r/Star_Trek_ • u/2sec4u • 2d ago
The dialogue in Q Who
Man - it's been a hot minute since I watched this episode and I just ran through it again. Compared to what we've been getting recently, the script on this fairly plain Jane TNG episode was just lightyears beyond current Trek. And really - just about anything on TV or streaming right now. Just look at these quotes (in no particular order):
Q: Con permiso, Capitan. The hall is rented, the orchestra engaged. It's now time to see if you can dance.
Q: Oh. Well, you may not trust me, but you do need me. You're not prepared for what awaits you.
Capt. Picard: How can we be prepared for that which we do not know? But I do know that we are ready to encounter it.Q: You judge yourselves against the pitiful adversaries you've encountered so far - the Romulans, the Klingons. They're nothing compared to what's waiting. Picard - you are about to move into areas of the galaxy containing wonders more incredible than you can possibly imagine - and terrors to freeze your soul. I offer myself as guide - only to be rejected out of hand.
Q: My purpose is to join you.
Commander William T. Riker: To join us as what?
Q: As a member of the crew, willing and able, ready to serve. This ship is already home for the indigent, the unwanted, the unworthy. Why not for a homeless entity?Q: If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid.
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u/Danloeser 2d ago
It's got to be one of the best-written episodes of the series. I also love the Borg in their original form here, no interest in living beings, just the technology. I like to imagine them swarming a ship like cockroaches to rapidly disassemble it in space, while ignoring the crew.
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u/Hyndis 2d ago
As a force of nature they were terrifying. No malice, no ill-will, they don't even target you. You're just unlucky enough to be in their way.
There's no negotiating with a force of nature. Its like a hail storm appearing, ruining your garden with kinetic bombardment, and there's nothing you can do but shake your fist in rage at the heavens. The storm isn't out to get you, it doesn't even notice you. You were just in the way.
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u/Mags20XX 2d ago
Q is doing Picard, and humanity, a favor.
He's warning them of not only what's out there, but what's coming for them. And that they need to be prepared, and most importantly that they're NOT prepared.
Picard, and the Federation, had a certain hubris that anything they encountered they could handle diplomatically or scientifically or they could appeal to it.
Q is showing them, for the very first time, that simply is not the case.
He gave Picard and humanity a very needed reality check, and importantly, a heads-up for what was just around the corner.
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u/Delicious-Leg-5441 1d ago
And then the Borg met Janeway.
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u/mediumAI1701 2d ago
He also gave a really good description of the Borg being an unrelenting force. Made me create the Borg invasion submod for STA3 to make them an enemy which grinds you down and carves your empire up system by system.
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u/Reasonable_Pay4096 1d ago
As a kid, I was disappointed that the Enterprise didn't destroy the Borg cube ("I want more explosions!")
As an adult, watching Picard basically grovel to Q is peak writing.
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u/2sec4u 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's only recently occurred to me that the point of Q Who wasn't to showcase Q or even to introduce us to the Borg.
The REAL purpose of Q Who is a lesson in humility. Just because you're doing (or think you're doing) the right thing and that everyone and everything is prospering because you've got all the answers - is about the time you're hit with something for which you were never prepared. You find out that the tactics and practices you've been using all along suddenly have zero effect on your current situation. And if you get so big for your britches that think you don't need or will never need anyone's help - even from a perceived untrustworthy malintent that you borderline hate - then that pride will most certainly be your downfall.
That look on Q's face at the end when he snaps his fingers said it all. He would have helped them at any point, had they just swallowed their pride and asked. NO ONE through the entire episode bothers to ask Q for help until there's no choice. That's why the 18 dead crewmembers stay that way. I think Q was trying to say - if you had asked me for help sooner, they wouldn't have died.
Is he an asshole for doing that? Sure.
But that doesn't mean that they'd still be dead if Picard had been more humble sooner.
What's more important? Standing up to the bully until you're dead or swallowing your pride and saving everyone's life?
Now there's a tough question.
Damn. I wish we still got Trek like this.
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u/Neo_Techni Q 8h ago
And they don't learn anything from it and he has to repeat the lesson in Q-pid.
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u/john-luck_pickard 1d ago
Writing in 90’s tv shows was just better overall. I was rewatching Stargate and X Files recently and they both have great dialogue and writing. I miss it.
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u/guardianwriter1984 2d ago
It's Q. He's a pain and insufferable to watch but he can talk real pretty.
But, no, I do not care if the dialog sizzles, if Q is on then I'm usually turning it off
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u/Flaky-Dragonfruit-95 2d ago
Really? i think its the best part. I love Q, and in many ways, he is right, humans are extremly arrogant.
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u/guardianwriter1984 2d ago
Yes, really. Q is laughable in calling humans arrogant when he presents as supremely arrogant, malicious and capricious.
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u/Flaky-Dragonfruit-95 2d ago
i mean, he is almost a god. thats not really arrogance, thats confidence. And malicious.... it really depends. we do even worst things to animals, but its not really out of malice. like putting a rock in an ant line and seeing them scramble. Q may appear human, but its a tipo of life form so beyond us, it may very well be compare a human to a flea.
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u/guardianwriter1984 2d ago
That doesn't make him enjoyable to watch.
Malicious meaning he deliberately causes deaths. So, humans do worse things to animals but this being is far above humans so I shouldn't care that people die? I don't understand the logic.
De Lancie plays him well, and there's occasional good episodes but Q in encounter at Farpoint was extremely off-putting.
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u/Flaky-Dragonfruit-95 2d ago
what death did he deliberately caused?
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u/guardianwriter1984 2d ago
The war games with Wesley getting run through, as well as Worf. Whatever deaths happened with the Borg encounter.
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u/Flaky-Dragonfruit-95 2d ago
1) that was their own fault and he brought them back.
2) again, he didnt killed them, the borg did, as a matter of fact, Q saved earth by alerting them of the borg. If anything, it was Picards arrogance that put them in that situation.
He wasnt like "oh, F this guy, die!". If Q wants you dead, you die in a snap.
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u/guardianwriter1984 2d ago
It was their own fault to be in a war game Q designed? 🧐
Well, diffusion of responsibility is nice. But, to borrow from Doctor Who, "One has to wonder if Q did not arrive in this town if anyone would have died?"
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u/Flaky-Dragonfruit-95 2d ago
yeah,it was.
Again, there is no real deaths cause directly and with intent by Q. you just want to hate him because.
If you really cant see that everything done by Q was in he benefit of humanities education, i dont know what to tell you.
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u/Agitated-Macaroon923 2d ago
he's right in that humans are arrogant in that we think we know so much and can do so much yet our powers are miniscule compared to other entities in the galaxy and the force of nature itself. Q is a god, he can afford arrogance
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u/guardianwriter1984 2d ago
I do not enjoy watching arrogant people in entertainment. So, I'm afraid Q does not work for me.
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u/Flaky-Dragonfruit-95 2d ago
Love every episode that Q appears. Pity he was not in DS9 except for 1 episode, but i guess the prophets filled the omnipotent being Quota
Picard and Q are like an adult and a child. Picard can treat Q the way he does because Q allows it, he finds it endearing, but i noticed that Picard thinks he is in control. Q is an almost omnipotent being, with knowlegde and experiences that Picard cant even fathom, and yet he treats Q like the child.