My favorite scene from one of the greatest episodes in the entire franchise.

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jayhawk88@reddit

When they let Patrick Stewart cook, it’s maybe the best acting we’ve ever seen in a sci-fi show. This, the one where he’s defending Data from being taken apart, and the end of the “Kevin” episode come immediately to mind.

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ExamCompetitive@reddit

A lot of people consider this the best episode, perfect episode, if you watch one episode etc etc etc. It's definitely one of the most memorable.

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lacroixlibation@reddit

I would absolutely not recommend this to someone as a “if you could only watch one” episode. The reason it’s so impactful is because you know why this is impactful to Picard’s character. Bringing someone in blind to Star Trek and showing them this episode would be a waste of the build up to it.

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TheWanderingRed223@reddit

Which episode was this? I haven’t rewatched TNG in forever.

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Cookie_Kiki@reddit

Inner Light

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TheWanderingRed223@reddit

Thank you!

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ExamCompetitive@reddit

The one where they find a probe in space. It flashing a light knocking Jean Luc unconious. He lives a whole life in a culture/planet that died long ago. Living that life keeps their memory and history alive. Jean Luc wakes up but the crew tells him he was only unconious for minutes instead of the 50y he spent in the simulation. Inside the probe was the flute he played while he lived his simulated life.

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BrandonW77@reddit

It's possibly one of the most perfect episodes of a tv show to ever be on tv, in my opinion.

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Crot_Chmaster@reddit

Agreed. One of the finest examples of dramatic television ever produced.

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Profitopia@reddit (OP)

Hear, hear!

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mytoynhobbypackrat@reddit

I wonder if Nicolas Cage's "The Family man" borrowed this concept...

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ThatDarnRosco@reddit

Yes. Agreed. One of my favs

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Picards-Flute@reddit

Greatest scene. Can confirm.

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UnitedRoastbeef@reddit

Ah, the man who lived. Twice.

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HookDragger@reddit

Would after this one be like his 4th life? Stabbed in heart, survived a probe that latched onto him like a soul vampire, died on operating table, the Picard maneuver, hell, being recreated as a data mom clone. He’s about 2/3s through his 9 lives

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twoneedlez@reddit

Stabbed in the heart, kills his future self in Time Squared, Samaritan Snare (?), Tapestry, All Good Things (x3), Et in Arcadia Ego, Inner Light, Cause & Effect multiple times.

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Sivalon@reddit

Picard is catboy confirmed

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Boetheus@reddit

You only live twice, or so it seems One life for yourself, and one for your dreams Sorry, different franchise. Twice.

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Sivalon@reddit

You drift through the years, and life seems tame ‘Til one dream appears, and love is its name

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NoClipHeavy@reddit

Of all the episodes that got me, this one did the most. I love how the Picard theme used the flute.

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RGregoryClark@reddit

👍

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LivingintheKubrick@reddit

The Inner Light was actually my first episode of Trek ever. Suffice to say, I needed more immediately.

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Starbugmechanic@reddit

It’s kind of messed up that Picard gets a lifetime memory with children and grandchildren and O’Brien gets 20 years rotting in prison.

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secondtaunting@reddit

Yeah, that’s just how it goes lol. O’Brien always gets the shit duty. Poor dude.

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gfkxchy@reddit

That's why the series focuses on officers and not NCMs :)

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Tinyhousecode@reddit

Amazing episode. My favorite hands down.

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aaronjm47@reddit

I feel like the writers of Star Trek: Picard would have benefited from watching that episode to understand the man and his character arc better. This whole other life he lived with a wife, kids and grandkids seems completely forgotten.

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CptJimTKirk@reddit

"Seize the time... Live now! Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again."

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HookDragger@reddit

I just have to laugh ever time I realize he’s just blowing on a stick the entire time

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secondtaunting@reddit

God, I cry like a baby every time I see this episode. I say you know you’re a geek if you cry during Star Trek.

