7-25, 7-26. All Good Things...

Picard is jumping back and forth through time...

THE PLOT

Jean-Luc Picard has become unstuck in time.

He is jumping between three time periods: The present; the past, at the very point when he first took command of theEnterprise; and more than 25 years in the future, when he is an old man who has been diagnosed with Irumodic Syndrome, a degenerative neurological disorder. The time jumps happen at seemingly random intervals; and after a moment of disorientation, Picard feels completely of that time period, with all the memories and characteristics that suit him in that time and place.

In both past and present, a large spatial anomaly has appeared, with the Enterprise sent to investigate. Convinced that the same anomaly must exist in the future, Picard convinces his old shipmates to join him in traveling to the Devron System - a region of space that, in this future, is controlled by a now-hostile Klingon Empire.

That's when Q appears, returning Picard to the Trial of Humanity that was their first meeting, and informing the captain that humanity has been found guilty. [I]"You are to be denied existence. Humanity's fate has been sealed. You will be destroyed." He adds that it is not the Q who will cause humanity's destruction.

The human race will end because of one man: Jean-Luc Picard!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: This story's Picard isn't "present" Picard transported to other time periods; as is spelled out early on, we are jumping between three Picards: the Picard of the present; the younger, less experienced pre-series Picard; and an elderly and infirm Picard. Stewart's performance differentiates these three incarnations. Past Picard was already a seasoned officer, so differences between him and "our" Picard are small and subtle, but there isn't quite the same sense of confidence to him. Future Picard is noticeably different, and it's here that Patrick Stewart gets his most memorable moments. He has the knowledge from the other two time periods, but his mind struggles through the fog of age and illness to make the connections. He sometimes stammers while trying to force out some kind of clear explanation, and he can't quite keep his temper when he sees the others doubting him. It is a great performance, equal to Family and The Inner Light as Stewart's very best.

Riker: The Riker of the future has risen to the rank of Commodore. He first seen dismissing the elderly Picard's pleas to investigate the Devron System. By initial appearances, he's become the "pompous bureaucrat" figure. When he re-enters the story in the second half, however, we get a fuller picture. He has made the Enterprise his flagship, saving the old ship from being decommissioned because of his great fondness for it. He may have appeared to have dismissed Picard, but he did investigate - He just didn't want to make public knowledge of a crossing into Klingon territory. He carries bitterness over a feud with Worf, an argument based around the bizarre triangle their present-day counterparts have formed with Troi, but it's clear that he is very ready to make peace with his old friend. Jonathan Frakes is very good in these "future" scenes, reminding us for the first time since The Pegasus how good he can be when given strong material.

Geordi: The "future plot" is kicked off when Geordi visits the elderly Picard. Their banter reveals that Geordi ended up marrying Leah Brahms, and we can see that his visor has been replaced by implants in his eyes, presumably allowing him more normal vision. Even after connecting with Data and Dr. Crusher, Geordi continues to feature prominently throughout the "future" scenes, which goes a long way toward making up for the sparse material he's been afforded the past two seasons (this season especially).

Dr./Capt. Crusher: The future timeline that we see is one in which Picard and Crusher married... and then divorced. Beverly continues to have fondness for her ex-husband, though, keeping the Picard name and agreeing to transport him to the restricted sector. When Geordi admits to her that he's not certain this isn't just a delusion, a result of Picard's neurological disease, she replies that it doesn't really matter. "He's Jean-Luc Picard. And if he wants to go on one more mission, that's what we're going to do."

Tasha: The "past" Enterprise timeline is immediately pre-series, which means Tasha is the Security Chief. With no Riker or Geordi, and with Data still in his early, overly literal stage, this leaves her effectively acting as Picard's First Officer. Denise Crosby gives a much better performance here than was her average, showing her concern over Picard's increasingly strange orders without overplaying it. The moment in which she finally questions Picard, insisting that while they have followed his every order no matter how strange, they need something more from him before putting the ship at risk, is one of the best moments given to a character who got far too few such moments back when she was a regular.

Q: First appears much as he had in Encounter at Farpoint, sitting in scarlet robes on a throne that hovers in the air, mocking Picard while pronouncing judgment against humanity. Unlike in the series' premiere, this is an act he's putting on, keeping up appearances for the Q Continuum. Q is strictly an ally in this episode. He only appears a handful of times; but every time he shows up, he gives Picard some vital clue to push him toward the solution. It's his intervention that allows Picard awareness of the time jumps, giving him a fighting chance to put all the pieces of this temporally fragmented puzzle together. Q reappears at the end, giving Picard congratulations as well as a mix of warning and promise: That the challenge to prove that humanity deserves its place is a "trial (that) never ends." Which is as much a statement of the franchise's own philosophy as a question of this one episode's plot.


THOUGHTS

Coming up with a suitable finale to Star Trek: The Next Generation had to have been a daunting task. By the end of its run, TNG had already become an iconic series - at the time, even overshadowing the original Star Trek (an imbalance that would slowly correct itself in the following decades). It was a rare genre show whose appeal had extended into the mainstream. Even if its final season had fallen short of the quality that viewers had come to expect, its final bow was not just a television show; it was an Event.

Writers Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga turned to literature for inspiration: To Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut's best-known science fiction novel. In that novel, Billy Pilgrim is a World War II soldier who becomes "unstuck in time" after being taken prisoner by the Germans and transported to a labor camp in Dresden. Throughout the novel, Billy jumps forward and backward between various points in his life, including his own death. There is even a central cataclysmic event: The infamous bombing of Dresden.

