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By Chris Snellgrove
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You don’t have to be a Star Trek fan to know that William Shakespeare is one of Captain Picard’s favorite characters. After all, Patrick Stewart is a Shakespearean actor, and his Enterprise captain often quotes the poet in comments off. It turns out, though, that Shakespeare’s love actually made Picard a better captain because he took some queues of data Henry V. Performance to deal with some Rascally Romulans in the TNG episode “The Defector.”
Shakespeare is actually part of the cold open of this chapter, as we see Picard directing data performance of Henry V.. At first glance, this seems like no more than a fun way from the start of the episode by displaying which huge nerds are these two characters. However, as recorded in Captain Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek CruisesShower Michael Piller later revealed that this Shakespeare play influenced Picard’s subsequent decisions in dealing with the Romulans.
“There’s a scene where Picard and Data talk about how the crew catches up, and then Picard says a line or two that echoes the play,” said Piller. While the Showrunner did not mention the exact lines, one of which is when Picard quotes directly Henry V. to himself in his ready room.
Data had asked if Picard could see that his crew were confident about combating the Romulans, and the captain in Sardonic told him “unlike King Henry, it is not easy for me to hide myself and walk among my troops” to measure their morale. After the Android leaves, Picard quotes the play, saying to himself, “If these men do not die well, it will be a black matter for the king who led him.”
While that Shakespeare extract represented Picard’s concerns about the mission, Piller confirmed that the play had also influenced the captain’s heroic actions during the highlight. This is, of course, the enjoyable moment for the crowd when rogue Romulans tries to destroy the venture after attracting it to the neutral zone, and Picard reveals that he brought some Klingon ships covered in case his pointy ear enemies would have tried to fight dirty. According to Michael Piller, “In the conflict with the Romulans, there are suggestions of Henry V. in the stance, courage and decisions of Picard, and what is the purpose of the debate. “
Interestingly, this Shakespeare play would not have appeared in “The Defector” at all if not for a Picard actor Patrick Stewart. It was originally due to data playing Sherlock Holmes again, but legal issues kept that from happening. When Piller asked Stewart for new cold open tips, actor Shakespearean suggested open with performance by Henry V..
What makes this even more impressive is that Stewart offered Piller this idea just two days before filming. Despite this small turning time, the producers were able to create not only Shakespeare’s murderer scene but also use the play as a type of framing device for the entire episode. Piller was understandably proud of what everyone achieved, and the musician-turned shares compared Picard Echoing Henry V. To musical arrangements that “echo other songs and play on Alaw that reminds you of something else.”
As for us, we can’t help but think all these disclosures about Picard and this Shakespeare play elevates what was already one of the most ambitious chapters Trek Star: The next generation. This was a chapter with a conspiracy, action, and the development of a great character that helped us get a better idea of what makes the captain tick. Patrick Stewart and the immortal poet joined to offer fans watching a surprise lesson: all the Galaxy stage, with only the men’s and Androids players in it.
