It's the episode called "Starship Mine," which is a great episode in many ways -- not that you care -- but there's a moment near the start that I just realized has always bothered me.It's when Picard ducks out of the reception because he wants to go riding, and he claims he needs to go get his saddle. And he acts all bumbling and inept about it, which is so not Picard-like, but that's not actually what gets me.
No, what gets me is that Deanna is one of the people who seems shocked -- shocked! -- that Picard keeps a saddle in his quarters. She and Geordi seem to be insinuating that he's clearly lying about his attachment to his saddle just to get out of having to listen to the inane Commander Hutchinson ("Call me Hutch!") and his endless small talk.
But! In Season 2, there's an episode called "Pen Pals" in which Picard tries to go riding on the holodeck. He doesn't quite make it (the actual, you know, plot interferes), but before we get to that, we get a long, presumably necessary bit of character exposition about how Picard has all these varied interest because he makes a point of going to the holodeck with Deanna so that he might explain to her the elements of a true horse-lover's connection to riding and its accoutrements ... including his saddle.(By the way, is anyone else amused that Marina Sirtis has almost exactly the same body language in these two shots? Weird.)
Not that TNG was ever known for its outstanding continuity, but given that the horse thing was actually a recurring aspect of Picard's life -- I don't know, maybe it represents his "sensitive side" or something equally lame -- the writers should have gotten this a little more right. Yes, it's terrifying and awful that I know this and more so that I care. Yes, I'm That Fan, the one who nitpicks the Nitpicker's Guide. It's even more terrifying and awful that I'm still going to watch this episode. Because I'm sure as hell not leaving my house today.
Canceling cable when we move? Definitely the right choice.
2 comments:
Yeah, so I'm loving the fact that you're as geeky as I am with ST:TNG ... you're That Fan :)
Ok, I am just going to say, one of my very favorite lines is in that scene, and it is what persuaded my mom to actually buy me my saddle. When as you put it Deanna is freaking out that Picard has a saddle he says "Every serious horseman has his own saddle" :-) so i turned to my mom and said "see! even captain picard understands!" and when Picard says it, it must be so! So she caved. AND I always justified that by the fact, that Yes, they all knew he goes riding, and Deanna had even joined him in the holodeck at that point, BUT to have your own saddle, as opposed to just replicating one along with the program that is what is shocking. Though as long as we are being nitpicky, in the scene when he does actually try to go riding, He and Deanna walk to the holodeck and all he is holding is a crop, and the saddle is part of the program. So yeah, if he had his own saddle, then he should have brought it with him. see, there is the continuity error. :-)
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