How one word on Star Trek: Picard set Star Trek Twitter ablaze

Star Trek: Picard is surprising everyone this season with returning characters and the appearance of new words…well, new for one character.

Those of us who grew up watching all the various iterations of Star Trek got used to a certain type of Star Trek. Of course that had a lot to do with what creator Gene Roddenberry did and didn’t allow. Even after Roddenberry’s passing in 1991, the writers generally stuck to those rules, even in the movies when more profanity was allowed.

Patrick Stewart’s character, Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, has always managed to express himself succintly without the input of words that, to a lot of fans, were “totally out of character. “That changed with last week’s episode during a conversation Picard had with the son he never knew he had, Jack Crusher. In the holodeck recreation of Ten Forward, Picard shares a story with Jack and inserts  an adjective to describe the grueling hours he was discussing.

"“Ten f—-ing grueling hours”"

Star Trek: Picard is stirring up the fans with this season of the series.

That was all it took to set Twitter ablaze with fans who were both displeased with the newest addition to Picard’s vocabulary and those who felt it was about time. Some even felt it was past time as if he was going to use the word, Star Trek: First Contact, would have been the better opportunity.

Christopher Monfette, the Paramount+ show’s co-executive producer, even took to Twitter to open up a line of dialogue about the use of the word as he was curious as to why some people were upset with Picard’s word choice. And he offered some explanation himself.

"When you really dial into the character – what you discover is that Picard isn’t so much eloquent as poised. He’s educated, yes. Reflective, self-aware. Guardedly emotional. But he’s direct. He chooses his language purposefully."

Apparently, so does Stewart as Star Trek: Picard showrunner Terry Matalas [via Forbes] said the F-word wasn’t in the script. Instead, it was a decision that Stewart made in the moment. So perhaps he felt the line needed something a little more.

Monfette confirmed the word was Stewart’s choice.

"“Underscored by the fact that it was an improv from Patrick himself — who guards JL’s dialogue fiercely — moved to use that word in a moment of raw honesty. Also. Side-note. The best, most brutal curses I’ve ever heard have come from Dames, Sirs and West End, award-winning Brits”"

It is shocking when someone who has never used a certain word chooses to utilize it. But we all know how much Star Trek means to Stewart and the rest of the actors who’ve been fortunate to be a part of it. It’s certainly not something Stewart would take lightly, and while “that” word isn’t one you’d want to see him use all the time, to emphasize a point, it certainly worked. That’s why everyone is talking about it.