Across the greatly treasured cosmic dimension of Star Trek reside some of the most legendary characters of all time, including Jean-Lu Picard, Ben Sisko, and Spock, to list a few. And yet, the quasi-omnipotent and wholly bratty alley/antagonist, portrayed by John de Lancie in an assortment of Star Trek series, is perhaps one of the most iconic bestowments of the sci-fi franchise.
In the eyes of Q, however, there is only one icon who could truly live up to the moniker and for whom his love – which albeit takes on a mischievous form at times – knows no bounds. And it’s, you guessed it right, the one and only, Patrick Stewart’s passionate intellectual by day and the sultan of hopepunk (it’s a subgenre of speculative fiction in pop culture) by night, Picard.
Star Trek – Q and Picard Were Lovebirds
Sure, there are times when Jean-Lu Picard seemed entirely fed up with Q and his perpetual antics, but no one (not even Captain Picard himself) can deny the special bond between the two. The retired Starfleet Admiral is “the closest thing [Q has] for a friend,” after all, something Q himself admits in ‘Deja Q’ (S3; E13), one of the episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
And as if it wasn’t clear enough already from their vivid chemistry and round-the-clock banter, Q and Picard’s friendship went beyond a platonic level, morphing into the sweet spot that exists just between love and hate.
That’s right, John de Lancie’s Q was very much in love with Picard, who was played by Patrick Stewart, and this titillating detail was provided by none other than screenwriter Ron Moore himself in Issue 90 of Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection magazine (via Looper).
Q was in love with Picard, for some reason. That was the underpinning of the relationship… The weird love affair that he had going with Jean-Luc made that whole thing work.
The episode (S6; E16) wherein Q appears in Picard’s bed and wakes him up with a comically sultry, “Morning darling,” doesn’t seem all too innocent under this romantic subtext of their relationship, now does it?
Patrick Stewart Was in Tears in the Last Episode of Star Trek: Picard
Star Trek: Picard may have gained polarizing traction from fans, but the show – which was released as a part of Alex Kurtzman’s expanded Star Trek universe starring part-archaeologist and part-philosopher (throw politician and intellectual in that mix as well) Jean-Lu Picard, managed to move Patrick Stewart to tears.
When Stewart, 83, was filming his last scene with de Lancie, 73, in Star Trek: Picard season 2, both the actors found themselves in tears when, after decades of working together, it was time to bid farewell to his co-star (TrekMovie.com).
When John [de Lancie] and I shot our last scene, and the director announced that it was goodbye to John, I found that we were both of us with tears in our eyes. And, in a sense, we were still being Q and Picard. Those tears represented history. But at the same time, it was just the closing of the sheer delight of working with someone like John de Lancie who brought so much to every single moment and every shot that we did and every scene that we were rehearsed.
So, if you think Q and Picard’s friendship only existed on the screen, think again.
Both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard can be streamed on Paramount+
