Star Trek is one of my favorite fictional worlds/ T.V. series. I've enjoyed all of the shows( except for discovery which seems to be more action focused than Star Trek focused) and have read many books and played many Star Trek themed games. A few episodes of every series always seem to stick out to me as particularly impactful or great. Tapestry is one such episode. Not only does it feature the wonderful John De Lancie as Q but it carries a message that deeply resonated with me and has even shaped how I view events in my own life. Before you read further I will say that this review will be very spoiler heavy so if you have not seen this episode already or have no desire to, stop reading now.
Let's kick things off with a basic overview of the plot. The episode begins with Captain Picard(Sir Patrick Stewart) mortally wounded by a surprise attack on an away mission. Doctor Crusher attempts to stabilize him but is unable to. Picard wakes up in a white room with Q(John De Lancie) who after claiming to be god and Picard's permanent traveling companion through the afterlife, tells him that if he has any regrets about his life that know is the time to put them in order. He claims he's doing this to head off any whining by Picard as they travel together forever but as Q often does he is trying to help Picard or teach him an important lesson, sometimes a bit of both. As they discuss what happens next Q reveals that Picard's artificial heart is what caused him to die. Picard expresses despair and regret over the incident that gave him his robotic heart. Seeing his opening, Q offers to send Picard back to that time in his life and correct his "mistake"( being stabbed through the heart in a fight with 3 Nausicaans over cheating at gambling) and then return him to the present. Picard agrees and Q gives him two days before the incident to make whatever changes he desires, with the guarantee that no one but Picard will suffer any consequences from any changes to the timeline. Picard proceeds to correct things he views as mistakes but soon finds his friendships collapsing and his time running out.
Let's break here for a moment and discuss what I love about the first part of this episode. The main thing I love is how Q goes out of his way to help humanity/Picard on a regular basis yet they never seem to appreciate it. Q is giving Picard a chance to relive a portion of his life that he felt regret for, something no one gets a chance to do( which Q points out), yet Picard still distrusts him at every turn. While I agree that Q can be callous when it comes to human life( which he also address here and in other appearances, in this instance telling a worried Picard that changing his life just isn't that important in the grand scheme of things) but he always has a purpose and has never acted with outright malice. Despite his awesome level of power he never seems to abuse the crew of the Enterprise to any serious degree. I also love Q's comments on time and life and death. He talks about how the human perception of past, present, and future is just a construct and that death is not as final as living beings tend to think. As a being who has existed across an uncountable span of time, I'm sure that Q's perception of time is much different to ours. The human brain isn't even equipped to process time on a galactic scale, on average people live around 80 years, that is nothing in the grand scheme of the universe yet it feels like a long span of time to us. As for the border between life and death I don't have any experience with that yet, but it's interesting to think about and honestly I think anything is possible given our tiny knowledge base versus the vastness of the universe. Q confronting Picard with an image of his father and the voices of the people he killed( or caused the death of through action or inaction) also was powerful.
Moving on with the story, Picard alienates his two best friends but does manage to avoid getting stabbed through the heart. Q congratulates him and sends him back to the present. To Picard's horror he finds that nothing is the same and that he is only a lieutenant and no longer a captain. Q explains that this is the life that this Picard chose. By avoiding the fight with the Nausicaans he not only kept his real heart but he lost his friends and his ambition. This Picard avoided all risk and ended up as a mid-level officer with a tedious job. Picard didn't realize how his "wasted" youth had shaped him in to the man that he was. Q explains all of this and Picard begs Q to let him go back and change things back to the way they were before. Despite being warned that he will die if he changes things back, Picard still goes ahead. After reliving the fight, Picard awakens to Doctor Crusher stabilizing him and Q is nowhere to be found.
The quality on that clip is not great, but the scene is so I had to include it. This part of the episode really makes you think about your own life. All of the pain and bad experiences you wish you could change, what if that is what makes you who you are? If you strip away the bad, does the good come with it? Very rarely do people actually sit down and examine how they got to this point in their lives. This episode gives me the opportunity every time I watch it and it really does make me appreciate the bad things and the good in my life. Sure memories can be painful, and bad experiences seem like they will never fade, but for the most part how often do you really think about the bad things that have happened to you? You usually remember the lessons you learned from those events frequently, not the events themselves. Tragedy and failure can shape a person just as surely as happiness and success. The trick is not to dwell on what has been but what will be. That is the primary lesson I think Q was trying to teach Picard. Going back and changing events in your past( or excessively dwelling on doing so, because unfortunately we don't have Q powers) will probably not have the outcome you desire. Picard( and by extension us) has great potential and Q didn't want him wasting it looking constantly backwards. A great quote by Dave Rossi "Scars show us where we have been, they do not dictate where we are going.” sums up the concept nicely.
On top of this great lesson, Q gives Picard a third chance and fixes his heart, or at least that's what I believe. it's never explicitly stated by going by Q's past actions I'd say it fits his character. So there you have it, a great episode of Star Trek, a powerful message, and a life lesson that you can carry with you. Tapestry is Star Trek at it's height for me, do you agree? I'd also like to know your thoughts on the upcoming new Picard show. I'm kind of ambivalent myself but maybe it will be great. Thanks for reading!