The It’s-A-Wonderful-Life of it all is a little hokey, but this is an all around strong episode on a few fronts. There’s the rare, direct look at Picard’s personal life, (anchored by a great performance, of course) but this is also the first episode since Q Who where we get a slightly more interesting layer to Q’s personality. I like the normal Q as annoying buffoon, but mostly because of the few episodes that offset that where it actually feels as though the omnipotent trickster god has some insight on existence that the humans don’t. Tapesty is a presage of the series finale in that way.
Picard spills something on his uniform.Q says he died and he’s in heaven now.It’s all because he didn’t have a real heart.So they reminisce about that time Picard was hilariously stabbed by a Nausicaan. Q gets Picard to admit he would do it differently, so Q sends him back.He used to be very different. He even had/wanted friends back then.We see dom jot played. The dorkiest game someone could have thought up.The most disturbing part of this episode is the revelation that some people in Star Trek clap with the back of their wrists.Picard tries to convince his friend to stop doing stuff.This is weird.Picard promptly ruins his entire past life.Meanwhile, Q eats lettuce.Q says he wins and can go back to living………. BUT HE HAS TO WEAR BLUE NOW!!Riker says Picard’s not cut out for command. They only accept people who were stabbed maybe?Picard says he takes it back. He really liked getting stabbed, actually.Does this mean he’ll die back in the present? :,(But then he’s ok because I guess Q changed the rules.
