Reasons why Captain Jean-Luc Picard was the best

For Star Trek fans, there’s one battle that never ends. The eternal debate about who is the best Captain among all the captains in the franchise. Some will fight for Kirk, there’s a Sisko army, those behind Janeway and others rooting for Picard. Each of these Captains had a lot of influence during their stints at the helm of the spaceship, and their fans make compelling arguments as to why they were the best ever. In this article, we’ll look at reasons why Captain Jean-Luc Picard was the best.

When talking didn’t work, his kicks did

Picard was a Captain known for his oratory skills. He was good at navigating any situation as diplomatically as possible. However, when talking couldn’t get him out of a sticky situation, he had other means. Films are full of ‘dangerous men’ with hoards of fighters to take down their enemies for them, with them having no fighting skills whatsoever. Picard is the opposite. He’s the leader of his crew and he can fight to hold his own, single handed. A good example is in “Starship Mine” when he walks in on a group of mercenaries in his ship looking to steal trilithium. With a combination of brawn and brain, he takes them all out.

He knows what to do even when he doesn’t

It’s very important for a leader to seem in control even when he isn’t, for the sake of his crew. When Picard had no idea what to do, he acted like he did. He always had a plan in hand for any crisis, or not so as Dr. Crusher discovered when the two were kidnapped together. The two are telepathically linked, and after escaping Dr. Crusher is able to gather from Picard’s thoughts that she can hear that he really doesn’t know where they’re headed. She asks him about it and he owns up, telling her that at times when he has no idea what to do, it’s very important for him as Captain to give the appearance of confidence.

He breaks his crew out of their comfort zones

Everyone on the ship has a specific role to play, their kind of contribution to the entire team. However, sometimes one gets an assignment that has nothing to do with their expertise, and they would be reluctant to do it. However, Picard would have none of this, making them do something they’re not entirely comfortable with. It’s his way of tuning his crew to be able to rise to any occasion whenever necessary, and it has always worked.

He can bend the rules

People in authority who can bend the rules once in a while for the greater good are probably the kind of leader anyone would love to have, and this is the kind of Captain that Jean-Luc Picard was. And no, Picard wasn’t laxant when it came to rules. He upheld Starfleet regulations and Federation law to the core. However, when he had a good reason to, he didn’t hesitate in bending the rules. There was one time when he went against Starfleet and helped destroy a Borg cube that was attacking earth. Then when he helped save Data’s pen pal and her planet that was on the verge of demise.