The form may be borrowed from Vonnegut, but the spirit is uniquely TNG. Whereas Billy Pilgrim is a very passive protagonist, doing little to affect his situation, Picard insists on acting on his bizarre predicament - with the actions he takes actually creating the very problem he's trying to solve! A common interpretation of Billy's time-jumps is that he's suffering from PTSD and not time-jumping at all.  Picard's time jumps are definitely real, with Dr. Crusher medically verifying his story early in the episode, and we learn exactly what (or who) is causing them.  It's all part of a puzzle to be solved, with everything made clear once the pieces are put together. 

The time jumps allow the finale to look backward at the series' origins while simultaneously giving viewers a look at one possible future for the characters. The series opened with Picard having only recently taken command of the Enterprise before being captured and put on trial by Q. This episode's "past" plot flashes back to immediately before that, with Tasha giving the new captain his first look at the vessel he will come to call home. The present plot shows a crew that trusts Picard without question. The future plot shows a crew that desperately wants to trust him, and at the very least indulges him because of the man he used to be. Meanwhile, the crew of the past isn't quite sure what to make of him, his bizarre orders leaving them quietly wondering if they are now in the care of a madman.

The ending sees Picard finally joining the crew's regular poker game. His presence makes things awkward for a moment. But everyone quickly relaxes as he takes his seat and begins dealing, observing that he should have joined them in this a long time ago even as Troi replies, "You were always welcome." The camera rotates as it pulls back from the poker game, showing the captain and his crew gathered at a round table, like a futuristic court of Camelot. The rotation of the camera move transitions perfectly into the pull-back from the Enterprise itself, making the final fade to black almost cinematic.

A perfectly-judged ending to an ideal series finale.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

Previous Episode: Preemptive Strike

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6-15. Tapestry.

Picard's greatest regret - the one that almost killed him.

THE PLOT

An energy beam during a sudden ambush causes a malfunction in Picard's artificial heart, effectively leading to a massive coronary. Dr. Crusher works frantically, but her efforts appear to be for naught...

Leaving Picard in a white void, with only one companion: Q. His old adversary welcomes him to "the afterlife," and pushes him to reveal any regrets. It doesn't take much prodding before Picard relives the story of how he got his artificial heart, letting his youthful ego lead him into a fight with three Naussicans. Picard observes that, given the chance to repeat that moment, he would behave much differently.

Q grants him his wish, returning him to his days as an ensign fresh out of the Academy, when he and two friends visiting a recreation facility while awaiting their first assignments. Q offers Picard a bargain: If Picard can manage to avoid the fight, then Q will return him to the present to go on with his life with a real heart instead of an artificial one. "You'll die," Q assures him, "Just at a later date."

But even with Q honoring the exact terms of his arrangement, Picard soon discovers just how much of a difference a tiny moment in time can make to a life...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: This episode is absolutely focused on Picard: The Picard we know, the Picard of the past, and the Picard who might have been. As such, it is a showcase for Patrick Stewart, who is at the center of virtually every minute and is as good here as he was in Chain of Command. In some ways his work here may be even more impressive, because Picard is not reacting to torture or deprivation, but simply to the twists and turns of life. I particularly like the way Stewart plays the scenes of "Lieutenant, Junior Grade Picard" in the altered present. His bearing is a little more clenched, a little more hesitant and nervous, making him feel genuinely diminished. It's a subtle difference in performance, with nothing showy that draws attention, but there's enough of a difference to make him feel smaller on screen as he interacts with one-time subordinates who are now his superiors.

Q: This episode's Q is very different from the Q of several other episodes. He isn't really stirring up trouble. His powers give Picard access to an altered reality. Beyond that, he is content to sit back and watch, occasionally popping up to provide some wry commentary about Picard's success or lack thereof. "You've managed to get slapped by one woman, get a drink thrown in your face by another and alienate your two best friends. Doing pretty well so far." John de Lancie gives a suitably restrained performance, reflecting Q's more restrained role, but still lets enough of Q's impishness shine through to add a note of irreverence to the proceedings.


THOUGHTS

Tapestry is widely regarded as Star Trek's best "Q" episode. I would say instead that it is the best episode to feature the character of Q. Much as in Season Two's excellent Q Who, Q is not the focus of the story but rather its catalyst. The story is about Picard - Q simply enables it to happen.

The story itself is nothing too innovative. The basic template is a direct lift from the last third of It's a Wonderful Life. Only instead of seeing how the world would be like without him in it, Picard sees what his life would have been had he done a few key things differently. As with George Bailey, Picard is shown that those results would not have been what he would have liked.

The story itself is a worthy one, but Ronald D. Moore's excellent script makes it into something special. We all have certain things in our lives we wish we could do differently - Whether it's the girl we wish we had kissed or the stupid, thoughtless thing we wish we hadn't done. Moore's script doesn't only have Picard change his life by "playing it safe" with the Naussicans. Picard also avoids playing it safe by engaging in a romance with pretty young Marta Batanides (J. C. Brandy) with whom he remained "just friends" in reality. The results of fixing both regrets are the same: Things are made worse - palpably so, as we see when the narrative cuts forward to Picard's new, far drearier present.

