The Next Generation's finest episode reveals the humanity beneath Picard's uniform and Star Trek at its best.
Every Star Trek fan has an opinion on the franchise's greatest captain. Some prefer James T. Kirk's (William Shatner) swagger. Others admire Benjamin Sisko's (Avery Brooks) conviction, or Kathryn Janeway's (Kate Mulgrew) resilience. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) usually wins those debates because he embodied the very best of Starfleet: intelligence, diplomacy, curiosity, and compassion.
Not surprisingly, the quote that best captures why Jean-Luc Picard remains so beloved isn't about command. It isn't, "Make it so." It isn't, "Engage." It isn't even, "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra," although I absolutely want that on a T-shirt. The best words Picard ever utters come quietly near the end of The Next Generation's fifth-season masterpiece, "The Inner Light."
"Seize the time... Live now. Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again."
It's the greatest quote Jean-Luc Picard ever speaks because it explains the man beneath the captain's uniform better than any order he ever gave from the bridge of the Enterprise. Oddly enough, he isn't Jean-Luc Picard when he says it.
First broadcast on June 1, 1992, "The Inner Light" begins with one of the simplest premises in Star Trek history. While surveying a seemingly lifeless planet, the Enterprise encounters an ancient probe that strikes Picard with an energy beam. Only about 25 minutes pass aboard the ship, but inside his mind, Picard lives an entirely different life.
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