Series: Star Trek: TNG
Episode: 6.15 Tapestry (2/15/1993)
Rating: 3/5
Redshirt Status: 0/3/38
Notable Guest Stars:
Ned Vaughn (Cortin Zweller) – Those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile know that Apollo 13 has been my favorite movie since it came out in 1994. Ned Vaughn appears in the movie as CapCom 2.
J.C Brandy (Marta Batanides)- J.C. Brandy has appeared in various tv series over the years, including a couple soap operas. She also made an appearance in the Halloween film franchise. She was 17 years old when she filmed this episode.
Clive Church (Maurice Picard) – This appears to be his first -and only – known credit. Which was notable enough for me to include him in this section.
Rae Norman (Penny Muroc)- Rae Norman was appearing on Guiding Light around the same time she was on Star Trek.
Review:
I have to admit this is not one of my favorite episodes of TNG. Every show has their “It’s a Wonderful Life” episode, it seems, and this was TNG’s. Picard, having received a near-fatal wound, finds himself in a space with Q. Q uses his powers to show Picard what might have happened if he hadn’t been stabbed by the Nausiccaans, a story mentioned earlier in the show.
My problem was most IAWL like episodes show the effect someone has on other people, not just their own life. And Picard had a deep impact on the other characters. For example, there is a scene where Altered Picard talks with Will Riker. Will is still the executive officer even though its been pretty much implied that the main reason he hasn’t taken a ship of his own is because he wanted ot learn more from Picard. I find it hard to believe that Will would still be on Enterprise and not on his own ship. And, what does this mean for Jack Crusher?
Of course, this could all be explained away as being part of Q’s made-up world.
There is also the weirdness of the Marta romance. For one, they never really made Picard out to have been a lothario till this episode. And the actress for Marta was 17 years old. While neither actor seemed to find anything amiss, the fact that the crew thought she needed to be aged up by make-up makes me wonder why they didn’t hire an older actress.
This episode did launch a thousand memes of Picard waking up to Q in his bed.
This episode is usually critically accepted as good, and while I may not particularly feel driven to watch it, I don’t think it’s the worst episode ever. (You have seen me skip episodes so you know that).
Interesting Notes:
- Written by Ronald D. Moore
- Directed by Les Landau
- This episode was inspired by “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens.
- The brainstorming team liked this episode as a comparison to Picard’s wild child youth and studious adulthood while Kirk was a studious young man and only earned his reputation as a risk taker as an adult (and as a Captain).
- First appearance of the Nausicaans
Pros
- I wonder if they realize that they made Q appear pansexual at this point. I mean it would make sense for an energy being such as the Q continuum not to limit their interests by gender.
Cons:
- I feel the story seems a little farfetched as far as it not effecting other people that where Jean-Luc was in life was different. Our lives are ripples, not stagnant dots no matter what Q believes.
Screencap via CygnusX1.net
Sokorra Lewis 