Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 6, Episode 15
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is a classic holiday tale that is superficially about Christmas, but is in actuality a character study about a bitter and twisted man forced to look back on a wasted life by spirits from beyond. The Next Generation’s “Tapestry” is one of the show’s highlights and shares a considerable amount of story DNA with Dickens’ famous work. Although the episode has nothing to do with Christmas and has some notable thematic differences, it provides an entertaining and illuminating perspective on Captain Picard’s past, present, and future.
Jean-Luc Picard is quite possibly my favorite fictional character, thanks to Patrick Stewart’s exceptional performances and the show’s nuanced, mature writing. An elder gentleman, Picard had a considerable history and decades of (mostly unseen) adventures. One of the most curious and interesting aspects of his character was his apparent brash and free-wheeling youth, which stood in stark contrast to TNG’s portrayal of a very calm, measured, and cerebral man. It was in Season 2’s “Samaritan Snare” that Picard regaled Wesley Crusher with a pivotal moment from his youth, in which he got into a brawl with three Nausicans and ended up with a knife through the chest for his trouble. This necessitated a replacement heart that had to be repaired in that episode, and Jean-Luc expressed considerable regret over his youthful impudence.
It’s a great story and character building detail that “Tapestry” wisely bases an episode around. It’s also one of Q’s best stories, and finds an interestingly new dimension to the prankster GLB. The convergence of these story elements is sublime and makes for a fascinating hour. In fact the episode was originally conceived as being much more directly derivative of A Christmas Carol with other scenes from Picard’s life featured as well (including the death of Jack Crusher) before being pared down to the one incident.
The episode’s en media res intro dumps us into a frenzied crisis as an away team beams directly to the Enterprise’s sickbay. During a mission, Picard was shot in the chest and is in serious condition. As Dr. Crusher and the medical staff labor to save him, he fades away into an empty space of blinding white light. A robed figure outstretches their arms to greet him, at which point it’s revealed to be Q, who says in a deadpan (heh) manner – “Welcome to the afterlife, Jean-Luc. You’re dead.”
DeLancie’s performance is much more subdued than normal, and there’s a graver (heh heh) energy to Q, which heightens the humor of his jokes. He confirms that Picard is dead and that he is God, to which a horrified Picard states in disbelief that the universe cannot be so badly designed. It’s hilarious.
A visage of Jean-Luc’s father appears, and he seems genuinely stunned as Papa Picard berates his son for going against his wishes by entering Starfleet and getting himself killed. It’s followed by a cacophony of disembodied voices calling out to Picard, the people who he got killed throughout his Starfleet life. As usual, Picard is unimpressed with Q’s tricks and unwilling to play along.
Q asks if he has any regrets, and Picard allows that dying and finding Q here is the only one. Picard’s mechanical heart appears in Q’s hand and I love that look Jean-Luc gives to his own burned chest. Q casually asks how Picard earned a fake heart (as if he doesn’t know), and I like the different dynamic their scenes have here. Instead of the combative interplay they normally have, Picard actually converses and opens up to Q.
Another illusion appears, this time of a young Picard fighting with the Nausicans, and Jean-Luc is transfixed by the action playing out. We see the grisly moment of cadet Picard getting knifed through the back and out the front, and true to his telling of the story, he laughs out loud as he sees the blade poking out. It’s a great detail and seems equally random but true – sometimes in dark moments stuff just tickles a macabre part of your funny bone and you can’t help but laugh.
Older Picard views his near-dead younger self slumped on the ground and expresses regret at how much of a troublemaking hothead he was. Maybe if he hadn’t been such a rough ruffian ragamuffin roughneck he wouldn’t have gotten stabbed, wouldn’t have needed an artificial heart, and might not have died on that sickbay table. Q asks to confirm if this is an Official Regret, and Picard agrees, stating that if he had it to do over, things would be different. He suddenly receives a slap to the face from a woman as he finds himself in an older uniform.
