This is an example of a series finale done right. It draws from the history of the show to bring closure to the characters while imagining a future that is tainted with sadness, but with the reassurance that it isn't set in stone. It brought a touch of class to the first season and validated its part in the growth of the show. It also facilitates continuing plot lines in DS9 and the three TNG movies, building the strong foundation that enabled the Star Trek franchise to continue through the 1990's and early millennium. All three of the other series used characters from this series in different capacities; they couldn't have done it without this show. It's one of the most perfect episodes constructed for the series because there was a sadness that the series had to end, but it was an ending that was left opened to all the new possibilities.
It opens with Worf and Troi returning from an exhilarating walk by the Black Sea in the holodeck. After being teased several times, their friendship is about to change into a romantic relationship in earnest now. Worf finally calls attention to how much time they've been spending together after Troi begins to plan their next date. True to form, he wants to discuss Riker's feelings, hinting at an earlier script that indicates that Worf would want to ask Riker's permission to court Troi. Troi isn't interested in such formalities but is ready to proceed with their romance. However, before they can seal it with a kiss, Picard comes barging out into the corridor in his night robe looking confused and a little frightened. Unaware that he's interrupted their special moment, he asks for the star date. They tell him and then ask what's wrong since he's so obviously disturbed. He tells them that he thinks he's moving back and forth in time. So, Troi must make time to talk to him in her quarters. He describes the sensations of being in the past and talking to someone but he can't remember who and then being transported into the future in the outdoors somewhere. The movement between three periods of his life is borrowed from Slaughterhouse Five, continuing Star Trek's tradition of paying homage to other works of science/literary fiction. It's all very vague to him though. Troi suggest that it could be a dream, but Picard assures her that the sights and smells were all too real. As he's describing the disorientation he experiences before he feels like it's perfectly normal for him to be in each time, he's cut off mid-sentence. We then see him in a vineyard. He's an old man now. He does indeed look disoriented for a moment and then begins to tie off grape vines as though nothing unusual had happened. From down the field a little ways, Geordi calls out to him. He no longer has his VISOR, but ocular implants that are similar to the improved design created for the TNG movie First Contact. While Geordi is choosing what title to address Picard by in a joking fashion, we learn that he is retired after having been at least an ambassador since his command stint on the Enterprise twenty-five years prior. Geordi has aged too. They talk family mentioning Geordi's wife, Leah. (Brahms? They left it to the imagination which was very cool.) But Geordi lives far away from Earth now and Picard suspects that the reason he just dropped in for a visit out of nowhere after nine years was because he'd heard that his old captain had been diagnosed with Irumodic Syndrome, a kind of 24th century version of Alzheimer's. This keeps with the continuity of his claim that his grandfather's mental health deteriorated in the episode Night Terrors; excellent writing. But Picard points out that it takes years for the disease to run its course which lightens the mood. As they walk down the field, Picard briefly begins to critique Geordi's new book when he's distracted by voices. Looking out across the vineyard he sees some dirty, peasant type people jeering at him. The scene doesn't last long. Just long enough for those scraggly people to seem familiar to the audience.
