Star Trek thread of going to familiar places and beyond

[Eric Cartman]

in the famous "there are four lights" Picard torture scene, was it "just" a lie, trying to get him to admit something that's clearly false to break him, or was there some intention that Picard was supposed to perceive Gul Madred as the fifth light, looking upon his captor as a glorious beacon etc etc?

I'm pretty sure it was 'just' to break him - its like Winston Smith at the end of 1984 admitting 2+2=5.

Speaking of the glorious Robert Picardo, he gives a great performance as a recurring bureaucrat in Stargate SG-1 and Atlantic, maybe a character on par with his work as the EMH. Actors today could learn a lot from him about screen presence.

I dunno if screen presence is something people can learn...?