Most of my deepest fears are centered on reality actually being a huge front for some other scheme that will be revealed when we least expect it. Picard gets zapped to another existence, lives a full life, has grandkids, and then basically finds out he’s just been konked out on the bridge for 20 minutes. Yo, that’s fucked up, dude. Truth is, this is a very sweet episode and we get to see Picard qua Picard, just in a completely different context. From a writing and acting point of view, pretty fascinating. Some heavy what-if stuff and far better than The Matrix.
One of my top ten favorite episodes…. this is science fiction at its greatest !!!!
What struck me first about this episode is that when Picard found himself in this new life, all he wanted was to get back “home,” which to him was his ship and crew. When most people think of “home” they imagine a life much more similar to the one Picard found himself in, which was a stationary community in which he had a dwelling, occupation, friends and family. I found that quite intriguing. It was also interesting to see how he came to accept and embrace the un-asked-for circumstances and make the most of them. The theme music from that show (found on a CD of Star Trek themed music) was absolutely wonderful!
This was TNG at its very best and remains my favorite episode of the series.