Picard Drops An F Bomb - Star Trek's Cursing Is Going Too Far

Picard Drops An F Bomb - Star Trek's Cursing Is Going Too FarShow more

Home TV Features Picard Drops An F Bomb - Star Trek's Cursing Is Going Too Far Jean-Luc Picard drops an F-bomb in Star Trek: Picard season 3, raising the question of whether enlightened Starfleet Officers should use curse words. Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 4 - "No Win Scenario"Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) drops an F-bomb in Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 4, reigniting the debate of whether the harshest four-letter curse words in Star Trek is going too far. The USS Titan-A found itself in dire straits; trapped in the Ryton Nebula's gravity well,...

Home TV Features Picard Drops An F Bomb - Star Trek's Cursing Is Going Too Far Jean-Luc Picard drops an F-bomb in Star Trek: Picard season 3, raising the question of whether enlightened Starfleet Officers should use curse words. Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 4 - "No Win Scenario"Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) drops an F-bomb in Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 4, reigniting the debate of whether the harshest four-letter curse words in Star Trek is going too far. The USS Titan-A found itself in dire straits; trapped in the Ryton Nebula's gravity well, all aboard believed death would come in a few hours. Before the Titan's heroes devised a means of escape, the crew fearfully congregated in a holodeck recreation of 10 Forward, where Picard tried to bond with his son, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), and let loose the first F-bomb he's ever uttered in Star Trek. Picard told Jack about a similarly harrowing shuttlecraft dilemma with his namesake, Lt. Commander Jack R. Crusher (Doug Wert), when they were both serving on the USS Stargazer. Picard and his best friend pilfered a shuttlecraft for an unscheduled shore leave with "delightful young women," but they lost their sensors and ability to navigate back to the Stargazer. Using manual controls, Jack and Jean-Luc made it back to their ship, but Picard rued it took "ten f***ing grueling hours." Later, Picard amusingly used Captain Liam Shaw's (Todd Stashwick) own words against him when he asked for the "dips*** from Chicago" to help the Titan escape the Ryton Nebula's gravity well. Picard's F-Bomb Cursing In Star Trek Is Going Too Far It was startling to hear an F-bomb escape Jean-Luc Picard's mouth. Partly because it was so unexpected, but also because it feels beneath the dignified and eloquent Picard to resort to cursing. Picard's F-bomb felt unnecessary, even at that moment of trying to convey to Jack the hopelessness and misery of his shuttlecraft dilemma decades ago. Of course, Jean-Luc is only human and yes, he is allowed to express himself with curse words. Yet Star Trek, and Picard especially, espouse that humanity 400 years in the future is more enlightened than we are now. Part of Star Trek's appeal is the articulate way characters speak. Resorting to gutter language feels like a step backward since Star Trek's characters are meant to be better than this. Star Trek has toyed with its characters swearing since The Original Series. TOS TV shows and movies would utilize the occasional "hell" and "damn". Indeed, "Dammit, Jim!" was one of Dr. Leonard McCoy's (DeForest Kelley) most common utterances. These were the limits of what network television and the Star Trek TOS movies' PG ratings would allow. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home even turned Spock's (Leonard Nimoy) attempts to use "colorful metaphors" into a delightful running gag. But as Star Trek continued, the franchise got bolder in its occasional use of potty language. In the modern-day streaming era, the kid gloves are off and F-bombs drop on occasion. Star Trek Has Always Had Curse Words Anyone who saw Star Trek Generations recalls the moment when an emotional Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) uttered "Oh s***!" just as the USS Enterprise-D was about to crash-land on Veridian III. There have been other times "s***" or "godd***" have been uttered in Star Trek since then. However, Picard isn't the first F-bomb in the Star Trek franchise. That 'honor' goes to Star Trek: Discovery when Cadet Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) and Lt. Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) dropped the previously forbidden F word in season 1. Since then, profanity has occasionally seeped into Star Trek, which teeters trying to balance making its characters feel contemporary and relevant with the franchise's higher ideals. In an interview with Collider , Star...