Star Trek The Next Generation
S2E17
· Samaritan Snare

Picard Guards His Secret Surgery

Aboard the shuttle, Picard deliberately clinicalizes his upcoming cardiac replacement—quoting Van Doren's two-point-four percent mortality—to reframe the operation as manageable while shutting down Wesley's curiosity. His statistic is a veneer of command: beneath it sits a desire for privacy and fear of becoming spectacle. When Wesley presses, Picard curtly invokes 'personal reasons' and retreats into a book, protecting his vulnerability, mentoring by boundary, and quietly foreshadowing the medical danger to come.

Plot Beats

The narrative micro-steps within this event

4

Picard lowers his reading and punctures the silence with a clinical stat about Van Doren’s cardiac replacement—only a two-point-four-percent mortality—then clarifies for a startled Wesley. He frames the surgery as a controllable risk, trying to command the moment with numbers.

detachment to clinical reassurance

Wesley calls the odds good, and Picard lets the mask slip—he doesn’t want his innards becoming Starfleet gossip. The statistical armor gives way to a personal stake in privacy.

rational calm to guarded vulnerability

Wesley presses—why not let Doctor Pulaski handle it discreetly? Picard shuts it down with "personal reasons," reasserting the boundary and halting further inquiry.

curiosity to shut-down

Picard retreats behind his reading, ending the exchange. Wesley swallows his questions, his curiosity smothered by the captain’s wall.

curiosity to resignation

Who Was There

Characters present in this moment

2
Wesley Crusher
Acting Ensign
 primary

Curiosity mingled with concern; temporarily unsettled when his mentor shuts him down, accepting the boundary reluctantly.

Sits across from Picard, curious and deferential; presses politely for information about the surgeon and the operation, then withdraws when Picard cites 'personal reasons'.

Goals in this moment
  • • Understand the seriousness and logistics of Picard's surgery.
  • • Offer a trusted alternative (Pulaski) and seek reassurance for Picard's safety.
  • • Strengthen mentorship bond through honest conversation.
Active beliefs
  • • Picard will be honest if there is reason to be worried.
  • • Trusted colleagues (like Pulaski) are appropriate custodians of sensitive medical information.
Character traits
respectful inquisitive deferential sensitive
Follow Wesley Crusher's journey
Jean-Luc Picard
Captain
 primary

Guarded professionalism masking private unease; uses clinical detachment to avoid emotional exposure and preserve dignity.

Sitting in the shuttle, briefly sets aside a book to deliver a concise, clinical summary of the surgery's risk; then returns to reading to terminate further inquiry and shield his private fear.

Goals in this moment
  • • Prevent personal medical details from becoming shipboard gossip.
  • • Reassure (on the surface) to reduce alarm while maintaining control of the narrative.
  • • Establish a boundary that protects his privacy and authority.
Active beliefs
  • • Personal vulnerability must not undermine crew confidence or invite speculation.
  • • Framing danger as a statistic will neutralize emotional interrogation and preserve command.
Character traits
controlled disciplined deflective authoritative
Follow Jean-Luc Picard's journey

Objects Involved

Significant items in this scene

1
Picard's Cardiac Replacement Procedure

The cardiac replacement procedure functions as the central but abstract object of the exchange: Picard invokes its empirical mortality rate to depersonalize the risk, using the procedure rhetorically to close conversation and to conceal emotional stakes.

Before: Known to Picard and implicitly planned; an imminent, …
After: Referred to and rhetorically contained; remains scheduled and …
Before: Known to Picard and implicitly planned; an imminent, confidential medical action occupying Picard's mind but not physically present in the shuttle.
After: Referred to and rhetorically contained; remains scheduled and confidential, its personal implications silenced in the shuttle but foreshadowed for later narrative consequences.

Narrative Connections

How this event relates to others in the story

What led here 1
Character Continuity medium

"Picard labels his trip a matter of ‘vanity,’ later revealing his deeper motive: protecting privacy and image around his surgery."

Captain's Privilege
S2E17 · Samaritan Snare
What this causes 2
Callback

"Picard’s fear of gossip and loss of image is echoed when he returns and explicitly buries any ‘brush with death’ talk."

Picard Reclaims Command and Buries the Brush with Death
S2E17 · Samaritan Snare
Foreshadowing

"Picard’s mortality statistic foreshadows the unexpected surgical complications that nearly kill him."

Metabilator Failure — Picard's Life Hangs
S2E17 · Samaritan Snare

Key Dialogue

"PICARD: Van Doren's technique has been perfected to two point four percent."
"WESLEY: Those are pretty good odds."
"PICARD: Let's just say I have personal reasons and leave it at that, shall we?"