Credit also to the script for taking an incident from Picard's past that had previously been mentioned in the episode Samaritan Snare and fleshing it out to a full story. We see clearly what Picard has not - That his brash young self really wasn't at fault. In Samaritan Snare, when he talked about this incident with Wesley, he clearly remembered himself as having instigated the fight. He remembers it that way again at the start of this episode, telling Q that he "picked a fight." But when we see it play out, we clearly recognize that the Naussicans are spoiling for a fight.

To avoid that fight, Picard has to do more than merely behave responsibly and with restraint. He has to go beyond what even the older Picard would do, suppress his own nature to actually be the coward the Naussicans accuse him of being. Only then does he avoid the brawl. It's that act, in which Picard goes against not only his nature then but his nature now, that I think makes the "altered present" scenes feel believable. To avoid getting stabbed, Picard has to become a different person, and so he is shown the future of that person. It's a future he wants no part of, the future of a man who "never got noticed by anyone."

With a sharp script, better than average guest performances, and Patrick Stewart yet again showing his versatility in a role that he now wears like a comfortable suit, Tapestry is an outstanding episode. One of the series' best.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

Previous Episode: Face of the Enemy
Next Episode: Birthright


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6-6. True Q.

Q and his new, would-be protege (Olivia d'Abo)

THE PLOT:

The Enterprise takes on a new intern: Amanda Rogers (Olivia d'Abo), a young orphan who has studied several medical fields and who has been accepted into Starfleet Academy. Amanda seems smart, sincere, and fundamentally ordinary... That is, until she is able to stop a warp core breach with the power of her mind.

That's when Q (John de Lancie) appears, to inform the command staff that Amanda is actually the daughter of two Q who died while visiting Earth in human form. The Q have been keeping an eye on her, to see if she will manifest powers. Now that she has, Q tells the crew that his mission is to train her and bring her back to the Continuum.

But as ever, he isn't telling the full truth. When the Continuum contacts Q for a status update, he stalls for more time, ominously adding: "It may not be necessary to terminate the girl."


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Knows Q is withholding information, and presses Data to investigate Amanda's background to fill in the gaps. He also knows that he cannot stop Q from contacting Amanda, so he instead creates ground rules. He and Q will not argue in front of her, he insists, adding that they must appear civil. Patrick Stewart gets in a hilarious bit of physical comedy, grimacing with equal parts discomfort and distaste when Q grabs him tightly around the shoulders to announce them as "pals." 

Riker: The subject of a crush by Amanda. He deals well with this, particularly when she uses her Q powers to whisk him away for a romantic encounter. He doesn't get angry with her. Instead, while deflecting her advances, he patiently tells her that she can't treat people like toys, snatching them into her fantasies, and expect them to respond. 

Dr. Crusher: "Dr. Crusher gets more shrill with each passing year." Q's assessment is dead-on. As was the case in Ethics, the script wants to emphasize her strong moral center - but instead ends up highlighting her aggressive self-righteousness. The best moment of the episode is when Crusher, in the midst of chewing Q out, is momentarily (hilariously) transformed into a yapping dog and back again, entirely oblivious to what has occurred during her rant.

Hot Space Babe of the Week: Amanda Rogers (Olivia d'Abo) is the real focus of the episode. All other elements of the show exist to fuel her decision about where she belongs. Though d'Abo really isn't the most expressive of actresses, she is both appealing and sympathetic, enough so to keep us on her side as Amanda wrestles with her plight.

Q: "With unlimited power comes responsibility." When we last saw Q, it was at his most frivolous. Here, we see him at the opposite extreme, weighed down with a grave decision. He still plays at being carefree and flippant, but it's an act. His every word and action is focused on one goal: Get Amanda to the Q Continuum. This explains his first interaction with Amanda, in which he attempts to abduct her, and all his attempts to get her to take "a quick trip" to see the Q. As we learn more of his full mission late in the episode, his near-desperation to make Amanda strive to be fully Q make more sense - and actually makes for one of the most positive characterizations of him to date.


THOUGHTS

Season Five was the only season of TNG that did not feature a Q episode. It could be argued this was a mixed blessing, given that Season Four's Qpid was a mildly amusing yet empty romp. Still, even weak Q episodes benefit from John de Lancie's deft comic timing, and I had to aknowledge in my Season Five overview that he had been missed.

True Q sees his welcome return. It's an episode that at first looks like filler. The guest star of the week has powers and a crush on Riker - elements for an exercise in dreariness. But the crush on Riker is a subsidiary plot element, not a driving force. The episode's focus, on Amanda's quest for identity, is strong, with some very good character scenes for Q and for the regulars.

We've seen this basic story before, in Season One's Hide and Q. But it's done much better here. Q and Picard have both developed substantially as characters, and the actors have reached the point of truly inhabiting them, making them more convincingly able to stand for the best of their respective species. Amanda is sympathetic enough for us to care about her plight, and the focus on her identity issues (effectively a "nature vs. nurture" conundrum) provides a foundation for the story.

Enjoyable, well-acted, and with a handful of thoughtful moments. By no means spectacular, True Q is nevertheless a solid episode - and a big improvement over Q's previous appearance.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: Schisms
Next Episode: Rascals


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4-20. Qpid

Picard and Vash, trapped in Q's game.

