It’s a really good episode in terms of a basic story and really good acting, but if you think about it, its both a really bad way of memorializing a civilization and a horrible thing to do to a person. They could have put the entire library of their civilization into that probe, but instead they decided to make a device to make a person live an imaginary life and then have to live with the loss of a family that he never actually met in the real world and it all felt far more real than anything the holodeck could do.
You make good points, and even bring up a point I hadn’t really considered fully. But did they not put their knowledge base and other things into the probe? I vaguely remember the people in the Memory World saying they did, and the flute was a personal touch added near the end.
If they had the means to, they could have sent out dozensof probes (not likely, resources didn’t seem to be abundant) in all directions, some broadcasting low signals with their story, some just deep storage info crypts. That way they maximized their potential for discovery.
It’s also possible the only reason Picard had physical issues with the exchange due to incompatible biology, but without that being stated in the show directly… Its a reach.
I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I think it’s the kind of technology that would change a civilization. They probably had games where you could spend weeks in a fantasy world in only the blink of an eye. It would be awesome. And probably normal enough eventually that they wouldn’t think it weird to chronicle the end of the world that way
They did not make that clear in the episode and I am a firm believer that if you have to spend time thinking about an explanation for why something is the way it is in a TV episode when the writers didn’t seem to come up with a reason shows the episode is flawed.
Oh, I strongly disagree. I think half the fun of watching a sci-fi show is thinking about the rest of the world, and what it would be like based on the little snapshot we get as viewers
That’s not the same thing though. That’s imagining more worldbuilding. That is not the sign of a flaw. It’s when you have to use that imagination to explain something crucial to the episode that is left unexplained where the problem lies for me.
Okay but… life is pain, and they all died, every single last one of them, so they gave him the “gift” of their particular pain, I guess? :-P And speaking of pain, that other image (shudder), I’m going to have nightmares tonight I suppose:-P.
I always feel so sorry for Picard after this episode. He literally gets convinced that his life is not real, to the point that he buys the fantasy, embraces and loves the fantasy. Then when he sees some fulfillment it gets taken away and he gets told that it was not real. He may have never wanted a family in his real life, but he got one he loved them so much…
It was a great episode but boy it cut really deep when you started thinking about it.
But on top of that, he gets to experience the loss of his entire family along with every single other person on his planet. But he’s never actually met any of them and never will.
It’s a really good episode in terms of a basic story and really good acting, but if you think about it, its both a really bad way of memorializing a civilization and a horrible thing to do to a person. They could have put the entire library of their civilization into that probe, but instead they decided to make a device to make a person live an imaginary life and then have to live with the loss of a family that he never actually met in the real world and it all felt far more real than anything the holodeck could do.
You make good points, and even bring up a point I hadn’t really considered fully. But did they not put their knowledge base and other things into the probe? I vaguely remember the people in the Memory World saying they did, and the flute was a personal touch added near the end.
If they had the means to, they could have sent out dozensof probes (not likely, resources didn’t seem to be abundant) in all directions, some broadcasting low signals with their story, some just deep storage info crypts. That way they maximized their potential for discovery.
It’s also possible the only reason Picard had physical issues with the exchange due to incompatible biology, but without that being stated in the show directly… Its a reach.
Still my favorite though.
Also, my all-time favorite episode of Star Trek would have to be-
Star Trek: Jersey Shore Leave
The Real Housewives of Deep Space 9
I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I think it’s the kind of technology that would change a civilization. They probably had games where you could spend weeks in a fantasy world in only the blink of an eye. It would be awesome. And probably normal enough eventually that they wouldn’t think it weird to chronicle the end of the world that way
They did not make that clear in the episode and I am a firm believer that if you have to spend time thinking about an explanation for why something is the way it is in a TV episode when the writers didn’t seem to come up with a reason shows the episode is flawed.
Oh, I strongly disagree. I think half the fun of watching a sci-fi show is thinking about the rest of the world, and what it would be like based on the little snapshot we get as viewers
That’s not the same thing though. That’s imagining more worldbuilding. That is not the sign of a flaw. It’s when you have to use that imagination to explain something crucial to the episode that is left unexplained where the problem lies for me.
Okay but… life is pain, and they all died, every single last one of them, so they gave him the “gift” of their particular pain, I guess? :-P And speaking of pain, that other image (shudder), I’m going to have nightmares tonight I suppose:-P.
I always feel so sorry for Picard after this episode. He literally gets convinced that his life is not real, to the point that he buys the fantasy, embraces and loves the fantasy. Then when he sees some fulfillment it gets taken away and he gets told that it was not real. He may have never wanted a family in his real life, but he got one he loved them so much…
It was a great episode but boy it cut really deep when you started thinking about it.
But on top of that, he gets to experience the loss of his entire family along with every single other person on his planet. But he’s never actually met any of them and never will.