Tapestry
- Episode aired Feb 13, 1993
- TV-PG
- 45m
When Captain Picard's artificial heart fails, he is offered the rare opportunity to go back in time and set right the mistake that led to his demise.When Captain Picard's artificial heart fails, he is offered the rare opportunity to go back in time and set right the mistake that led to his demise.When Captain Picard's artificial heart fails, he is offered the rare opportunity to go back in time and set right the mistake that led to his demise.
- Penny Muroc
- (as Rae Norman)
- Ensign Armstrong
- (uncredited)
- Crewman Martinez
- (uncredited)
- Ensign Kellogg
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaPortraying the afterlife caused some technical problems. With John de Lancie in a white robe on a white background, the production crew were concerned that Q would appear as a floating head. Both actors were aware of the difficulties in the shot, and even de Lancie felt it made his performance in some scenes more subdued than usual. The staff thought this was perfect for a more serious Q episode.
- GoofsAs Picard chats with Q in the "afterlife", they pause their conversation and watch a visual recreation of the "young" Picard fighting with a bunch of Nausicaans. After the young Picard hits the first Nausicaan, he (the Nausicaan) falls backward and, as he hits the ground, his long black wig comes off. The Nausicaan then quickly rolls out of the camera shot, leaving the wig behind. (This all happens very quickly and is easier to see in slow motion.)
- Quotes
Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: You having a good laugh now, Q? Does it amuse you to think of me spending the rest of my life as a dreary man, with a tedious job?
Q: I gave you something most mortals never experience: a second chance at life. And now all you can do is complain?
Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: I can't live out my days as that person. That man is bereft of passion, and... and imagination! That is not who I am!
Q: *Au contraire*. He's the person you wanted to be, one who was less arrogant and undisciplined in his youth, one who was less like me. The Jean-Luc Picard you wanted to be, the one who did *not* fight the Nausicaans, had quite a different career from the one you remember. That Picard never had a brush with death, never came face to face with his own mortality, never realized how fragile life is... or how important each moment can, and should, be. So his life never came into focus. He drifted through much of his career, with no plan or agenda, going from one assignment to the next, never seizing the opportunities that presented themselves. He never led the away team on Milika III to save the ambassador, or took charge of the Stargazer's bridge when its captain was killed. And no one ever offered him a command. He learned to play it safe... And he never, *ever,* got noticed by *anyone.*
Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: You're right, Q. You gave me the chance to change, and I took the opportunity. But I admit now: it was a mistake.
Q: Are you asking me for something, Jean-Luc?
Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: Only for a chance to make things the way they were, the way I now realize they must be.
Q: Before, you died in sickbay. Is that what you want?
Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: I would rather die as the man I know is truly within me - with a full life, a *real* life, behind me - than have my name on the biography I just listened to.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Star Trek: Nemesis Review (2009)
- SoundtracksStar Trek: The Next Generation Main Title
Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage
When I was 15 I started rewatching some Trek and came across this episode. At the time I wasn't really very ambitious. Was completely fine with staying home for college and perhaps going for a degree in teaching or similar. Low stress, easy lifestyle.
Then I saw this episode. Something inside clicked, like a flame that ignites on a pilot burner. I immediately started thinking about how I could have impact on society and what kind of path I want to choose. What would be the most rewarding?
So I decided to attend university away from home and take a big risk. Start my career in business. Fast forward another 7 years and I quit my lucrative job for that ambitious pursuit of wanting something grand in life, pursuing a full time MBA at a top university. Hoping to eventually have a role where I can have impact in society on a massive scale, even if it's only in 1 area. I can leave this planet better than I came. At least I would have a strong hand in it.
This episode is the reason I've become such an ambitious asshole, and I have no regrets so far. That quest for challenge and knowledge is so important to find young if that's something you want in life, especially if you come from a family of immigrants that was happy to simply survive.
If you are teacher or professor, I highly recommend showing this to students before graduating either high school or college. I don't think enough young people truly think about their careers and regret not thinking about their ambitions until much later in life.
- mozillameister
- Mar 1, 2020
Details
- Runtime45 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1