History YMMV / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E10ChainOfCommand

* RealismInducedHorror: With the exception of the pain device, everything the Cardassians do to torture Picard ''was'' taken from Amnesty International archives in a terrifying case of ShownTheirWork. Stripping for the purposes of humiliation? Check. Deliberately acting to dehumanize the prisoner and negate their identity and dignity? Check. "Stress positions", aka suspending the prisoner by their arms in such a way that their feet barely touch the floor, for long periods of time? Check. Idea that non-official combatants aka "terrorists" are not covered by conventions forbidding torture? Check. Offering to let the prisoner go, but doing so will mean torturing their family and friends? Check. Objective of breaking the prisoner through distorting their perception of reality, successful to the point of producing hallucinations? ''Check.'' Creator/PatrickStewart carefully studied the behavior of the victims to get the broken, defeated look just right and even insisted on being naked on set.

* HilariousInHindsight: Seeing how Creator/DavidWarner starred as Bob Cratchit in [[Film/AChristmasCarol1984 the 1984 adaptation]] of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' and Creator/PatrickStewart would later star in a one-man stage version as well as play Ebenezer Scrooge in [[Film/AChristmasCarol the 1999 adaptation]], one may imagine the episode as being [[WhosLaughingNow Bob Cratchit brutally getting back at Scrooge for years of mistreatment]].

* OpenToInterpretation we never saw the lights the final time Picard was asked how many lights, and he did admit to seeing five lights, perhaps Gul Madred did show him five lights at the end to mess with him

-->'''Picard:''' When I look at you now, I won't see a powerful Cardassian officer... but a small boy weeping because he was powerless to protect himself.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Captain Edward Jellico is one of ''Franchise/StarTrek'''s most polarizing characters. His fans see him as a bold, effective captain who quickly prepared the Federation flagship for what could have been a large scale war, and then magnificently outwitted the Cardassians to prevent said war (and, not incidentally, rescue Picard from a life of torture). He is also thought of as being justified in taking Riker off duty because Riker did a really bad job of hiding his dislike of the new captain, who as a new commander in a crisis ''needs'' supportive officers, and Riker was undermining his command while failing to follow orders, from literally the first order Jellico gave Riker. His detractors consider him a huge JerkAss with [[TyrantTakesTheHelm an unhealthy need to control everything]], no trust in the crew he was commanding, and no willingness to listen to objections, alternatives, or opinions that didn't match his own. Fans who aren't invested in the argument think that he is basically both.

--> '''Picard:''' ...I actually believed that I could see five lights.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Is Jellico a micromanager and something of a dick? Yes. But he's also got a point that the ''Enterprise'' is a little too MildlyMilitary, given that they're potentially days from a major war, and their ship will be a central command point. He wants big changes, and wants them right away, because entire battles may turn on how prepared the ship is. While Deanna's suggestions about granting the crew more time for the transition, sound reasonable, Jellico also has a valid point that they simply don't have time to slow down. That conflict makes sense in-universe: The ''Enterprise'' is normally tasked with exploratory or diplomatic missions, shutting down their science labs to get on a war footing is a big adjustment for the crew to make, but it's necessary under the circumstances. Had the Federation ended up in a shooting war, Jellico's changes very well might have saved all their lives.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Captain Edward Jellico is one of ''Franchise/StarTrek'''s most polarizing characters. His fans see him as a bold, effective captain who quickly prepared the Federation flagship for what could have been a large scale war, and then magnificently outwitted the Cardassians to prevent said war (and, not incidentally, rescue Picard from a life of torture). He is also thought of as being justified in taking Riker off duty because Riker did a really bad job of hiding his dislike of the new captain, who as a new commander in a crisis ''needs'' supportive officers, and Riker was undermining his command while failing to follow orders, from literally the first order Jellicoe gave Riker. His detractors consider him a huge JerkAss with [[TyrantTakesTheHelm an unhealthy need to control everything]], no trust in the crew he was commanding, and no willingness to listen to objections, alternatives, or opinions that didn't match his own. Fans who aren't invested in the argument think that he is basically both.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Is Jellico a micromanager and something of a dick? Yes. But he's also got a point that the ''Enterprise'' is a little too MildlyMilitary even by Starfleet's standards, that in literally days they could be the central command on the frontline of a major war and that dealing with the transition from research and diplomacy to combat begins from the command team on down. They don't even have bridge stations for Weapons Status or Damage Control until he comes along. While Deanna's suggestion, to grant the crew a bit more time for the transition and for getting to know each other, sounds reasonable, Jellico also has a valid point in stating that their current mission simply doesn't provide said time for that. Even the conflict makes sense in-universe: The ''Enterprise'' is normally tasked with exploratory or diplomatic missions, with combat generally occurring only when somebody else initiates hostilities. Much of the crew consists of scientists for whom military duties are very much a secondary job function. Jellico is pretty obviously a military specialist and would probably fail in many of the situations that the ''Enterprise'' encounters. But he is ideally suited for command during a conflict situation, it is just that the ''Enterprise'' is not the optimal kind of starship for a captain like him. Even then he's shown making some connections with the crew, and if they'd had to probably would have eventually found the proper way to work together. That wound up not being necessary, thankfully.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Captain Edward Jellico is one of ''Franchise/StarTrek'''s most polarizing characters. His fans see him as a bold, effective officer who quickly prepared the Federation Flagship for what could have been a large scale war that his ship was going to be in charge of prosecuting, and then magnificently outwitted the Cardassians to prevent said war. He is also thought of as being justified in taking Riker off duty because Riker did a really bad job of hiding his dislike of the new captain, who as a new commander in a crisis ''needs'' supportive officers, and Riker was undermining his command while failing to follow orders, from literally the first order Jellicoe gave Riker. His detractors consider him a huge JerkAss who had no business [[ReplacementScrappy filling in for Picard]] and [[TyrantTakesTheHelm making changes to the way things were run]] on the ''Enterprise'', especially during a crisis when the crew was antsy to begin with and Riker was acting on the complaints of other senior officers. Fans who aren't invested in the argument think that he is basically both.
* DesignatedVillain: Jellico has quite a few fans who see him as one, while thinking Riker comes off as a whiny child. In particular, his making Troi wear a uniform (which she continued to do for the rest of the series) is seen as a point in his favor. However, the episode itself never really presents him as a villain, unreasonable or incompetent. Just a bit of a dick. He butts heads with Riker frequently due to their differing command styles, and is easily irritated and reluctant to listen to alternative opinions, but that's really the extent of his antagonism. In the end, the episode knows that they're on the same side, and Riker even admits as much.
* JerkassWoobie: Gul Madred, Picard's Cardassian torturer, grew up on the streets as a poor boy, once beaten up over some food. Picard, however, calls him out on it in light of how he became a brutal torturer:

** Furthermore, Picard points out that information extracted through torture cannot be considered reliable (not least because the victim will eventually tell you ''anything'' just to make the pain stop).

* RealismInducedHorror: With the exception of the pain device, everything the Cardassians do to torture Picard ''was'' taken from Amnesty International archives in a terrifying case of ShownTheirWork. Stripping for the purposes of humiliation? Check. Deliberately acting to dehumanize the prisoner and negate their identity and dignity? Check. "Stress positions", aka suspending the prisoner by their arms in such a way that their feet barely touch the floor, for long periods of time? Check. Idea that non-official combatants aka "terrorists" are not covered by conventions forbidding torture? Check. Objective of breaking the prisoner through distorting their perception of reality, successful to the point of producing hallucinations? ''Check.'' Creator/PatrickStewart carefully studied the behavior of the victims to get the broken, defeated look just right and even insisted on being naked on set.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** [[WhatTheRomansHaveDoneForUs Madred justifies the Cardassians' militarism]], saying "my daughter will never worry about going hungry." In the final episode of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', Cardassia gets bombarded by the Dominion, leaving at least 800 million dead, with Garak even arguing that this was the byproduct of their warmongering. Even if Madred managed to survive, the comfortable life he spoke of is gone. Even before that, after their difficulties with Klingon hostility, it's mentioned that the Federation is having to provide aid to keep Cardassians from starving.

** With the exception of the pain device, everything the Cardassians do to torture Picard ''was'' taken from Amnesty International archives in a terrifying case of ShownTheirWork. Stripping for the purposes of humiliation? Check. Deliberately acting to dehumanize the prisoner and negate their identity and dignity? Check. "Stress positions", aka suspending the prisoner by their arms in such a way that their feet barely touch the floor, for long periods of time? Check. Idea that non-official combatants aka "terrorists" are not covered by conventions forbidding torture? Check. Objective of breaking the prisoner through distorting their perception of reality, successful to the point of producing hallucinations? ''Check.'' Creator/PatrickStewart carefully studied the behavior of the victims to get the broken, defeated look just right and even insisted on being naked on set.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The episode drops a massive anvil against [[ColdBloodedTorture the use of torture]]. It shows the experience of torture is so absolutely dehumanizing and horrific that it can break even the strongest person. People like to quote Picard's [[MemeticMutation "THERE! ARE! FOUR! LIGHTS!"]], but tend to forget that he said this ''after'' another Cardassian came in with orders for his release. As the man himself said:
--> '''Picard:''' ...I actually believed that I could see five lights.

