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"reading this article http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/08/02/kirk-picard-star-trek-sisko/ about kirk v picard, which is OK. but anyway - it reaches levels of perfection here:
Let’s get more specific. Joe, what would you say is the defining Picard episode?
JBL: I’d say “The Inner Light” or “Measure of a Man.” In “Measure,” we see a rare anger in Picard — really, more like righteous indignation — when Starfleet threatens to dismantle Data, he’s forced to prove that a robot has as much right to life as a human. As a trump card, he forces the Starfleet people to acknowledge they can’t prove their own consciousness.
And in “The Inner Light,” Picard relives the entire life of a dead man from an extinct civilization. He has a simple peasant life, but it’s the same Picard character. To me, the beauty of Picard is that he is a man so confident — so assured of who he is and what he loves — that he would be the same person regardless of social status. He’s motivated, but ambition-free. As long as he is stimulated, he remains thoroughly Picard. Kirk could never have lived an ordinary life like that.
DF: Actually, “The Inner Light” also provides an intriguing contrast to an episode that makes everyone’s Captain Kirk highlight reel: “The City on the Edge of Forever.” In both cases, the captains are sent back in time and experience a profound emotional journey. In both cases, they find themselves in situations that are essentially Greek tragedies, where they cannot stop the higher power of fate. There is nothing Picard can do to save the people of Kataan; there is nothing Kirk can do to save Edith Keeler (played by Joan Collins!)
JBL: Well, Picard could have tried to settle Kataan.
DF: Boom! But I think the contrast is telling. The Picard story is very multi-layered and emotionally subtle — and even I have to admit that TNG featured better writing and acting than the original series. But the Kirk story has a mythic immediacy: If Edith Keeler doesn’t die, the Nazis will win World War II!!!
(aha - they both get it. love it)."
--Katy
ETA: from like 150 to 28. Better.
Let’s get more specific. Joe, what would you say is the defining Picard episode?
JBL: I’d say “The Inner Light” or “Measure of a Man.” In “Measure,” we see a rare anger in Picard — really, more like righteous indignation — when Starfleet threatens to dismantle Data, he’s forced to prove that a robot has as much right to life as a human. As a trump card, he forces the Starfleet people to acknowledge they can’t prove their own consciousness.
And in “The Inner Light,” Picard relives the entire life of a dead man from an extinct civilization. He has a simple peasant life, but it’s the same Picard character. To me, the beauty of Picard is that he is a man so confident — so assured of who he is and what he loves — that he would be the same person regardless of social status. He’s motivated, but ambition-free. As long as he is stimulated, he remains thoroughly Picard. Kirk could never have lived an ordinary life like that.
DF: Actually, “The Inner Light” also provides an intriguing contrast to an episode that makes everyone’s Captain Kirk highlight reel: “The City on the Edge of Forever.” In both cases, the captains are sent back in time and experience a profound emotional journey. In both cases, they find themselves in situations that are essentially Greek tragedies, where they cannot stop the higher power of fate. There is nothing Picard can do to save the people of Kataan; there is nothing Kirk can do to save Edith Keeler (played by Joan Collins!)
JBL: Well, Picard could have tried to settle Kataan.
DF: Boom! But I think the contrast is telling. The Picard story is very multi-layered and emotionally subtle — and even I have to admit that TNG featured better writing and acting than the original series. But the Kirk story has a mythic immediacy: If Edith Keeler doesn’t die, the Nazis will win World War II!!!
(aha - they both get it. love it)."
--Katy
ETA: from like 150 to 28. Better.
