Original artwork, not a still
There are four lights!
— Star Trek: The Next Generation · 1987
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is the show's one scene where Picard is physically broken, and the refusal to say what the torturer wants is its whole point: a diplomat and scholar holds on to the plain truth when he has lost everything else. Patrick Stewart's shouting delivery is a high point of the series. The line travels as a general shorthand for refusing to accept a lie you are pushed to repeat, with Orwell's 2+2=5 behind it.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Star Trek: The Next GenerationShow the scene
In the two-part "Chain of Command" (Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 6, 1992; Part II written by Frank Abatemarco, directed by Les Landau), a Starfleet mission goes wrong and Captain Picard is captured by the Cardassians. Gul Madred drugs and tortures him in a bare cell, trying to break him. Madred sets four lights behind his desk and tells Picard to say that he sees five, in return for an end to the pain and a life of comfort. Picard keeps counting four, and at the end tells Counselor Troi he came close to really seeing five.
Sources (1)
- Memory Alpha: Chain Of Command, Part II (episode)Summary, Background informationReference checked
Context reviewed