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Agitated-Asparagus23@reddit

Back in '92, I was on leave from the military and staying with my parents. My dad and I were both kind of night owls. One night, I was on the couch about to go to sleep, and I saw TNG on the old scrolling cable guide. I switched over, intending to fall asleep to a TNG episode I had likely already seen. My dad wandered into the living room and took up his usual late night viewing spot. I was about to pass the remote to him, but I had never seen this episode. Dad wasn't a Star Trek guy by any stretch of the imagination. He watched that entire episode with me, and I swore I heard him sniffle at the end. Every time I watch this episode, I am reminded of that night. Dad has been gone for over a decade now, but we still have our episode of Star Trek.

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PirateAngelMoron@reddit

Beautiful story.

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countdoofie@reddit

Man, thanks for sharing.

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Profitopia@reddit (OP)

I love everything about this post.

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MjolnirMediator@reddit

A tear falls every time.

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Lure852@reddit

ATTENTION BAJORAN WORKERS! oh sorry, is this not......?

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sevristh1138@reddit

I personally believe that the technology that enables Pikard to experience another life was the most original ever in Star Trek.

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razah9@reddit

Great ending

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Allenheights@reddit

This episode and The Measure of a Man are the real treasure episodes for me.

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pelizred@reddit

Measure of a Man is it for me from this series. Absolute perfect television. The performances, camera work, direction, all of it are top tier. In the Pale Moonlight from DS9 also. Those two are my always watch

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johndhall1130@reddit

They really didn’t revisit the type of trauma he would have gone through after this episode enough. Between this, the Borg and the Cardassians there should have been a lot more internal crap for Picard to go through. But nope, he back to his pragmatic, stable self in the very next episode. Missed opportunity to really flesh out some of his humanity and Stewart would have been terrific at acting it out.

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NiceKittyMonster@reddit

I still think this was probably the most traumatic experience in Picard’s life and that’s saying something. The Borg and Cardassian abductions were rough and probably wouldn’t be great for his mental health, definite PTSD too. Those were external threats and a danger of being part of Starfleet. But eventually he lives a whole lifetime with his “family” and loved them, only to realize they weren’t real in the end, that would mess with any sane person on the deepest level.

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superradguy@reddit

Picard was like, why does the lamp look so weird?

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TheGardiner@reddit

This is some dude that did datura and lived a few years in another life right?

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superradguy@reddit

Yeah

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NiceKittyMonster@reddit

Haha when I first read that story I thought it was a rip off of inner light.

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rnotyalc@reddit

Also revolving around the flute, the episode with his girlfriend Lt. Darren, who he opens up and shares his music again. The scene where he thinks she died on an away team mission after he had to make a call that stranded her there. He's in his quarters pacing, and he sees his flute on the table resting with the case open. And he walks over, stares at it, and then shuts the case. That was a HUGE gut punch moment.

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Caltje@reddit

Another beautiful episode

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BraunyTie@reddit

But the scene when they're playing together in the Jeffries tube and the music comes through engineering. I'm a big, fat, hairy quinquagenarian, and that scene makes me cry so much that my dog comes to see what's wrong.

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Profitopia@reddit (OP)

I would have loved to have seen more of Nella Daren.

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col-summers@reddit

It's not exactly a hot take but I like this episode less and less due to the non-consent and the ending where it was revealed all the people were deceiving Picard for an entire lifetime.

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cronenburj@reddit

So you didn't understand it at all

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Maleficent_Cicada_72@reddit

Way to miss the point entirely. Bravo

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nickcliff@reddit

Nobody deceived him. It was like a VR program.

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WonderWendyTheWeirdo@reddit

Wait, did I not understand the ending? I thought he was reliving the life of some guy.

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MrPoopyButthole2024@reddit

[Here’s the clip where he plays the flute beautifully.](https://youtu.be/DChJ2FtCP5U?si=FOwsvJnuFWX9CuLW)

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baconinspace@reddit

I love this episode, but every time I see it now I can’t help but notice that it’s not his hands fingering the flute.

