This is the only Episode in TNG that doesn't feature any scenes on the Bridge.

Also the only non-sci-fi episode

I love the aftermath of the fight between Jean-Luc & Robert:

"I fell down."

"He fell down and I fell down."

"And we both fell down."

They sounded, appropriately, like little boys who got caught and were trying to get out if getting in trouble!

This is not the only episode of TNG with no scenes on the bridge. It was just the first. The other is "Liasons"

And though there was certainly little TECH in the episode, it was far from being "non-sci-fi."

Off the top of my head... The Enterprise in spacedock. An alien and his half-breed (quarter-breed?) child. A holographic recording.

What exactly was non-sci-fi about it?

Great Episode, Great Moments: Family often have a way of getting under your skin like no one else can, and the way Robert is able to provoke responses from Picard, who is normally so stoic and controlled, made this episode is one of NextGen’s most powerfulWhereas The Best of Both Worlds usually features on every favorite episode list, often as the favorite, this episode is the one I can watch over and over. Picard’s fight with Robert, his breaking down after falling into the mud, Robert’s sudden compassionate turn, Marie finding a trail of mud leading up to the two brothers, drunk and singing, and of course, the brothers’ painful farewell were moments that I always love watching.

And come to think of it, Picard has DARK eyes too…
Sandy Morris, of Columbia Station, OH, in a letter published in the Nov 2000 issue of The Star Trek Communicator (issue #130), made this nit regarding Jack Crusher’s eye color for Journey’s End, but I placed it here since he first appears in this episode. Sandy points out that Jack has blue eyes, and that Beverly has blue eyes, and that it is impossible for the child of such a union to not have blue eyes, yet Wesley has dark eyes. I reviewed both Act 5 of Family and Act 4 of Journey’s End to confirm this, and while it is hard to confirm Jack’s eye color, I believe Sandy was correct.}}}
Yeah, I mean, why doesn’t he just do what he does when he meets every teenager? Ignore him, talk down to him, dismiss everything he says, and then put him in charge of flying the ship
Why doesn’t Picard so much as hug, shake hands, or even turn to face Rene when he realizes who he is?
So Rene thinks Picard is his nephew, and says Robert called him a son of a b*tch. Man, I’d hate to see what Rene calls his mother…
When Rene meets Picard, he says that Picard is his nephew, and Picard responds that Rene must be his uncle. Rene immediately responds that he’s not Picard’s uncle, that Picard has it the other way around. So why did Rene say he was Picard’s uncle?
Well, everyone chooses to remember a departed loved one in their own way. Beverly chooses to remember Jack with a promotion.
The first words on the top of the label on the locker containing Jack Crusher’s personal effects are "Lt. Commander," but in the holotape, he wears he uniform of a Lieutenant, junior grade.
He bought a new holorecorder to do it, but never managed to get the display it to stop blinking "12:00"
When Beverly finds the holo-message that Jack made for Wesley, she says that Jack wanted to make more messages for Wesley, but never got the chance. Why not? The implication seems to be that Jack died before he was able to make more, but Jack made this message when Wesley was ten weeks old. Wesley was five when Jack Crusher died, and was old enough to have a vivid memory of Picard bringing the news of his death, according to Act 5 of The Bonding, and was old enough for Jack to have taught him baseball, according to Evolution.
Well, Robert may be anti-technology, but a guy still needs a way to get his Internet porn, doesn’t he?
When Picard is seen arriving at his family home, and later when he leaves it in Act 5, he has one piece of luggage: a cylindrical "duffel box." In Act 3, Picard is in the house viewing a viewscreen. Whose is this? It can’t be Picard’s, because it’s too big to fit in his "box," and Robert is staunchly old-fashioned and avoids modern technology. Or do the Picards need the viewscreen to at least communicate with others?

"The first words on the top of the label on the locker containing Jack Crusher’s personal effects are "Lt. Commander," but in the holotape, he wears he uniform of a Lieutenant, junior grade. "

Maybe he made the recording while a Lt jg, but died a Lt commander?

