Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episodes 177 & 178 (All Good Things…)

Every show comes to an end.  Some, like the original Star Trek, get cancelled abruptly.  In other cases, the show ends on its own terms, having told the story it wants to tell.  Star Trek: The Next Generation came to an end after seven seasons, despite being contracted for eight.  The final episode was a two-hour episode called “All Good Things…”.

The episode begins with Troi and Worf exiting a holodeck and walking back to her quarters.  Outside Troi’s door, Captain Picard approaches them and asks what the date is.  He claims that he was moving around in time, having been to both the past and the future.  The details are blurry, but he’s certain that he’s moving through time.  Dr. Crusher examines him; after our first on-screen glimpse of the time shifting, she examines him again to find that he has two days of new memories.  There’s something to it.

There are three distinct timeframes, including what we would call Picard’s present.  The other two take place seven years in the past and 25 year in the future.  Why seven years in the past?  That’s when Picard first took command of the Enterprise.  As for 25 years in the future, why not?

The past is exactly what you’d expect.  Tasha Yar is still chief of security.  Riker, La Forge and a few other crewmembers are still at the Farpoint station.  Data is still unbearably inquisitive.  Picard makes a few mistakes, like telling Worf to do Yar’s job, but he starts to get the hang of it.

The future is one where Picard is suffering from irumodic syndrome, a degenerative neurological disorder.  Picard is shown tending his vineyard when he’s approached by La Forge.  It appears that Picard has retired to his family estate.  However, his health is deteriorating.

In the past and present, an anomaly shows itself.  In both cases, the Enterprise is called to investigate.  It would appear that events in one timeline don’t affect events in the others, other than Picard remembering and acting on them.  He keeps the past crew in the dark, mostly because they’re still new.  However, he mentions it to the present and future crews.

There’s still no news in the future about the anomaly, which is strange.  Picard, La Forge and Data have to arrange passage to the system, which is in the Romulan Neutral Zone, as Picard can’t seem to persuade Admiral Riker to give them a cloaked ship.  Who do they turn to?  Captain Beverly Picard.

This still doesn’t answer the question of who’s behind all this, although we have seen clues.  Those that have been watching the entire series will recognize Q’s handiwork.  Q shows up, or rather pulls Picard back to the trial he and the bridge crew faced in “Encounter at Farpoint”.  This isn’t a new trial; the original one never really ended.  It’s now time for Q to pronounce his verdict:  Guilty.  Humanity will be destroyed and it will ultimately be done in by Picard’s hand.  Will Picard be able to save humanity once again?

I’ve often thought about the choice of time periods.  There were a lot of other things that the series could have done.  They could have gone back to Picard’s time on the Stargazer.  They could have gone back to just after Picard graduated from the academy, as per Tapestry.  Ultimately, that could have gotten too muddled.  Instead, we have a nice set of bookends.

The future does make for more humorous notes, like Data using a skunk for a toupee.  (Well, not really, but his housekeeper seems to think so.)  We also get to see one possible future where Riker and Worf aren’t talking to each other.  Most of the characters have aged, some better than others.

There are a few questions that I’ve had, such as the anomaly growing bigger in each timeframe, despite being bigger in the past.  I suppose this could be accounted for by the fact that each timeline is separate.  The big question people have asked is why there are three Enterprise-like beams in the anomaly when one of them should have been from the Pasteur.  While it’s true that Data never said they were all definitely from the Enterprise, we don’t actually see the Pasteur sending any energy beam into the anomaly.  When Picard and Co. make it to the Anomaly, it’s on the Enterprise.  I would think that it’s more probable that a beam would have emanated from that ship.

One thing I had to wonder is what the universe would have looked like had the anomaly run its course. Q stated that it was supposed to wipe out humanity, even going so far to show Picard early Earth and the goo that would have hosted the first proteins.  If humanity never existed, would the Federation or something like it still have formed?  (For that matter, the anomaly is pretty big way in the past.  How did it affect only Earth?)

You’d probably want to watch the rest of the series first.  (I mean, really.  Who watches the series finale first?)  This episode would probably be a little confusing without a good deal of knowledge.  Fans will probably pick up La Forge’s mention of Leah, a probable reference to Leah Brahms.  I have to wonder, though, as Leah Brahms was a little creeped out by Geordi’s behavior, and rightfully so.  Either she’s gotten over it or he has a thing for women named Leah.

I will say that of all the finales for the modern Star Trek series, this was probably my favorite.  I never really liked what they did with Deep Space Nine.  I felt that having everyone go in separate directions was somewhat forced.  Voyager was exactly what you’d expect.  They’d be some big push to get the ship home, which would just barely work.  It would only come down to details.  As for Star Trek: Enterprise, they never really got the finale they deserved.  (Also, can someone explain to me exactly what the heck happened?  Were they trying to imply that the entire series was Riker’s doing?  He must have been spending way too much time in the holodeck.)