His young pals Corey and Marta guffaw and applaud at Picard’s impudence as the woman storms out. Apparently Ensign Picard was quite the womanizer and scheduled a couple of dates with a couple of different women. C’mon Johnny, sitcom characters do this all the time. Separate tables on each end of the restaurant behind large obscuring plants, constant clothing changes in the bathroom, a complicit and handsomely-tipped waiter, and voila! Successful hijinks.
Anyway. It’s not long before Q shows up and helpfully explains that Picard is 42 years in the past at Starbase Earhart, the infamous brawl with the Nausicans is in two days, and that he has the power to avoid the incident should he so desire. Picard hems and haws about the timeline, and I love how irritated Q is, who assures him that nothing he does will destroy galaxies or unravel reality itself. He’s basically like, “Look, can we just have an entertaining episode here, man?”
The major plot device of the episode generally mirrors A Christmas Carol’s, and Q acts as the spirits taking the protagonist on a tour of their own lives. Of course, the crucial difference is that Picard is actually interacting and involved with his past, unlike Scrooge’s passive observation. But both Q and the spirits use their power to hold a mirror up to their subject’s unseemly life and personality.
Q inquires about the slapper, and Picard reminiscences about his double-booked dates as a bemused grin spreads across his face. Stewart’s great here, and we can see how enmeshed he’s getting in the experience. He leaves to meet up with his other date, a MILF named Penny. Despite her being totally DTF brah, Picard completely ruins his chances due to his awkwardness and measured maturity. She’s clearly not looking for deep conversation, and bids adieu with a drink to his face. Kinda harsh, lady!
Appearing as the bartender, Q tosses a towel to Picard – “Penny for your thoughts,” he says; Q’s quips here are absolutely the best. He directs his attention to his bud Corey who is kicking ass at space pool, otherwise known as dom-jot. A scary-looking Nausican steps in and challenges Corey to a game. I love these big green galoots (the makeup is great) and their broken English – “Play dom-jot, hew-mon!” he bellows. Corey accepts his challenge against Picard’s warnings not to. And Picard sits beside Q in the audience to watch. There’s something elf-like about Q’s pose and outfit, and the color scheme is very much Christmasy. Picard explains that Corey will lose because the Nausican is cheating with a device in his belt. Afterwards he helps Corey rig the table so that it backfires against the Nausican in the rematch. He and his friends get pissed, yadda yadda, knife in the chest. “It’s a beautiful story. It gets you right here,” Q says with a fist to the chest. LOL.
The Nausican proceeds to clean Corey out and gloats about it. Afterwards they storm back to Picard’s quarters as Corey is in disbelief over having lost so badly, surmising that the Nausican was using a device to cheat. He comes up with a plan to rig the table so that the device will backfire, but Picard with his knowledge of things to come tries to dissuade him from antagonizing them.
Corey seems to heed his advice and leaves. Marta is stunned that Picard is showing such maturity and seems very much attracted to him now. Q barges in as a flower delivery boy with a bouquet for a “John-Luck Pickard.” LOL. Also, more red and green holiday cheer! Q manages to tease another regret out of Picard – his inability to pursue Marta romantically despite his feelings for her. He also informs Picard that Corey decided to go through with his revenge plan anyway and is tinkering with the dom-jot table.
Picard goes down to the bar and confronts Corey, refusing to help him and even threatening to taddle if he doesn’t. “Ya gonna hit me, Johnny?” Corey asks as the episode briefly turns into a 50’s flick. Picard’s attempts are successful as his friend storms off.
Later, Picard confides with Marta about the incident. He hopes it won’t affect their friendship, as he lets slip that they remain friends for years afterwards. Marta admits that his change of personality is very attractive to her and wonders if he ever thought about the two of them. Picard confirms that he always has, and they kiss. At long last Cadet Picard has finally gotten some!
The next morning, Picard awakes to hilariously find Q laying next to him. “Morning darling,” Q deadpans as Picard jolts in terror (I love his instinctive pulling up the blanket to cover himself). Q pokes him (ahem) about what he and Marta did and what that means for them. The image of a fully clothed Q laying next to a naked Picard in bed as they both stare at the ceiling and talk is one of the series’ absolute nuttiest scenes. I love it.