THE PLOT

The Enterprise is in orbit around Tagus III, a planet whose ruins have been closed off to outside study for a century. The ship is playing host to an archaeological conference, at which Picard has been invited to speak. Picard's work on his speech is interrupted by the arrival of Vash (Jennifer Hetrick), his old flame from the adventure on Risa. He is only too happy to see her - but she is disconcerted when she discovers that he hasn't discussed her with his crew over the past year. It's not as if he had anything better to do than talk about his love life. When Picard discovers that she has her own agenda, to sneak into the forbidden ruins for illegal artifacts, the division in their personalities appears to have ended their relationship forever.

Enter Q, who owes Picard a favor for protecting him during his time as a mortal and wants to repay his debt. When Picard refuses, the omnipotent alien decides to meddle in the captain's romance. He whisks Picard and his command crew off to a recreation of Sherwood Forest. Picard is Robin Hood, and Q informs him that Vash is Maid Marian, scheduled to be executed the following day. The only hope to save Vash is a daring resuce - one that will put Picard and his crew at risk, all to reinforce Q's point about the folly of love.

But Vash doesn't play the helpless maiden quite the way Q had anticipated...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: "The captain is a very private man," his crew intones several times during the episode's first Act to explain why he's never discussed Vash with them. Picard tells Vash that he would consider it "inappropriate" to discuss his personal feelings with his subordinates... though in fairness, do many people come back from vacations and tell their co-workers about the vacation fling they had with an attractive stranger they're unlikely to ever see again? Picard is genuinely happy to see her, but he will not compromise his own personal code of conduct just to keep her happy, which creates division between them even before Q shows up.

Hot Space Babe of the Week: Jennifer Hetrick returns as Vash. The character remains largely in the same sketch mode as in Captain's Holiday, though her strong self-preservation instinct creates a few enjoyable plot turns. Sir Guy is going to execute her if she doesn't agree to marry him? OK, she'll marry him. Picard comes alone with a poorly thought out escape plan that will probably get her killed? OK, she'll stay put until she sees a way to escape and survive. No wonder she catches Q's eye. Given the ridiculously noble/self-righteous nature of most of the TNG crew, it's probably a stark relief to him to meet a human with a reasonable degree of common sense.

Q: Q repays his debt to Picard by putting the lives of the command crew in jeopardy, then stealing Picard's girlfriend. And this is him being friendly. On the plus side, John de Lancie slips effortlessly into this role by now, making his scenes more enjoyable simply by being in them. The episode gets little mileage out of that, though. Q is introduced late, and then only gets a smattering of scenes. The episode is really focused on Picard and Vash. This isn't a weakness in and of itself; Q Who might be the best Q episode, and that was focused on the introduction of the Borg. But this episode doesn't know how to use Q. He's there solely because the writers needed a Q episode this season, and neither his motives nor his actions make a lot of sense.


THOUGHTS

A sequel to both Captain's Holiday and Deja Q. Like Captain's Holiday, it's tricky to truly rate this episode. Much like that episode, it's not actually very good - but it is entertaining. It does edge out the earlier episode, in that it's better-paced and it strikes a better balance between its comedy and adventure elements. The climactic sword fight is actually fairly well-choreographed, and Patrick Stewart seems very much at home in this sort of setting.

Though better-paced than Captain's Holiday, this remains a paper-thin story. The first Act focuses on how very different Picard and Vash are. As if the writer just realized 15 minutes in that this isn't going to be enough to carry an episode, Q is abruptly dropped into the piece. A more interesting idea might have been to drop Q from the episode entirely and follow through with Vash's illegal expedition, with Picard having to stop her while at the same time still trying to convince her of his feelings. But, no. It's off to Sherwood Forest we go!

"This isn't a mission," Picard tells his crew once he realizes the nature of Q's game. "This is personal." He cannot ask any of his crew to risk their lives to rescue Vash. But... Vash is a passenger on the Enterprise, isn't she? A passenger and a Federation citizen, attending a function hosted by a Federation starship. Um... Surely that makes her life the responsibility of both captain and crew - meaning that it is actually inappropriate for Picard to use less than the full measures available to him to attempt to rescue her. Then again, if Picard didn't go in alone, then he couldn't get captured and extend the episode by another ten minutes.

The non-Picard regulars are largely glorified extras, though Worf gets a couple of amusing moments. Truly, though, this is the Picard/Vash show, with a special guest appearance by Q. Everyone else is secondary at best. Still, for all its faults, the episode is fun to watch. Jennifer Hetrick remains appealing, and she and Patrick Stewart have better chemistry here than they did in Captain's Holiday. Hetrick has very little chemistry with John deLancie, however, making it odd that her third appearance would be with deLancie but without Stewart.

Ah, well. I'll crib my final verdict on this episode from Douglas Adams: "Mostly harmless."


Overall Rating: 5/10

Previous Episode: The Nth Degree

Next Episode: The Drumhead

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3-13. Deja Q

THE PLOT

The Enterprise is on a mercy mission, attempting to divert a moon that is falling from its orbit toward the heavily-populated planet below. The cause of this anomaly is unknown, and Enterprise on its own seems unlikely to be able to generate enough power to divert the moon from its course. Picard calls for help from Starfleet... but by the time help arrives, all that the other ships will be able to do is assist with the relief efforts.

