WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.210 --> 00:00:02.420 Hello, I'm Michael Chabon. 2 00:00:02.420 --> 00:00:05.230 I'm an executive producer on Star Trek: Picard. 3 00:00:05.230 --> 00:00:07.660 I was the showrunner for the first season, 4 00:00:07.660 --> 00:00:11.460 and today I'm gonna be talking with 5 00:00:11.460 --> 00:00:13.463 the wonderful, formidable, 6 00:00:14.380 --> 00:00:17.630 Admiral Jean-Luc Picard himself, Sir Patrick Stewart. 7 00:00:17.630 --> 00:00:19.580 Patrick, hello. Good morning. 8 00:00:19.580 --> 00:00:20.750 Good morning, Michael. 9 00:00:20.750 --> 00:00:22.617 It's so good to see your face. I miss you. 10 00:00:22.617 --> 00:00:24.217 [Michael] You too. I miss you. 11 00:00:25.810 --> 00:00:27.410 I keep getting from all our crew, 12 00:00:27.410 --> 00:00:30.413 from all the Picard crew, the same thing. 13 00:00:32.150 --> 00:00:35.040 It brings a wonderful, warm feeling, 14 00:00:35.040 --> 00:00:38.630 especially at times like this when we can't be together. 15 00:00:38.630 --> 00:00:39.463 I know. 16 00:00:40.520 --> 00:00:42.890 As the season went on, 17 00:00:42.890 --> 00:00:44.520 you know, we started as- 18 00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:46.207 maybe this is almost trite to say, 19 00:00:46.207 --> 00:00:49.260 but we started as this sort of disparate group of people, 20 00:00:49.260 --> 00:00:51.550 and some of us had worked together before, 21 00:00:51.550 --> 00:00:53.193 and most of us hadn't, 22 00:00:53.193 --> 00:00:55.330 and we didn't really know each other very well, 23 00:00:55.330 --> 00:00:57.240 and by the end of that season, 24 00:00:57.240 --> 00:01:00.260 especially when we started doing the promotional work 25 00:01:00.260 --> 00:01:02.890 as it was about to premiere 26 00:01:02.890 --> 00:01:05.270 and we were doing the press junkets and everything 27 00:01:05.270 --> 00:01:06.123 and traveling together, 28 00:01:06.123 --> 00:01:08.010 I just really discovered 29 00:01:08.010 --> 00:01:10.560 how tightly knit we had all become. 30 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:13.080 That was what made all the difference, I think. 31 00:01:13.080 --> 00:01:15.800 It was the going to Comic-Con 32 00:01:15.800 --> 00:01:18.850 and then doing our European promotional tour, 33 00:01:18.850 --> 00:01:22.890 because before that all I'd done was work. 34 00:01:22.890 --> 00:01:25.980 We were on the set day after day after day. 35 00:01:25.980 --> 00:01:28.750 And it was so intensely busy 36 00:01:28.750 --> 00:01:32.820 that when we had time to relax, and have meals together 37 00:01:32.820 --> 00:01:35.070 and share a bottle of wine, 38 00:01:35.070 --> 00:01:38.210 it transformed the relationships of the group. 39 00:01:38.210 --> 00:01:41.270 And I think any new contract that I sign, 40 00:01:41.270 --> 00:01:43.050 I'm going to insist 41 00:01:43.050 --> 00:01:46.310 that the studio, or the producers, or whoever, 42 00:01:46.310 --> 00:01:50.487 pay for a 10-day vacation for the entire cast 43 00:01:50.487 --> 00:01:52.220 before production begins. 44 00:01:52.220 --> 00:01:53.420 I think that's reasonable. Don't you? 45 00:01:53.420 --> 00:01:55.332 Yes, I do. I think so too. 46 00:01:55.332 --> 00:01:57.630 Well, you know, it's funny because, 47 00:01:57.630 --> 00:02:01.790 I mean, partly it's a nature of serialized storytelling, 48 00:02:01.790 --> 00:02:02.920 I think. 49 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:05.400 It might be different on an episodic show 50 00:02:05.400 --> 00:02:07.920 where the same cast is essentially 51 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:10.488 always together for every episode, 52 00:02:10.488 --> 00:02:13.360 and they're sharing scenes with each other very routinely. 53 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:14.570 Whereas with this show, 54 00:02:14.570 --> 00:02:16.890 because there were multiple plot strands 55 00:02:16.890 --> 00:02:19.060 and there were characters who were sort of 56 00:02:19.060 --> 00:02:20.310 in that part of the story, 57 00:02:20.310 --> 00:02:22.560 and there were characters who were in this part of the story, 58 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:25.850 and they didn't necessarily meet, even, or entwine, 59 00:02:25.850 --> 00:02:30.350 like the character played by Peyton List, Narissa. 60 00:02:30.350 --> 00:02:32.300 She was unknown- 61 00:02:32.300 --> 00:02:33.800 even though she's in a fair number of scenes, 62 00:02:33.800 --> 00:02:35.750 she was unknown to most of the... 63 00:02:35.750 --> 00:02:37.920 I don't think Picard actually ever meets Narissa. 64 00:02:37.920 --> 00:02:39.495 No. 65 00:02:39.495 --> 00:02:43.010 I saw Narissa at the table read, 66 00:02:43.010 --> 00:02:47.480 and I came down to watch her working one day, but we- 67 00:02:47.480 --> 00:02:51.900 I don't think we ever actually met, formally, 68 00:02:51.900 --> 00:02:53.350 which is crazy. 69 00:02:53.350 --> 00:02:54.470 I know, it's funny. 70 00:02:54.470 --> 00:02:56.340 And that even happened to a certain degree 71 00:02:56.340 --> 00:02:59.380 with some of our, you know, just the regular crew members. 72 00:02:59.380 --> 00:03:00.740 Not that you hadn't met, 73 00:03:00.740 --> 00:03:02.950 but that there were many characters 74 00:03:02.950 --> 00:03:04.990 who didn't have that many scenes together. 75 00:03:04.990 --> 00:03:07.300 So, to be all together at Comic-Con, 76 00:03:07.300 --> 00:03:09.220 to be all together on these press junkets, 77 00:03:09.220 --> 00:03:10.970 was sort of the first time 78 00:03:10.970 --> 00:03:13.920 people got to really schmooze for any... 79 00:03:13.920 --> 00:03:17.730 It was absolutely delightful. 80 00:03:17.730 --> 00:03:21.580 We have such a gorgeous group of people. 81 00:03:21.580 --> 00:03:23.130 And I'm not only talking about 82 00:03:23.130 --> 00:03:25.250 the lovely actors and actresses, 83 00:03:25.250 --> 00:03:29.770 but about the whole creative team, and on the set too. 84 00:03:29.770 --> 00:03:33.120 I don't think I've ever been quite so comfortable. 85 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:36.810 We're here to talk today about Episode 107 86 00:03:36.810 --> 00:03:37.970 particularly, "Nepenthe," 87 00:03:37.970 --> 00:03:42.970 and speaking of friendships and people getting together, 88 00:03:44.210 --> 00:03:47.130 this was in many ways a unique episode 89 00:03:47.130 --> 00:03:48.710 in the course of the season. 90 00:03:48.710 --> 00:03:51.150 Earlier, before Episode 107, 91 00:03:51.150 --> 00:03:54.890 we had re-encountered the character of Hugh, 92 00:03:54.890 --> 00:03:58.000 who is an important character played by Jonathan Del Arco, 93 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:01.500 from a number of The Next Generation episodes, 94 00:04:01.500 --> 00:04:05.090 and Seven of Nine returning in the form of Jeri Ryan. 95 00:04:05.090 --> 00:04:09.040 But 107 was the episode where Jean-Luc Picard 96 00:04:09.040 --> 00:04:12.450 re-encounters Will Riker and Deanna Troi. 97 00:04:12.450 --> 00:04:16.010 And in many ways I think this was the episode 98 00:04:16.010 --> 00:04:19.150 that a lot of people, especially fans of TNG, 99 00:04:19.150 --> 00:04:20.483 had been waiting for. 100 00:04:22.180 --> 00:04:25.090 This was a moment they had been hoping for and waiting for. 101 00:04:25.090 --> 00:04:28.730 And obviously that changed our expectations as writers. 102 00:04:28.730 --> 00:04:31.003 I was one of the co-writers of that episode. 103 00:04:32.080 --> 00:04:32.950 If you, 104 00:04:32.950 --> 00:04:34.610 if you haven't watched that episode, 105 00:04:34.610 --> 00:04:37.290 we're gonna be discussing it fairly in-detail, 106 00:04:37.290 --> 00:04:38.140 so I'd recommend 107 00:04:38.140 --> 00:04:39.960 if you're sitting watching this right now, 108 00:04:39.960 --> 00:04:44.580 maybe hop on over to CBS All Access 109 00:04:44.580 --> 00:04:45.900 and watch the episode, 110 00:04:45.900 --> 00:04:48.850 and then come back here and join us if you have watched it. 111 00:04:49.761 --> 00:04:51.960 You know, I guess the question 112 00:04:51.960 --> 00:04:54.180 that you probably have been asked a lot already 113 00:04:54.180 --> 00:04:56.143 but I think people are curious to know, 114 00:04:57.869 --> 00:05:01.930 this was a reunion not simply of characters, 115 00:05:01.930 --> 00:05:03.560 but of actors as well. 116 00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:06.700 I know you do see Jonathan and you do see Marina Sirtis- 117 00:05:06.700 --> 00:05:08.320 Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis, 118 00:05:08.320 --> 00:05:09.520 who play those characters. 