Picard’s Final Farewell to McNary Amid Collapsing Reality
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Picard exchanges a heartfelt farewell with McNary, acknowledging their parting and the impossibility of taking McNary with him, as McNary commits to bringing a villain to justice.
The office floor trembles violently, underscoring the escalating danger as Picard delivers his emotional farewell, while they shake hands as old friends facing permanent separation.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Worried and empathetic, masking a profound loneliness and existential uncertainty as he confronts the loss of his simulated reality and the dangerous return to harsh truth.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard commands the evacuation of the critically wounded Whalen and insists Data and Beverly leave immediately while he stays behind for a final, intimate farewell with Lieutenant McNary. He expresses deep gratitude, guarded sadness, and abiding concern about the fragile survival of the simulated world and the fate of his imagined loved ones before stepping through the collapsing threshold.
- • Ensure safe evacuation of Whalen to Sickbay
- • Say a meaningful goodbye to McNary
- • Seek reassurance about the persistence of the Dixon Hill world
- • Protect his crew despite personal sacrifice
- • The simulated world may cease to exist once they leave
- • His crew’s survival depends on rapid evacuation
- • Meaningful human connection transcends even fabricated realities
- • He must uphold duty even amid personal loss
Concerned and focused, driven by duty to preserve life amid chaos with calm professionalism.
Data carries the critically wounded Whalen carefully through the destabilizing Dixon Hill office, responding immediately to Picard’s command to evacuate. He moves with precise concern and efficiency, ensuring Beverly accompanies him as they exit the collapsing simulation toward Sickbay.
- • Safely transport Whalen to medical care
- • Follow Picard’s command without hesitation
- • Maintain order during evacuation
- • Support Beverly in medical aid
- • Whalen’s condition is critical requiring immediate medical intervention
- • Picard’s orders must be obeyed promptly
- • The simulation is failing and evacuation is urgent
- • Preserving crew safety is paramount
Concerned and determined, balancing clinical urgency with emotional support for her patients and comrades.
Beverly Crusher accompanies Data in carrying the wounded Whalen out of the deteriorating simulation, prepared to provide urgent medical care. She shares Data’s concern and urgency, responding quickly to Picard’s order, embodying calm authority amid the escalating crisis.
- • Ensure Whalen receives immediate medical attention
- • Follow Picard’s evacuation order
- • Maintain composure under pressure
- • Support Data during evacuation
- • Whalen’s survival depends on swift treatment
- • The simulation’s collapse endangers crew safety
- • Medical command must act decisively
- • Teamwork optimizes crisis response
In critical condition, likely unconscious or barely conscious, his fate hanging in the balance.
Charles Whalen lies critically wounded, being carefully carried by Data as Beverly attends to him. His condition heightens the urgency of the evacuation, embodying the episode’s escalating physical stakes and transforming him from jovial participant to vulnerable victim.
- • Survive his critical injury
- • Receive medical aid promptly
- • He is in mortal danger
- • His comrades will save him if possible
Resigned yet loyal, masking concern for the simulation’s stability and Picard’s fate with a dignified acceptance of duty.
Lieutenant McNary shares a sober handshake and heartfelt farewell with Picard, acknowledging the necessity of separation while maintaining a stoic, resigned demeanor. He gestures toward the thug to indicate pending justice and stays behind in the collapsing simulation, embodying the gritty dignity of duty amid loss.
- • See Picard safely depart
- • Maintain order amid chaos
- • Ensure the thug is booked
- • Uphold his role as law enforcement despite imminent danger
- • Duty to law enforcement transcends personal safety
- • Picard must survive outside the simulation
- • The thug represents ongoing threat
- • This world is ending but responsibility remains
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Dixon Hill's Waiting Room and Office serves as the intimate and claustrophobic stage for Picard's farewell to McNary amid the violent collapse of the Holodeck simulation. Its dim, worn surroundings heighten the emotional stakes, symbolizing the fragile boundary between fantasy and reality as the world flickers toward extinction.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Picard's farewell to McNary and his uncertainty about the fate of this world echo the theme of fragile boundaries between simulated and real worlds, underscoring the story's core tension."
"Picard's farewell to McNary and his uncertainty about the fate of this world echo the theme of fragile boundaries between simulated and real worlds, underscoring the story's core tension."
"Picard's farewell to McNary and his uncertainty about the fate of this world echo the theme of fragile boundaries between simulated and real worlds, underscoring the story's core tension."
"Picard stepping through the portal and the subsequent darkness foreshadow the collapse of the simulated world and the finality of their separation from it."
"Picard stepping through the portal and the subsequent darkness foreshadow the collapse of the simulated world and the finality of their separation from it."
"Picard stepping through the portal and the subsequent darkness foreshadow the collapse of the simulated world and the finality of their separation from it."
"Picard's farewell to McNary and his uncertainty about the fate of this world echo the theme of fragile boundaries between simulated and real worlds, underscoring the story's core tension."
"Picard's farewell to McNary and his uncertainty about the fate of this world echo the theme of fragile boundaries between simulated and real worlds, underscoring the story's core tension."
"Picard's farewell to McNary and his uncertainty about the fate of this world echo the theme of fragile boundaries between simulated and real worlds, underscoring the story's core tension."
"Picard stepping through the portal and the subsequent darkness foreshadow the collapse of the simulated world and the finality of their separation from it."
"Picard stepping through the portal and the subsequent darkness foreshadow the collapse of the simulated world and the finality of their separation from it."
"Picard stepping through the portal and the subsequent darkness foreshadow the collapse of the simulated world and the finality of their separation from it."
Key Dialogue
"PICARD: Pick him up. Get him to Sickbay."
"MCNARY: Someone's gotta book this creep. Once a cop always a cop, I guess."
"PICARD: Tell me something, Dixon. When you've gone.... will this world still exist?.. Will my wife and kids still be waiting for me at home?"
"PICARD: I honestly don't know. Good-bye my friend."