Into the middle of this dilemma, wild card is dropped: Q! He appears on the bridge, naked and powerless. He tells Picard that he has been exiled by the Q Continuum, stripped of his powers and made mortal. Picard doesn't believe him, but reluctantly accepts Q's offer to use his knowledge to assist with efforts to divert the moon. A remark of Q's does give Geordi an idea with a chance at working... but then a new player enters the game: The Calamarain, a truly alien force of immense power. It has come for Q, and has no compunction about destroying the Enterprise, or dooming the planet below, to get to its enemy!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: One of the keys to this episode's success is in Picard's reaction to Q: He is absolutely, utterly devoid of sympathy toward him. He distrusts him. Even when he believes Q is probably telling the truth, he still dislikes him and has little use for him. He does protect Q to the best of his ability, but he very quickly puts together that this protection - rather than some vague and unlikely feeling of friendship - is why Q requested he be exiled to Enterprise.

Riker: When they are discussing what to do about the Calamarain's pursuit of Q, it is Riker who is the voice of pragmatism: "Let them have him." It's an option at least worth consideration, given that Q's life is in effect being measured against the lives of millions on the world below. Riker's response to Q is echoed by Geordi ("He's not worth it")'s and Dr. Crusher's coldness toward the former superbeing.

Data: Finds it ironic that Q's punishment is being made human, the unattainable dream for Data. Despite this, and his own lack of emotions, Data is the one being on the Enterprise to actually show compassion toward Q. He doesn't take offense at Q's arrogance, instead trying to point out to him the way in which his behavior will not serve him well on a starship. He also speaks in Q's defense when Riker advocates throwing him off the ship, pointing out that Q did give Geordi an idea to deal with the decaying moon. As Q observes, the unemotional Data is "a better human than" he is.

Guinan: By contrast, she has no compassion toward Q at all, and in fact delights at his powerless state. After Q is first attacked by the alien, and lies on the floor croaking, "Help me" to no one in particular, she stands with her arms folded, looking down on him and smugly declaring, "How the mighty have fallen." This actually fits well with what we saw of their interaction in Q Who? We don't know exactly what Q did to Guinan and her people, but I'd make some guess that he was involved - either as an observer or a participant - in the Borg's devastation of her people. She should despise him on sight, and the episode earns points for having her be so unrelenting in her hostility toward him, even if her hostility probably makes her less likable to the audience.

Q: May not make a very good human (though honestly, we all know worse), but he does make an entertaining one. Troi senses immediately how terrified he is - a fear he attempts to cover with his usual arrogant sniping at everyone, particularly entertaining when he's trading barbs with Worf ("Eat any good books lately?"). Q may not have his powers, but he does possess millennia of accumulated knowledge, and is able to assist Geordi even around his pettiness. The bond Q strikes up with Data works very well, and Q's "parting gift" to Data is a wonderful grace note for both character and episode. Added points for Worf seeming a lot more receptive to Q's gift of two girls than Riker, and for looking a bit perturbed after Picard gets Q to take the girls away again.

THOUGHTS

It had to be just a little bit daunting for the writer of the next Q episode after Q Who? After the decent-but-flawed pilot and the watchable-but-significantly flawed Hide and Q, the superbeing's third appearance finally used him effectively. He wasn't the threat of the episode. He was the catalyst, bringing the regulars into contact with the threat and then providing commentary on their attempts to deal with the situation. Q is weak as an active villain, but quite strong when providing an outsider's perspective on a situation.

It's that strength that is used, albeit in a much different way, in Deja Q. Q is once again the outsider. It's just that this time, it's his dilemma that's the focus of the episode. John DeLancie does a splendid job as usual, portraying Q's defiant arrogance and boredom in such a way that we can sense them as a cover for his fear. There's a subtle difference between his performance in the bulk of the episode and his performance at the very end, when Q has his powers back and triumphantly announces that fact to Picard and the bridge crew. Q's arrogance is no longer a defiant (and therefore tense) cover, but the relaxed arrogance of a being who knows he is invulnerable to anything - except, perhaps, to the other Q.

The three plot layers - Q's powers, the moon, and the alien - are interwoven with skill. Q's presence helps Geordi get an idea for the moon crisis. Q also attracts the alien, which complicates efforts to execute the plan to stop the moon's decay. In this way, the disparate elements never jar. The problem some episodes have, of one plot strand feeling like part of a different episode than the other, never becomes a problem here, and the way in which one strand complicates the others keeps the momentum building.

A rare, thoroughly successful Trek comedy episode. Judging it as a comedy episode, I can't help but award an excellent rating.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

Previous Episode: The High Ground

Next Episode: A Matter of Perspective

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2-16. Q Who?

An entertaining but unthreatening returning villain introduces us to a villain with threat to spare.


THE PLOT

Q has been ejected from the Q Continuum, and would like to make Enterprise his new home. To that end, he offers his services. When Picard rejects his offer, Q stresses that humanity is not ready for what it will soon encounter. Picard insists that they will adapt... and Q decides to put that to the test.

With a snap of Q's fingers, the Enterprise is hurled into deep space. At maximum warp, it would take more than 2 years for them to get back home. But that's not the worst of it. Q has brought them into a region of space that has been devastated by the Borg, a relentless force that uses both living beings and technology as fodder for its collective consciousness. When the Borg detects Enterprise, it sees it as fuel for itself - leaving Picard in a desperate struggle for his ship's very survival!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: He does find Q's proposal intriguing, stating that learning more about Q would be fascinating. But he insists that humanity is ready for whatever awaits them, and does everything in his power to prove that diagnosis accurate. He actually deals fairly well with the Borg. His responses are appropriate to each situation, and only at the very end is it clear that Picard truly cannot win in this confrontation. When it does become clear that his ship is doomed if he continues on his present course, he gives in and asks Q for help. Patrick Stewart's performance is outstanding, particularly when he admits that he and his ship are "inadequate" in this situation. His facial expression when he says "inadequate" is just a terrific bit of nonverbal acting.