119 00:05:09.520 --> 00:05:12.430 You see them when you can, when you guys are together. 120 00:05:12.430 --> 00:05:13.480 You do get together. 121 00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:17.900 But to be reuniting with them on stage 122 00:05:19.210 --> 00:05:23.380 for the first time since the last movie, I guess? 123 00:05:23.380 --> 00:05:24.853 Mm-hm. 124 00:05:24.853 --> 00:05:26.187 That was Nemesis. 125 00:05:27.100 --> 00:05:28.450 Can you talk about just 126 00:05:28.450 --> 00:05:32.727 how you prepared to return to that sort of place 127 00:05:32.727 --> 00:05:34.830 and how it felt to be returning? 128 00:05:34.830 --> 00:05:37.010 And maybe even say a little bit about just 129 00:05:38.303 --> 00:05:41.263 your whole attitude towards TNG 130 00:05:42.431 --> 00:05:44.230 in the context of Picard, 131 00:05:44.230 --> 00:05:45.730 of how you felt about the other show 132 00:05:45.730 --> 00:05:47.320 going into this new show. 133 00:05:47.320 --> 00:05:52.320 What is so important to the work that we did 134 00:05:52.580 --> 00:05:57.580 when Jonathan, and Jonathan Del Arco, and Marina joined us, 135 00:05:58.450 --> 00:06:00.103 and Brent, too, of course, 136 00:06:01.226 --> 00:06:05.600 it is not just a pleasantry 137 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:10.600 that we all are so tight as a group, 138 00:06:12.230 --> 00:06:14.377 all of Next Generation. 139 00:06:15.270 --> 00:06:19.100 I love every one of those people deeply. 140 00:06:19.100 --> 00:06:22.230 I feel as though they've been in my life all my life, 141 00:06:22.230 --> 00:06:23.913 although I was... 142 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:29.023 what, 46 I think, when I met them, or 47. 143 00:06:30.580 --> 00:06:33.570 And so, the episode that you 144 00:06:33.570 --> 00:06:38.300 and the others created for us in "Nepenthe" 145 00:06:38.300 --> 00:06:42.680 tapped right in to that real history. 146 00:06:42.680 --> 00:06:47.100 So, there was both performed affection, 147 00:06:47.100 --> 00:06:50.950 performed relief to see these people again, 148 00:06:50.950 --> 00:06:53.140 delight in their company, 149 00:06:53.140 --> 00:06:57.500 a sense of sadness of not having seen them 150 00:06:58.360 --> 00:07:02.111 much in the preceding 18 years, 151 00:07:02.111 --> 00:07:04.700 and at the same time 152 00:07:04.700 --> 00:07:09.320 the sheer joy of being on a set 153 00:07:09.320 --> 00:07:13.680 with chums, with pals, with beloved pals. 154 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:16.500 And so, I... 155 00:07:16.500 --> 00:07:20.130 I can't speak for Jonathan and Marina, but I, 156 00:07:21.200 --> 00:07:23.720 I connected those two things together 157 00:07:23.720 --> 00:07:26.250 so that there was- 158 00:07:27.280 --> 00:07:32.280 I did no preparation for these scenes in "Nepenthe." 159 00:07:32.490 --> 00:07:35.560 I just wanted to let them evolve 160 00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:39.970 with all of the natural feelings that Patrick was having 161 00:07:39.970 --> 00:07:44.047 and connecting them almost spontaneously 162 00:07:45.830 --> 00:07:48.957 to the feelings that Jean-Luc Picard was having. 163 00:07:49.990 --> 00:07:52.853 You know, I feel like you can really see it, 164 00:07:53.960 --> 00:07:57.960 especially in two key moments in the episode. 165 00:07:57.960 --> 00:08:00.270 The first is when 166 00:08:00.270 --> 00:08:05.200 you are approaching the house with Soji and with Kestra, 167 00:08:05.200 --> 00:08:09.030 and Troi is out in the garden, 168 00:08:09.030 --> 00:08:10.970 and she looks up, and she sees you, 169 00:08:10.970 --> 00:08:15.970 and the moment the two characters come together, 170 00:08:15.990 --> 00:08:20.983 and the look on her face and the look on your face, 171 00:08:22.050 --> 00:08:24.370 you know, the love and the affection 172 00:08:24.370 --> 00:08:26.500 and that thing that old friends do 173 00:08:26.500 --> 00:08:28.980 if you haven't seen each other in a little while. 174 00:08:28.980 --> 00:08:31.820 I mean, especially if you were together constantly, 175 00:08:31.820 --> 00:08:34.490 very intensely, for a fairly long period of time, 176 00:08:34.490 --> 00:08:36.973 as you guys all were when you were making TNG, 177 00:08:37.880 --> 00:08:41.740 you get used to how you each know how you looked then. 178 00:08:41.740 --> 00:08:44.020 And with old friends, I know this for myself, 179 00:08:44.020 --> 00:08:45.646 when you see an old friend, 180 00:08:45.646 --> 00:08:47.460 the first thing you do is just look at the face, 181 00:08:47.460 --> 00:08:49.320 and look at time passing, 182 00:08:49.320 --> 00:08:51.410 and think back to those moments 183 00:08:51.410 --> 00:08:53.830 when you last had seen each other. 184 00:08:53.830 --> 00:08:57.160 All of that is going on in your faces in that scene. 185 00:08:57.160 --> 00:08:59.040 I think it gains that incredible power 186 00:08:59.040 --> 00:09:01.890 because it's both played, as you say, it's acted, 187 00:09:01.890 --> 00:09:05.000 but it's also authentically what's- 188 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:06.130 it's happening live. 189 00:09:06.130 --> 00:09:07.810 It's really happening in front of your eyes. 190 00:09:07.810 --> 00:09:10.284 And then the second one is with Frakes 191 00:09:10.284 --> 00:09:12.210 when you walk into the house 192 00:09:12.210 --> 00:09:16.640 and he turns around, and he sees that you're there. 193 00:09:16.640 --> 00:09:19.520 It's so alive, it felt so real. 194 00:09:19.520 --> 00:09:21.360 And many people pointed this out to me that after 195 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:22.900 he's been making pizzas, 196 00:09:22.900 --> 00:09:25.760 right fter he hugs you and he steps back, 197 00:09:25.760 --> 00:09:28.640 you have this floury hand print on the back of your, 198 00:09:30.611 --> 00:09:32.870 the back of your shirt, which was not scripted at all. 199 00:09:32.870 --> 00:09:35.836 It's a mark of the affection, in a way. 200 00:09:35.836 --> 00:09:37.620 It's like a tracing. 201 00:09:37.620 --> 00:09:39.640 There's a joy, and there's an exuberance. 202 00:09:39.640 --> 00:09:42.743 There's also a sense of relief and comfort. 203 00:09:43.670 --> 00:09:45.820 That played perfectly into the whole idea. 204 00:09:45.820 --> 00:09:47.223 I mean, the name "Nepenthe." 205 00:09:48.170 --> 00:09:50.280 Nepenthe is the name of the planet 206 00:09:50.280 --> 00:09:52.880 where Riker and Troi have settled 207 00:09:54.330 --> 00:09:55.620 after and during 208 00:09:57.993 --> 00:09:59.900 a loss. 209 00:09:59.900 --> 00:10:02.510 They came because they have this son. 210 00:10:02.510 --> 00:10:05.050 In the interval since the last time we saw them, 211 00:10:05.050 --> 00:10:06.230 they've had two children. 212 00:10:06.230 --> 00:10:08.190 They had a son, Thad, and then they had a daughter, Kestra, 213 00:10:08.190 --> 00:10:10.870 and Thad had a kind of rare illness 214 00:10:10.870 --> 00:10:15.770 that eventually killed him around the age of 15. 215 00:10:15.770 --> 00:10:19.810 And so that's about, a few years have passed since that. 216 00:10:19.810 --> 00:10:21.760 They've come to this world 217 00:10:21.760 --> 00:10:24.810 to find some kind of healing, to find comfort. 218 00:10:24.810 --> 00:10:28.130 And the name Nepenthe comes from Greek mythology. 219 00:10:28.130 --> 00:10:30.100 It's in the Odyssey, I think. 220 00:10:30.100 --> 00:10:32.870 It's a sort of magical herb 221 00:10:32.870 --> 00:10:34.390 that causes sorrow to go away. 222 00:10:34.390 --> 00:10:37.693 So, that sense of relief and comfort, 223 00:10:38.950 --> 00:10:40.370 it's in the title of the episode, 224 00:10:40.370 --> 00:10:42.040 it's in the DNA of the episode, 225 00:10:42.040 --> 00:10:43.240 and it's very much there. 