Before Picard has time to react he is abruptly in a shuttle with Tasha Yar. She's asking him if he's ever been on a Galaxy Class starship before and notices his disorientation. He claims his mind wandered and reports that he'd not been on one before. He continues to stare at her as she hints at what a treat he's in for with this new class of ship as they approach the Enterprise in the docking bay. She notices his strange behavior, but he only says that she looks familiar to him. Suddenly, Troi is calling him back to his senses in her quarters where we'd left them moments ago. To her great concern he tells her that he'd just been with Tasha Yar in a shuttle. In sick bay, Crusher beings to give negative reports on all of the many scans she's run to see if he'd been abducted or transported through time. They joke about him liking to cause trouble, but then Beverly dismisses Troi to tell Picard privately that she checked for Irumodic Syndrome as he suggested. She discovered a minuscule defect on his brain that wouldn't show up in normal scans. It can lead to many neurological disorders including Irumodic Syndrome and although she assures him the defect also may not lead to anything at all, she's worried. Riker and Worf give their reports that nothing unusual has happened around them to cause the captain's movement through time and Picard is called away to speak to an admiral. The admiral reports inordinate aggression from the Romulans. They're sending a lot of Warbirds to edge of the Neutral Zone to have a look at the Devron system because of a spatial anomaly that has formed there. He orders Picard to park the Enterprise just outside of the Neutral Zone since he doesn't have permission to cross it yet. He's then thrown back to the vineyard in the future. This time he's able to retain a little more of what has happened before it starts to fade away. He tries to tell Geordi that he'd just been in the past, but has trouble describing it precisely. Geordi suggests a doctor, but Picard vehemently defends himself as not having succumbed to the Iromodic Syndrome yet. He requests to see Data which puzzles Geordi, but he takes him where he wants to go. Data holds Isaac Newton's position at Cambridge on Earth and stays at the traditional residence for his job. He has added a rather lopsided streak of gray to his hair, can use emotions now, and is tended to by a fussy woman who thinks his gray streak is appalling. Picard describes being in the past to Data. His first inquiry is into his health and what medication he's on for the Irumodic Syndrome. Picard is frustrated at the assumptions, but since Data can see nothing that disproves Picard's story either he offers to run tests of his own to get to the bottom of it. He's grateful as he's thrust aboard the past Enterprise again to formally take command of it for its maiden voyage. His disorientation is almost nonexistently brief as he picks up a PADD to read the orders that charge him with command of the ship. Signed by Admiral Nora Satie - another nod to past scripts; The Drumhead in this case. As he's trying to read out his orders he sees more of the rabble crowd from the vineyards in the upper level of the shuttle bay they're congregated in. They disappear but reappear again as he continues with the ceremony, greeting his new crew. Alarmed, he calls for red alert and sends everyone to their battle stations. Everyone is confused, but they quickly hop to.
He is now completely lucid in this past and makes a note in his personal log that he won't tell the past crew about his time shifting to prevent any damage to the time line. When the officers report to the bridge he asks them peculiar questions about anomalies in space or aboard the Enterprise. About alien presences of superior intelligence which the audience knows is a reference to Q. But there's nothing so far. He mistakenly orders Worf to go to a level 2 security alert which prompts Tasha to remind him that she's the security chief. This was a really smooth way of explaining her presence to new viewers that might not know her history. O'Brien brings a report of several vessels headed towards the Devron system in the Neutral Zone and that their mission to Farpoint Station has been postponed so that they can proceed there as well to investigate an anomaly. It's a big deal and they're all surprised when he orders them to proceed to Farpoint. He also seems to intuitively know what kind of engine troubles they're having and offers his own help to Chief O'Brien to get them fixed which mystifies them even further. There was no chief engineer in the first season, so they explain that he hadn't transferred aboard yet. It gives O'Brien more of a part than he had in the pilot episode and gives a chance to show Picard having complete faith and trust in people that think they haven't met him yet. In Engineering we're introduced to past-Data who is fascinated with figures of speech as he was in the early seasons of the show. But what was a little overdone in the early years is now looked warmly upon by Picard (and the audience) who has watched Data grow out of his initial wonder and curiosity of humanity into as good of a human as an android can be. As they're working on the engines, he's shifted into the present in Sickbay again. The memories of his time shifts are staying put in this time as well. He calls the staff together to ask them if they remember anything unusual about their first voyage to Farpoint, specifically if they remember being ordered by Starfleet to the Devron system. They don't remember that happening, but only remember the events as they happened in the first episode. Now they can be relieved to know that what happens in the past doesn't affect the present, but also the fact that the anomaly in the Devron system is present in the past can't be a coincidence. There's not much they can do at this point except speculate about how it's connected to his time shifting and sure up the Enterprise for battle if there's going to be trouble. After they're dismissed Riker asks Troi to dinner, but she tells him that she has plans with Worf in a way that subtly indicates that they are seeing each other as more than friends. Riker accepts the rejection but he's obviously disappointed and the moment is awkward for he and Worf. On the other hand, Beverly takes a moment alone with Picard to discuss the future again. Her feelings for him have been eluded to but never acted upon and she's clearly upset about the thought of losing him to a dreadful disease in the future. So she takes the initiative to make the next 25 years count and kisses him. They're interrupted by a shift to the future where Picard asks Geordi and Data if they've arrived at the Devron system yet. This only alarms Geordi who still thinks Picard's mind is starting to degenerate and he reminds him that they're going to run tests on him. But Picard insists that they must get to the Devron system in the Neutral Zone. It all looks very bad for him as Geordi brings him up to speed on the fact that there is no Neutral Zone anymore since the Klingons took over the Romulan Empire and they've become hostile to the Federation as well, closing the borders to Federation ships. Picard does remember all of this though and decides to call in old favors to get a ship so they can go to the Devron system. He contacts Admiral Riker first. Riker is impatient with Picard and tells him that he'll have the ship they've got by the border run some scans. But he declines his request for a ship and unceremoniously ends their call without so much as a goodbye. Now that his mind has caught up with the time he's in though, Picard now remembers that a plague has broken out on Romulus and suggests getting a medical ship to take them into the Devron system. He arranges to get on board the Pasteur captained by Beverly... Beverly Picard. There's an awkward moment when they don't know whether to shake hands or hug, but it's clear that they've remained close friends since their divorce. They discuss a way to get across the Klingon border via their connection with Worf and set about to track him down. After Beverly, Geordi, and Data shuffle the old man off to his quarters they privately agree that they doubt he's actually moving through time and that his mind is deteriorating. But their older loyalties to their former captain are enough to spur them into giving him one last adventure if he wants it.