-->'''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09TySF0FN6Y Steve Shives]]:''' ''(as Jellico)'' You know what ''I'' like? Not having the Cardassians killing our citizens.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Is Jellico a micromanager and something of a dick? Yes. But he's also got a point that the ''Enterprise'' is a little too MildlyMilitary even by Starfleet's standards, that in literally days they could be the central command on the frontline of a major war and that dealing with the transition from research & diplomacy to combat begins from the command team on down. They don't even have bridge stations for Weapons Status or Damage Control until he comes along. While Deanna's suggestion, to grant the crew a bit more time for the transition and for getting to know each other, sounds reasonable, Jellico also has a valid point in stating that their current mission simply doesn't provide said time for that. Even the conflict makes sense in-universe: The ''Enterprise'' is normally tasked with exploratory or diplomatic missions, with combat generally occurring only when somebody else initiates hostilities. Much of the crew consists of scientists for whom military duties are very much a secondary job function. Jellico is pretty obviously a military specialist and would probably fail in many of the situations that the ''Enterprise'' encounters. But he is ideally suited for command during a conflict situation, it is just that the ''Enterprise'' is not the optimal kind of starship for a captain like him. Even then he's shown making some connections with the crew, and if they'd had to probably would have eventually found the proper way to work together. That wound up not being necessary, thankfully.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Captain Jellico inspires a lot of this. Some see him as a micro-managing {{jerkass}} who enforces his own standards just because he can and thereby alienates those who serve him, others see him as a responsible officer who had every right to run the Enterprise as he saw fit and saved the day through his genuine competence. The funny thing is that neither interpretation is actually mutually exclusive with the other. The ExpandedUniverse occasionally references him with both depictions, DependingOnTheWriter. Probably depending on whether the writer thought it was a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome or a MoralEventHorizon that he told Troi to put her boobs away and don an actual uniform -- which she does for the rest of the series, since Marina Sirtis was becoming unhappy with not wearing a proper uniform herself.

* DesignatedVillain: Jellico has quite a few fans who see him as one, while thinking Riker comes off as a whiny child. In particular, his making Troi wear a uniform (which she continued to do for the rest of the series) is seen as a point in his favor.
** However, the episode itself never really presents him as a villain, unreasonable or incompetent. Just a bit of a dick. He butts heads with Riker frequently due to their differing command styles, and is easily irritated and reluctant to listen to alternative opinions, but that's really the extent of his antagonism. In the end, the episode knows that they're on the same side, and Riker even admits as much.

** [[WhatTheRomansHaveDoneForUs Madred justifies the Cardassians' militarism]], saying "my daughter will never worry about going hungry." In the final episode of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', Cardassia gets bombarded by the Dominion, leaving at least 800 million dead, with Garak even arguing that this was the byproduct of their warmongering. Even if Madred managed to survive, the comfortable life he spoke of is gone.
*** Even before that, after their difficulties with Klingon hostility, it's mentioned that the Federation is having to provide aid to keep Cardassians from starving.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Counselor Troi improved significantly during this episode, starting when Jellico orders her to put on a standard uniform. She continues to appear in uniform when on-duty for the rest of the series... and apparently started taking her career in Starfleet seriously beyond being just a counselor, beginning to take command training and becoming certified for conn duty. Troi wearing one of her little jumpsuits or a uniform is usually an indicator of if you're getting "I sense emotions, Captain!" Troi or "Emergency power to shields, return fire!" Troi.
** As for the fans, the vast majority cheered at this change, noting that Troi looked really spiffy in a standard uniform.
* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The episode drops a massive anvil against [[ColdBloodedTorture the use of torture]]. It shows the experience of torture is so absolutely dehumanizing and horrific that it can break even the strongest person. People like to quote Picard's [[MemeticMutation "THERE! ARE! FOUR! LIGHTS!"]], but tend to forget that he said this ''after'' another Cardassian came in with orders for his release.
** As the man himself said:

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Is Jellico a micromanager and something of a dick? Yes. But he's also got a point that the ''Enterprise'' is a little too MildlyMilitary even by Starfleet's standards, that in literally days they could be the central command on the frontline of a major war and that dealing with the transition from research & diplomacy to combat begins from the command team on down. They don't even have bridge stations for Weapons Status or Damage Control until he comes along.
** While Deanna's suggestion, to grant the crew a bit more time for the transition and for getting to know each other, sounds reasonable, Jellico also has a valid point in stating that their current mission simply doesn't provide said time for that.
** The conflict makes sense in-universe. The ''Enterprise'' is normally tasked with exploratory or diplomatic missions, with combat generally occurring only when somebody else initiates hostilities. Much of the crew consists of scientists for whom military duties are very much a secondary job function. Jellico is pretty obviously a military specialist and would probably fail in many of the situations that the ''Enterprise'' encounters. But he is ideally suited for command during a conflict situation, it is just that the ''Enterprise'' is not the optimal kind of starship for a captain like him.
*** Even then he's shown making some connections with the crew, and if they'd had to probably would have eventually found the proper way to work together. That wound up not being necessary, thankfully.

* {{Narm}}: A deliberate example, when Picard yells "THERE! ARE! FOUR! LIGHTS!" at his tormentor, sounding more desperate than defiant - Picard reveals later that he was on the very edge of breaking at that point, so his yell was more to convince himself than Gul Madred.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Is Jellico a micromanager and something of a dick? Yes. But he's also got a point that the ''Enterprise'' is a little too MildlyMilitary even by Starfleet's standards, that in literally days they could be the central command on the frontline of a major war and that dealing with the transition from research & diplomacy to combat begins from the command team on down.