226 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:48.050 And in a way, Picard has chosen to come to this world 227 00:10:48.050 --> 00:10:48.900 on an impulse. 228 00:10:48.900 --> 00:10:51.070 He has two seconds to make up his mind 229 00:10:51.070 --> 00:10:53.850 about where to run to when they're leaving the Borg cube, 230 00:10:53.850 --> 00:10:57.360 and the first thing that comes to his mind is to go there. 231 00:10:57.360 --> 00:10:59.620 So he's come to get relief. 232 00:10:59.620 --> 00:11:01.540 And when you were taking those embraces, 233 00:11:01.540 --> 00:11:02.800 when you're giving those embraces, 234 00:11:02.800 --> 00:11:06.763 you can really see that sense of [exhales], 235 00:11:06.763 --> 00:11:07.596 taking a breath. 236 00:11:07.596 --> 00:11:08.900 He's going to get relief, 237 00:11:08.900 --> 00:11:11.190 but also safety too. 238 00:11:11.190 --> 00:11:15.266 And what I loved about that episode 239 00:11:15.266 --> 00:11:17.470 and what preceded it, is that 240 00:11:17.470 --> 00:11:19.597 it was not like I had sat down and thought, 241 00:11:19.597 --> 00:11:22.277 "Now, what shall I do for the next few days? 242 00:11:22.277 --> 00:11:23.110 Oh, I know, 243 00:11:23.110 --> 00:11:26.150 I'll go and see my old friends on Nepenthe." 244 00:11:26.150 --> 00:11:28.183 He was in a critical situation, 245 00:11:29.660 --> 00:11:31.880 possibly close to being murdered, 246 00:11:31.880 --> 00:11:35.420 and he had to make a snap decision. 247 00:11:35.420 --> 00:11:36.940 I think it was brilliant 248 00:11:36.940 --> 00:11:41.597 that what instantly comes into his mind is Riker and Troi. 249 00:11:41.597 --> 00:11:44.247 "That's where I must go. That's where I will be safe. 250 00:11:44.247 --> 00:11:46.893 That's where I will find love and protection 251 00:11:47.877 --> 00:11:49.263 and relief from"- 252 00:11:49.263 --> 00:11:53.340 I mean, it had been so stressful for Jean-Luc 253 00:11:53.340 --> 00:11:55.303 leading up to that moment. 254 00:11:56.240 --> 00:11:59.630 That innocence, that came about because of 255 00:12:00.770 --> 00:12:02.930 one of the sort of founding principles 256 00:12:02.930 --> 00:12:06.040 that we worked with from the very beginning with Picard, 257 00:12:06.040 --> 00:12:08.900 which was, you know, and one of the things 258 00:12:08.900 --> 00:12:10.930 that you and we, the other creators, 259 00:12:10.930 --> 00:12:14.823 Akiva Goldsman, Kirsten Beyer, Alex Kurtzman, and me, 260 00:12:15.680 --> 00:12:20.453 talked about with you was just how and when and why 261 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:23.870 to bring back the other, 262 00:12:23.870 --> 00:12:26.810 the so-called legacy characters from TNG, 263 00:12:26.810 --> 00:12:29.010 and what is the- 264 00:12:29.010 --> 00:12:30.450 how might it be done, 265 00:12:30.450 --> 00:12:32.150 and of all the possible ways of doing it, 266 00:12:32.150 --> 00:12:33.500 which ones feel 267 00:12:35.700 --> 00:12:38.300 the most justified or the best way to do it? 268 00:12:38.300 --> 00:12:40.110 I mean, it would have been 269 00:12:40.110 --> 00:12:42.857 maybe the easiest way, the fastest way, 270 00:12:42.857 --> 00:12:46.110 and the most obvious thing to do is just sort of 271 00:12:46.110 --> 00:12:48.610 bring them all back, and put them all on a starship, 272 00:12:48.610 --> 00:12:49.810 and call it the Enterprise, 273 00:12:49.810 --> 00:12:51.810 and just send them all out into space. 274 00:12:51.810 --> 00:12:54.550 You know, you're shaking your head, like, you know what- 275 00:12:54.550 --> 00:12:56.370 maybe we can talk a little bit about 276 00:12:56.370 --> 00:12:59.410 why we knew that's not what we wanted to do 277 00:12:59.410 --> 00:13:03.700 or that wasn't what was, what felt right or how to do it. 278 00:13:03.700 --> 00:13:06.720 I remember in those very early meetings, Michael, 279 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:09.360 we did talk about that a great deal, 280 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:13.370 because clearly it was a creative option 281 00:13:13.370 --> 00:13:15.810 to bring everybody back, 282 00:13:15.810 --> 00:13:18.360 let's just see what happens. 283 00:13:18.360 --> 00:13:19.193 But... 284 00:13:21.368 --> 00:13:24.040 I am very happy that we didn't. 285 00:13:24.040 --> 00:13:27.920 And as you know, it was actually quite important to me 286 00:13:27.920 --> 00:13:31.263 that we did not just reference TNG, 287 00:13:32.340 --> 00:13:35.630 but that we had to be in a world 288 00:13:35.630 --> 00:13:40.630 that was not the same as the world of Next Generation. 289 00:13:41.020 --> 00:13:45.170 Starfleet and the Federation would change our relationship 290 00:13:45.170 --> 00:13:47.570 with other alien worlds, was different. 291 00:13:47.570 --> 00:13:52.257 And for me, in my 78th year, 292 00:13:53.780 --> 00:13:56.060 coming back to this world, 293 00:13:56.060 --> 00:14:00.490 but not the same person who left it 18 years ago. 294 00:14:00.490 --> 00:14:03.640 It's not only that- 295 00:14:03.640 --> 00:14:05.310 I'm not only talking about Picard. 296 00:14:05.310 --> 00:14:07.980 I'm talking about Patrick Stewart as well. 297 00:14:07.980 --> 00:14:08.990 18 years have passed, 298 00:14:08.990 --> 00:14:13.033 and my life has been very changed during those years. 299 00:14:14.390 --> 00:14:17.610 And so, we were doing that as well. 300 00:14:17.610 --> 00:14:18.980 I know you were aware, 301 00:14:18.980 --> 00:14:23.720 but maybe our audience would not be so aware 302 00:14:23.720 --> 00:14:27.500 that Marina suffered a tragedy 303 00:14:29.940 --> 00:14:33.040 not along ago, when her lovely husband, Michael, 304 00:14:33.040 --> 00:14:35.023 suddenly died unexpectedly. 305 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:39.503 And watching Marina, 306 00:14:42.759 --> 00:14:45.313 I felt so acutely all of that. 307 00:14:48.710 --> 00:14:50.080 Well, for me, the- 308 00:14:50.950 --> 00:14:55.120 no, to say it was a revelation would be patronizing. 309 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:55.953 It wasn't that. 310 00:14:55.953 --> 00:15:00.770 But Marina's work in that episode was extraordinary. 311 00:15:00.770 --> 00:15:05.350 That long speech she had when we were in the garden, 312 00:15:05.350 --> 00:15:07.480 and she was talking to me, 313 00:15:07.480 --> 00:15:10.253 and she was talking to Soji, 314 00:15:11.910 --> 00:15:16.910 I had never seen Marina quite working in that way before. 315 00:15:18.550 --> 00:15:21.140 It was not the world of Next Generation, 316 00:15:21.140 --> 00:15:23.660 but it was a person who had been changed 317 00:15:23.660 --> 00:15:27.620 by the incidents in her life. 318 00:15:27.620 --> 00:15:31.150 And I thought the work that Marina did was brilliant. 319 00:15:31.150 --> 00:15:32.210 I agree. 320 00:15:32.210 --> 00:15:33.500 I don't think- 321 00:15:34.880 --> 00:15:37.150 meaning not disrespect whatsoever 322 00:15:37.150 --> 00:15:40.700 to the creators and writers of TNG, 323 00:15:40.700 --> 00:15:43.470 which is a show that I absolutely worship and adore, 324 00:15:43.470 --> 00:15:48.470 but of all the primary cast members of that show, 325 00:15:50.490 --> 00:15:54.540 I don't feel that the character of Deanna Troi 326 00:15:54.540 --> 00:15:57.090 on screen was ever... 327 00:15:58.560 --> 00:16:00.750 She never really got to shine 328 00:16:00.750 --> 00:16:03.760 as the character that she was, 329 00:16:03.760 --> 00:16:05.960 this empathic Betazoid 330 00:16:09.210 --> 00:16:11.390 living with this capability 331 00:16:11.390 --> 00:16:14.100 to sense and feel other people's emotions all the time 332 00:16:14.100 --> 00:16:17.350 and that that became her job to do that. 333 00:16:17.350 --> 00:16:19.870 That's her role on that ship. 334 00:16:19.870 --> 00:16:22.497 And what is it like to be that person 335 00:16:22.497 --> 00:16:24.530 and to have that ability, 336 00:16:24.530 --> 00:16:26.680 to constantly be so beset 337 00:16:26.680 --> 00:16:30.387 by the emotions of the people around you 338 00:16:30.387 --> 00:16:33.680 and, ultimately, to sort of be responsible for those emotions? 339 00:16:33.680 --> 00:16:35.470 That's your mission on this ship, 340 00:16:35.470 --> 00:16:39.180 is to sort of care for people's emotional lives, 341 00:16:39.180 --> 00:16:41.570 to be that counselor figure. 