In Act 3, Picard is in the house viewing a viewscreen. Whose is this? It can’t be Picard’s, because it’s too big to fit in his "box," and Robert is staunchly old-fashioned and avoids modern technology. Or do the Picards need the viewscreen to at least communicate with others?

You just answered your own question. Robert's vinyard is a business (isn't it?), and to run it he would need electronic communications to run it.

Or maybe it is the culmination of thin tv technology and he rolled up his viewscreen. There was a research report about an electronic paper that worked similar to a monochrome text screen.

Luigi:: Why doesn’t Picard so much as hug, shake hands, or even turn to face Rene when he realizes who he is?

He was probably getting over the trauma of the Borg.

Being violated in such a personal way can make anyone uncomfortable with personal contact. Being u8ncomfortable with children probably didn't help, either.

Cut the guy some slack.

Okay.

So why does he hug Robert at the end, but not Marie and Rene, especially when you consider his enthusiasm for encouraging Rene to pursue his dreams of Starfleet, and his reaction to Rene's death in Generations?

Is it my imagination, or is this one of the first few episodes where we see the all-new and improved Deanna Troi? She seems to have lightened up a little, if not here then certainly during the start of this season (remember, this was not the second episode to be shot - it was shot a few episodes down the line, then brought forward after TBOBW2).

I remember a story I once heard how Marina Sirtis (the cheeky Londoner that she is) once attended a convention where one of the fans told her how she (Sirtis) was really nice even though he thought Troi herself was a bit dull. (And who would blame him for saying that? ) Having heard this, Sirtis decided to lighten her character up a little. Could this season be the start of this new change, one wonders?

I died? When?

Who deleted my message about the Atlantis Project and why?
I asked: Does Greenpeace no longer exist in the 24th century?? If the Atlantis-Procect is ready, the ?Gulf Drift? (German: Golfstrom, the warm water flowing across the Atlantic from the Gulf of Mexico to Europe) will no longer be able to reach western Europe, so Picard will harvest Ice Wine in the middle of September!

In English it is called, I belive, the "Gulf Stream."

Is it possible they want to raise it to a certain height, but NOT all the way to the surface, perhaps to create an undersea plain for underwater marine bases? They did refer to it as a "subcontinent." Where under the surface does the Gulf Stream exist?

They did refer to it as a "subcontinent."

Subcontinent refers to size. India is often referred to as a subcontinent.

How do we know in the future, "subcontinent" doesn't simply refer to places where they make really long sandwiches?

If you really want to do some grungy nitpicking, then find a star chart and use freeze frame to examine the star scenes in this episode. Since the Enterprise is orbiting Earth, the stars and constellations should match the star chart.

Marie tells Jean-Luc, "So glad to finally meet you.", but later it is mentioned that Marie has been corresponding with Jean-Luc and telling him about the family. Not necessarily a nit, it just seemed a bit odd. I mean what kind of wacko corresponds with people they never even me... uh... Never mind.

The stars outside of Dr. Crusher's window twinkle. Stars only seem to twinkle when the light passes through a planet's atmosphere and I seriously doubt there is enough air between Beverly and the window to cause the twinkling.

Why don't we see any evidence of the sun's light in Ten-Forward? All external shots of the Enterprise show it orbiting on the dayside of the planet.

I found it very amusing when Guinan tells the Rozenko's that sooner or later everyone walks to the window and looks for that star they call home. The ship is orbiting Earth, the star they call home is the giant ball of gas off to the ship's right, if it was visible through Ten-Forward's windows it would probably blind everyone in the place.

