The Picard Primer-Getting ready for the Top 12 Episodes Jean-Luc Picard

When I started planning for the Top 12 Episodes of Star Trek TNG, I knew it was going to be hard to bring the list down to twelve, but I wasn't expecting to have so many episodes on the prep list. I ended up with 48 episodes to consider when it was all said and done. When I finished with National Novel Writing Month at the end of November, and my Top 12 Avengers, I started thinking about how I was going to make this list work.

As I looked at the episodes, I noticed that a large number of my top choices involved stories with Captain Picard. It made me realize that if I did the list straight up, I wouldn't be able to give all of the characters their due. Then I came up with the idea of splitting the massive list into two lists.


First I will look at the Top 12 Picard episodes, and then we'll look at the Top 12 for the rest of the crew. This will let me give all of the characters some time. For now, though, let's talk about the man, Captain Picard.

Like with all of the Star Trek shows, the captain is the person that drives the show. The captain is responsible for the major decisions. The captain is the focus of the story and his (or her) story arc is paramount.

Jean Luc Picard was a marked difference from William T. Kirk from the original series. Where Kirk was a shoot-first kind of captain (which isn't really fair to the character, but it suits the idea), Picard tried to use diplomacy first. However, if diplomacy didn't work then Picard could fight with the best of them.

Sure Picard is confusing because he's supposed to be French, and although his brother has a French accent, Jean Luc has a British accent. Whatever.

Picard is a thinker and he brings out the best in everyone he has in his sphere of influence. He sees what people have the potential to accomplish and helps them to make it happen.

He is also a paradox of a man in many ways:

• A man who studies and loves the past who captain's the most advanced ship of his time.
• A man that hates kids, but can't help but draw them into his life.
• A man that strives for peace, but has to fight for it.

Let's get into the list and see how Picard stands out in the pack.