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Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 82 (Future Imperfect)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

There are some movies that keep you in suspense.  You wonder if they’re going to pull something off or if someone will live or die.  TV shows are a little different.  There are certain things you assume, like all of the regular cast will be back next week.  Yes, Star Trek: The Next Generation did mix up the cast on several occasions.  In fact, Wesley Crusher will leave the series as a regular in the very next episode.  However, you can usually tell if a big change is real or is hinting to a big lie.

In “Future Imperfect”, Commander Riker is celebrating his birthday.  Before Picard and Data can join him, the ship’s sensors pick up an energy reading on a nearby planet.  Since it’s near the Romulan Neutral Zone, it warrants investigation.  Riker beams down with La Forge and Worf, only to find increasing levels of toxic gasses, so they signal to beam out.  They can’t due to interference.  Riker passes out, only to wake up in sickbay…16 years later.

Things have changed.  Riker is now in charge of the Enterprise.  Picard has been promoted to Admiral, taking Troi with him.  Data is his first officer and La Forge no longer has his signature VISOR.  Klingons other than Worf are serving on the Enterprise and there’s a Ferengi piloting the ship.  Oh, and Riker’s on the verge of finishing a peace treaty with the Romulans.  The ambassador is Tomalak, who once threatened to take the Enterprise’s broken hull back to Romulus to be hung as a trophy for all to see.  My, how times have changed.

This is where Riker’s BSometer starts going off.  Tomalak starts asking about a secret base.  As luck would have it, this is where the treaty is to be signed.  (Just tell us where it is.)  Oh, and Riker has a son, named for his former captain.  The big tipoff comes when Riker looks up footage of his deceased wife, Minuet Riker and realizes that she was the hologram the Bynars created for her in the episode 11001001.  He goes up to the bridge and calls shenanigans on everyone, even telling Picard to shut his mouth.

Tomalak walks over and admits the ruse.  The holographic image fades, revealing Tomalak and Riker to be in a Romulan facility.  (I find it odd that whenever a holographic image is about to fade, several people have to walk into position.  They can never just end the simulation from wherever they are.)  Tomalak says that they were trying to extract the information from them, but their mind-reading machines are calibrated for Romulans and don’t work so well on humans.

Tomalak throws Riker in with the boy used for the image of Jean-Luc Riker.  At first, the kid is afraid, but he eventually opens up and tells Riker that there’s a secret compartment that the Romulans don’t know about.  The kid, now going by Ethan, says that he was only caught because he had to come out for food.  The Romulans can’t scan the area.  Once again, Riker picks up on the ruse when Ethan refers to Tomalak as Ambassador.  Ethan should only know Tomalak as a captain.

Ethan admits everything.  He’s actually an alien that was left on the planet by his mother.  His home planet was attacked and the mother left the child there to protect him.  She set him up with this nice holodeck that will provide for his every need.  (I can only assume that this includes food.)  Since she knew she’d be hunted, she left him to sacrifice herself.  All he really wanted was an actual, live playmate.  Riker understands, but is eager to get back to his ship.  He tells the alien that he can come, although it’s not specified what, exactly, will happen.  Since we never hear of the alien again, we don’t know.

There are a few things that bother me about this episode.  Some things are understandable while others aren’t.  First, I’ve seen complaints that Commander Riker refers to his fake wife as Mrs. William Riker.  Yes, her name was mentioned, but it was in passing and it’s understandable if he didn’t pick up on it or wasn’t sure of the exact pronunciation.  What got me was that Jean-Luc/Ethan/throwaway alien of the week did the same thing.  Doesn’t he know the full name of his own mother?

Speaking of throwaway alien of the week, the true form of said alien isn’t shown until the actual last minute of the episode.  The costume was horrible.  I understand that Star Trek was known for occasionally having to work within a budget, but this is uncalled for.  We’re talking something you might find at a dollar-store post-Halloween clearance sale.  It’s almost worth watching the episode just to see how bad it is.

The one thing I remember about this episode was liking the fact that the title made a play on the name of a verb tense.  I don’t know what it was.  Maybe it was that the episode aired while I was just starting high school, so that sort of stuff was still fresh in my memory.  That was the only thing I can remember liking about the episode.  It’s one of those throw-away episodes that are heavy on the fluff and light on the meaning.  What are we supposed to take away from this?  Is this supposed to teach us that it sucks to be an orphan, even if were left in this really cool automated daycare?

