Would you have liked more episodes dedicated to Picard's Borg recovery?

[Phoenix219]

In a real space navy, assuming of course that there could ever be such a thing, after Riker rescues Picard from the Borg, Picard would never be authorized to command a space broom, much less a starship, ever again (except in limited contexts, such as one described below).

The only plausible way to keep Picard on the show is as an adviser or other kind of passenger, possibly even as Beverly's husband. Riker retains command, maybe Shelby is the new number one.

The main characters in the crew would accept that he's basically recovered, or in recovery, but Picard confronts new challenges. Some of the crew might not trust him, the admiralty in aggregate doesn't trust him, though he may have some allies there. Starfleet Medical still isn't certain all Borg technology has been removed. Dr. Crusher and Troi may both have orders from higher-up to keep an eye on him. He may need ongoing counselling to help him with his PTSD and feelings of guilt. Borg technology might actually be discovered still in him from time to time that needs to be neutralized.

There's still lots that can be done in a general episodic space adventure under that format, lots where Picard's experience, knowledge, and judgment are essential to away missions in known space or encounters with unknown aliens on the frontier. For example, "Chain of Command" could take on a new dimension where Picard's mission is explicitly viewed by Starfleet Command as a suicide mission, an angle that is completely absent from the scripted episode.

There's also room for encounters with the Borg. For example, Hugh would still have a place in this new format, and the arguent of whether to deploy a virus to destroy the Borg still has a similar place.

Anyway, that's my take.

Someone else awhile back suggested that he become a diplomat, Ambassador Picard, but stay on the ship, and I absolutely love the idea. The idea of him becoming a little bit dependent, like you said, maybe marrying Beverly, becoming one of those old scientists/diplomats with his wife looking after his well being as a care taker, and having to deal with all of the changes that brings, could have worked, and had a few levels of irony as well.

 

[Alexander Corrino]

It would BREAK Jean-Luc if he was allowed to stay on the Enterprise but only as a passenger without any real chance of ever being part of Starfleet again. That kind of punishment (which is the way he'd see it) would have an even worse effect on him than what the Borg did to him.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

It would BREAK Jean-Luc if he was allowed to stay on the Enterprise but only as a passenger without any real chance of ever being part of Starfleet again. That kind of punishment (which is the way he'd see it) would have an even worse effect on him than what the Borg did to him.

Sounds like a source for character conflict and drama, the bread and butter of outstanding TV and the opposite of what leads to Boresville.

I simply opined regarding how having Picard fully Borgified and taken over to destroy a Federation armada ought to have impacted the format, had the objective been to maintain the same level of plausibility there was going into S4E1. By showing that Picard could sometimes still hear the Borg even after his implants were removed, the "Powers That Be" proved that it wasn't plausible to keep Picard in command and that the decision to do so was driven by the real world need or decision to reset the format back to the status quo by S4E3.

The alternative was not to go all in with the Borgification as they did in S4E1, absolutely do not put him in command of the cube in the Battle of Wolf 359, but rather draw out the assimilation process so that they can recover Picard before the Borg fully take Picard over to use as a weapon. That would have allowed the full format reset by S4E3 to have been more believable.

 

[Alexander Corrino]

I do agree that allowing him to just go back to work was not very realistic. He should have taken time off. A lot. Extensive therapy, etc. Yes, they mention some therapy he did with Troi, but what the Borg did to him is not something you can just shrug off after a few therapy sessions, empath counselor or no empath counselor. However, given the fact that Michael Piller had to fight even for the episode "Family" to happen because Roddenberry wanted for everything to immediately be as it was before the Borg assimilated Jean-Luc, we're lucky we got even SOMETHING that resembled an existential crisis for Jean-Luc.

On the other hand - wouldn't the objective be to both allow the victim to deal with what happened AND to give him a perspective again? Forcing him to be a bystander from now on due to something he had no part in or control of (assimilation) would punish him and seems incredibly cruel. Remember, he was a VICTIM of the Borg. To treat him like a pariah and basically nothing more than a human ticking time bomb would make things much, much worse for him.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

It's a security issue pure and simple. A starship is capable of wiping out all life on a planet, many times over. These captains are the elite of the elite of the elite. It's not about him. It's about the safety of everyone else in the Federation. If Picard really was who he supposedly was, he'd be the first to agree.