Picard, in the turbolift of the Pasteur headed to his quarters, steps out onto the bridge of the past Enterprise and immediately asks for a report of anything unusual from Farpoint Station which they are approaching. There's nothing unusual at all. Frustrated, he says aloud that the time is right and that "he" should be here now. The crew is baffled as he starts shouting for Q, telling him to stop his nonsense (as we've all become so familiar with), and asking Troi if she senses an alien presence. The crew stare at him not knowing what to say, wondering what a "Q" is. He orders that they hold the position and goes to his ready room. But instead of his ready room, he walks into the 22nd century courtroom Q had set up for them in the pilot episode complete with the angry, peasant crowd jeering at him. So if the audience was wondering why they looked familiar, this brings it all into focus. This time however, Picard is in his present day uniform as Q emerges from the wall in his judging seat. There's no need to pretend they're meeting for the first time. Q remarks at how long it took Picard to get "here." However when he inquires as to what's going on, Q indicates that the trial of humanity is happening. Picard was under the impression that they'd proven themselves worthy by Q's standards and doesn't understand why he's been brought there again. Q toys with him and begins a game to answer any ten questions he might have that call for a "yes" or "no" answer. Picard starts to narrow things down with his questions. The Romulans aren't trying to start a war. Mankind is not on trial again but there's a connection to the events now and the trial from seven years ago. The anomaly has a lot to do with what is going on but Q didn't create the anomaly. Q is enjoying himself as always as he taunts Picard with his affirmations and denials. But when Picard asks him if he is responsible for his shifting through time, he becomes serious and whispers confidentially to him that he is. Picard accidentally stops the game by asking him "Why?" instead of another yes-no question. Q informs him that the trial from seven years ago never ended, that they've been found guilty of being inferior and that it's time to put an end to their trek through the stars. Picard rather naively asks if they're to be denied space travel, but Q explains that they are to be denied existence. Picard states that he doesn't believe that Q would do such a thing but Q points out that he won't be the one that destroys humanity - Picard will. He cryptically tells him that he's doing it right now; that he's done it before and he'll do it again. This piques Picard's temper so Q backs away adjourning the court with his usual acerbic attitude. Picard leaves his ready room to the present day bridge of the Enterprise and orders Riker to assemble the senior staff and go to red alert, saying that the problem is bigger than he thought.
So, as a long two-hour episode, the first part is a lot of dialogue without as much action. But it's meaningful conversation which helps set the table for the climax along with the slow and deliberate introduction of the other two timelines that will play a significant role. Like the pilot episode, Encounter At Farpoint, the story is a simple one so a lot of time can be devoted to the characters, in this case developing a possible future for them and bringing a sense of closure to this chapter of the franchise. It's slow, but it's also very busy with Picard's time shifting to shape the episode which is an example of how the writing had improved over the years. It appears to have flaws. If I remember the episode Hide and Q right, the Q Continuum snatched Q away for punishment not only for his toying with Riker but for his hubris for putting humanity on trial to begin with. But as you'll see in the next part, his reprisal of the trial isn't technically a goof. Q's cryptic warning at the end gives an obvious hint as to what's coming but it doesn't give too much away either. Overall, the first part does its job of pulling at the hearts of the audience by going full circle with the pilot episode, bringing back memories to reinforce how much its changed for the better, and establishing a dire threat that has everyone holding their breath to see if the end will be "the end" for everyone. There's nothing to not love about it. Five Stars.
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