Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 3 - "Seventeen Seconds"The disparate command styles of Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Captain William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) came to a head in Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 3, which also tacitly pitted the cerebral, philosophical pace of Star Trek: The Next Generation against the action-oriented machismo of the TNG movies. When Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick) is injured, he gives Riker command of the USS Titan-A and charges Will with getting his crew to safety, a task easier said than done. Meanwhile, the honeymoon of Riker and Picard's season 3 team-up is now over.

A bemused Admiral Picard slid into the role of Riker's "Number One," but amusing joke aside, Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 3's crisis quickly placed the two at loggerheads over the best tactics to use against Captain Vadic (Amanda Plummer) and the Shrike. The Titan has major disadvantages: No matter where they ran in the Ryton nebula, Vadic is able to track them because of a Changeling saboteur aboard. Worse, the Shrike is armed with a portal-making weapon stolen from Daystrom Station. In spite of their decades of experience from commanding the USS Enterprise-D and E in TNG and the movies, as well as Riker's time as Captain of the Titan, Will and Jean-Luc's struggle against the Shrike turned into a conflict against each other.

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Picard Wanting To Fight Vadic Reverts To His TNG Movie Command Style

admiral picard titan bridge

Analyzing the Titan's dire situation against the Shrike, Admiral Picard concluded that "now is the time to fight!" Picard and Riker's tactic of detonating a torpedo so that its shockwave buffeted the Shrike away emboldened Jean-Luc that action would save their skins against Captain Vadic. Yet Riker was in command of the Titan, and out of respect for his friend, Picard yielded to the Captain and bit his tongue when Will opted to flee from the Shrike. Picard later accused Riker of allowing his fear of loss to determine his tactics.

Interestingly, Picard reverted to his command style in the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies. The Picard of the films was more of an action hero than he was in TNG's seven seasons, and the movies' Captain had a habit of taking matters into his own hands - and winning. Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) called Vadic a "Jean-Luc Picard-size enemy," and the Picard of the TNG movies would confront and defeat such a foe. Admiral Picard wanted the same aggression from Captain Riker, but he was disappointed that Will chose to remain on the defensive.

Riker's Caution Is More Like Picard In TNG

Picard Riker Bridge Season 3

Alternatively, Captain Riker surprisingly opted to be cautious and to run from the Shrike (echoing Picard's orders at the end of Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 2). This is an ironic reversal since the youthful Riker of TNG was more daring compared to his stoic Captain on the Enterprise-D. The TNG Picard preferred negotiation and understanding to violence, but he markedly reversed his style in the films. For Captain Riker, preserving the safety of the Titan's crew was more important than defeating Captain Vadic in battle.

In Riker's defense, he also clearly understood that the Titan was outmatched by the Shrike. Vadic's fearsome vessel contained every weapon known to Starfleet in abundance, and it could smash the Titan effortlessly. Riker's best bet was to outmaneuver Vadic and escape the Ryton nebula so that the Titan could warp back into Federation space. But Vadic deploying her portal weapon on the Titan changed the rules of engagement.

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Picard Season 3 Reaffirms TNG's Values Over The Movies

Picard Titan Ready Room

In a stunning result, Admiral Picard's call to action ended up backfiring with devastating consequences. Jean-Luc's choice to fight Vadic resulted in the Shrike utilizing its portal weapon in a defensive feint. The Titan's missiles passed through the portal and ended up striking the Titan's rear, disabling it, and sending the helpless starship into the Ryton nebula's gravity well. Captain Riker immediately regretted his choice to heed Picard's desire to take Vadic on, and he removed the Admiral from the bridge. "You just killed us all!" Riker condemned the stunned Picard.

The dire predicament of the Titan at the end of Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 3, underscores TNG's values were better than the movies. Captain Picard of Star Trek: First Contact, Insurrection, and Nemesis would "draw the line" and fight until he won, but Admiral Picard is, sadly, many years removed from his prime as a starship commander. Meanwhile, Riker may indeed have been overly cautious and affected by his fears of dying without reconciling with his estranged wife, Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis). Star Trek: Picard season 3 is designed as a 10-hour TNG movie and plays by those rules, but had Riker and Picard dipped into Star Trek: The Next Generation's playbook of negotiation with Captain Vadic, it's possible they might have saved the Titan.

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Star Trek: Picard Season 3 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.