Star Trek’s 10 Best Jean-Luc Picard Episodes, Ranked

Each “Star Trek” fan has a favourite Captain, to various levels of precise rank. It is perhaps James T. Kirk, it is perhaps Benjamin Sisko. For lots of us, it is laborious to beat the legacy of Jean-Luc Picard, previously of the Enterprise-D. “Star Trek: The Subsequent Technology” star Sir Patrick Stewart launched himself with chilly effectivity at first, a person seemingly so inflexible that having an empath round made sense. However Picard, like the remainder of his crew, was flawed and human. Behind the noble French-English veneer was a person with a lifetime of troubled relationships, and a soul scarred deep by the Borg.

Picard introduced with him quirks that grew to become fandom legend, just like the Picard Maneuver, which appears him snappily tugging at his tunic every time he will get out of his chair, or the barked phrases “Tea. Earl Gray. Sizzling,” at irregular intervals. He additionally introduced us top-of-the-line actors within the franchise, who eagerly went for lusty archaeological adventures with the identical vigor as Shakespearean courtroom drama. It is an period that outlined Stewart’s profession, however by no means contained it — he is as liked as Professor Charles Xavier (and several others!) as he’s Picard. These are our ten greatest picks for Captain Picard’s greatest voyages on the starship Enterprise, although they’re all winners in our hearts.

Whereas “The Better of Each Worlds” was an epic two-part occasion that noticed the fandom perched on nails all through a full season break to find whether or not or not Captain Picard can be free of Locutus of Borg, the precise reply to that was sophisticated. “Household” picks up within the aftermath of Picard’s restoration from a Borg Dice and the tip of a large, probably Starfleet-ending battle at Wolf 359. Because it begins, Picard returns to his household vineyards (of infamously dubious quality, as we might later uncover) on Earth to think about what’s subsequent for him.

It is an uneasy go to; Picard is not on the most effective of phrases along with his brother, Robert (Jeremy Kemp), and he is contemplating leaving Starfleet altogether. However because the brothers regress into their infantile, mud-slapping behaviors by the use of dealing with their points, Picard’s stoic facade lastly cracks: he weeps, as any veteran may, for the violations he confronted and the horrors he dedicated whereas consumed by the Borg. Taken as a complete, the episode could be a little heavy handed. However Stewart’s sudden collapse right into a scared baby, if briefly, is a reminder that everybody breaks underneath sufficient stress. Even our heroes. Wolf 359 and Locutus can be with Picard for the remainder of his life, “Household” is the place one other a part of that journey begins.

Trying again, it is wild {that a} slapstick romance tangle-up between Picard, Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett-Roddenberry) and a Ferengi (Frank Corsentino as Daimon Tog) occurs simply two episodes earlier than the Borg seize Jean-Luc. But that is what occurs in “Menage a Troi,” when a Betazed shindig will get out of hand and Lwaxana is kidnapped by her erstwhile suitor. So much occurs on this episode, however the meatiest little bit of it’s within the finale, when Picard, famously aggravated by Lwaxana’s obsession with him, has to play a jealous lover with a purpose to rescue her from Ferengi paws.

It is a metaphorical Broadway showstopper at gunpoint for Picard. Stewart, a classically educated Shakespearean actor, busts out a number of sonnets and even somewhat little bit of Tennyson’s elegiac “In Memoriam” with a purpose to profess his willingness to present all for love, barely hiding his inside glee at going full ham even whereas pretending he hates this. Ultimately, his Ferengi opponent is cowed, and Lwaxana goes straight for the throne (Picard’s lap) upon arrival, prompting our noble captain to all however blurt “I need to go, my planet wants me.” If you cannot get to a hammy park efficiency of “A Midsummer Evening’s Dream,” this episode will do in a pinch.

Sir Patrick Stewart by no means made his love of Shakespearean drama into an overbearing side of his profession as Picard. If something, he made the format extra approachable and human. “Tapestry” isn’t itself impressed by the Bard, however Sir Stewart’s efficiency as he explores his personal lifetime with out one near-fatal incident could be very a lot in step with “Hamlet” and its earthy questions on youth and dying. It is even balanced by the correct quantity of humor as John de Lancie’s Q returns, this time as an ersatz archangel, completely gleeful about needling Picard in any respect the most effective moments.

As soon as upon a time, a younger Picard was, extra brazenly anyway, a roughhouser not afraid of entering into a couple of scraps right here and there. It resulted in a single hell of a life lesson, and Picard’s synthetic coronary heart often wants care. However Q provides him a satan’s dream whereas Picard’s ticker will get tinkered with: what would life had been like if he’d averted simply that one fateful bar combat? The reply lies in a downright philosophical acceptance of mortality, an understanding of the joyful dangers of life. Picard laughs as he embraces near-death. It is a hell of a visible metaphor, and Stewart makes it land with simply the proper contact of gravitas. Rattling great things.