So how much time actually elapses in this episode? The Rozenkos beam up, Picard beams down and Beverly finds Jack's message to Wes all on the same day. Early in the show we see the Picards eating dinner, then I believe Beverly finally gives the message to Wes, then later Worf visits his parents quarters before they go to bed, so at least two days go by. I realize the need to weave the plots in and out, but the time frames just seem off. Because of the delay between Beverly's finding the holographic message and finally giving it to Wes, it seems like she sat on it for quite a while, whereas Picard's storyline seems like it should of taken a little longer than just two days, and if it only took two days to cure Picard of his problems then maybe the Robert Picard method should be taught in Psychology class. ("Remember students, there is nothing quite so helpful in psychology as a good right hook.")

KAM: So how much time actually elapses in this episode? The Rozenkos beam up, Picard beams down and Beverly finds Jack's message to Wes all on the same day.

Luigi Novi: Where is this established? You start off with this preface, then point out all the indications that several days passed (I would imagine Picard was with his family for at least a week, if not more). So why did you say it was one day in the first place if the only evidence of time passage you give afterwards indicates otherwise?

Luigi Novi: The first words on the top of the label on the locker containing Jack Crusher’s personal effects are "Lt. Commander," but in the holotape, he wears he uniform of a Lieutenant, junior grade.

Rene: Maybe he made the recording while a Lt jg, but died a Lt commander?

Luigi Novi: I don't know how I missed this response at first, Rene, but I just caught it now.
First of all, it relates somewhat to the nit about when Jack died. Did he die when Wes was ten weeks old, or five years old? Let's say it was the latter, because that was established first, and seems to be more canonical. We'll say they screwed up on the ten week thing. So did Jack get promoted from Lt. jg to full lieutentant, and then to Lt. Commander, in just five years? Data told Lore in Datalore that Starfleet officers spend "ten to twelve years in the lieutenant grades." I guess you could stretch this by saying that Jack was a lt. j.g. for years prior to the recording, was promoted to full Lt. right after it, and spent five years as a Lt. before being promoted to Lt. Commander, and then was killed, but it does require some creative fudging with numbers, doesn't it?

Luigi Novi: Where is this established?

First off, that nit was written several years ago, which I believe was the last time I saw this episode. However IIRC it was established by how the scenes were intercut.

Since you have this episode on tape perhaps you should try to estimate the time frame.

Remember that La Forge was a Lt, jg during season 1, then a full Lt during season 2, finally Lt. Commander from season 3 onward, so it is possible.

And Nog, boy did HE fly up through the ranks!

During war, that tends to happen.

I think that five years is about the amount of time that Worf spent as a Lieutenant.

GREAT MOMENTS:

#1. Picard finally breaking down and crying over how he tried to fight the Borg but couldn't. He'd been so pompous for so long, he'd almost forgotten his humility.

#2. Picard & Robert's "goodbye"...a real tear jerker.

#2. Picard & Robert's "goodbye"...a real tear jerker

Yes, especially in retrospect. Robert dies just before Generations and this is, as far as we know, the last time they see each other. As I recall Picard never mentions anywhere that he's been home again - or does he, and I just forgot?

I also absolutely love the closing scene of the nephew looking up at the stars. A real lump in the throat time - didn't we all sit looking at the stars like that? I know I did.

No subsequent visit to his home in France was ever mentioned, but the Enterprise did visit Earth in Time's Arrow partI, so there is the possibility that he did so offscreen.

At one point, Troi kisses Picard...lucky stiff!

I'm sure he was both.

MISSING LINE: "The warp core was inwented in Russia" by Sergei.

An incorrect assumption that this or "Liasons" is the only episode with no shots of the bridge.

The first to have no bridge shots is "Shades Of Grey" (true it didn't much of ANYTHING but still....)

Wonderful episode- Phil hit it spot on in the guides about the importance of this episode.
An interesting point, this episode has very little music- the theme obviously, little bits to take us to commercial breaks and the fight scene. I'm sure there are a couple more but this seemed so musicless.

Picard arrived at Robert's house in civilian clothes, and leaves in his uniform. Is that what he was carrying in that duffel?