Picard meets with Marta, and although he’s happy with the fact that they banged, she’s clearly not and feels that it’s ruined their friendship. Uh oh. The Picard Maneuver doesn’t work on everyone, it seems. Q is right there to taunt him about how he’s managed to bungle every single relationship with his stately maturity so far.
Later, the trio of cadets has the most awkward meet-up at the bar for their last hurrah. Picard tries to engage Corey, but he seems totally dead inside. On cue, the three Nausicans appear and taunt the Starfleet officers with another dom-jot game. The guy offers to “give them a bigger stick” and even threatens to “give her a good time,” pointing to Marta. Yikes. By all means let’s go there, fellas. After enough shit-talking, Corey takes a swing at the Nausican, but Picard steps in and knocks his friend on his ass to stop the fight. The aliens laugh and walk away. Picard is successful in avoiding his injury, but has completely ruined his friendships with Corey and Marta as they both leave. Q mockingly congratulates Picard for not getting killed, and sends him… Back to the Future! Or present.
But it’s not the same present that Picard remembers, and he finds himself as a junior level lieutenant in a blue science uniform on the Enterprise. Much as A Christmas Carol did, the protagonist is shown a nightmarish vision of his future. Of course, what’s considered a “nightmare” here is… interesting. More on that in a bit.
Picard tries to meet with Dr. Crusher, but is greeted by Q dressed in old school doctor’s clothing. He tells him that this is the new timeline he created as a result of stopping the fight. He’s far from the command he once had and can live his life making reports and analyses for his superiors.
Picard tracks down Riker and Troi in Ten Forward and forces them to give their honest opinion of him as an officer. It’s so painful as they try to come up with nice things to say about how steady and punctual he is. He inquires about moving into command, and they politely dash those hopes due to him being too much of a boring beta male who doesn’t take risks or stand out enough. Try viewing some Andrew Tate transmissions, star-cuck! But we totally don’t want to lose ya bud, Riker assures. They’re called away to a senior staff meeting, and La Forge barks at Picard to deliver that report he’s waiting for. This is clearly the darkest timeline!
As Picard rides in the turbolift, he talks to Q and hopes he’s having a good laugh about how he’s now a “dreary man with a tedious job.” The doors open as Picard once again finds himself in the white afterlife with Q waiting for him. Picard complains about his new life, and Q lays out how by changing that one pivotal moment of his youth, it affected Picard’s entire life henceforth – he never had a brush with death, never learned how precious life is, never took risks, and never rose to the lofty position he had.
Q turns away as Picard calls out to him, acknowledging that everything he said is true. He confirms that he would rather die as the man he was than live the life he just saw and be “a dreary man bereft of passion and imagination.”
OK. So… this is a lot to unpack. I totally understand the message that the story is going for and agree with it in principle. But the execution is pretty eyebrow-raising and ventures into some “yikes” territory.
I think it’s best to view the episode for what it is – a character study on Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and not a commentary on what kind of life is best. Even through that lens, it’s still inelegant and problematic to a certain extent. Picard is an exceptional man and that’s why I love him as a character. He’s an impossibly intelligent, measured, sensitive, and skilled hero. But with enough personality and flaws to make him interesting and relatable. But not everyone can be Picard, as he’s the best of the best. Likewise, the Enterprise-D is the flagship of the fleet and gets all the most important assignments and adventures.
So in concocting a nightmare scenario/timeline for this titanic hero, the episode chooses to put him at the bottom rung of the Enterprise chain of command. That it’s the ship that he is used to being in charge of adds to the hurt and makes it all the more agonizing for him.
But it’s a banal hell, not a flaming horrible one. It does align with A Christmas Carol’s chilling future of Scrooge’s life. There’s no agony or torment waiting for him, just an empty death and a pathetic funeral for a man no one liked. An unmourned life is one that had no positive impact on others, an existence that didn’t add anything to the world, only subtracted. Scrooge dies rich in finances, but destitute when it comes to true meaning and emotional connections with others.
