Make it so

Posted 2 hours ago

I was saddened to learn that Patrick Stewart had passed away four days ago. I was surprised as I am sure many people were. I was not aware that he was sick or had the health conditions that were disclosed. Walter Koenig, who played Chekov in the original series, had passed away the week before.

I loved Patrick’s portrayal of Captain Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation. I did not grow up watching the original series and only watched it after I had seen the first two movies. I was always a bit more of a Star Wars fan. But I was drawn to the comradrie of the original series’ crew as portrayed in the first two movies, especially The Wrath of Khan, which remains my favorite of the TOS movies.

I was excited when The Next Generation came on air during my freshman year of college. I looked forward to Saturday nights and watching the show with several of my fraternity brothers or on my own in my room. Picard was a much different kind of captain than Kirk. He was much more intellectual and a philosopher. He was much more calculated in his decisions than Kirk’s cowboy approach.

As as the series continued on, you got to see more of the warmer side of Picard. You saw the human side of Picard after he had been captured by the Borg and made to work against humanity. And then having to learn to live with it and move on. I enjoyed the episode where he returns home and through tough love, his brother helps Jean Luc to face the humbling experience that he had lived through. I enjoyed the raw emotion that Jean Luc showed in First Contact as he has to face that trauma again as he tries to save humanity’s future.

The environment that Picard created on his ship where he relied on the insights of his crew in making decisions and trusting them to do their jobs is something that appeals to me. I would have liked to have been part of that crew.

Stewart seems like a very unlikely person to have brought this character to life. A British actor who had a depth of experience in Shakespearean theater. I love how he brought this character to life. Picard is my favorite Star Trek captain and The Next Generation is my favorite of the Star Trek series. It is funny because Roddenberry had his concerns about Stewart, even wanting Stewart to wear a wig. I am glad that decision was abandoned.

I read Stewart’s autobiography three years ago. I read it in the course of a week and found it very entertaining. I enjoyed learning about his acting career and hearing about his successes and his failures. I came away with more respect for him as an actor and as a person. Someone online had suggested listening to Stewart read that. I would like to do that in the future.

I also enjoyed Stewart’s portrayal of Charles Xavier in the X-Men movies. I enjoyed seeing him reprise the role in Days of Future Past. It will be interesting to see him one last time in Doomsday next month. I also liked his role in the movie, Conspiracy Theory. Patrick played a bad guy in that one and that is the only time I remember him playing the villian.

My favorite TNG episode of his was The Inner Light, which I share with a lot of people. I cannot imagine living a whole lifetime in your mind and then “waking up” from that experience. I liken it to waking up from a very involved dream that seems so real when you are experiencing it at the time. It is hard to imagine living with the emotions and feelings of living a life, loving people, and then that is all gone and that it was not really your life. I love how the episode ended with him playing the instrument that he had learned to play during his “other life.” Music is such a powerful thing especially with connecting with memories and expressing emotion. I am glad that they continued to show him playing the instrument in the series.

I enjoyed watching Picard: Season Three on Paramount Plus last year. I was glad to finally watch it because I had heard so many good things about it. I had watched the first episode of the series on CBS and was not impressed enough to pay for Paramount as a service. But we got it bundled in with our Walmart + subscription. I have not watched the other two seasons but felt like I was able to catch up a bit as season three progressed. It really was a love letter to TNG fans. But I felt like it was done well and progressed the story unlike several other types of “reunions.” It was fun to see all those characters again and see how Jean Luc’s life had progressed.

Thank you Patrick Stewart for bringing this character to life and sharing your talents with us.

You might enjoy

• The ship is anchor’d safe and sound. (Ethan Marcotte) “A favorite actor just passed away.” I enjoyed reading Ethan’s thoughts.
• Patrick Stewart RIP (Joe Crawford) – Joe’s personal observations from seeing Stewart at a Star Trek convention.