Kill off Picard in BoBW

[Alidar Jarok]

OK, for those who don't know, the story is that the writers Picard assimilated in Best of Both Worlds in case Patrick Stewart didn't return for the next season. I've seen the topic "what if Riker was captain" before, so I'm not going to rehash that. But something always bugged me. How could they have killed Picard off? They couldn't just have the deflector weapon work and blow up the cube, since then they'd have 44 more minutes to kill in the episode.

Piller didn't think about this, since he had no plan on how to finish the episode. But how do you think part 2 would have gone if Picard were to have died in the end?

 

[14thDoctor]

About the same, but instead of sending the "sleep" command, Picard instructs the Borg to self-destruct, killing himself in the process.

 

[startrekwatcher]

Everything occurs just like it does in Part II except when the cube self-destructs after Data plants the sleep command Picard dies given his link to the Collective.

Afterall throughout the episode the question was repeatedly brought up about his link. That was actually part of the suspense the first time I watched it 17 years ago.

 

[WillsBabe]

In I. Borg were they thinking of sending Hugh back to the Borg with some kind of "virus" to kill them? They could have used Picarf to do something like that in BOBW2. That way he could have died an heroic death full of self-sacrifice. It could have come up in future episodes what variuous and sundy folks thought of him sacrificing himself like that.

 

[CDP]

I still say that they could have ended the entire series on a high, by allowing Riker to complete the word 'engage'.

That would have been a hell of a blaze ofr glory finale...

 

[The Old Mixer]

^Way too early. The show had just found itself that season, and was on a roll.

 

[Kegek]

It's the better decision dramatically, for 'The Best of Both Worlds'. Would have made a more powerful ending, and Picard's last minute inspection of the ship - as well as Riker's doubts about becoming a captain - become all tha more relevant.

But it was the lesser decision for the series. To me, The Next Generation isn't really The Next Generation without Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard. I don't think the show would be half as good with Jonathan Frakes as the lead.

 

[SmoothieX]

OK, for those who don't know, the story is that the writers Picard assimilated in Best of Both Worlds in case Patrick Stewart didn't return for the next season. I've seen the topic "what if Riker was captain" before, so I'm not going to rehash that.

The cast all had 6 year contracts (I just read: Stewart Says Picard Nearly Overtook Him) so how was it up in the air?

Was he negotiating to get out of his contract?

 

[LeadHead]

From what I have read, Stewart was considering leaving the show. There was a lot of unrest in TNG at that point. I think Michael Piller said once that most of his writers quit at the end of season 3. Actors can get released from their contracts if they really want out.

 

[Anwar]

I wonder what would've happened if they had done BOBW at the end of S2 like they had originally planned. Back then Picard wasn't as big or important as he had become in S3 so the show might not have suffered as much due to his absence.

Maybe that means that if they still did "Yesterday's Enterprise" in S3 they'd bring Stweart back for alternate Picard so it'd be double-bittersweet that we get to see Tasha and Picard back only to lose both of them again.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Actually, that would be a cool idea.

I can imagine that, once the Next Generation became as popular as it would eventually have become, they would have found some way to bring him back (this is Star Trek, its almost impossible to keep someone dead).

I guess everyone agrees the deflector weapon had to have failed (which brings up the question if it really was all that great of a cliffhanger, since it was impossible that there could have been any result except failure).

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Stewart and Spiner were both renegotiating their contracts at the end of season three. The whole idea of bringing back the Borg was partly motivated by a Cunning Plan on the part of the producers to get some leverage there as well as to cover the possibility that one of them would not return.

So, here's the original version:

The Borg return. They capture Picard and Data. Intrigued by the android, they combine parts of Data with Picard to create a Borg-like creature.

The Part I cliffhanger is:

The Enterprise crew recapture PicarData. Doctor Crusher examines him/it/them and announces to Riker: "I can only save one of them."

Then, the actors get an early look at the script.

And Spiner signs his contract.

Cue BOBW v2.0...

 

[startrekwatcher]

Alidar Jarok said:
I guess everyone agrees the deflector weapon had to have failed (which brings up the question if it really was all that great of a cliffhanger, since it was impossible that there could have been any result except failure).

For me it is and always will be the BEST. CLIFFHANGER. EVER.

I was 13 at the time and didn't, thankfully, know about contracts, seasons so for me I could totally believe that the show could have ended with either the Borg assimilating Earth or the deflector working. I really couldn't figure out how they would get out of it.

So it still works for me almost twenty years later.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Pretty much any cliffhanger in the traditional sense (leaving with a character in some sort of physical jeopardy) would leave the next installment extremely brief if the character in danger actually succumbed to that danger. Oh dang, he just...fell off the cliff. That was anticlimactic.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Yeah, well that's why I'm not a fan of those types of cliffhangers

 

[erastus25]

The Old Mixer said:
Pretty much any cliffhanger in the traditional sense (leaving with a character in some sort of physical jeopardy) would leave the next installment extremely brief if the character in danger actually succumbed to that danger. Oh dang, he just...fell off the cliff. That was anticlimactic.

Or..."wow, janeway ducked."

Oh wait...that actually happened.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Yeah, that was one of the things I thought of for cliffhangers that bug me.

 

[Turbo]

erastus25 said:

The Old Mixer said:
Pretty much any cliffhanger in the traditional sense (leaving with a character in some sort of physical jeopardy) would leave the next installment extremely brief if the character in danger actually succumbed to that danger. Oh dang, he just...fell off the cliff. That was anticlimactic.

Or..."wow, janeway ducked."

Oh wait...that actually happened.

Why, oh, why didn't they just end with the Equinox warping away and Janeway looking pissed?

Back on topic, it would have been quite daring to kill Picard off in BoBW.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Definitely. IMO, it would probably have been the most daring thing Trek has ever done.

 

[Charlie Kelly]

No way, I love Picard and killing him off would have ruined the series for me. I also think killing off a main character for dramatic effect is lazy, BOBW Pt 2 was still fantastic anyway.

Charlie