How Patrick Stewart Helped Save One Of The Best ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Episodes

“The Inner Light” is one of the most highly-regarded episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but the episode may have fallen apart mid-production if not for Patrick Stewart lending an extra hand.

Star Trek: The Next Generation producer Peter Lauritson was taking his first crack at directing with “The Inner Light,” but things were not going very well.

“One of things that isn’t too well known about this episode, is that the director of this episode hadn’t directed anything before, and he was very insecure, terrific man great at what he actually did, his other job,” Stewart recalled during a panel at this year’s Star Trek Las Vegas convention (via Trek Movie). “At lunchtime on our first day, the director of photography [Marvin Rush] took me aside and said, ‘We have a problem. Here’s what I propose, I think we’re going to have run this episode pretty much ourselves, so here’s what I suggest: I will direct the cameras, you direct the actors.’

“A difficult situation to be in, but I found myself in the company of actors whom I could express myself freely to and talk about the work that we were doing,” Stewart continued, “it was one of the most authentic and rewarding experiences that I had.”

Margot Rose, the guest star who played Eline in “The Inner Light,” noted that the assistance was well-received.

“The original director was grateful for the help, you and Marvin [Rush], you were so gracious, there was no pushing aside or hostility or resentment, it was just ‘we need to help,’” she said.

It seems that, despite the odd circumstances surrounding production, everything about “The Inner Light” turned out for the best, though the plans for a sequel episode never quite materialized.

The story of “The Inner Light” involves a mysterious alien probe coming into contact with Captain Jean-Luc Picard. The encounter transposes Picard’s consciousness into a different person in a different life. Picard, as Kamin, lives an entire lifetime as a married man with his wife Eline. Picard is awakened from this life to discover that only 25 minutes have passed on the Enterprise, though he maintains the memories of the other life he lived.