LogFAQs > #972675112

Episode 15: Tapestry

The difference between living and existing.

Picard doesn't take news of his death well. Laughs it off, initially and finds the idea of Q as god utterly ridiculous. Defiant to that chorus of voices Q summons up. Can read the regret and shame in his face when he sees his younger self's fight. Feebly holds onto maintaining the flow of time, but quickly gives up and tries to correct some mistakes. You can see the moment it dawns on him what an opportunity this is just before he asks for the time. Unfortunately, the years have made him far too mature for this age and he clearly has no real interest in Penny (and probably never really did), despite politely asking about her. Besides, Corlina was clearly the right choice. Holds a massive amount of disdain for how he used to be. Good on him for cheating them back. Has a moment of dawning comprehension when he finally notices Marta's interest in him. Has become quite a stolid, boring man in comparison to how his friends know him. On the verge of tears when Marta rejects him. Some good moments in his other life, like his desperation to immediately advance his career and briefly moving to get up when he hears the call for senior staff. Pleads to go back to his old life and now we know why he laughed after getting stabbed. Finally beginning to see why Q does what he does.

Riker suffers a cut. Quite entranced by stories of Picard's youth. Alt Riker is as nice as he can get without outright lying. Even then, he's straining to find praise.

Worf brings Picard in. Alt Worf is decent and concerned for the confused man on the bridge.

Crusher is wonderfully all business with trying to resuscitate Picard.

Alt Troi is refreshingly blunt about the random ensign's prospects.

Alt Data shows compassion for the apparent amnesiac on the bridge.

Q deliberately leans into the profane with his outfit. Plays up the morbidity of Picard's death. Turned down his smarm considerably and treats the subject matter with far more severity than he usually bothers with. This more sedate Q made it quite clear that he was primarily in teacher mode for this episode. Takes Picard's insults more on the chin. Gets quite irritated when he refuses to play. Being more subdued doesn't stop his jokes from being often brilliant. Still finds time to have fun with the flower delivery bit. Straight up delivers his lesson this time.

Picard's friends are alright. Marta is a more dynamic soul than Corey, who's a bit genetic. In fact, appreciating Picard's rather sudden level of responsibility makes her quite interesting, as does the fact she encourages Picard's dalliances without any bitterness, whilst still obviously wanting him. Both are mature beyond their years, though for different reasons (I feel like I've used this phrase before). Actually, Corey rejecting Picard as a friend is a dick move.

No establishing shot, we're right into the action. White voids are a bit standard, but effective. Effectively, a two man play for a lot of it. Not convinced about the younger self's fight scene, but at least they included the laugh. The slap scene transition was nice. Nice looking bar. So, they combined pool and pinball? Ensign Picard would definitely take some getting used to. Its remarkable how Picard snogging Marta can be both heartwarming and a little off (not quite for reasons of relative age, although it's related to that) at the same time. About the only romance he's had that seems realistic, too. Picard in the science uniform doesn't look right. Quite like the lift opening to the void.

Regrets are a funny thing because they're kind of an unsolvable problem. Regardless of whether you regret doing something or not doing something, it is obviously impossible to go back and create a counterfactual life for yourself to live. But even if you could, what then? While the prime regret for Picard might be getting stabbed, I actually found his "sub-regrets" involving his love life slightly more interesting, in particular, Marta. While the characters may technically be graduates, there is a slight school days feel to the plot, so, they might as well be in high school. And high school, as well as its immediate aftermath, tends to be the time when people start properly exploring their love and sex lives. Perhaps my fixation on this aspect of the episode is because I've got a massive bugbear over things like the incel phenomenon, fedora tippers and, I suppose, freaky freaks in general who not only have no social skills, but have no desire to even develop them. Picard himself doesn't fall into any of these categories since the madlad is setting up multiple dates at once, but him taking the opportunity to try and approach his early love life in a more mature fashion did remind me of conversations I've had of a similar nature with, frankly, far too many people (more of them in real life than anyone would like) who seem to fixate on the (often romantic) failures of their high school years and long for an ability to correct them.

There's a tragic irony to this idea that Picard sort of lives through. If you have substantially changed from who you were, then, like with the bar date, you are liable to become an alien in comparison to how people used to know you and will probably embarrass yourself. The scenario with Marta highlights the opposite problem: what if it works? The creepiness of Picard shagging her doesn't necessarily come from the age differences (although apparently the actress was 17, so, eep!), rather it's from the fact that if she didn't regret it, would 50 odd year old Picard still be hovering around 20 year olds (though I still read them as basically being teenagers in every way that matters) and having relationships with them long past that night? If you could transfer your current consciousness back to your high school life, what exactly could you do that would be remotely worth doing? Even if its just wanting to be popular, to prevent bullying or just do better academically, the very fact of obsessively wanting to "correct" any missteps, rather than walk forward with the wisdom gained, is conclusive proof that you haven't properly learned from the experience. And if you have learned, you'd no longer lament those days.

And it's true that, like getting stabbed during a pointless bar brawl, not every adventure is going to be a success, but the solution is not to be risk averse. This is a bit closer to what the episode is actually intentionally trying to say, but keeping it on the theme of relationships a little longer; why are so many people terrified of making the slightest effort towards having a partner? Careers or otherwise, there is no wisdom in a perfectly safe life and a refusal to let your ego be remotely wounded by rejection, embarrassment or failure is not just pathetic, it accomplishes nothing for you except wasting years in a dull, unmemorable self imposed mediocrity. Even fantasies of counterfactual success are yet another example of self defeating safety since they are just an addictive perfectly controlled indulgence that can occasionally provide the vaguest ghost of achievement and satisfaction without the dangers of having to actually put any effort or risk into life. Think I'd rather die than live like that, too. Definitely a bit of a tangent I went on.

Pretty good exploration of Picard's life, with a fantastic message and probably the definitive statement on who Q is. No regrets watching it.

Another two parter? Must be my Birthright.