342 00:16:41.570 --> 00:16:43.530 You know, I don't... 343 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:48.440 We never get to see that in the depth that, 344 00:16:48.440 --> 00:16:51.120 I think you might see it, for example, in some of the novels 345 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:54.470 that have been written subsequently about Deanna Troi. 346 00:16:54.470 --> 00:16:57.000 And so to then, 347 00:16:57.000 --> 00:16:59.690 one of the things we tried to do in this episode was, 348 00:16:59.690 --> 00:17:01.670 in the limited space and time that we had, 349 00:17:01.670 --> 00:17:03.533 to just let the character of Deanna Troi 350 00:17:03.533 --> 00:17:07.360 sort of be Deanna Troi, whatever that was gonna mean. 351 00:17:07.360 --> 00:17:09.673 And I agree with you, I think Marina just, 352 00:17:09.673 --> 00:17:11.330 it was an empty vessel 353 00:17:11.330 --> 00:17:14.203 that she just flowed into so completely, 354 00:17:15.080 --> 00:17:16.380 and it was stunning. 355 00:17:16.380 --> 00:17:18.060 It was exhilarating to watch. 356 00:17:18.060 --> 00:17:20.340 And the clear, profound 357 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:27.640 affection between Deanna and Will Riker 358 00:17:28.460 --> 00:17:31.380 was so strongly present, 359 00:17:31.380 --> 00:17:32.993 and I have got to say 360 00:17:33.880 --> 00:17:38.510 was emphasized by the performance of Lulu. 361 00:17:38.510 --> 00:17:41.270 [Michael] Oh, she's fantastic. 362 00:17:41.270 --> 00:17:44.330 [Patrick] I mean, from the moment that we saw her on that hillside 363 00:17:44.330 --> 00:17:47.759 with her bow and arrow and her makeup on, 364 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:50.280 I was astonished by that... 365 00:17:50.280 --> 00:17:54.370 Well, I think she was 11, 11 years old when we shot that. 366 00:17:54.370 --> 00:17:59.370 And what she contributed to that episode was huge. 367 00:18:02.230 --> 00:18:05.930 I just hope she is going to have an extraordinary career. 368 00:18:05.930 --> 00:18:07.340 I can't imagine that she wouldn't. 369 00:18:07.340 --> 00:18:09.410 We got so lucky, because 370 00:18:10.560 --> 00:18:14.340 I knew as I was writing that character, to make a, 371 00:18:14.340 --> 00:18:15.973 you know, she's precocious. 372 00:18:17.210 --> 00:18:19.010 She's sort of wise beyond her years, 373 00:18:19.010 --> 00:18:20.923 but she's also a child. 374 00:18:22.180 --> 00:18:23.790 She's capable of insight, 375 00:18:23.790 --> 00:18:25.600 but she's also sort of innocent and naive. 376 00:18:25.600 --> 00:18:28.140 And to put all those qualities on a page, 377 00:18:28.140 --> 00:18:29.410 it can all work on the page, 378 00:18:29.410 --> 00:18:31.530 and if you're reading it in a book, 379 00:18:31.530 --> 00:18:33.580 it would probably work on the page of a book, 380 00:18:33.580 --> 00:18:35.580 but to then ask an actor 381 00:18:35.580 --> 00:18:38.070 to embody those contradictory things, 382 00:18:38.070 --> 00:18:40.290 and a young actor in particular, 383 00:18:40.290 --> 00:18:42.040 it's such a challenge, and she just, 384 00:18:42.040 --> 00:18:43.203 she just nailed it. 385 00:18:44.250 --> 00:18:47.233 Classic Picard arrogance. 386 00:18:48.110 --> 00:18:49.140 You get to make the decisions 387 00:18:49.140 --> 00:18:50.950 about who gets to take the chances and who doesn't, 388 00:18:50.950 --> 00:18:52.620 and who's in the loop and who's out of the loop, 389 00:18:52.620 --> 00:18:55.090 and naturally it always ends up with you. 390 00:18:55.090 --> 00:18:55.923 Will... 391 00:18:55.923 --> 00:18:58.310 That's fine on the bridge of your starship, captain, 392 00:18:58.310 --> 00:19:02.640 but now you're dealing with a teenager, more or less. 393 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:05.373 That can be an extremely humbling experience. 394 00:19:06.330 --> 00:19:11.140 One of the most interesting aspects of it for me was that, 395 00:19:11.140 --> 00:19:13.550 you know, I always had authority 396 00:19:13.550 --> 00:19:15.500 on the bridge of the Enterprise, 397 00:19:15.500 --> 00:19:18.490 and even my first officer, Commander Riker, 398 00:19:18.490 --> 00:19:22.563 was a junior officer below me. 399 00:19:23.460 --> 00:19:26.620 And now here in this episode, in "Nepenthe," 400 00:19:26.620 --> 00:19:30.980 I was coming back because I was so vulnerable 401 00:19:30.980 --> 00:19:35.630 and almost helpless, and weak, and needing... 402 00:19:36.680 --> 00:19:39.890 Although it was an impulse to go to Nepenthe, 403 00:19:39.890 --> 00:19:44.543 it was an impulse that was built on years of history, 404 00:19:45.820 --> 00:19:50.820 and he needed that feeling of security and safety 405 00:19:51.120 --> 00:19:53.763 before moving on with his story. 406 00:19:54.850 --> 00:19:57.143 As you will recall, Michael, 407 00:19:58.670 --> 00:20:00.300 in the very early days, 408 00:20:00.300 --> 00:20:03.713 I think even, I would say, at our first meeting, 409 00:20:05.550 --> 00:20:09.600 I did talk about my experience of shooting Logan, 410 00:20:09.600 --> 00:20:12.290 the last of the X-Men movies, 411 00:20:12.290 --> 00:20:17.180 and what an experience that had been, a great experience, 412 00:20:17.180 --> 00:20:19.030 and what an impact it had had on me. 413 00:20:19.030 --> 00:20:21.197 And I also remember saying, 414 00:20:21.197 --> 00:20:24.277 "I do not want to make another Logan. 415 00:20:24.277 --> 00:20:25.540 I've made Logan." 416 00:20:25.540 --> 00:20:27.500 All I'm saying is that 417 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:31.280 the joy and delight with Hugh Jackman, 418 00:20:31.280 --> 00:20:35.640 of creating a different X-Men world, 419 00:20:36.550 --> 00:20:41.030 we could do with Picard 420 00:20:41.030 --> 00:20:45.480 if we chose the right course and took the risks. 421 00:20:45.480 --> 00:20:47.670 And there were big risks of bringing, 422 00:20:47.670 --> 00:20:49.960 in front of the camera for Episode 1, 423 00:20:49.960 --> 00:20:54.960 a Picard who was anxious, guilty, angry, 424 00:20:56.680 --> 00:21:01.173 remorseful, sad, lonely, frustrated- 425 00:21:02.460 --> 00:21:06.120 all of these qualities that we never, or rarely, 426 00:21:06.120 --> 00:21:08.807 rarely encountered in Next Generation. 427 00:21:10.200 --> 00:21:13.200 There was no doubt for me, especially with Riker, 428 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:14.910 with Picard and Riker, 429 00:21:14.910 --> 00:21:17.270 when it came time to write those scenes, 430 00:21:17.270 --> 00:21:20.020 I got more help in some ways 431 00:21:20.020 --> 00:21:24.100 from having seen you and Jonathan together 432 00:21:24.100 --> 00:21:25.430 when he was directing you 433 00:21:26.991 --> 00:21:29.700 in the episodes he directed before 107, 434 00:21:29.700 --> 00:21:32.030 Episodes 4 and 5. 435 00:21:32.030 --> 00:21:35.090 Watching the two of you, watching how he 436 00:21:36.730 --> 00:21:41.040 both defers to you in the way that 437 00:21:41.040 --> 00:21:43.570 Riker would defer to Picard, in a sense, 438 00:21:43.570 --> 00:21:46.510 of a sort of, you know, he's a younger man than you, 439 00:21:46.510 --> 00:21:49.070 and there is that, not father-son, 440 00:21:49.070 --> 00:21:53.770 but uncle-nephew sort of possibility or something there. 441 00:21:53.770 --> 00:21:57.940 But also the way he looks out for you as the director, 442 00:21:57.940 --> 00:22:00.460 and you are the actor, that he's, 443 00:22:00.460 --> 00:22:02.020 the way a good director does, 444 00:22:02.020 --> 00:22:03.600 that he's solicitous, 445 00:22:03.600 --> 00:22:06.720 and making sure you have what you need, 446 00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:08.680 and making sure that you feel, 447 00:22:08.680 --> 00:22:09.620 making sure, not just you, 448 00:22:09.620 --> 00:22:12.640 that all his actors feel secure, feel safe, 449 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:15.490 feel that they're protected to do their work, 450 00:22:15.490 --> 00:22:16.880 and have everything that they need. 451 00:22:16.880 --> 00:22:17.910 And watching, 452 00:22:17.910 --> 00:22:20.490 and watching him do those two things 453 00:22:20.490 --> 00:22:22.430 and be so exuberant, personally, 454 00:22:22.430 --> 00:22:25.130 the way Frakes is so exuberant, so buoyant, 455 00:22:25.130 --> 00:22:28.330 the way you almost could turn off the lights on the set 456 00:22:28.330 --> 00:22:32.993 and just let him light the scene with his exuberance. 