Family


 * For other uses of the word family, please see Family (disambiguation).

"Family" was the second episode of the fourth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This episode takes place several weeks after the Borg attack on Earth shown in the episode "The Best of Both Worlds".

Sypnosis
In this episode the Enterprise-D is docked at Earth Station McKinley, undergoing repairs and refitting after being seriously damaged by the Borg. During the repairs many of the crew are either visiting family or receiving visits from family members.

Jean-Luc Picard is still recovering after the physical and mental traumas inflicted on him by the Borg. Having made considerable progress with the help of Doctor Crusher and Deanna Troi, he decides to visit his family home in France. He makes even further progress with the help of his brother and his family. Despite years of conflict, Picard's brother is able to help him start to come to terms with all the suffering and death that the Borg caused.

At about the same time Lt. Worf's foster parents visit him on board the Enterprise.

Wesley Crusher also "meets" his father through a hologram video that was left for him when he was 10 weeks old.

During the course of the repairs, the warp core's dilithium chamber hatch is removed and replaced. This hatch has an undetectable flaw, which later explodes just before the events of the episode The Drumhead.

Trivia

 * David Tristan Birkin who played Captain Picard's nephew René in this episode also played the young version of Picard in the Season 6 episode "Rascals".


 * This episode is one of only three episodes which does not contain a shot of the Enterprise's bridge; the others being "A Fistful of Datas" and "Liaisons".


 * The song Picard and his brother Robert sing after fighting in the mud is a classic French song Auprès de ma Blonde.


 * This episode is featured on the Star Trek: The Next Generation - Jean-Luc Picard Collection DVD set for Region 1 only. It is the third of seven episodes featured, on disc 1 of the two-disc set.