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sissyjessica42@reddit

Yeah it's clear he never really learned to handle it properly either. Love this episode and the other one with Lt Cmdr Daren, but his work with the flute is pretty rough

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SafeLevel4815@reddit

The man has the memories of two lifetimes. How do you suppose it must be to have them and still know one was a manufactured invention? Like Miles O'Brian having a decades of artificial memory of being in prison.

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Shoelace1701@reddit

Agreed. An episode where Picard lived a lifetime in a short period of time. Then he remembers everything. The love, the pain, and the joy of another lifetime.

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Malnurtured_Snay@reddit

"I was stolen from my home; gaslit into believing it didn't exist and I wasn't a starship captain; brainwashed into believing that I had a family, who I came to love, and cherished for four decades -- two children, and a grandkid; and all I got it for was this lousy fucking flute."

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Malnurtured_Snay@reddit

Downvote me all you like, what the people of that planet did to Picard was possibly even more evil than what the Borg did.

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No_Bobcat_6467@reddit

That’s a hot take.

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Malnurtured_Snay@reddit

Is it? It's an accurate description of what happens to him. I mean okay, lousy flute might be a bit much...

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skubaloob@reddit

Show me Picard’s flute!

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Connect_Beginning174@reddit

This is my favorite episode of trek.

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PDCH@reddit

This episode doesn't exist and never did. If you convince me otherwise the floodgates open again.

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Disk-Dungeon@reddit

Not a fan of this one

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Assparilla@reddit

Brilliant for sure!-top 5 SNG-maybe #1

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itsmnemotime@reddit

As a dad this hits differently than it did growing up - a telltale marker of a timeless piece of art

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daisy0723@reddit

Ripped my heart out and did the hat dance all over it.

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CommanderSincler@reddit

Same for me. It was one of the first episodes I saw after I returned from living abroad for a year, on my own, with zero overlap in the people I had in my life here and the people who became my friends over there. I truly feel like I led two lives.

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byproduct0@reddit

Who wrote this episode? Did they write any others, on TNG or elsewhere?

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germansnowman@reddit

If only there was a search engine that could reveal information like this in mere seconds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Gendel

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brownhotdogwater@reddit

How does star fleet let that guy go on? He has lived multiple lives and been brain fucked by the borg. He has to be a messed up person.

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germansnowman@reddit

You also cannot buy this kind of experience.

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Profitopia@reddit (OP)

He’s Jean-Luc Picard. That’s how.

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Alorxico@reddit

My favorite scene, because of how well it is acted is when Picard asks his ‘wife’ if he can build a nursery and when she asks for clarification he responds “well, I could just as easily build a porch if you would prefer.” It is sweet and funny and makes me cry every time.

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toosells@reddit

Same.

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savorytreksymphony55@reddit

A beautiful moment delivered without saying a word.

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WorkingFellow@reddit

IMO, best episode of any show. Camera pans out as he plays the song he wrote for his son.

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BrandonW77@reddit

Oh god dangit, who just started cutting onions in here!!

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JG_in_TX@reddit

That episode is next level good. The acting, the mood, the story…it all comes together beautifully.

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AbbreviationsLess257@reddit

Those stories about when people take salvia/spice and other hallucinogens and live as couches, rugs, fans and other crazy shit for like 10 years always remind me of Inner Light lol

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TeetheMoose@reddit

Yes, yes and OMG, yes. And my other favourite story in Trek with beautiful music also played on a woodwind instrument: https://preview.redd.it/619shvrwampd1.jpeg?width=274&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9637fddd7ddc3eb06fc90307f0bba2b5bc97c5dd

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prof_cli_tool@reddit

That little squeeze gets me every time

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PuzzleheadedCook4578@reddit

Lessons?! Never really rated that...

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