457 00:22:34.020 --> 00:22:37.160 You know, those things all flowed, unconsciously I think, 458 00:22:37.160 --> 00:22:41.480 into the writing of this Riker, the older Riker 459 00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:43.550 who has retired, 460 00:22:43.550 --> 00:22:47.010 who has undergone this loss that is still painful to him, 461 00:22:47.010 --> 00:22:51.390 but has also loosened up some over time. 462 00:22:51.390 --> 00:22:54.730 And when he sees his former commanding officer 463 00:22:54.730 --> 00:22:56.820 who's no longer his commanding officer, 464 00:22:56.820 --> 00:22:59.310 even though there's still, 465 00:22:59.310 --> 00:23:02.360 they retain a certain 466 00:23:02.360 --> 00:23:07.360 hierarchical structure in their relationship. 467 00:23:07.510 --> 00:23:10.540 It's very light, it's very much diminished 468 00:23:10.540 --> 00:23:12.380 from what it would have more properly been 469 00:23:12.380 --> 00:23:14.400 on the bridge of a starship, 470 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:17.160 and he no longer has any reason 471 00:23:17.160 --> 00:23:20.400 not to say what he thinks, not to tell Picard 472 00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:23.070 in the gentle, solicitous way that a director 473 00:23:23.070 --> 00:23:25.117 almost might speak to an actor, 474 00:23:25.117 --> 00:23:26.557 "Are you sure you're doing this- 475 00:23:26.557 --> 00:23:29.249 do you wanna maybe try it a different way? 476 00:23:29.249 --> 00:23:31.870 How about we try it this other way?" 477 00:23:31.870 --> 00:23:32.750 Yes. 478 00:23:32.750 --> 00:23:37.020 Michael, what was it that made you decide 479 00:23:37.020 --> 00:23:39.913 that Episode 7 should happen 480 00:23:40.996 --> 00:23:44.120 and that it would involve bringing back 481 00:23:44.120 --> 00:23:46.120 two of the legacy cast? 482 00:23:46.120 --> 00:23:48.590 Well, you know, we had these, 483 00:23:48.590 --> 00:23:52.230 I think we had evolved a set of not rules, 484 00:23:52.230 --> 00:23:54.520 but just any time the subject 485 00:23:54.520 --> 00:23:56.720 of bringing back a legacy cast member, 486 00:23:56.720 --> 00:24:01.720 any time a role appeared in any story 487 00:24:01.760 --> 00:24:03.667 for each of the episodes where it was like, 488 00:24:03.667 --> 00:24:06.303 "Well, we need Raffi to call someone, 489 00:24:07.167 --> 00:24:10.450 to ask for access to the Borg Cube," for example. 490 00:24:10.450 --> 00:24:14.570 At that moment, that creates then, "Who is she calling?" 491 00:24:14.570 --> 00:24:18.327 And every time that question would arise, we'd say, like, 492 00:24:18.327 --> 00:24:21.877 "Well, it could be Geordi, or it could be Worf, 493 00:24:21.877 --> 00:24:24.887 or it could be a character from Deep Space Nine, 494 00:24:24.887 --> 00:24:26.737 or a character from Voyager." 495 00:24:29.160 --> 00:24:30.460 That's the first impulse, right? 496 00:24:30.460 --> 00:24:32.800 Is to sort of just, any time there's a hole, 497 00:24:32.800 --> 00:24:34.900 fill it with a legacy character. 498 00:24:34.900 --> 00:24:37.440 But we had this principle we had set for ourselves, 499 00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:38.880 based on all the conversations 500 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:41.090 that you had with all of us from the beginning, 501 00:24:41.090 --> 00:24:44.040 of like, if we're gonna bring back a legacy character, 502 00:24:44.040 --> 00:24:47.940 it has to feel like it could only be that character. 503 00:24:47.940 --> 00:24:49.660 It couldn't be any other character 504 00:24:49.660 --> 00:24:52.520 and we're just sort of arbitrarily, for the fun of it, 505 00:24:52.520 --> 00:24:56.170 for the fan service or whatever you wanna call it, 506 00:24:56.170 --> 00:24:59.433 we're casting one of the legacy cast members. 507 00:25:01.520 --> 00:25:03.170 So, you know, with Jonathan Del Arco, 508 00:25:04.140 --> 00:25:06.270 we evolved this idea that there's this 509 00:25:06.270 --> 00:25:09.643 Borg reclamation project going on, 510 00:25:09.643 --> 00:25:12.350 where Borg are being assisted 511 00:25:14.167 --> 00:25:17.750 to be returned to their biological, original selves, 512 00:25:17.750 --> 00:25:20.450 and to get some kind of therapy and treatment 513 00:25:20.450 --> 00:25:22.000 because it's a traumatic thing. 514 00:25:23.660 --> 00:25:26.650 You're thinking, "Well, who would be running that program?" 515 00:25:26.650 --> 00:25:28.870 To think it should be someone 516 00:25:28.870 --> 00:25:32.680 who has themselves been a Borg before, 517 00:25:32.680 --> 00:25:33.730 that's a natural impulse. 518 00:25:33.730 --> 00:25:35.367 And then you think, "Well, it's Hugh, right? 519 00:25:35.367 --> 00:25:37.427 It should be Hugh. It's got to be Hugh." 520 00:25:39.270 --> 00:25:40.240 That's when we did it. 521 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:42.150 So with this, when we're like, 522 00:25:42.150 --> 00:25:44.110 we knew we wanted Picard... 523 00:25:44.110 --> 00:25:47.380 As you said, Picard's been through a lot by this point. 524 00:25:47.380 --> 00:25:49.040 He's been through a wringer. 525 00:25:49.040 --> 00:25:53.543 Going back to the Borg cube is incredibly powerful. 526 00:25:55.881 --> 00:25:57.020 It brings back all the trauma 527 00:25:57.020 --> 00:25:59.290 that he never really dealt with 528 00:25:59.290 --> 00:26:02.513 after he was returned from being Locutus, emotionally. 529 00:26:03.800 --> 00:26:06.453 We had an impulse like, we need to give him a break. 530 00:26:07.350 --> 00:26:10.520 And we need him to, like... 531 00:26:10.520 --> 00:26:14.500 There's been so much happening up 'til now in the season. 532 00:26:14.500 --> 00:26:17.287 Let's give the audience kind of a breath. 533 00:26:17.287 --> 00:26:19.040 Let them take a breath too. 534 00:26:19.040 --> 00:26:22.090 Picard will take a breath, the audience will take a breath, 535 00:26:22.090 --> 00:26:27.090 and let's send Picard somewhere where he can feel safe. 536 00:26:27.760 --> 00:26:29.333 Behind that decision, 537 00:26:31.320 --> 00:26:36.320 which was also to set it in a very rustic world, 538 00:26:38.500 --> 00:26:39.870 we might have been, 539 00:26:39.870 --> 00:26:43.233 we might have been near my home in West Oxfordshire. 540 00:26:46.440 --> 00:26:49.710 It was so not, 541 00:26:49.710 --> 00:26:52.180 so much not the Enterprise, 542 00:26:52.180 --> 00:26:54.473 not Starfleet, not the Federation. 543 00:26:55.550 --> 00:27:00.550 And there was a sort of ease and comfort that the setting, 544 00:27:05.210 --> 00:27:07.540 and as you remember, we filmed it- 545 00:27:07.540 --> 00:27:09.190 I think for me it was the first time 546 00:27:09.190 --> 00:27:11.950 I'd ever actually filmed on the Universal lot, 547 00:27:11.950 --> 00:27:14.620 but their home, their house 548 00:27:14.620 --> 00:27:19.620 was apparently a permanent part of the Universal backlot. 549 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:22.420 [Michael] Right, yes. The cabin, the log cabin. 550 00:27:22.420 --> 00:27:24.050 The log cabin, yes. 551 00:27:24.050 --> 00:27:26.333 It had been there quite a long time. 552 00:27:27.750 --> 00:27:32.280 So that environment was also 553 00:27:32.280 --> 00:27:37.280 creating an atmosphere which we could relish and sink into, 554 00:27:39.490 --> 00:27:43.920 and knowing that it would produce new things, 555 00:27:43.920 --> 00:27:46.380 not just novelties but- 556 00:27:46.380 --> 00:27:51.380 I mean, like Jonathan making pizza. [Laughs] 557 00:27:52.130 --> 00:27:53.283 Which we all loved. 558 00:27:54.220 --> 00:27:55.073 And the... 559 00:27:56.590 --> 00:27:57.650 It... 560 00:27:58.650 --> 00:28:02.340 For me, of course, I mean, the big thrill about that 561 00:28:02.340 --> 00:28:04.890 was when I realized 562 00:28:04.890 --> 00:28:08.043 that where we were shooting at Universal Studios, 563 00:28:09.240 --> 00:28:14.210 just up the hill was the Bates Motel. 