I know that there have been many spins on the themes of It’s A Wonderful Life and I revisited one of my favorites the other night. In The Next Generation episode “Tapestry,” Captain Jean-Luc Picard lies in sickbay following a mortal wound sustained during a battle. While clinging to life, the good captain is stands on the threshold to eternity where he is greeted by the wonderfully charismatic entity known as Q. The nearly omnipotent character offers Jean-Luc a choice: spend eternity by his side or return to the past and relive a life defining moment. If Jean-Luc changes the event, Q promises him that nothing earth-shattering will come of it.
The event centers around an incident involving the young, brash, devil-may-care Ensign Jean-Luc Picard and two of his fellow Starfleet Academy friends. The trio is on starbase for one last hurrah before going their separate ways. After a game of chance, Picard’s friend discovers that he has been cheated by a rather nasty Naussican and a bar fight ensues. At the end of the fight, Jean-Luc is stabbed through the heart (a feeling he laughs at), requiring him to receive an artificial replacement. Also involved is the relationship involving his female friend which may or may not be a regret.
Will Picard change the course of his life? What will happen if he does? Although he is “just not that important” to the universe as a whole, what changes will occur in his personal life? Or will he simply be lead off to an eternity of what must be his own personal hell with Q?
I think I saw that one….
I remember that episode. The brief thought that he was in Heaven with Q at the beginning was a little distressing if I recall correctly.
Did you delete a post? There was a Changeling post here, was there not?
I certainly hope that I did not delete that post. Yes… seeing Q at the gates was a bit distressing to the good captain.
I have never seen an episode of Star Trek.
HAHA! You poor thing 😉
I don’t see that post (Changeling) anymore?
It’s more about the movie Changeling than the episode, I thought it was a cool tie in. Should I do an episode by episode analysis when I find time? I know I would have at least one commenter. I think I would lose another. Here is the post link:
https://tangents.org/2009/11/16/telephone-operators-on-skates/
Oh, duh. For some reason I thought the name was in the title so I kept skipping over it. It’s been a long week.
Moving on now… 😳
I agree with you there; it’s hard for me to think of things to say about Star Trek 😉