Jean-Luc Picard has not traditionally been much of a family man, but that may be changing.
Season 3, Episode 2: ‘Disengage’
Um, wait, what? WHAT?!
A lot happened in this episode, but I’m mostly focused on the ending.
Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher had a kid together?
And that son, Jack, is named after Beverly’s first husband? The one who died and was a close friend of Jean-Luc’s?
Let’s break this down, because it is an interesting revelation on several levels. Before “Picard,” Jean-Luc had long kept his career at the forefront of his existence, at the expense of family and love. The closest he came to embracing a family came in the classic episode “The Inner Light,” where Picard is struck by an energy beam and somehow lives the life of someone completely different. It showed Jean-Luc what his life could have been. Romance has historically been rare for him, though there have been some brief flings, including Anij from “Star Trek: Insurrection,” but never officially with Beverly.
Also, Jean-Luc has generally hated children. In “Encounter At Farpoint,” the “Next Generation” pilot, he lectures Beverly that children aren’t allowed on the bridge — which is amusing now given that in the future, she will be the mother of one of his children. (Let’s not forget one of the worst written lines in “Trek” history: Picard yelling, “Shut up, Wesley!” to Wesley Crusher.)
There was the time Jean-Luc was turned into a child, in the hilarious “Rascals” episode. And he also seems to be a father figure to his nephew René, who dies in “Star Trek: Generations.”
Picard was married to the Enterprise. He never seemed to want more than that.
But people grow and change. Look at Beverly, who has spent several years traversing the galaxy as a rogue doctor with her son. In some ways, she was the most levelheaded member of the Enterprise crew. She was rarely impulsive and always thoughtful, which made her an ideal match for Jean-Luc. So it must have taken something serious for her to evolve to this.
In “Picard,” Jean-Luc appears to be more interested in being a father and family generally. He has a romance with Laris and is essentially a father figure to Dahj, her twin Soji and Elnor.
But Jack being Jean-Luc’s son raises many questions. Did Jean-Luc know this whole time about Jack? Or did he find out when he and Beverly exchanged looks on the bridge of the Titan? (This is something likely to be addressed in upcoming episodes, but given the tendencies in the previous seasons of “Picard,” we shouldn’t assume anything.) If Jean-Luc didn’t know, why in the world did Beverly keep the knowledge of a child from his own father and one of her closest confidantes? (In the episode “Attached,” Beverly learns about Jean-Luc’s feelings for her, and that he never acted on them out of respect for her late husband. It’s possible that Beverly kept the knowledge of Jack Jr. from Jean-Luc because of that respect.)
Does Jack know? I would guess no based on their conversation while in the brig. (But Jack is professional liar, so again, the assumption thing.) When Jean-Luc asks, “Who is your father?” Jack replies, “I never had one.” I thought I saw a hint of knowing remorse in Patrick Stewart’s face in response, and one could easily interpret Jack’s response as a dig at Jean-Luc for being an absentee father.
And what about Wesley?
There’s also the matter of Jean-Luc and Beverly actually having been together. That’s never been confirmed until this season of “Picard,” although the creative team more or less revealed this publicly in the summer.
Odds and ends
Captain Vadic (Amanda Plummer) makes a solid debut as this season’s villain — she has a sinister cadence, a predatory ship and an apparent unusual familiarity with the old Enterprise crew, as well as Shaw.
Maybe this is a reflection on Todd Stashwick’s charming performance, but despite the show’s best efforts to make Shaw seem like a jerk, he really is an admirable captain. Shaw agrees to save Riker and Picard from Vadic’s Shrike at great personal risk to the Titan, even though the pair had duped the ship’s crew and taken them outside of Federation space. Shaw also declines to throw Riker and Picard in the brig, though he would be in the right to do so. (Not to mention the shuttle that Riker and Picard stole, leading to its destruction.) Shaw also continues to let Seven of Nine serve aboard the ship, despite her betrayal of him. And repeatedly, he expresses — very rightfully — his concern for the lives of his crew members.
Raffi, apparently now a member of Starfleet Intelligence, has been trying to figure out who attacked a lower-tier Starfleet building. She chooses her profession over her son Gabe — again. But what happened to her relationship with Seven?
And it turns out Raffi’s handler is Worf, who promptly beheads the Ferengi Tony Soprano. Quite an entrance, though I fear this may be an example of “Picard” writers opting for short term payoff and forgetting who these characters actually are. Worf moderated the Klingon penchant for violence, particularly as he rose in command in “Deep Space Nine.” So much so that he was actually named ambassador to the Klingon home world at the conclusion of the series. (Then again, Worf did murder the Klingon chancellor Gowron, so maybe he is whatever the plot needs him to be.) I am certainly curious how one of the most famous Klingons in the galaxy — renowned in both Starfleet and among Klingons — ends up working in intelligence.
The episode ends with a classic “Trek” trope: An outgunned Starfleet ship sneaking into a nebula to hide.
Source: Television - nytimes.com