564 00:28:14.210 --> 00:28:16.010 [Michael] Right. [Laughs] 565 00:28:16.010 --> 00:28:19.560 Was the location for so much of the action 566 00:28:19.560 --> 00:28:22.070 in that brilliant, brilliant movie Psycho, 567 00:28:22.070 --> 00:28:23.420 the Hitchcock movie. 568 00:28:23.420 --> 00:28:26.990 And the Bates Motel is still there. 569 00:28:26.990 --> 00:28:30.890 So, one afternoon at lunchtime, instead of napping, 570 00:28:30.890 --> 00:28:34.550 I crept up the hillside, did a little circuit around, 571 00:28:34.550 --> 00:28:36.880 and it was so exciting. 572 00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:38.913 For me, as an English actor 573 00:28:38.913 --> 00:28:41.880 who had not spent much time in Hollywood at all 574 00:28:41.880 --> 00:28:43.947 until I came to do Next Generation, 575 00:28:45.130 --> 00:28:48.425 to be on the Universal backlot 576 00:28:48.425 --> 00:28:53.425 and to be sharing a location with that 577 00:28:55.920 --> 00:29:00.600 so resonant set of the Bates Motel 578 00:29:00.600 --> 00:29:02.960 was thrilling for me, I have to say. 579 00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:04.320 I'm still, 580 00:29:04.320 --> 00:29:05.580 I'm just a child, really, 581 00:29:05.580 --> 00:29:07.650 when it comes to much of Hollywood. 582 00:29:07.650 --> 00:29:10.500 For me too, as a first-time showrunner 583 00:29:10.500 --> 00:29:12.880 who's spent very little time on sets 584 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:15.460 up until this season of Picard, 585 00:29:15.460 --> 00:29:20.460 to be making a movie at Universal Studios on the lot, 586 00:29:20.730 --> 00:29:21.850 as you say, with Bates Motel 587 00:29:21.850 --> 00:29:25.390 and with the Amity, whatever it's called, 588 00:29:25.390 --> 00:29:27.603 Amity set from Jaws, 589 00:29:30.300 --> 00:29:31.417 it couldn't feel more like, 590 00:29:31.417 --> 00:29:33.400 "Hey, we're actually making a movie here." 591 00:29:33.400 --> 00:29:37.443 There's the trailers and the extras walking around. 592 00:29:39.123 --> 00:29:40.500 And then, 593 00:29:40.500 --> 00:29:42.930 so, it had that "movie magic" kind of magic. 594 00:29:42.930 --> 00:29:45.130 And then there was also the, 595 00:29:45.130 --> 00:29:48.120 I may never experience again anything like 596 00:29:48.120 --> 00:29:52.510 the sort of vicarious joy that I and that we all watching 597 00:29:52.510 --> 00:29:54.930 experienced when you guys get together, 598 00:29:54.930 --> 00:29:56.582 when it's you and Frakes, 599 00:29:56.582 --> 00:29:58.413 when it's you and Marina and Frakes. 600 00:30:00.098 --> 00:30:01.650 It's palpable, 601 00:30:01.650 --> 00:30:05.420 and it makes everyone around you smile and feel happy. 602 00:30:05.420 --> 00:30:10.240 But then it even got turned up a notch 603 00:30:10.240 --> 00:30:13.610 when Michael and LeVar, 604 00:30:13.610 --> 00:30:15.430 Michael Dorn and LeVar Burton, came, 605 00:30:15.430 --> 00:30:19.190 dropped by one day, just to watch you guys. 606 00:30:19.190 --> 00:30:21.040 What was that like? 607 00:30:21.040 --> 00:30:22.560 Can you talk about that? 608 00:30:22.560 --> 00:30:25.933 It was extraordinary and very, very emotional. 609 00:30:27.131 --> 00:30:30.500 LeVar and Michael are wonderful men, 610 00:30:30.500 --> 00:30:34.390 and to have them visit us on the set, you know, 611 00:30:34.390 --> 00:30:36.860 in one sense it might have made me nervous, 612 00:30:36.860 --> 00:30:39.367 might have made Marina nervous, 613 00:30:39.367 --> 00:30:42.600 but instead, it was just a joy. 614 00:30:42.600 --> 00:30:45.412 Of all the people watching us work 615 00:30:45.412 --> 00:30:47.780 who could bring us 616 00:30:47.780 --> 00:30:51.970 memories, and happiness, and reassurance, and encouragement, 617 00:30:51.970 --> 00:30:54.740 it was LeVar and Michael. 618 00:30:54.740 --> 00:30:56.590 You guys create a world. 619 00:30:56.590 --> 00:30:59.680 You were part of a world that lasted a long time, 620 00:30:59.680 --> 00:31:03.260 both the series for seven seasons, and then the films. 621 00:31:03.260 --> 00:31:06.750 And as actors there's so much history there. 622 00:31:06.750 --> 00:31:08.520 The relationships among the characters 623 00:31:08.520 --> 00:31:10.000 are so well established, 624 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:12.970 And you yourself, you are viewed as one of the 625 00:31:12.970 --> 00:31:15.100 finest actors of your generation. 626 00:31:15.100 --> 00:31:17.750 And into that situation we dropped 627 00:31:18.850 --> 00:31:20.950 an extremely young woman, 628 00:31:20.950 --> 00:31:24.470 I think younger than any of us actually even quite knew. 629 00:31:24.470 --> 00:31:26.820 I'm talking about Isa Briones. 630 00:31:26.820 --> 00:31:31.437 You know, we dropped her into, for her first starring role, 631 00:31:31.437 --> 00:31:35.100 Star Trek, just the whole world of Star Trek itself, 632 00:31:35.100 --> 00:31:38.493 54 years of history, the whole history of TNG, 633 00:31:41.160 --> 00:31:44.240 and its fandom, and you, 634 00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:46.677 and said, "Here you go. 635 00:31:46.677 --> 00:31:49.100 Start acting. Jump in, right in there." 636 00:31:49.100 --> 00:31:53.060 The difference with Isa 637 00:31:53.060 --> 00:31:56.550 as opposed to the rest of our company, 638 00:31:56.550 --> 00:31:59.520 was that she was the one person 639 00:31:59.520 --> 00:32:03.990 that I asked if I could be with 640 00:32:03.990 --> 00:32:07.083 and read with her at her final audition. 641 00:32:08.020 --> 00:32:10.730 I think probably the world knows by now 642 00:32:10.730 --> 00:32:13.680 that Isa Briones came to us 643 00:32:13.680 --> 00:32:17.573 directly from the North American tour of Hamilton. 644 00:32:18.680 --> 00:32:20.433 She's a wonderful singer. 645 00:32:21.760 --> 00:32:26.580 So, I went to the casting directors' offices, 646 00:32:26.580 --> 00:32:29.420 and Isa and I worked together. 647 00:32:29.420 --> 00:32:31.750 I think we did two scenes. 648 00:32:31.750 --> 00:32:34.020 I was off camera, of course. 649 00:32:34.020 --> 00:32:38.160 But I wanted to not only have the experience 650 00:32:38.160 --> 00:32:40.963 of looking her in the eyes and working with her, 651 00:32:41.830 --> 00:32:45.530 but of seeing what it would do to her. 652 00:32:45.530 --> 00:32:47.080 I think the end result was that 653 00:32:47.080 --> 00:32:51.000 in the three roles that Isa plays in Season 1, 654 00:32:51.000 --> 00:32:54.940 her work is fascinating and extraordinary, 655 00:32:54.940 --> 00:32:59.623 and that after that audition when I said, 656 00:33:00.580 --> 00:33:01.887 you know, "She's the one," 657 00:33:02.770 --> 00:33:06.670 it has so proved to be true. 658 00:33:06.670 --> 00:33:07.700 And I'm- 659 00:33:07.700 --> 00:33:09.950 we're a young company, except for myself. 660 00:33:09.950 --> 00:33:14.950 I raise the average age horribly on this series. 661 00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:20.190 But Evan, Evan Evagora, is also a very young actor 662 00:33:20.190 --> 00:33:21.970 at the beginning of his career, 663 00:33:21.970 --> 00:33:25.030 and working with him 664 00:33:25.030 --> 00:33:27.830 I felt the same thing as I did with Isa. 665 00:33:27.830 --> 00:33:30.973 In fact, if anything, more potently. 666 00:33:32.226 --> 00:33:35.530 I really wanted to give Evan 667 00:33:36.430 --> 00:33:40.330 a feeling of security, safety, that he was... 668 00:33:41.940 --> 00:33:44.380 Nothing bad could happen to him on our set. 669 00:33:44.380 --> 00:33:47.190 Now Jonathan, who directed him, 670 00:33:47.190 --> 00:33:48.558 yelled at him a little bit. 671 00:33:50.959 --> 00:33:55.920 And I remember thinking, "Ooh, ouch. Ooh!" 672 00:33:55.920 --> 00:33:58.240 But he did exactly the right thing, 673 00:33:58.240 --> 00:34:02.070 because he didn't slap Evan in the face, 674 00:34:02.070 --> 00:34:04.527 but it was kind of like a slap. 675 00:34:04.527 --> 00:34:07.363 And I saw Evan startled, 676 00:34:09.093 --> 00:34:13.300 and then instead of just yelling back at Jonathan, 677 00:34:13.300 --> 00:34:16.080 went to his mark, and said, "Let's do the scene again." 678 00:34:16.080 --> 00:34:18.330 And bam! Then something happened, 679 00:34:18.330 --> 00:34:20.370 and it was extraordinary. 