Rodney Hrvatin: The first to have no bridge shots is "Shades Of Grey"

Dan Gunther: Incorrect, I'm afraid. In one of the flashbacks, there is a shot of the bridge (which, in itself is a nit: Riker was on the other end of the comm-line, and couldn't see the bridge, so it shouldn't be in his memories... pick, pick, pick... )

I haven't seen this episode for a while, but are both of Worf's adoptive parents Russian? I ask because 'Helena' is not phonetically possible in Russian (many Russians cannot pronounce the letter H in the same way as the English, Americans etc. can't distinguish the 4 Arabic H-sounds). The real-life Russian equivalent is 'Yelena'.

Of course, Russian could have changed in 300 years, but why would it? English doesn't seem to have done...

More Russian notes (yes, I know I'm obsessed...)

Quite often US series completely screw up Russian surnames, with far too many '-ov's and not enough '-in's and '-nko's. To see 'Rozhenko' here was a refreshing change.

I wonder if Worf's adopted parents being Russian was an in-joke as the Klingons were originally supposed to be a metaphor for the Soviets on TOS.

Funny thought: Worf's full 'human' name (in Russian) would be Vorf Sergeyevich Rozhenko.

"Syegodnya budyet khoroshiy den, kotor nuzhno umyeret!"

>Of course, Russian could have changed in 300 years, but why would it? English doesn't seem to have done... >

Read the Declation of Independance of Shakespere. The are quite diffrent than modern English. (not to mention the recent invention of the letter "J".)

"Syegodnya budyet khoroshiy den, kotor nuzhno umyeret!" - Thande"

Sorry, my UT is broken...

BTW, vut does thande mean?

K: I meant English doesn't seem to have changed between 2000 and 2366, not between 1700 and 2000 (i.e. intrinsically in Trek).

P.V.: It's an imperfect babelfish translation of Worf's battle cry - though owing to a slight translator problem it actually comes out as 'Today is the day which is good, on which it may prove necessary to die!'.

A very big guest cast:

Jeremy Kemp (Robert) is a very familiar face, always seemingly popping up in British films always of the '70s and '80s. I remember him most for playing General Streck of the East German High Command in "Top Secret!"

Samantha Eggar (Marie) looked like she was going to be a star after early appearances in films like "The Collector," "Walk Don't Run," and "Doctor Dolittle," but never quite achieved stardom. She has recently done a lot of voicework, playing Hercules' mother Hera in the Disney film "Hercules" and has voiced M in the 007 computer game "Nightfire."

Theodore Bikel (Sergey) is a singer/actor who was Oscar-nominated for playing the sheriff in "The Defiant Ones." He is one of the German officers in "The African Queen" and played a legion of ethnic types thoughout his career (which is still going on, by the way).

David Tristan Birkin (Rene) was cast as the young Picard in "Rascals," which seems like perhaps either a sly ironic casting or just a coincidence.

I recently saw Jeremy Kemp playing another German, this time General Armin von Roon in the 1983 miniseries "The Winds of War."

Among Theodore Bikel's "legion of ethnic types" was an Italian opera singer in a "Murder, She Wrote" episode.

Jeremy Kemp also played Queller in the Space: 1999 episode "Voyager's Return."

LUIGI NOVI: Sandy points out that Jack has blue eyes, and that Beverly has blue eyes, and that it is impossible for the child of such a union to not have blue eyes, yet Wesley has dark eyes. I reviewed both Act 5 of Family and Act 4 of Journey’s End to confirm this, and while it is hard to confirm Jack’s eye color, I believe Sandy was correct.}}}

Marka: I'm not sure if I remember my genetics classes well enough, but I think it's possible to inherit such features as eye colour after grandparents. Particularly, as blue eyes (and blond hair)is a receding feature.

Wesley's maternal grandmother has green eyes but perhaps his grandfather had dark eyes... :-)

Lots of genes go into this sort of thing. Generally what Sandy and Luigi are saying is correct, but it could be a different dark-eye gene that is recessive to blue eyes. And besides, this is the future.

