Starfleet initially sends Captain Jellico to replace Captain Picard while the latter is on a covert mission to destroy a Cardassian biological weapon. When Picard and his team members infiltrate a Cardassian base and find no signs of biological weapons, they realize that they have been led into a trap. The Cardassians then capture Picard, bringing Jean-Luc to Gul Madred (David Warner), who proceeds to brutally interrogate and torture him for information about the United Federation of Planets. Jellico must then negotiate with the Cardassians without revealing that Picard was on a Starfleet-sanctioned mission.
Picard Was Completely Professional When Jellico Became Captain Of The Enterprise
Captain Picard Was Always A Consummate Professional
Commander Will Riker is the first Enterprise officer to greet Captain Jellico upon his arrival on the Enterprise, and Jellico immediately begins making changes to the duty shift rotations. This abrupt change takes Riker off guard and doesn't exactly set Jellico up to be well-liked. When Captains Picard and Jellico meet, they perform a ceremony to transfer command and briefly discuss the upcoming mission. If Picard is unhappy about Jellico taking over command of the Enterprise, he shows no sign of it, remaining professional and courteous throughout the exchange.
When Picard starts to share some of the idiosyncrasies of the Enterprise, Jellico cuts him off, assuring Jean-Luc that he will take care of the ship. Then Riker arrives and shares his misgivings about the change to shift rotations, only to be immediately shut down by Jellico. Despite this, Picard never raises any concerns about Jellico, although he does stand up for his Number One, insisting that Riker is "one of the finest officers" he's ever served with. Jellico is blunt, but Picard trusts that he will do whatever is necessary to protect Starfleet and the Federation.
Why Everyone Hated Captain Jellico On Star Trek: TNG But Picard Didn’t
Jellico Was Too Different From Picard For The Enterprise-D Crew
Captain Jellico has a very different command style from Captain Picard, and he gives the USS Enterprise-D's crew no time to adjust. Commander Riker has the unenviable task of following Jellico's orders while also speaking up for the rest of the crew. Jellico clearly has more respect for Picard than he does for Riker. Commander Riker only truly becomes insubordinate after Jellico refuses to authorize a rescue mission for Picard or even acknowledge that Jean-Luc had been on a Starfleet mission.
After the ensuing argument, Jellico relieves Riker of duty, replacing him as First Officer with Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner). As the viewer watching Gul Madred torture Picard, it's easy to side with Riker. Captain Jellico, however, had to remain impartial throughout the entire ordeal and was trying to do what was best for Starfleet as a whole. Still, his tactics did not exactly endear him to the ship's crew, or to most Star Trek: The Next Generation fans, for that matter. For his part, Captain Picard did his duty, whether he liked it or not, and treated Captain Jellico with the respect due to his peer.