Riker: When Picard and a shuttle vanish from the ship, he initiates a methodical search of the sector. When Picard abruptly reappears in Ten-Forward, Riker's slight smile indicates that he already knows who is responsible. When Q dubs Riker's reactions as smug, he isn't wrong.  But it's the last chance Riker gets to be smug in this episode.  He does his job as First Officer throughout, offering Picard the alternatives as he sees them and eagerly volunteering to transport to the Borg cube to see what this new life-form is like.

Guinan: It is here that we learn that there is far more to her than appears to be the case. She and Q are old adversaries. When they first see each other, both go into immediate combat postures, and only Picard's intervention prevents hostilities. That she could be Q's enemy and survive indicates some abilities on her part. She is also aware of the Borg. She identifies them for Picard, and confirms that they are a genuine threat, one that all but destroyed her people.

Hot Space Babe of the Week: Lycia Naff is Ensign Sonya Gomez, a recent graduate of Starfleet Academy who has just been assigned to Enterprise. We are told that she is a very skilled young engineer. We see a young woman who is constantly flustered at her new assignment. Geordi takes her under his wing and tries to get her to slow down and calm down.

Q: When Picard finally admits that he is incapable of dealing with the Borg, Q is surprisingly gracious. He does bridle a bit when Picard protests that the lesson could have been learned without the need for crew deaths, with a pretty good speech about how the universe is a place of wonders, but the one thing it will never be is "safe." John deLancie's performance has been dialed way back from his first two appearances. Even when Q is being impish, it's more a lazy and laconic commentary than the hyperkinetic, multi-costumed camp of his early shows. His final conversation with Picard is direct and unblinking, displaying a maturity that one would have thought impossible in the character. Of the Q episodes I have thus far reviewed, this is by far John deLancie's best performance and by far the strongest characterization of the role.

The Borg: Introducing... the Borg! They are introduced as an ultimate threat. A faceless enemy, simply because there is no one face that represents them. They consume whatever they come into contact with, using it to advance themselves. When the Enterprise succeeds in doing significant damage to them, they put their collective consciousness to work repairing the damage. In one shot, we can see a close-up of the cube literally coming back together. They quickly adapt to anything that damages them. Worf destroys one Borg with phaser fire. Another appears, and Worf fires again - this time with no effect. The Enterprise's torpedoes damage the Borg. After the Borg repairs itself, Picard orders the use of more torpedoes - this time with no effect. The Borg is relentless, and Picard's crew simply lacks the technology necessary to either stop them or escape.


THOUGHTS

One of the things that makes this genuinely big, important episode work so well is that it doesn't start out feeling like a big, important episode. We get a comedy teaser, with Picard getting splashed with hot chocolate before he runs into Q. Going into the credits, most contemporary viewers were probably expecting a semi-comedic retread of the previous Q episodes. There's little in the episode's first act to indicate otherwise. Only when Guinan pops her head up above the level of the bar and she and Q recognize each other, does it become clear that this is more than just another Q episode.

In fact, it's barely a Q episode at all. Q is merely the instrument that brings Enterprise into contact with the Borg. He appears at the beginning, to set up the danger to come. He returns at the end, to rescue the Enterprise. In between, he largely just comments on the action as Picard and his crew attempt to deal with this situation themselves.

The Borg scenes, particularly the scenes inside the Borg cube, are superbly directed by Rob Bowman. The pull-back from the one row of Borg to reveal row after row of Borg going up and down and opposite Riker's Away Team is, given the technical limitations of the day, quite a strong piece of filmmaking.

I also appreciate this episode tying in with the mysterious enemy that destroyed the outposts in The Neutral Zone. I had forgotten that detail, and had honestly assumed that the hints in The Neutral Zone ended up disappearing into the same plot alcove as the aliens in Conspiracy.  By tying the Borg to the destruction of the neutral zone outposts, we are finally provided some payoff to the earlier episode.

Overall, this is one of the very best episodes to date. From the moment Q whisks them off into deep space, the pace doesn't let up. The sense of threat is maintained throughout, with a nicely ominous note in the tag scene. We have seen that Starfleet's flagship is virtually helpless in the face of the Borg, and we know that the Borg are coming. What might that mean for the future...?


Rating: 10/10.

Previous Episode: Pen Pals
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1-10. Hide and Q

THE PLOT

The Enterprise is rushing to the rescue of some miners on a distant colony world, all hands prepared for a medical emergency. Their rush is interrupted, however, by the arrival of Q, who was impressed by Riker on their previous meeting.  Now the superbeing has a new game in mind. He whisks Riker and the command crew to a generic planet, to do battle in Napoleonic style against some animalistic rivals, while offering Riker the chance to save his friends by granting him the power of the Q. Meanwhile, Q separately bargains with Picard over Riker's decision. If Riker accepts Q's offer, and joins the Q Continuum, then Picard will reliquish command of the Enterprise!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Patrick Stewart gets some excellent scenes in this, particularly opposite John de Lancie. A highlight of the episode's first half is the "Shakespeare quoting" scene. Q begins with the upper hand, idly reciting Shakespeare passages at an irritated Picard. But when Q successfully ropes Picard into the game, Picard one-ups him by taking an ironic passage from Hamlet and treating it literally, shaking Q by perhaps probing a bit too close to the immature superbeing's motivations. One can see the Shakespearian-trained Stewart relishing this scene, and the larger context within the episode works too, making it a genuinely memorable moment.

