Here's another Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, one of many, I liked. Add it to the list.The TNG episode is Chain of Command (a two-parter). Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) is captured and tortured by the Cardassians.
A few key moments stick out for me. The first, I liked Captain Jellico (played by Ronny Cox). Jellico did things differently, but he was competent and knew what he was doing. He got no respect. For shame, Riker!
The second needs a little background. Picard's torturer tries to break Picard by making Picard say there are five lights, when in reality there are only four. This goes on for days (weeks?) and finally Picard is at his limit, exhausted and in pain. Mr. Torture asks Picard again how many lights he sees and this time Picard is silent... will he or won't he? Suffocating tension. Just as Picard is going to speak, another Cardassian barges in the room, demanding Picard's release (as part of a peace/cease-fire agreement arranged by Jellico). Picard turns to Mr. Torturer and hoarsly shouts, "There are... FOUR... lights!". Powerful.
The third and last scene made me sit up and say, "Wow." Picard is back in command of Enterprise, talking privately to Counselor Troi about his ordeal. He reminds Troi of the whole "how many lights" thing, and Troi responds, to paraphrase, "But, you didn't break, you said there were four lights."
Picard: "Yes, but standing there... I actually saw... five lights." Fade-to-black. Wow. Wow again. Despite not being a movie, this one is being tagged as a "Movie Moment".
No comments:
Post a Comment