And that’s another thing.  We have this really nice fancy holodeck.  There’s no mention of anyone going down to figure out how it works.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have a mind-reading holodeck?  I get that it doesn’t work on humans as is, but it could be modified.  It could also be used as the interrogation technique that the fake Tomalak wanted to use it as.

All things considered, it’s a skipable episode.  The only thing I liked about it was basically the flash.  I liked the new commbadges, but that was about it.  If you’re watching the episodes in order, I can’t blame you for sitting through it.  It’s not a horrible episode.  It’s just that I wouldn’t recommend rushing out to watch it. 

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Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 58 (The Defector)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

WARNING:  I’m going to give away major details about the episode, including the ending.  If you’re not into that, stop reading here.



In the original Star Trek, there were two neutral zones.  Each provided a buffer between the United Federation of Planets and an adversary.  One was for the Romulan Star Empire and the other was for the Klingon Empire.  By the time The Next Generation rolled around, we had made peace with the Klingons, but the Romulan Neutral Zone was still in place.  Crossing the Neutral Zone is considered an act of aggression.

A Romulan scout ship doesn’t pose much of a threat, but the Enterprise sends out a message to desist.  The scout ship is asking for help, as it’s soon revealed that it’s being chased by a warbird.  The Enterprise protects the scout ship; the warship doesn’t put up much of a fight, which is odd.  No one really complains, though.  The Romulan on the scout ship is beamed over to the Enterprise and questioned.  He has important information for the captain:  The Romulans are planning an attack.  They’re actually building a base on Nelvana III, inside the Neutral Zone.  A big no-no.  Oh, and sorry for not mentioning that he was going to blow up his ship.  He’s here to give information on a potential war.  Not give out technological secrets.

So, the Enterprise gets as close to Nelvana III as they can without entering the Neutral Zone, but they can’t see anything from that far out.  They send a probe and do get some odd readings, but still noting worth going in for.  The Romulan officer keeps claiming that he’s lowly logistics clerk Sublieutenant Setol.  Except he’s not.  He reveals that he’s Admiral Alidar Jarok.  When Picard passes this up the chain of command, he gets a response not to trust this guy.  He was responsible for a massacre and is likely deceiving us.

This is pretty much a given.  He’s already lied about his name and claims that he doesn’t want to give out more than he has to.  (“Damn it, Jim.  I’m a defector.  Not a traitor.”)  Eventually, Captain Picard decides to take the Enterprise into the Neutral Zone only to find that there really is nothing.  It’s not that Admiral Jarok was lying.  Actually, it was that he was lied to.  He was fed all sorts of misinformation as a means of testing his loyalty.  He really doesn’t want a war.  Oh, and the Romulans now have an excuse to make the first move in the war that Jarok was trying to avoid.

For the most part, I liked this episode.  The only thing I didn’t understand was the Shakespeare reference at the beginning of the episode.  Honestly, though, this has more to do with not having read Henry V.  I’m sure that there is some connection that I’d get if I had ever seen it performed.  Or, maybe not.  I don’t know.

James Sloyan played Admiral Jarok.  I’ve liked him in his various Star Trek Roles.  (He’s also been in Deep Space Nine and Voyager.)  He always has an understated method to the roles.  All Admiral Jarok wants is to prevent a war.  He doest come at the crew with much anger and when he does, it’s not with a booming voice and flailing arms.  You get his point, even if you doubt it.  This is probably the most memorable Romulan outside of Tomalak.

I also find it odd that Data, the emotionless android, probably showed him the most compassion by bringing him to the holodeck so that he might see Romulus one more time.  Alas, Jarok has already made his decision.  He has to accept the fate that he’s chosen for himself.

Even though I liked it, I’m not sure I could recommend it to the casual viewer.  Most people coming into Star Trek probably wouldn’t understand this episode if it was the first they‘d ever seen.  (I’m also reviewing the VHS edition, so it’s hard to recommend buying it to begin with.)  Fortunately, we now have DVD sets, which makes the per-episode cost much lower.  We also have streaming through Netflix.  For a monthly fee, you could conceivably watch Star Trek: The Next Generation from the beginning.  (Since Netflix rotates their stock, I can’t promise continued availability.)  If you do have Netflix and decide to watch The Next Generation, this is definitely one of the episodes to look forward to. 

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Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 55 (The Enemy)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

WARNING:  I’m going to give away major details about the episode.  These are the kinds of details that will probably ruin the ending if you haven’t seen it before.  You’ve been warned.


One of the ideals put forth in the Star Trek universe is having a federation of planets where prejudice has either been eliminated or greatly reduced.  Sure, Doctor McCoy may make fun of Spock’s green blood, but it’s all in good fun.  They still work together as part of the same crew.  When The Next Generation came around, one of our enemies were now an ally.  We even had a Klingon serving onboard.  At some point during the intervening 70-80 years, we had made peace.  The Romulans, however, were still out there and were still a threat.

