Summary
- Patrick Stewart defends Jean-Luc Picard's F-bomb in Star Trek: Picard season 3, stating it was appropriate for his character's emotional state and to make an impact on viewers.
- Director Jonathan Frakes encouraged Stewart's ad-lib and believed the use of the curse word was understandable and suitable given the intense situation in the scene.
- Swearing has been present in previous Star Trek series, so Picard's use of the F-bomb was a reminder that even a legendary space hero like him is still human.
Patrick Stewart explains Admiral Jean-Luc Picard's controversial F-bomb, which was his own ad-lib in Star Trek: Picard season 3. In Picard season 3, episode 4, "No Win Scenario," Jean-Luc recounts a story from his past to his son, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), where Picard and Jack's namesake, Lt. Jack R. Crusher (Doug Wert) were lost in a shuttlecraft for "ten f***ing grueling hours." While many fans applauded Picard's realistic speech, others objected to Jean-Luc's using that particular curse word, including Screen Rant, and it ignited an online debate about swearing in Star Trek.
In Star Trek: Picard season 3's home video release, there is a featurette in disc 3 called "The Making of The Last Generation" that goes in-depth behind the scenes of the final season of Picard. There, Patrick Stewart details his rationale behind Jean-Luc Picard's unexpected F-bomb. Read his quote below:
When you use language, you use it sometimes in a certain way in order to have an impact, not just on the character you’re addressing, but on the audience who are watching. And I felt that this was arguably appropriate because Picard was almost out of control. He was out of control – the fact that he used the language he did. I regret if people were offended, but it was not something we did for pure sensationalism. It was something that we did because he had lost control.
