10 Times Gene Roddenberry Hated Star Trek

The Next Generation episode, Family, directly follows The Best Of Both Worlds, the iconic two-part episode where Captain Picard got assimilated by the Borg and turned into Locutus, destroying countless Starfleet ships at the battle of Wolf 359 before having his humanity restored at the end of the episode. In Family, Picard returns to Earth with the Enterprise to visit his family and recover from the trauma of being assimilated.

Gene Roddenberry was strongly against this episode, wanting instead to keep the stories self-contained in each episode. Apparently, Gene would have rather had Picard go right back to boldly going, mere days after having the very essence of his individuality taken from him, and being forced to kill thousands. However, his main criticism of the script was the way that Picard's upbringing was portrayed, and the hostility between him and his brother. He argued that siblings would simply not argue and fight like that in the 24th century.

Family would eventually be recognized as one of the most emotional storylines for Picard, giving his character more depth. It also helps audiences recover after The Best Of Both Worlds, and makes it a little more believable for Picard to return to work in the next episode.