One's favorite episodes of a series don't necessarily have to coincide with the best, but in this case, I thought the writers did a commendable job of providing both for this viewer. The only other Next Generation story I've given a rating of '10' to was the third season's "Yesterday's Enterprise", which also happened to be a time travel episode, and for me, it's unusual to pick time travel stories because they usually make my head hurt trying to figure them out. The writers managed to keep this one from being too confusing with Captain Picard's (Patrick Stewart) forays into the past and future as a spatial anomaly directed by Q. (John de Lancie) caused time shifts in the Captain's perception. It was cool to venture with Picard to his first day aboard the Enterprise with Lieutenant Trisha Yar (Denise Crosby) as the security chief, while in the future we learn that the Captain had married and divorced Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden), now in command of a Federation medical supply ship. As events in all three timelines began to converge to one point in space as a result of tachyon pulses engineered by the crew in each one, Picard finally achieved success in saving humanity which was put on trial in a manner of speaking, by the indomitable Q, who always held the Captain in high, if often contentious regard. Feeling more like a Star Trek movie because of its extended run time, I felt this actually could have been released as a standalone picture with little reworking. With enough hints that this would be Next Generation's last hurrah (see my summary line above), the series found a way to go out in style with a cast and crew that pretty much remained stable throughout the years. For this viewer, I appreciated that they made it so.
Review of All Good Things...