We had a neutral zone in place to act as a buffer.  Neither side could claim it.  Crossing it was considered an act of war.  Imagine the surprise when a crashed ship is discovered to be of Romulan origin.  The ship has had explosives applied to cover up the exact nature of the ship, but there is Romulan writing, plain as day.  Commander Riker, Worf and Geordi La Forge beam down to the surface of Galorndon Core and discover the wreckage and a survivor.  Riker and Worf are able to beam back up, but La Forge is left on the planet after he fell down a hole.  (There are severe storms, preventing the use of the transporter.)

Well, Commander Tomalak also received the same distress call that attracted the Federation.  He tries to send a message to the crew saying that he’ll be there shortly, but the only ones listening are the bridge crew of the Enterprise.  Picard promptly sends back a message, “Um…We don’t think so.  We know you‘re there and to prove it, we‘ll address you by name.”  Tomalak stays on his side of the Neutral Zone waiting for the Enterprise to extract Geordi.  The problem is that the Romulan survivor isn’t doing so well.  He’s dying and, as luck would have it, Worf is the only one that can save him.

You’re probably wondering what the big deal is.  All that’s necessary is a simple blood transfusion.  The problem is that Worf is that one Klingon and Klingons hate Romulans.  For Worf, it’s also personal.  Romulans attacked the outpost where he and his parents were living.  Both of his parents were killed in the attack, leaving Worf to be raised by humans.  The only way that the Romulan is getting the transfusion is if Captain Picard orders him to do so.  Otherwise, it’s sayonara for the Romulan.  (Not that the Romulan wants Worf’s dirty Klingon blood, anyway.)

You’re probably thinking that Worf will have some sort of last-minute change of heart or that he’ll be ordered to give blood.  After all, it’s supposed to be this enlightened era of peace and love for all, even if they are your enemy.  Besides, it wouldn’t look good if a Romulan died on a Federation ship, even if they were the aggressors here.  We can’t have random enemies attacking us, then dying when we could save them.  We have to be better than that.

Nope.  The Romulan dies.

As luck would have it, Geordi’s found another Romulan on the planet.  This one has taken Geordi prisoner, which is a shame.  Geordi has just found a beacon that he can modify to let the ship know that he’s ok.  When the next window opens, it will be that much easier to beam him back up.  Geordi offers to take the Romulan up with him, as the Romulan has no other opportunities and isn’t looking so good.  Geordi can tell all of this because he has prosthesis that allows him to see.  Without it, he’s blind.

Just as Centurion Bochra is about to trust Geordi, the VISOR goes out.  It’s a minor setback.  Bochra is able to convince Geordi that they can put the VISOR and tricorder together to get to the beacon, which they do.  They make it to the beacon and back to the Enterprise.  Bochra goes back to Romulus with Tomalak and Geordi stays on the Enterprise to fight another day.

There were a few things I found odd about the episode.  First, how is it that on a ship filled with about a thousand people, only one is capable of saving the Romulan?  Romulans and Vulcans have a common ancestry.  I believe there are Vulcans on the Enterprise, but a the Romulan has to rely on his sworn enemy.  Yes, it makes for an interesting story and some dramatic tension.  We get to see just how much Worf hates Romulans.  Those are some long odds, though.  Also, the Romulan did refuse.  Why didn’t Worf bring this up?

I also vaguely remember Geordi commenting on his VISOR to the Romulan.  Bochra commented that Romulan parents would not have permitted a blind child to live.  I seem to recall Geordi commenting that the Romulans would have missed out on better vision through technology or something.  It’s possible that my memory is playing tricks on me, but Netflix has 45-minute episodes.  I recall that some stuff has been taken out for subsequent (more commercial-laden) runs.  This is especially true of the original series.  I don’t know to what extent this holds true of The Next Generation.

I don’t think it was directly mentioned what the Romulans were doing so far in to Federation space.  I think the episode was meant to show that the Romulans were doing something and potentially setting up future episodes.  A few episodes later, a Romulan Admiral defects.  (I don’t recall how coincidental this is, but I’ll be rewatching the episode soon.)  Galorndon Core is also mentioned in later episodes, so there is a legacy here.

As with other episodes I’ve reviewed, this is a VHS tape that I’m talking about.  I have seen these on eBay, but you’d really be better off putting your money into the season-three DVD set.  It’s a good episode, but the problem with a TV series is that it’s hard to recommend just one episode.  Right now, I’m also able to watch episodes on Netflix.  If you have access to their streaming service, you may be able to watch the series online.  (Netflix seems to rotate their inventory, so I have no idea if it will be available when you’re reading this.) 

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