Star Trek: 10 WORST Things Captain Picard Has Ever Done
8. Refused To Step Down When Clearly Compromised
Star Trek: First Contact is an example where technically everybody in this situation was right and everybody was wrong. Starfleet got the ball rolling here by ordering the Enterprise-E to the Romulan Neutral Zone when the Borg decided to invade again, swiftly removing Picard from the battle. To Starfleet’s credit, an army of counsellors was probably advising them against having him near the fight. Could a former drone be trusted?
At the same time, surely there were some security minded admirals crying out for his expertise. The counsellors would be proven correct when, after mere moments of hearing the battle over subspace, Picard orders the Enterprise to Earth, disobeying his commands. When they arrive, they make swift work of the Cube, though the events that follow do little to improve the man’s standing.
Trauma, and particularly PTSD, are conditions that are still very much being studied thirty years after the script for First Contact was written but the film quite accurately portrayed the way they compromise judgement. As the audience, we can see that there are clear warnings that Picard is not ok. However he continues to command the ship. The argument that the ends justify the means, that the ship is saved and the Borg are defeated, will come as little comfort to those officers who were assimilated while under orders to stand their ground.
Though it takes a few hard truths from both Worf and Lily Sloane to get through to him, Picard does have the wisdom to finally back down, proving that he has not been totally controlled by his emotions.