Kemp continues his role as Von Roon in the excellent follow-up "War and Remembrance"; he delivers an excellent performance (watch his face; he communicates so much).

This is one of my favorite episodes. It was great to see some of Picard, Worf and Wesleys family, and just to have kind of a quite and slow episode after the events of The Best of Both Worlds part 1 and 2. I can watch this episode over and over, more so than episodes like "Shades of Grey", "Night Terrors", "Things Past(DS9)" or "The Fight(Voy)"

Mine too. I can watch it over and over. I like it even more than the two-parter that preceded it.

GREAT LINES!!!


Rene: "What does it mean anyways? Arrogant son of a . . ."

Picard "Never mind, we'll talk about that later!"

I asked: Does Greenpeace no longer exist in the 24th century?? If the Atlantis-Procect is ready, the ?Gulf Drift? (German: Golfstrom, the warm water flowing across the Atlantic from the Gulf of Mexico to Europe) will no longer be able to reach western Europe, so Picard will harvest Ice Wine in the middle of September!

This is a bit ... late, but still.

It's very likely that global warming has run its course between now and the future of TNG, with the Third World War and societal collapse that followed it putting a halt to Earth's industrial proliferation. This may well mean that in the time of TNG, the Gulf Stream has not existed for several hundred years.

As to why Robert can still grow grapes in France, that sort of thing is probably the job of the Weather Modification Net we hear about later in "True Q" - and if there were to be any problems with the Gulf Stream, it would likely deal with those as well, since it's driven by the surface temperature of the ocean.

Simply put: they don't need ocean currents to drive their climate, they can do it with technology. (It seems quite irresponsible to me, though.)

Lenscrafters, Colored Contacts in an Hour.
LUIGI NOVI: Sandy points out that Jack has blue eyes, and that Beverly has blue eyes, and that it is impossible for the child of such a union to not have blue eyes, yet Wesley has dark eyes. I reviewed both Act 5 of Family and Act 4 of Journey’s End to confirm this, and while it is hard to confirm Jack’s eye color, I believe Sandy was correct.

Marka: I'm not sure if I remember my genetics classes well enough, but I think it's possible to inherit such features as eye colour after grandparents. Particularly, as blue eyes (and blond hair)is a receding feature.

Wesley's maternal grandmother has green eyes but perhaps his grandfather had dark eyes... :-)

It's possible that Jack or Bev are wearing colored contacts. Data started the trend and others just went for it...

----

My name is Robert Picard, not Robert Picardo... If you listened better to the tone of my voice when I'm singing...
Robert Picard says: "so, you've arrived at last..." and his tone changes from normal sounding during the word "so," but changes to a demeaning one for the rest of the sentence. As if he had to "get" in character to bully Jean Luc.

During the episode Picard is granted a choice to stay on earth and be made Director of the Atlantis project, the decision seems to weigh heavily on him but ultimately he decides to stay in Starfleet.

well duh! So you stay on earth and take over the Atlantis project and within a few years you raise the ocean floor and Earth has a new subcontinent.. hooray! yippie! hurrah!

then what? "Sorry Mr. Picard we dont seem to have any other subcontinents to raise, thank you for your service, have a nice day"

there was no real choice, starfleet albeit a little more risky at least is stable employment: there will always be more space out there....

Yea but even after the Atlantis project is done it could find something else to do. A man like Picard would never be wanting for work.

Oh, certainly.

I mean once Atlantis has been raised, along with Earth's sea level, the rest of the continents & various islands would be vying for his services to raise them as well.

;-)

The Picard! He can raise continents and restore you from the dead!

Luigi Novi: So did Jack get promoted from Lt. jg to full lieutentant, and then to Lt. Commander, in just five years? Data told Lore in Datalore that Starfleet officers spend "ten to twelve years in the lieutenant grades."

