John de Lancie returned to Star Trek despite hating a key aspect of Picard

No man in Star Trek history has achieved so much in such few appearances. John de Lancie is one of the few figures in all of Star Trek who can compel an audience to stay tuned to every word and movement he expresses. You'd think that with that staying power, he's been in hundreds of episodes. That's not the case though.

He hasn't even been in a whole season's worth of shows. In fact, in his entire history, across five shows, de Lancie's Q has only been in 22 episodes. Nine of which were in Star Trek: Picard, the show that holds the distinction of having the most apperances by the famed character. Whether that's a note you want to celebrate is entirely up to you.

We're not trying to be hard on Star Trek: Picard, but the show left more fans upset than they were satisfied. Each season falls apart in a brand new, and wholly different way. Disappointing fans each and every time. Yet, the second season failed so hard because they misused Q. The character is among the best parts of The Next Generation's entire arc. He's a whimsical, unserious character, who comes in to bring sweeping declarations and challenges that once felt unobtainable.

He's got the power of a god but the maturity of a child. It's made for some fantastic encounters, as there's very little you can do to Q, except appease him in some form or fashion. That doesn't mean he's without compassion, after all, Q did warn Jean-Luc Picard about the pressing Borg threat. Even if he did nearly get the entire crew killed or assimilated in the process.

Yet, when he went to Picard, he was a very serious man. Completely void of the uniquness that made Q who he was. Yet, despite that, the biggest issue that de Lancie had with reprising his role was that Q was dying.

de Lancie hated that idea, telling ScreenRant;

"Well, I wasn't happy about the dying part because I just kept saying, "You know, this is Star Trek." Star Trek deals with big issues. If you're going to have me die, which is fine, we need to delve into that. And quite frankly, death is perhaps the biggest human issue that there is. And we need to delve into it. And they didn't delve into it. "

While series creator Terry Matalas figured out a way to bring back de Lancie and Q, it was a huge mistake in the first place. It was one that really ruined Picard in a way that was not recoverable. Picard and its creative forces continued to prove that despite their command of Star Trek, their understanding was always in doubt. de Lancie of all people had to be the one who pointed out why this doesn't work.

Hopefully, the next time we see Q and de Lancie, it's on a different show that is significantly more in line with what fans want.