680 00:34:20.370 --> 00:34:23.440 And we've got Alison Pill, who's, 681 00:34:23.440 --> 00:34:24.273 I don't know. 682 00:34:24.273 --> 00:34:27.130 I look at Alison and I always think she's 16. 683 00:34:27.130 --> 00:34:27.963 [Michael] I know. 684 00:34:27.963 --> 00:34:29.137 I know that she's not. 685 00:34:29.137 --> 00:34:30.600 But she's also, 686 00:34:30.600 --> 00:34:33.531 she's also 75 too. 687 00:34:33.531 --> 00:34:36.080 In her soul there's a kind of- 688 00:34:36.080 --> 00:34:38.423 Oh, what, 689 00:34:38.423 --> 00:34:41.028 what phenomenal work she does. It's extraordinary. 690 00:34:41.028 --> 00:34:43.320 So, we have become, 691 00:34:45.470 --> 00:34:46.620 we've become an ensemble. 692 00:34:46.620 --> 00:34:47.900 You know, I always made a point, 693 00:34:47.900 --> 00:34:51.450 I insisted that The Next Generation was an ensemble, 694 00:34:51.450 --> 00:34:54.080 and I feel very much the same way about this. 695 00:34:54.080 --> 00:34:57.283 I'm just very lucky still to be the captain. 696 00:34:58.740 --> 00:35:01.250 [Picard] Do you ever think about shipping out again? 697 00:35:01.250 --> 00:35:04.360 [Riker] Well, I am still on active reserve. 698 00:35:04.360 --> 00:35:06.860 There would have to be a very good reason. 699 00:35:06.860 --> 00:35:10.460 I loved the scene in "Nepenthe" 700 00:35:10.460 --> 00:35:14.350 when Jonathan and I had been walking through the woods, 701 00:35:14.350 --> 00:35:15.810 drinking a mug of coffee, 702 00:35:15.810 --> 00:35:18.890 and then we went out and sat on a bench 703 00:35:18.890 --> 00:35:22.200 on a little pier over the water. 704 00:35:22.200 --> 00:35:23.033 I gotta tell you, 705 00:35:23.033 --> 00:35:25.400 that was Jonathan Frakes and Patrick Stewart. 706 00:35:26.510 --> 00:35:28.430 I mean, it felt that way. 707 00:35:28.430 --> 00:35:31.320 And I have to tell you, when I was writing that scene, 708 00:35:31.320 --> 00:35:33.950 it was Jonathan Frakes and Patrick Stewart too. 709 00:35:33.950 --> 00:35:38.950 Like, in my mind, though I've never seen you and he 710 00:35:39.030 --> 00:35:40.010 take a walk together 711 00:35:40.010 --> 00:35:43.010 or sit down and have a cup of coffee together. 712 00:35:43.010 --> 00:35:45.330 I pretended that I had, in a sense, 713 00:35:45.330 --> 00:35:46.500 when I was writing that. 714 00:35:46.500 --> 00:35:50.463 And you know, I came, I wrote that episode in order, 715 00:35:51.410 --> 00:35:52.560 you know, start to finish, 716 00:35:52.560 --> 00:35:56.053 so when I got to that moment in the writing, 717 00:35:57.070 --> 00:36:02.070 which was sort of a very frenzied 27-hour, 718 00:36:02.950 --> 00:36:04.470 with-not-much-sleep period 719 00:36:04.470 --> 00:36:05.910 when I wrote the first draft of that, 720 00:36:05.910 --> 00:36:09.453 like to come to that moment of the script, 721 00:36:10.290 --> 00:36:12.093 it felt like a reward to me. 722 00:36:13.250 --> 00:36:14.330 There were so many other, 723 00:36:14.330 --> 00:36:17.160 trying to get the emotional values right, 724 00:36:17.160 --> 00:36:19.960 the death of the son, and Soji's mental state, 725 00:36:19.960 --> 00:36:21.520 and Picard's mental state, 726 00:36:21.520 --> 00:36:23.567 and the family's relationships to each other, 727 00:36:23.567 --> 00:36:25.480 and many characters in certain scenes, 728 00:36:25.480 --> 00:36:28.030 like five characters all having to talk to each other. 729 00:36:28.030 --> 00:36:30.150 There were a lot of technical challenges 730 00:36:30.150 --> 00:36:31.570 to get to that scene, 731 00:36:31.570 --> 00:36:34.863 to be able to just have two people who love each other, 732 00:36:35.740 --> 00:36:39.590 who have come to a place of resolution 733 00:36:39.590 --> 00:36:41.080 within the episode itself, 734 00:36:41.080 --> 00:36:44.190 and in a certain way, in a much longer arc, 735 00:36:44.190 --> 00:36:47.773 and just to let them be together and talk a little bit. 736 00:36:49.580 --> 00:36:52.770 I felt a sense of relief and sort of, 737 00:36:52.770 --> 00:36:55.250 I was happy to be there with them at that moment. 738 00:36:55.250 --> 00:36:59.160 And then to see the two of you make it come to life, 739 00:36:59.160 --> 00:37:02.060 and it feels so much that way watching it. 740 00:37:02.060 --> 00:37:03.540 And everyone who watches, 741 00:37:03.540 --> 00:37:05.580 when we were going and editing, 742 00:37:05.580 --> 00:37:09.007 and the various editing people would come in and out, 743 00:37:09.007 --> 00:37:12.370 or other people come in to watch it, to watch that scene, 744 00:37:12.370 --> 00:37:14.387 as soon as it ends, everyone would just say, 745 00:37:14.387 --> 00:37:16.630 "Oh, God!" 746 00:37:16.630 --> 00:37:20.650 There's a moment in it which always moves me, 747 00:37:20.650 --> 00:37:24.190 where Jonathan puts his arm around my shoulders, 748 00:37:24.190 --> 00:37:27.700 and he says something, and then I reach up, 749 00:37:27.700 --> 00:37:30.083 and I put my hand on top of his. 750 00:37:30.083 --> 00:37:33.810 I find that very, very emotional. 751 00:37:33.810 --> 00:37:35.040 There was another scene 752 00:37:35.040 --> 00:37:40.030 which had, naturally, some of the same elements 753 00:37:40.030 --> 00:37:42.220 as my scenes with Jonathan and Marina, 754 00:37:42.220 --> 00:37:46.710 and that was almost the last scene 755 00:37:46.710 --> 00:37:49.110 in the final episode of the season, 756 00:37:49.110 --> 00:37:53.973 the long six-page duologue with Brent, with Data. 757 00:37:58.170 --> 00:38:02.410 We used up about two-thirds of the shooting day 758 00:38:02.410 --> 00:38:04.270 to make that scene. 759 00:38:04.270 --> 00:38:06.990 And actually, where I'm sitting right now, 760 00:38:06.990 --> 00:38:09.600 I am looking across my study here 761 00:38:09.600 --> 00:38:11.777 at the chair that I sat in when we played that scene. 762 00:38:11.777 --> 00:38:12.927 [Michael] Oh, really? 763 00:38:13.970 --> 00:38:16.460 Because doing that scene with Brent was so important to me, 764 00:38:16.460 --> 00:38:19.060 one of the most important scenes I've ever played anywhere, 765 00:38:19.060 --> 00:38:21.543 on stage or in television or film. 766 00:38:22.460 --> 00:38:23.293 And so, 767 00:38:25.240 --> 00:38:30.240 I went to the head of the stage settings department 768 00:38:31.710 --> 00:38:33.450 and asked if I could buy the chair 769 00:38:33.450 --> 00:38:37.160 because I wanted to be able to sit in it again. 770 00:38:37.160 --> 00:38:39.398 So there it is, sitting over there. 771 00:38:39.398 --> 00:38:40.700 That's fantastic. 772 00:38:40.700 --> 00:38:43.440 I promised them if ever we go back into that scene, 773 00:38:43.440 --> 00:38:44.720 I will, 774 00:38:44.720 --> 00:38:47.500 I will maybe not loan them, but rent the chair. 775 00:38:47.500 --> 00:38:49.233 It's gonna be very expensive, but... 776 00:38:49.233 --> 00:38:51.140 [Laughs] 777 00:38:51.140 --> 00:38:52.751 They can have it back. 778 00:38:54.350 --> 00:38:56.690 My dream for that, my just fantasy, 779 00:38:56.690 --> 00:38:59.180 was never really going to be able to happen, I knew, 780 00:38:59.180 --> 00:39:02.410 but the fantasy was to have the entire episode 781 00:39:02.410 --> 00:39:06.139 just be Picard and Data for an entire episode. 782 00:39:06.139 --> 00:39:09.203 We jokingly called it "My Dinner with Data." 783 00:39:10.499 --> 00:39:11.332 Oh, my. 784 00:39:13.320 --> 00:39:15.700 So that was the approximation. 785 00:39:15.700 --> 00:39:17.470 Well, it was- 786 00:39:17.470 --> 00:39:18.540 I know for both of us, 787 00:39:18.540 --> 00:39:21.113 I know Brent feels exactly the same way- 788 00:39:22.290 --> 00:39:25.550 there was a moment at the end of that scene 789 00:39:25.550 --> 00:39:29.270 when Picard stood up to leave the room 790 00:39:29.270 --> 00:39:31.950 because he now understands 791 00:39:31.950 --> 00:39:34.940 what it is that Data is looking for. 792 00:39:34.940 --> 00:39:37.150 He is looking for the one thing 793 00:39:37.150 --> 00:39:40.070 that makes humanity what it is, 794 00:39:40.070 --> 00:39:42.293 which is the end of life. 795 00:39:43.160 --> 00:39:48.160 And I had to get up and then turn around and say, 796 00:39:48.387 --> 00:39:49.677 "Goodbye, Commander." 