“Bloodlines” (7×22)
To read more from this series, select a season:
This is a lovely little story that takes full advantage of its close proximity to the series finale. If we’d gotten this story earlier in the series, there would have been no question that Jason Vigo wasn’t Picard’s son. The audience knows that an episodic show like this wouldn’t bog its main character down with that kind of baggage.
But in the home stretch, it could very plausibly have done so without having to deal with the long-term ramifications.
It’s also a nice book-ending story, bringing back the villainous “DaiMon” Bok from the first season episode “The Battle”. And his innovative use of a long-abandoned technology made him a genuine threat for most of the episode, appearing and disappearing like the bogeyman.
The episode introduces a new color to the Picard and Crusher relationship, as he turns to her for her expertise as a parent. And I think it reaffirms her opinion of Picard that he steps up the way for Jason he does.
My favorite part of the episode, though, is the way is showcases how one good person can bring out the good in another. Picard might not have been Jason’s father, but he still provided Jason with the kind of male role model he’d lacked his whole life. It was important for Jason to see that Picard saw value in him, even knowing his criminal record. And it was especially important that Jason saw Picard risk his life to save him even after Picard knew that Jason wasn’t his son.
And for Picard, it meant opening himself up and sharing an intimate connection with another person. That’s something that he so seldom allows himself to do. The lingering impact can be felt with both men in their parting scene. Picard gives Jason a beloved artifact as a farewell gift, as a token of his belief in him. And Jason leaves determined to hold himself to a higher standard.
Impacts on Star Trek Continuity:
This episode has clear parallels with an important storyline in the final season of “Picard”:
In that episode, it is revealed that Picard indeed does have an adult son he never knew about, with Beverly Crusher, born sometime between 2365 (when Crusher was back at Starfleet Medical) and the early 2380s (after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis). The events of this episode make it even less plausible to me that Beverly Crusher would have Jean-Luc Picard’s son and not tell him about it. She could see in this episode how much it affected him to think that he had a son and wasn’t there to be a part of his life. There had better be a damned good reason why she would knowingly inflict such guilt and self-admonition upon him herself.
About The Author