Don: I think that was just what starfleet told Data so he wouldn't complain about being the same rank forever. In the seventh season episode "Pegasus" we learn that Will was an Ensign 12 years prior and that the Pegasus was his first post, he says he was out of the academy less then a year. so if that was 12 years ago and he has been first officer of the Ent-D for 7 of those years that means he went from Ensign to full commander in 5 years

I bet he slept his way to the top, this is Will Riker after all....

---

quote:

Theodore Bikel (Sergey) is a singer/actor who...played a legion of ethnic types thoughout his career (which is still going on, by the way).

---

At the end of the episode we see Rene outside, looking at the stars. In the sky, we clearly see the constellation of Orion. Its depicted location would put Robert's vineyard somewhere at the latitude of Denmark and certainly nowhere in France.

Also, at what time of the evening is this scene taking place? Probably quite late judging from Marie's comment, so somewhere between 9 and 11 PM. This means the scene is taking place somewhere between early December and late February. This should be the dead of winter instead of a pleasant summer night.

Some have said Worf's human parents shown in this episode were supposed to be Jewish, but it is never made explicitly clear,
Another post I made
"Not trying to offend anyone, but many Christian & Jewish Star Trek Fans have been asking in online articles
"Why are there no Jews in Star Trek?" Granted there have been many Jewish actors in the Star Trek Franchise, Shatner, Nimoy, etc, and Jewish writers behind the scenes, but why are there no Jewish Characters in the Star Trek Franchise, ? What is so Terrible about showing that Jewish Humans exist in the Future of Humanity & The
Federation/Starfleet, just like many other Human Racial & Ethnic Groups are shown to Exist in the Star Trek Future ? This is 2019, It shouldn't be so Controversial to show that Jewish Humans Exist in the Future of Humanity in the Star Trek Franchise, Many Star Trek fans think that it is anti-semitic to not include Jewish Humans in the Future along with Everyone else , Is Star Trek trying to imply that the Jewish people no longer exist in the Future, ? Or that the Future would be better off without Jews ? Many People are Talking about that online, and are indeed noticing this, does Star Trek have a Problem with Including Jews in the Future along with everyone else, ? I Know that in the Fictional Star Trek future, Most Humans don't practice any religion, it is Mostly Secular Humanism, but Jews are an Ethno-Religious group, an ethnic group as well as a Religion, Many Jewish people are Secular and don't practice their Religion, With the upcoming series Star Trek: Picard taking place at the end of the 24th Century, and Season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery taking place 1,000 years into the future, in the 32nd Century, this would be a Perfect Opportunity for the Star Trek writers to show and make Explicitly Crystal Clear in On-Screen Canon TV Scenes that Jewish Humans do Exist in the Future, and make it Explicitly clear that they are Jewish, and portray it in a Non-offensive, Non-Stereotypical manner, Star Trek: Picard & Star Trek: Discovery could show Secular Jewish Humans serving in Starfleet, & The Federation in a Positive Light, for example how about
Jewish actor Paul Rudd as a Jewish Starfleet Officer , Remember IDIC , Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations, While I'm a Christian myself, I find it disturbing that Jesus's own people are Not Shown in the Future of Humanity

According to this piece, Gene Roddenberry didn't want to do this episode. A lot of people are glad he was ignored. Including myself, and NitCentral's own Phil Farrand. Who (IIRC) noted in his "Next Gen Nitpickers Guide" that it was one of the few episodes of anything at the time to deal with the aftermath of a character's major traumatic experience. Plus, it showed two middle aged men acting like ten year olds, something I've done quite often. Even as I leave middle age and enter the "Golden Years".

By this point, Gene Roddenberry was no longer calling the shots. His failing health forced him to pull back from running the show. By Season Four, he was little more than a consultant who had no involvement in the day-to-day running of the show.

Therefore, whether he liked or disliked this episode would have had no impact on it's production.

Rick Berman and Michael Piller were in charge at this point and any episode suggestions had to be okayed by them.