Much like Kurt Vonnegut's Billy Pilgrim Captain Picard has become unstuck in time. For no obvious reason he finds himself twenty five years in the future where he is tending the vines in his vineyard in France; then he is back in the present and later he finds himself back in time, to the day he first stepped foot on the Enterprise. As he moves between the time periods he notices certain similarities; in the present and then in the past the Enterprise is ordered to investigate a spatial anomaly in the Romulan Neutral Zone; in the past he ignores this order and continues towards Farpoint Station. Here Q informs him that the 'trial of humanity' is ongoing and that he, Jean-Luc Picard, will be responsible for the destruction of humanity. With this knowledge Picard heads to the site of the anomaly in all three time periods; in the future this involves contacting many old friends. Strangely the anomaly is larger in the past and non-existent in the future. Knowing the he is to blame he must decide whether the anomaly was caused by his action or his inaction and take the appropriate action.
This episode gave 'The Next Generation' a great send-off (till they returned on the big screen) in fact in many ways it feels like an unofficial film; it is double the length of other episodes and has a more cinematic scope. By featuring three different time lines we are given an insight into the crew's future or a possible future; Picard has married and divorced Dr Crusher, Riker is an admiral and Data lectures at Cambridge. Likewise the scenes in the past remind us of how the Enterprise was when the series started with both Tasha Yar and Miles O'Brien featuring. It was great seeing these characters again. Q's presence also serves to link back to the opening episode and while he can be irritating at times here his presence was welcome. The story is gripping with a good sense of mystery; just why is Picard moving through time and how will he save humanity? The entire cast do a fine job playing their characters at different ages; this is particularly true of Patrick Stewart who also has to portray his character's confusion and frustration with the situation. Overall this is one of the best TNG stories; it gives the series the send-off it deserves.
This episode gave 'The Next Generation' a great send-off (till they returned on the big screen) in fact in many ways it feels like an unofficial film; it is double the length of other episodes and has a more cinematic scope. By featuring three different time lines we are given an insight into the crew's future or a possible future; Picard has married and divorced Dr Crusher, Riker is an admiral and Data lectures at Cambridge. Likewise the scenes in the past remind us of how the Enterprise was when the series started with both Tasha Yar and Miles O'Brien featuring. It was great seeing these characters again. Q's presence also serves to link back to the opening episode and while he can be irritating at times here his presence was welcome. The story is gripping with a good sense of mystery; just why is Picard moving through time and how will he save humanity? The entire cast do a fine job playing their characters at different ages; this is particularly true of Patrick Stewart who also has to portray his character's confusion and frustration with the situation. Overall this is one of the best TNG stories; it gives the series the send-off it deserves.