Patrick Stewart, Alfre Woodard filming Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

[-]

Especially when you consider Picard was un-assimilated. That always made no sense. "you'll be doing him a favour" by killing him. It's a good thing Riker is a bit more compassionate or BoBW would have gone very differently.

[-]

Tramagust@reddit

Picard had a "light" assimilation so that's why it was easy to unassimilate him. The collective needed him as untouched as possible so that he can lead the assimilation of humanity.

It was only in Voyager that we started to see assimilation being easily reversed. Still the greatest disservice to the Borg was watering them down like that.

[-]

MindlessNectarine374@reddit

In TNG, we also saw other Borg separated from the collective. Hugh. And the cube where he is reassimilated. Whose borg crew will later be ruled by Lore.

[-]

IKindaPlayEVE@reddit

Eh, I always looked at it from the standpoint of the Enterprise and every member of her crew is expendable when compared to the future and saving billions of lives. Fighting the Borg with half measures in that situation just wasn't acceptable.

[-]

Used-Gas-6525@reddit

I really don't like Picard thinking of any members of his crew as expendable. Very out of character.

[-]

wallstreet-butts@reddit

You’re right he should have just stood back and let himself, his ship, and earth get assimilated by the Borg. It’s the decent thing to do.

Did this whole sub suddenly forget “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few… or the one?” Or does that not count unless it’s self-sacrifice?

[-]

Used-Gas-6525@reddit

You don't need to show him killing an 'ex' crew member. To quote myself in another response,

I don't think that we, as an audience, really needed to see the high minded and generally compassionate Picard wantonly kill someone who theoretically could have been saved.

I'm not saying it wasn't necessary for Picard to do it (although it probably wasn't) and it certainly didn't need to be in the film. It comes off like an attempt to turn Picard into a 'take no prisoners' kind of guy, and he just wasn't that.

[-]

wallstreet-butts@reddit

Except that Picard’s arc in the film is not at all about him becoming an action hero.

It’s explicitly about his prior trauma at the hands of the Borg and his ability to handle himself, which even Starfleet has doubts about. And it’s about the Moby Dick allegory.

Setting aside that FC is basically a zombie movie and that this is a pretty common trope in the genre, the incident with Lynch directly sets up the film’s most memorable scene. Lily directly calls Picard out and forces him to confront the fact that he’s going down the path of Ahab. It’s what brings Picard back to his true self, and also what ultimately sets up the entire third act of the film.

[-]

Used-Gas-6525@reddit

Of course Starfleet had no qualms about how Picard would handle himself against the Borg in the show (after being un-assimilated) Admiral Nichaev (sp?) gave him a whole task force of starships to fight the Borg. That whole 'he doesn't trust himself and neither does Starfleet' angle was simply plot convenience. And the Moby Dick angle makes no sense either. If The Borg was his White Whale, he'd probably have used that virus that would have destroyed The Collective essentially instantaneously in I, Borg. In the show he came to terms with the horrors he suffered and felt that The Borg deserved to live as much as a humans. He wasn't a Borg fan by any means, but being the level headed and pragmatic captain we came to know and love, he came to terms with it. FC erases all that and turns him into a revenge-fuelled ball of hate. That's actually one of the only big issues I have with the film, as it's def the best of the 4 TNG ones.

[-]

Brunt-FCA-285@reddit

To me, it was a matter of practicality. If one crew member is turned into a Borg, with no risk of that happening to any other crew member, it’s just a matter of containing that drone and figuring out how to remove the crew member from the Collective. If multiple crew members are assimilated, and if they start assimilating more crew members, containment is much more difficult and becomes the priority.

[-]

Used-Gas-6525@reddit

Even if that is so (you make a very good point), I don't think that we, as an audience, really needed to see the high minded and generally compassionate Picard wantonly kill someone who theoretically could have been saved. I mean, why put it in there? That movie was kinda trying to make Picard into an action hero (not as much as Nemesis, but that's another convo) and I think that scene is simply there to show that Picard is a badass with a 'take no prisoners;' kind of attitude. And that does not work for me even a little bit. Just skip that whole sequence.

[-]