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| First Officer Worf and Troi: Man and Wife. |
It is Worf's birthday when he returns from a bat'leth tournament, in which he won Champion standing. He returns to a greeting from Commander Riker, who quickly briefs him on their next mission. The Argus Array, a subspace telescope, has stopped transmitting for the third time that year. At this point, Riker tells him, Starfleet no longer believes this is a simple mechanical breakdown.
But first Worf must endure an unwelcome surprise birthday party. Capt. Picard is unable to attend, and it's clear from Worf's expression that he wished he was unable to as well. The chocolate cake is cut... Only to become a yellow cake, as Capt. Picard asks from his seat how old Worf now is. Worf is confused, but assumes he simply mistook the cake's flavor and that Picard must have come in unnoticed.
He resumes normal duties, analyzing the image files from the array and determining that it's been reprogrammed, probably by the Cardassians, to spy on the Federation. Then Worf has a dizzy spell, and when he comes to he learns that he only placed ninth in the bat'leth tournament, and that there is no image file from the array that indicates Cardassian involvement.
As these changes continue, it becomes obvious that Worf is jumping from one parallel reality to another - and with each jump, the parallels get more and more different from the life he knows!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: Enjoys needling Worf at his surprise party. He also shows the other extreme, responding with clear disappointment when Worf fails to raise the shields in time to protect the ship from a Cardassian attack (the shield settings in this reality being configured too differently for Worf to figure out in time). He clearly sees that something is wrong with Worf, however; instead of upbraiding him, he simply accepts Worf's request to be relieved of duty.
Capt. Riker: We spend more than a third of the episode in a parallel reality in which Picard died during the Borg invasion, meaning that Riker is now ship's captain. That he's a good captain is no surprise, not after seeing him assume the role so often from Best of Both Worlds on. He is more directly approachable than Picard, with less separation evident between himself and the rest of the crew, but he clearly learned his lessons from Picard. He listens to his officers' input, then makes his decisions based on all the available information. He also responds to the sight of an alternate Picard on his viewscreen with evident pleasure, taking a moment to tell him how good it is to see him again.
Worf: When little things start to change, he reacts as most of us would: He assumes he made a mistake or failed to observe something and moves on with his job and his life. This method of coping works until the shifts create major discrepancies, but when his trophy changes from ninth place to first, or when Data checks on the status of a task he has no memory of having been assigned, this becomes an impossible situation. He asks to be relieved from duty after an incident shows that he is no longer familiar enough with the ship to do his job. Then he tries to work through the problem, wisely accepting help when it is offered. Michael Dorn is terrific throughout, keeping Worf grounded and believable in a way that makes it very easy to follow him down this particular rabbit hole.
Troi: Her rapport with Worf's son, Alexander, is such that Worf asks her to act as a family member, to promise to take in Alexander in the event that anything happens to him. She agrees readily, though she does have some fun at Worf's expense by pointing out that this makes her mother part of Worf's "family" as well. As the shifts continue, Worf finds himself in a reality in which he and Troi are married. They are surprisingly compatible, and Troi actually listens to Worf's story and prompts him to enlist help from others to find out what is prompting the shifts.
Wesley: Returns, but only in the parallel reality that saw Picard die. In this variant, Wesley apparently continued on as a full Enterpise officer under Riker. This is a nice touch, allowing for the possibility that without Picard giving him a final push, Wesley would likely not have left the ship for the Academy. It's also interesting to see this alternate Wesley behave with a maturity and professionalism that the prime universe Wesley has often lacked - perhaps indicating that Picard's death brought an end to the remnants of his childhood.
THOUGHTS
Brannon Braga returns to the writer's desk for another reality-bending episode. A good one, too - Parallels is Braga's best script since Cause and Effect. Directed with visual polish by Robert Wiemer, this is easily the best episode Season Seven has seen thus far. In a year that's been characterized by dull, mediocre bits of glob, this is a gem that shines all the brighter.
Parallels is a showcase for Braga's writing strengths. It's very fast-paced, never allowing the audience a chance to grow restless. Every scene provides some new wrinkle. It's also clever, with a sci-fi high concept that's easy to grasp quickly but interesting enough to be fun. The structure is well thought-out, with the shifts moving from minor points of divergence to increasingly major ones. We never shift into a universe that's completely unrecognizable, however (though we do get a glimpse of one through the viewscreen). Even the final, most changed variant Worf inhabits is largely different for Picard's death, with all the characters and the universe itself remaining largely recognizable.
It's not just a "concept" episode, either. Worf and Troi get some excellent character material. Lest their relationship in other shifts come out of nowhere, we start with a scene in a very close parallel showing the strength of their friendship. This is echoed when Worf returns to his universe, with Troi being the only one waiting for him (showing that even the initial return to the Enterprise - which we and Worf assumed to be the "prime" one - was itself a parallel). The early Worf/Troi scene also shows his commitment to Alexander, setting groundwork for a later shift in which he learns that Alexander now never existed. Michael Dorn plays Worf's reaction to this realization wonderfully. Marina Sirtis is equally good in her reactions, showing pain and worry at the thought that "her" Worf may very well not return even if "our" Worf is successful.
This being a top-drawer Brannon Braga episode, we have to get at least one moment in which the whole thing goes completely nuts. That happens near the end, when all the parallels begin coming together. In a small sector of space, one parallel Enterpise after another pops into being. We see the Enterpises appearing on the viewscreen behind Data as he turns to Worf and Riker to explain what's happening. Then we cut back from commercial to see still more ships popping into being in the establishing shot. It's a moment of pure, sublime insanity, and exactly what an episode like this needs to hit its full potential.
Overall Rating: 9/10. Terrific.
Previous Episode: Inheritance
Next Episode: The Pegasus
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