what risk is and your life is a waste of space. "I would rather die than live my life as the man I just saw" hits a little different when you feel like it's talking about people like you. I don't think Ron Moore likes me.

I like this episode but isn't it kind of weird how Picard views his life as a lower ranked science officer as pathetic when those people make up most of the crew?

Picard in Blue, a knife through the heart, and Q is God? It’s that lesson that we all learn at some point that the actions we take define who we are as humans. The version of Picard that takes risks is the one that earned that Red uniform and that chair on the bridge of the Enterprise.

I like how this episode happens so soon after Q's DS9 episode where he says "I should go pay Picard another visit" XD

This is personally my favorite Q episode, even if it is a re-branded Star Trekified Quantum Leap episode. Yes, lots of awkward stuff happens, but I like how the entire narrative is used to help Picard see his life as something to be proud of and not be regretful over. It's pure sappiness on many levels, I'm sure, but I still buy into this being an A-Tier episode. Maybe even higher.

I was just telling my dad the other day that if I could go back in time, I'd kick my own ass for some of the stupid shit I did when I was younger. And then this episode makes me wonder ... would I actually change anything? Should I? I mostly like who I am today, and whether some of those experiences made me who I am or held me back from being this person longer than necessary, I don't know. But they're a part of me nonetheless. Picard shows us that you don't become older and wiser by acting old and wise.

This one rubs me the wrong way. I don't like how Picard is offended by the thought of "just" being a lower level science officer in Starfleet serving on the Enterprise. A dream job for most. He comes off as elitist here. Still cool to see the backstory of the stabbing though.

For you guys, why do you think Q wanted Picard to examine this moment of his life, and does it remind you of Sisko and the Wormhole aliens?

I haven’t seen this episode in years, and I am going to write this straight from memory. I LOVE this episode but I think there’s some crap in it. I’ll watch and see if I was right ! Delancey and the end saved this rather boring episode! Also, he always went back in time right ? That’s why he laughed, right ?