Things could be way worse for Picard, of course – he’s in the enlightened and post-scarcity future utopia of Starfleet (and on the best ship in the fleet), he’s healthy, and still totally sexy (the red uni looks better, though). He’s honestly better off than any human being alive today, I’d venture to say.
So it makes Picard’s cries about this “dreary and depressing” life pretty dramatic, and really fucked-up in a way. After existing for like 10 minutes as a low-ranking member of his own crew, Picard essentially says, “Nah, I’ll take the knife-through-a-chest death instead, thanks. I would rather literally not exist at all than be one of my own underlings, please.”
Holy hell, man.
You can kind of draw a thematic connection to the empty, meaningless future Scrooge looks forward to and Picard’s empty, meaningless life as a junior officer. And how horrifying a prospect it is to both men. But it’s not really the same thing, since Scrooge actively made people’s lives worse (including his own), while Picard is still a Starfleet officer and a good guy. Just not a heroic or noteworthy one.
And the thing is, most Starfleet officers are not heroic or noteworthy. At least not in the larger-than-life way that Kirk, Sisko, Janeway, and Picard are. But everyone is still important and necessary – the hero captain gives the order, but it’s up to dozens (or hundreds) of people below them pushing buttons and pulling the levers to make that happen. So in trying to emphasize the importance of being in command is to Picard, it unfortunately takes a huge shit on everyone else in the process. Serving as a mid-level officer on the Federation flagship? Being steady and reliable? Ahhh, a fate worse than death! 💀💀💀
But again, it’s just illustrating how important being in charge is to Picard, not necessarily making a statement on how everyone needs to be a Picard, and how the only way to live is taking crazy risks and taunting death at every turn. I mean, even in Picard’s case, his life is probably 99% sitting in chairs, being in meetings, and filling out reports for his superiors.
Furthermore, the believability of this one event completely changing Picard’s life and personality does strain shield credibility by 38%. Is it believable that avoiding a bar fight would set Picard on a totally different path? That he would make different choices at every future pivotal moment? I appreciate the sentiment, but it doesn’t quite hold up to scrutiny for me. Then again, this is a scenario cooked up by Q, and perhaps he presents the worst, most pathetic timeline possible simply to fuck with Picard (as Q is very much wont to do). Realistically, I think Picard would turn out to be very much the same man with very much the same life. Maybe it takes him slightly longer to arrive at the same conclusion vis a vis his outlook on and approach to life.
I do appreciate the disparate natures of Young Picard and Older Picard – that this stodgy, responsible, and buttoned-down man had a wild, fisticuff-filled, womanizing youth is an interesting wrinkle to his personality. The episode seems to make the statement that neither approach is inherently right or wrong – or rather, that each personality had its time and place. Older Responsible Picard seems to screw up every situation in his young life because it’s the wrong way to go. We can imagine Younger Wildin’ Picard similarly fucking up the crises of The Next Generation and creating disasters if he was there.
The episode seems like it’s making the point that not only is the exciting swashbuckling chaos of Young Picard’s life permissible, but that it’s even necessary. I’m not sure I totally agree. Free-wheeling youth and immaturity is one thing, but being a hotheaded womanizer who gets into fistfights is another entirely. “Tapestry” kind of romanticizes that persona, and you can interpret the message as that only by acting like one of the cast members of Jersey Shore in your 20’s can you truly appreciate the meaning of life and ascend to greatness.
What the episode is trying to say is that all the warts and misadventures of our youth aren’t necessarily mistakes, they’re just wrinkles that compose the fabric of who we are. As the oft-repeated advice tells us, mistakes are things that can be learned from. They’re unavoidable but also necessary for us to grow and become better. Picard wishes to erase his mistakes and flatten out those wrinkles but ends up creating a big mess in the process. Ultimately, I really like this theme of “Tapestry” and it’s one of the most resonant messages Star Trek has attempted. It’s harmed a bit by the inelegance of its execution, and in trying to prove its point goes a little too far and makes some bizarre implications along the way. But I like where its heart is.