For a rare change, the backgrounding of Picard actually works in this episode. The set-up has Picard and Q effectively representing two possible paths, one of which Riker must choose. Picard's bargain with Q vaguely parallels God's bargain with Lucifer in The Book of Job, betting on the choices that will be made by one man. Picard takes a largely hands-off approach to trying to influence Riker's decision, right down to letting Riker give his "gifts" to the crew at the end. By allowing the crew to react to Riker's gifts (and the source of their power), Picard allows the situation to resolve itself. This is something I'm not sure Kirk (or Archer) could have done convincingly, and represents a good use of the more intellectual Picard.

Riker: A showcase episode for Riker, this unfortunately helps to show some of Jonathan Frakes' limitations as an actor. On the planet, he poses very self-consciously in several shots, sticking one leg up on the (unconvincing) papier-mache rocks as if he thinks he's posing for a GQ shoot or somesuch. He never convinces when Riker supposedly goes "power-mad," and as such there's very little drama in his choice.

Tasha: Though given some of the strongest character potential in the early episodes, Tasha has since sunk gradually into the background, where she still resides here.  She doesn't even get a "gift" at the end.  However, she does get a couple of nice character beats. When she's put into Q's "penalty box," we see her frustration at being left helpless to act, at being controlled by a stronger external force - which probably reminds her of her hellish childhood. It's a good moment for a character who seems to increasingly have been forgotten by the production team.

Q: His second appearance is stronger than his first. The production team seems to have realized that de Lancie's performance is not well-suited to generating fear, and have opted to play a bit more with Q's mischievous streak. Though the content of the episode insists that Q's interest is in Riker, de Lancie's best moments are all when playing opposite Patrick Stewart - which is likely why future Q episodes steered the focus to the Q/Picard rivalry.


BRATS IN SPAAACE!

Wesley dies!

Well, OK, he gets better almost immediately. Still, we do get to see him brutally stabbed, if only for a second or two. In the midst of an unusually decent episode, I will consider that as a personal gift.


THOUGHTS

Though not up to the standards of Where No One Has Gone Before, this episode is a rare, pretty good first-season TNG episode. The regulars all get something to do. Tasha gets that moment with Picard; Worf gets to demonstrate his abilities as a warrior by scouting the enemy camp and returning; Geordi, Worf, and Wesley get to reject Riker's "gifts." Even Dr. Crusher gets to act the role of a protective parent. The only person with no role is Troi, who we're told was dropped off for "family time." Too bad - she'd have been of great aid to the crew, by intoning "I sense hostility" when the animal-like Q creatures attack, or "I sense sorrow" when the girl's body is pulled from beneath wreckage on the mining colony. All told, the script uses the large cast very well, better than most of the show's episodes have managed.

Unfortunately, not all the news is good.  The lack of jeopardy and urgency that has marked most of TNG's run continues here. The first half of the episode sets up a dilemma. Riker is given Q's powers, but makes a promise not to use them. This is tested by Riker refraining from using his powers to save a third party who is a complete stranger, which then cues a third act in which... Picard sits back while Riker, Q, and the bridge crew chat for a while. This last works better than it should, because the characterization is mostly good... With the exception of Worf, whose anemic character development is shown in that the most Riker/the writers can think to give him is a Klingon sex slave.

Still, think how much more dramatic the situation could have been, had the Enterprise been placed in imminent danger, with Riker having the power to literally blink the ship out of danger but having to refrain from using it. Q could be the devil on Riker's shoulder, tempting him to use his powers not to "bring (his) friends happiness," but to save his friends. Picard could be acting as the captain, and Riker could be looking on, tortured, as the (mostly) human crew work with what would seem like agonizing slowness to pull the Enterprise out of danger by inches. I think that would have worked just as well as a test of Riker's resolve.  It would have further demonstrated that the Enterprise crew doesn't need a first officer with god-like abilities, and would have greatly enhanced the suspense of the third act.

Even so, the episode works quite passably on its own merits. Q's second appearance works much better than his first did, and the Enterprise crew all get their moments for a change. It might be slightly generous of me, but I think I'll give this episode a solid:


Rating: 6/10.

Previous Episode: The Battle
Next Episode: Haven


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1-1, 1-2. Encounter at Farpoint

THE PLOT

Several decades after Kirk's Enterprise, a new Enterprise sets out on a similar mission of exploration. Its first stop is Farpoint Station, a remarkably advanced starbase built by a race negotiating with the Federation. However, the ship is intercepted en route by a being known as Q (John de Lancie). Q demands that the Enterprise - along with, presumably, all humans - return immediately to Earth, and uses its immense powers to hold a mock trial of humanity. When the captain, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), challenges Q to test humanity as it is now, the being agrees... and assures them that Farpoint will provide a very adequate puzzle for them.