By season 5, it was clear that Captain Picard was one hell of a hobbyist historian. “Darmok” lets him convey these abilities right into a most uncommon and abrupt diplomatic mission, one the place failure will get each him and a fellow captain killed. That captain is a Tamarian named Dathon (Paul Winfield), and he is put them each on this state of affairs for causes that are not instantly clear.

The Tamarians are immediately fascinating; their language is allegorical, that means they converse in phrases that, to right this moment’s ears, may sound like Tumblr memes. “Darmok and Jalad, at Tanagra” has a selected that means to Dathon’s folks, and till Picard understands what it’s (two males, facet by facet, eagerly dealing with hazard collectively), they’re all caught. The important thing lies within the Epic of Gilgamesh. Picard’s loving, gusto-laden efficiency of a simplified model of our historic hero’s journey does not simply pull delight from the now-dying Captain Dathon. It is a reproduction of what it needed to have been like way back, when storytellers shared legends round campfires. Picard’s love of historical past helps him click on with a stranger, and as bittersweet as it’s, it makes for a terrific episode that may lastly get a follow-up in “Decrease Decks,” the place a Tamarian has efficiently joined Starfleet. Allegories and all.

It is deliberate that top-of-the-line episodes of “Picard” goes out of its technique to not evoke the unique no-win state of affairs, the Kobayashi Maru. The Maru, which was once a Starfleet state of affairs for studying how to deal with failure, is as a substitute a hammy tribute to at all times making it out. In “No Win State of affairs,” Picard, the reluctant Shaw (Todd Stashwick), and Riker (Jonathan Frakes) go head on in studying to simply accept the worst and darkest elements of their lives. Surviving the mess they’re in is an afterthought.

It is a talky episode (with some surprisingly blue language), however it’s by no means gradual. Matched with flashbacks that present a gregarious Picard glad to carry forth about his years in Starfleet to a younger crowd hanging off each phrase, a lonely holodeck bar brings out years of missed alternatives between Picard and his estranged, unknown son, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers). It is misplaced time finally interrupted by Shaw, who’s been at dagger’s edge with Picard and Riker since they got here on board. The rationale: Wolf 359, the place Shaw was one of many final survivors on his ship towards the Borg and their figurehead, Locutus.

Stewart takes a quieter function towards each males’s frustrations, reflecting again to them his regrets and nightmares. Simply as these seemingly jovial flashbacks reveal that Picard has at all times had just one household, Starfleet, to his son’s sorrow, it additionally reveals that, with out Starfleet, nightmares and all, Picard will likely be misplaced. It is Picard at his most open, laying out the subtext of a personality all of us knew for merciless however obligatory research.

“The Interior Gentle” is a stunning, bittersweet episode that reveals up on each best-of-“Trek” record, maybe to a brand new fan’s annoyance. But it surely’s a go-to choice for good cause, as Picard spends the majority of the episode dwelling a full life as one other particular person, along with his personal humanity and character coming via at each flip. Kamin is the final reminiscence of a useless world, an envoy to a society that ended over a millennia in the past. It is a small factor, maybe, to a galaxy that may pace throughout quadrants and settle new worlds. However to those misplaced folks, it is every thing they’ve to present.

Picard wakes as Kamin after a probe zaps him on the bridge of the Enterprise. Picard is aware of rattling properly who he’s as he confronts a spouse he does not acknowledge, however this “Twilight Zone” nightmare settles right into a dream because the phantasm by no means wavers. He settles into life as Kamin, regularly conscious that their world is doomed, however doing what he can to let his household get pleasure from their final generations in consolation. However this society closes the circle by bringing Kamin, in his previous age, to the launching of a really particular rocket.

The second brings Picard again to himself, realizing what’s really occurred, and why his long-dreamed life issues. When he awakens, solely a half hour after the probe zapped him, there’s one present left to present him: the little flute he’d discovered to play. Should you do not choke up when Picard performs it softly, now alone with these reminiscences solely he can curate, you are manufactured from sterner stuff than us. For Patrick Stewart, this is still his biggest moment.

“Star Trek” is usually at its highest when it tackles large concepts head on, throwing us at actual life points and forcing us to consider them in new methods. “The Subsequent Technology” had its first grand second of this with “The Measure of a Man.” Nominally about Lt. Cmdr Knowledge’s (Brent Spiner) menace of departure, it is really a hardcore authorized drama in regards to the worth and id of the human soul. At both finish of the battlefield stands Picard for Knowledge’s protection as a full and authorized sentient being, and Riker, unwillingly compelled to be the Satan’s Advocate on behalf of Dr. Bruce Maddox (Brian Brophy), who needs Knowledge turned over to his lab as a analysis topic.