797 00:39:51.300 --> 00:39:53.540 I think you were on the set that day. 798 00:39:53.540 --> 00:39:54.600 Yes, I was. 799 00:39:54.600 --> 00:39:57.113 You probably remember how many times I had to do that, 800 00:39:57.113 --> 00:40:00.130 because I would hit my mark, turn around. 801 00:40:02.101 --> 00:40:03.550 The emotions were so strong. 802 00:40:03.550 --> 00:40:05.110 I couldn't say the line. 803 00:40:05.110 --> 00:40:09.040 It was exactly the same at the end of Nemesis 804 00:40:09.040 --> 00:40:12.890 when Jonathan was in the captain's ready room 805 00:40:14.350 --> 00:40:16.260 and he said- 806 00:40:16.260 --> 00:40:18.164 it was a goodbye scene again. 807 00:40:18.164 --> 00:40:19.510 I don't know why goodbye scenes 808 00:40:19.510 --> 00:40:21.640 have such a powerful hold over me, 809 00:40:21.640 --> 00:40:25.977 but he said to me, "It's been an honor, Captain," 810 00:40:27.280 --> 00:40:28.863 and my reply was, 811 00:40:30.006 --> 00:40:33.100 "No, the honor was all mine." 812 00:40:33.100 --> 00:40:34.342 You see? 813 00:40:34.342 --> 00:40:35.890 I know. 814 00:40:35.890 --> 00:40:36.780 Chills. 815 00:40:36.780 --> 00:40:38.343 It's taking me over now. 816 00:40:39.220 --> 00:40:40.920 But that was, 817 00:40:40.920 --> 00:40:42.490 with Brent, that was the same feeling. 818 00:40:42.490 --> 00:40:45.863 And there were other moments, you know, 819 00:40:47.881 --> 00:40:50.330 when I embraced Marina 820 00:40:50.330 --> 00:40:52.083 when we were saying goodbye. 821 00:40:53.390 --> 00:40:56.830 There is one shot, slightly high-angled shot 822 00:40:56.830 --> 00:41:00.023 of the four of us with our arms around one another. 823 00:41:02.037 --> 00:41:03.090 It's beautiful. 824 00:41:03.090 --> 00:41:07.460 Have you had a fan response to, 825 00:41:07.460 --> 00:41:09.660 well, "Nepenthe" in particular? 826 00:41:09.660 --> 00:41:14.660 What people felt about bringing back Riker and Troi 827 00:41:15.390 --> 00:41:18.123 and having an encounter with Picard? 828 00:41:19.290 --> 00:41:20.150 Yes. 829 00:41:20.150 --> 00:41:23.820 At the time, when the episode first aired, 830 00:41:25.670 --> 00:41:27.690 I tried during the course of the season 831 00:41:27.690 --> 00:41:32.040 to be very engaged as the showrunner with the fans, 832 00:41:32.040 --> 00:41:33.970 and so on my Instagram feed 833 00:41:33.970 --> 00:41:37.910 I maintained a weekly question- and-answer sort of session, 834 00:41:37.910 --> 00:41:41.194 where after every episode dropped 835 00:41:41.194 --> 00:41:43.970 I would make myself available for questions. 836 00:41:43.970 --> 00:41:48.493 And so, I got a sense of reaction episode-by-episode. 837 00:41:49.840 --> 00:41:51.790 And people, for the most part, 838 00:41:51.790 --> 00:41:54.960 even if they had a negative reaction, 839 00:41:54.960 --> 00:41:56.810 they tended to be fairly polite, 840 00:41:56.810 --> 00:41:59.470 or very polite, or very respectful and courteous, 841 00:41:59.470 --> 00:42:02.287 but I could still tell from, in a way, 842 00:42:02.287 --> 00:42:05.960 the sort of nitpickiness level would go up 843 00:42:08.420 --> 00:42:10.930 as a sort of expression of dissatisfaction 844 00:42:10.930 --> 00:42:12.680 that maybe they wouldn't want to articulate, 845 00:42:12.680 --> 00:42:14.690 like, "I didn't really care for this episode"- 846 00:42:14.690 --> 00:42:17.560 not "Nepenthe," but "this particular episode." 847 00:42:17.560 --> 00:42:18.710 They wouldn't wanna say that, 848 00:42:18.710 --> 00:42:20.877 so they would ask questions like, "Why did this happen? 849 00:42:20.877 --> 00:42:21.947 And why did that happen? 850 00:42:21.947 --> 00:42:24.060 And why was it like this and not that?" 851 00:42:24.060 --> 00:42:25.490 And then I would, 852 00:42:25.490 --> 00:42:26.760 I could understand, like, 853 00:42:26.760 --> 00:42:29.793 there was maybe some dissatisfaction from certain fans. 854 00:42:32.259 --> 00:42:35.440 With "Nepenthe," it was, 855 00:42:35.440 --> 00:42:39.820 I would say of all the episodes, it was among the episodes 856 00:42:39.820 --> 00:42:41.150 where I sensed that the least, 857 00:42:41.150 --> 00:42:44.740 where there was, the most sort of uniform pleasure 858 00:42:44.740 --> 00:42:47.700 had been taken in the episode, in the characters, 859 00:42:47.700 --> 00:42:48.660 in seeing them return. 860 00:42:48.660 --> 00:42:51.940 I mean, the return of Riker and Troi was so exciting 861 00:42:51.940 --> 00:42:54.900 for fans of the show. 862 00:42:54.900 --> 00:42:58.320 It was so meaningful to see them together, 863 00:42:58.320 --> 00:42:59.453 that they're married. 864 00:43:01.220 --> 00:43:04.310 We saw them get married at the end of Nemesis, 865 00:43:04.310 --> 00:43:05.790 so we knew they had gotten married, 866 00:43:05.790 --> 00:43:07.260 but that they're still married, 867 00:43:07.260 --> 00:43:08.490 that they had children, 868 00:43:08.490 --> 00:43:10.540 they suffered this loss that's very sad. 869 00:43:12.750 --> 00:43:14.680 And I don't think I really understood, 870 00:43:16.200 --> 00:43:17.630 even as a fan myself, 871 00:43:17.630 --> 00:43:20.250 and I really am a fan 872 00:43:20.250 --> 00:43:21.470 and I love these characters, 873 00:43:21.470 --> 00:43:23.450 but I don't think I fully understood 874 00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:28.600 the longing among fans of TNG 875 00:43:28.600 --> 00:43:32.860 to know what has happened to the character, 876 00:43:32.860 --> 00:43:35.193 to be told, like, 877 00:43:36.150 --> 00:43:36.983 "Where are they?" 878 00:43:36.983 --> 00:43:40.830 So, right now, in canon, on the show itself, 879 00:43:40.830 --> 00:43:43.653 we don't really know where Geordi is. 880 00:43:44.510 --> 00:43:46.660 It hasn't been said. 881 00:43:46.660 --> 00:43:48.110 Is he alive or dead? 882 00:43:48.110 --> 00:43:52.390 We would assume he's alive because in Episode 883 00:43:52.390 --> 00:43:54.850 1 or 2, I can't remember now, 884 00:43:54.850 --> 00:43:57.767 Zhaban suggests to Picard, like, 885 00:43:57.767 --> 00:43:59.710 "Maybe you should ring up some of your old friends," 886 00:43:59.710 --> 00:44:01.790 and he names a few. 887 00:44:01.790 --> 00:44:03.423 But he doesn't mention Crusher. 888 00:44:04.812 --> 00:44:06.963 He just happens not to mention Crusher. 889 00:44:09.060 --> 00:44:10.220 He mentions three people, 890 00:44:10.220 --> 00:44:11.615 but he doesn't say anything about Crusher, 891 00:44:11.615 --> 00:44:14.480 and Crusher's not really referred to at all 892 00:44:14.480 --> 00:44:15.950 in the course of the season- 893 00:44:15.950 --> 00:44:17.520 Beverly Crusher, I mean. 894 00:44:17.520 --> 00:44:19.490 So, that creates this anxiety 895 00:44:19.490 --> 00:44:21.020 that I didn't actually really understand. 896 00:44:21.020 --> 00:44:23.607 Like, people are out there saying, "Is she okay? 897 00:44:23.607 --> 00:44:25.357 What happened to Beverly Crusher?" 898 00:44:27.870 --> 00:44:31.800 So, the sense of pleasure is partly a sense of relief 899 00:44:31.800 --> 00:44:33.577 when they see Riker and Troi together 900 00:44:33.577 --> 00:44:35.740 and they're still married. 901 00:44:35.740 --> 00:44:38.530 There's a kind of added pleasure 902 00:44:38.530 --> 00:44:41.130 just from being told they're still with us, 903 00:44:41.130 --> 00:44:43.180 that they're still alive. 904 00:44:43.180 --> 00:44:45.740 I didn't really understand that, and 905 00:44:46.790 --> 00:44:48.090 I knew it would make people happy. 906 00:44:48.090 --> 00:44:49.210 I imagined it would make people happy, 907 00:44:49.210 --> 00:44:52.230 but I didn't understand that there's a kind of longing 908 00:44:52.230 --> 00:44:55.150 to know and to be reassured. 909 00:44:55.150 --> 00:44:57.150 You know, you want the dream to continue. 910 00:44:57.150 --> 00:44:58.950 You don't want the dream to be over. 911 00:45:00.440 --> 00:45:04.040 I look on that as being a wonderful compliment. 912 00:45:04.040 --> 00:45:05.740 Patrick, this was so much fun for me. 913 00:45:05.740 --> 00:45:07.430 Just getting to spend any kind of time with you 914 00:45:07.430 --> 00:45:08.963 is always such a pleasure. 915 00:45:10.150 --> 00:45:11.549 I really enjoyed talking to you. 916 00:45:11.549 --> 00:45:14.170 And I'd like to thank everybody for watching and listening, 917 00:45:14.170 --> 00:45:16.713 and we'll see you on down the road. 918 00:45:23.320 --> 00:45:24.970 Two to beam up.