Talk:The Inner Light (episode)

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Contents 1 Episode talk page 1.1 Maintenance links 2 Writer comments 3 Similarity to Superman? 4 Unsourced opinion 5 Removed comments

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[edit] Writer comments

These comments were recently posted by the author of this episode. Thought I'd post it here until I or someone else got a chance to harvest useful data.--StAkAr Karnak 19:23, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

Here are his comments, saved for antiquity, in case said blog goes offline:

As the writer of "Inner Light," I enjoyed reading yor comments. The journey form pitch to script was arduous -- I brought some version of this story to the producers seven times before it was even approved as a story in development. But what each incarnaton had in common was a "mental probe" of some sort that beamed experiences directly in to the recipient's head. Originally, it was a riff on the Fuji blimp -- a 30th century adverstising tool, which Picard and crew didn't realize at first. The tale grew in richness as the "blimp" became a probe whose purpose was to pass along the memory of this dead civilization.

As a huge Beatles fan, I thought it would be fun to name this episode after an obscure B-side track -- and (I thought this was obvious) "Inner Light" (I dropped the "the" for the screen title) captured the theme of the show: that Picard experienced a lifetime of memories all in his head.

Incidentally, I later pitched a sequel to this episode that I think fans would have liked to see. Remember, all the people in his inner light experience were really actors in this "video loop" sent out by the probe. What if, I posited, the Kataan civilization actually had a Plan B - a rudimentary space vehicle that could be launched - and what if Aline (Picard's "wife"), or, more acurately, the Kataan actress who played Aline, was selected to be maong those few survivors who would be sent off before the Supernova hit? And so, my episode-to-be went, the Enterprise encounters the Kataan ship - Aline is revived from suspended animation - and brought on board. To Picard, THIS WAS HIS WIFE! All his thoughts are 100% real - hence his ability to play that alien flute at the end of "Inner Light" (quick PS - the producers made fine sport of me for suggesting this bit and all had a good laugh; but somehow they decidced to give it a go and I've heard form fans who consider it one of th emost moving episodes in the series) -- so here he is with his long-gone wife - and she doesn't know him form a hole in the wall! Interesting dynamic, isn't it?

The producers again said no.

Welcome to showbiz.

- Morgan Gendel

[edit] Similarity to Superman?

I'm surprised the Trivia or References sections don't mention the similarities between this story and Jor-El being the only scientist on Krypton to try to save/preserve their world's memory. I don't know if it's the sort of info you'd want on there, so I thought I'd post it here in the Discussion area.

[edit] Unsourced opinion

Eline's constant reminders to Kamin to put away his shoes are a metaphor to that he is literally walking in another man's shoes. Her final words are "Remember, put away your shoes."

I'm taking this out, as it is an unsourced interpretation of the episode, not a fact. AndroidFan 18:38, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Removed comments

Removed the following comments:

By its own admission is not certain: * "Kamin" is German and Russian for "fireplace" and Swedish for "stove". Whether this has a deeper meaning or is just coincidence is not certain.

Unless connected to the ep somehow, incidental things shouldn't be in articles:* Incidentally, "Kataan" is Hebrew for "small" (קטן)

Nitpick: * In the final scene when Picard is inspecting the flute it is clearly visible that there is no hole for the air to blow through.

Not relevant to MA: * The term inner light is used by Douglas R. Hofstadter and Daniel C. Dennett in the introduction to their anthology The Mind's I (1981) to describe consciousness: "From the inside, consciousness seems to be an all-or-nothing phenomenon – an inner light that is either on or off."--31dot 22:18, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Removed the following comment, as we generally don't note similarities unless they were deliberate and there is proof of it.

• The idea of imparting a lifetime of memories in a short period of time was also used when Miles O'Brien was convicted of espionage by the Argrathi (DS9: "Hard Time").--31dot 00:07, 30 August 2008 (UTC)