The gritty particulars about legislation underneath Starfleet are minor asides; the meat of the matter is whether or not or not Knowledge can legally be thought of an individual, or is he property? Not solely does Picard get among the best courtroom monologues in any sequence, however we additionally really feel his obligatory discomfort when he goes to talk to Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg), who factors out the elephant within the room: the questions on Knowledge’s personhood drift unpleasantly near America’s historical past of slavery, and to make him into property might properly create a brand new slave class underneath Starfleet. Now much more conscious of the stakes, Picard pushes in direction of triumph on Knowledge’s behalf, all whereas leaving the largest query open for us all to ponder: what can we really think about a soul, if we won’t even delineate consciousness? Stewart navigates all of it thoughtfully, and his righteousness as captain and pal makes this episode an all time banger.

The Borg’s abduction would not be the one time Captain Jean-Luc Picard would discover himself stripped right down to bone and soul. The Cardassians had been launched in season 4 of “The Subsequent Technology” to create a extra relatable and interactive menace to the Federation, regularly revealing themselves as imperialistic fascists, glad to subjugate planets. By season 6, Picard started to face their threats head on, finally discovering himself captured and positioned within the palms of torturer Gul Madred (David Warner).

“Chain of Command” does not maintain again on its intense and accurate depictions of each psychological and bodily torment, and we spend these two episodes watching Picard being damaged down, piece by piece, by one of many coldest characters within the franchise to this point. It is a gorgeous episode that ends in triumph of the bleakest type, as Picard admits how shut he was to giving in. 

Stewart’s efficiency brings forth agony of essentially the most uncooked variety, and Warner, who as soon as shared a stage with Stewart again within the ’60s, is greater than up for the problem of reflecting that agony again at him with the precise chill wanted to horrify us. Is it a enjoyable storyline? God, no. But it surely’s a powerful showcase for each actors, and an unmissable a part of the “Subsequent Technology” period.

Gene Roddenberry needed “The Subsequent Technology” to be weighed down by the unique sequence as little as doable, considerably to the sorrow of long-time followers wanting to know what the Vulcans had been as much as because the ’60s. On the entire, it wasn’t a nasty directive; it pushed the sequence to create new and attention-grabbing worlds to discover. However when the door to the previous did lastly open, it used one of many best episodes of “Trek” to this point to take action. “Sarek” brings again the daddy of Leonard Nimoy’s Spock, Sarek (Mark Lenard), with a somber, painful exploration of growing old and loss.

Simple with its central battle — Sarek is with a sort of Vulcan emotional dementia, and it is bleeding off on the crew — the actual story is a couple of man dedicated to serving his legacy to the close to exclusion of all else. Will we imply Sarek, or Picard? The reply is moot, as these two statesmen develop equal to 1 one other. And in one of many best sacrifices and kindnesses a human may supply a Vulcan, Picard ensures Sarek can full his work by carrying all of his emotional weight. It is vulnerability at its hardest.

As Sarek is free, for a time, to complete his diplomatic mission, we see via Picard the sheer weight of all that Sarek has carried. Weeping, screaming, angered, and filled with a long time of loss and ache, from his estranged relationship to his son, to his lack of ability to inform the human girls he is liked simply how a lot they’ve meant to him. It is horrible however stunning stuff, and Stewart’s efficiency makes it genuine, by no means hammy.

“All Good Issues…” helps convey “The Subsequent Technology” to a spectacular conclusion; bringing Q again in one other chapter of his ongoing trial of humanity is an ideal bookend to the sequence pilot, “Encounter at Farpoint.” His newest trial state of affairs (however not a last one, as “Picard” would go to point out) calls for that Picard reveal a worth of humanity poorly understood by even ourselves: instinct. His life is cut up into a number of timelines, all of which present some side we would have puzzled about post-series, however in all of them there is a lethal riddle to be solved. A temporal anomaly not like something Starfleet’s ever encountered, able to ending human life. Even whether it is simply one other of Q’s little tips.

It is a trial that, once we look intently at it, reveals refined clues about Q’s fondness for his greatest pal — even when Picard would name Q his greatest fiend. Certain, Picard reveals off how essential our human quirks are, however extra importantly, it is all about being human. Mortal. Flawed. Able to change. Q’s by no means had any of that and but, he is studying about it through his trials and tips. From Picard. And solely now, on the finish, does Picard, a little bit like Stewart at his first convention, learn the way a lot he means to everybody else. It is that understanding that brings him dwelling to his associates, to affix that pleasant sport of playing cards for the primary time.

It is richly human stuff, and Sir Stewart makes shrugging off the previous ego to easily be part of his associates into one thing like taking off a coat and getting cozy finally. “Picard” would go on to underline what we already discovered right here: Jean-Luc Picard has at all times had a household of his personal, and he would do something for them. Eternally.