Hey, speaking of heart? Q grants Picard’s request to go back once again to that pivotal moment with the Nausicans. This time around, Picard finds that guramba of his and shows these shaggy green dickheads how a real Starfleet officer double-punches. The fight ends just as he remembers, and as Picard peers down at the blade sticking out of his chest he once again laughs. Whereas before it was a quizzical reaction at the strange sensation of getting killed, this time it seems to be a knowing one of triumph. The entire ordeal has taught Picard that his past is not something to be ashamed of, and in this bloody moment he accepts the totality of his existence and all of his choices therein.
He continues to laugh as a puzzled Dr. Crusher and Riker stand over him in sickbay back in the present, his life apparently not over.
Later on, Picard commiserates with Riker over the experience with Q. Picard is not even sure if it really happened or was just a dream, and I like the nebulous weirdness of that. But he seems grateful for the experience as it taught him to appreciate the aspects of himself that had previously brought him shame. Riker beams as he imagines what that younger Picard must have been like and wishes that he knew him. Picard reveals that the incident wasn’t the only run-in he had with some Nausicans, and he launches into another anecdote we unfortunately don’t get to hear. It’s a nice ending, and I like the bemused expression of Picard as he proudly regales Riker with one of his wacky adventures.
Q’s motives in the episode are interesting to contemplate, and his role is much more interesting than it normally is. Despite being a superior being from a higher plane of reality, Q frequently behaves in an irritating prankster manner. Here he is more of a wise sage, but still with his trademark acerbic edge. He uses that wisdom to teach Picard a lesson that is actually instructive and ultimately well-received. Riker’s assertion that it was a hellish experience is accurate, but Picard is appreciative of the peace and clarity it brings. So it’s ultimately a benevolent act on the part of Q, especially if we consider that it was also his powers that bring Picard back from the brink of death in sickbay.
Both A Christmas Carol and “Tapestry” focus on their protagonists’ difficult relationships to their own pasts and are offered redemption by otherworldly spirits. The ordeals prove instructive and life-changing for both, although in markedly different ways. While Scrooge vows to become a different and better person, Picard gains an acceptance for who he was, and perhaps even incorporates that into his future self. The metaphor of the tapestry is a brilliant one that the episode explores well – our existence is indeed a rich fabric composed of all sorts of disparate threads. Together they contribute to who we are as a person and can’t be ignored or picked apart so easily.
Stray Observations:
- The conceit that Picard having a real heart would have increased his chances of survival seems odd. At least in the 24th century. Wouldn’t we be able to design better organs than the stock factory ones? Is an all-natural flesh heart much sturdier than a metal and plastic one when it comes to phaser blasts? If his mecha-heart gets fried and all that framework in his chest already exists, shouldn’t it be relatively simple to replicate another and swap it out?
- The events of this episode aren’t referenced again, but Picard definitely sees Q again. I’m sure he could just confirm if this was a dream or not, although Q the dick may not oblige him with a direct answer.
- Speaking of seeing Q again, this won’t be the last time he shows Picard a disturbing alternate timeline, as he does in Picard Season 2. Wearing a blue uniform vs. displaying the skulls of his slain enemies – both horrors of equal measure.
- Like a lot of flashback/time travel episodes, they have to do that Quantum Leap thing where they confirm their “true appearance” by looking in a mirror. Except they don’t bother to show Picard looking any different in the mirror here. Even though they went to the trouble of casting a younger man to play him for the one part.
- If only Starfleet knew that Amelia Earhart was alive and well in the Delta Quadrant, as revealed in one of the oddest and most underbaked episodes of Voyager.
- “You talk and you talk but you have no guramba!” has been living rent free in my head for almost 30 years now. It’s like a little pep talk I give to myself whenever I have the willies.
- Maybe it’s just basic color theory at work, but there is a lot of red and green here, as befits the holiday theme.