Arriving at Farpoint, everything seems normal. However, the new first officer, William Riker, has noticed that items seem to appear out of nowhere on the station, to meet needs and wants as soon as they are expressed. This, coupled with Q's challenge, leads Picard to conclude that something is going on at Farpoint. But when his investigations are proceeding too slowly for Q's tastes, the superbeing reappears and gives them a new time limit: 24 hours to solve the puzzle, or face summary judgment!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: "I'll do anything you say!" A handful of crew members are in jeopardy, and Picard all but immediately surrenders to Q. Gah! One of Kirk's most famous quotes from the original series is, "Risk is our business." Based on this less than spectacular display, Picard's motto may as well be, "My people are in trouble... Time to go home!" Never mind Kirk comparisons - that particular scene compares unfavorably with Archer!

That scene aside (and I think it's fair enough to mark that down to a spot of bad writing), Picard makes a favorable overall first impression. Patrick Stewart has a great deal of natural authority, and usually manages to hold the scenes together even when the script stumbles. Picard is portrayed as being less physical and more intellectual than Kirk. Though, to be honest, this puzzle wasn't exactly beyond Kirk's reasoning skills. Or even Archer's.

Riker: With Picard effectively being the intellectual analyst, it falls to first officer William Riker to be the muscle. An early scene has him standing up to Picard, defending his decision to refuse to allow a prior captain to lead an Away Team. Clearly, the Kirk "action man" role is being designed for him in this series. Johnathan Frakes gives an adequate performance in this pilot, although the prior relationship with Troi (Marina Siritis) seems forced.

Troi: Marina Sirtis is attractive, though I'm not sure her form is best-suited to the mini-skirted outfit she wears here. Apparently, at some point, actress and/or execs agreed, because I seem to recall this outfit being changed quickly. Her acting in this episode is deeply mediocre, though given most of her lines amount to, "I sense pain... I sense fear... I sense a superior mind!" - at least, when she's not acting like a teenage girl with a crush around Riker - it's hard to fault the actress too much. To say the character writing is weak for her would be to understate.

Data: Thankfully, Brent Spiner makes an immediate positive impression as Data. Spiner seems to instinctively know how to play up his character being an android without overplaying it. Little things like the way he sits up, then stands up, after a planetary assault has knocked both him and Riker to the ground, just emphasize him as not-quite-human. His character is an obvious counterpoint/inversion to Spock. In TOS, Spock is an essentially emotional being who works every conscious moment to suppress his emotions, and who doubtless wishes he had no emotions to suppress. In TNG, Data is the opposite - a being with no emotions, who nevertheless tries to emulate those feelings and wishes he had genuine feelings of his own. It's my recollection that this became regrettable fuel for sitcom-level subplots. However, the character is one of the strongest elements of this pilot.

The Enterprise Crew: Passable first impressions of the rest. Gates McFadden is quite attractive as Dr. Crusher. The character has a past with Picard that is dealt with in a far lower-key (and thus more effective) fashion than Troi's past with Riker is, and she has some good scenes opposite both Picard and Riker. Worf is... Well, Klingon, and not much more than that. But I already know he becomes a memorable character, so I'll let his lack of characterization here slide. Colm Meaney appears and gets a few lines of dialogue, though he has no character as yet. Denise Crosby slightly overacts her bits as the security chief, particularly in the courtroom scene, but seems to have potential to grow into her part. Wil Wheaton's Wesley is annoying, and - if memories hold true - will become more annoying as time goes by. Hold firm to your rule, Jean-Luc: "No children on the bridge!"

Villain of the Week: The first of several appearances by John de Lancie as Q. Q would eventually become a sort of Puck-in-space, a cosmic trickster character. Here, he's actually meant to be sinister. It... doesn't quite work, largely because that characterization does not play to the actor's strengths. Still, the deadline he gives Picard does raise a little tension, and it's already clear that de Lancie and Patrick Stewart play very well opposite each other.


THOUGHTS

Nothing dates like effects. This pilot is proof of that. In 1987, many of the effects seemed rather impressive, particularly the effects as Q ensnares the Enterprise at the beginning. Now those effects look desperately dated, possibly even more dated than many TOS effects. Certainly, the mattes once the show shifts setting to the planet are less detailed and artistic than the mattes frequently seen in the old series. And the overdramatic music during the "saucer separation" - Well, that honestly struck me as dramatic overkill back in 1987, let alone today.

Pace is also a problem. When Q is chiding Picard for going too slowly, he could be speaking for the audience. The pace is very awkward, with the need to introduce sets and characters often getting in the way of telling the story. A good example of this is when Q appears to give Picard the 24-hour deadline. After the commercial fade-out, we are told that much of this deadline has passed. So what happens next? Riker strolls around the ship and visits the holodeck to collect Data, and the two have a conversation about holodeck technology and Data's Pinnochio complex. Then we get some weak humor with Wesley joining them in order to be drippy in the hallway. Right after a scene meant to create a sense of urgency, we get a very long scene that drains that urgency away again.

On the other hand, the story itself is quite decent. It's thin enough to allow the characters to be introduced, and to give each of them at least one or two beats, but substantial enough to engage viewer interest and create a need for some basic character interaction. As a story, it's much worse than TOS' The Cage; as a pilot, however, it's probably better.

Still, when Picard promises at the end that most of their missions will be "much more interesting," I'm sure a lot of viewers were replying, "I hope so!"


Rating: 6/10.

Next Episode: The Naked Now

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