The spellbinding conclusion of the final episode of the series. It gives us three times the Trek and goes out with a bang. Several bangs. It isn't perfect, but I don't see how anyone couldn't rate this finale in their personal top five favorite episodes.
It picks up right where it left off since it didn't originally run as a two-parter. The senior staff assembles to discuss what Q told him. They're very skeptical and suspect it's another one of his games. But Picard points out that Q was more serious than usual. He's now calm enough to realize his message about destroying humanity in the past, present, and future was an allusion to his shifting through time so they start to speculate on what he may have done in the timelines and second guess all of their movements. But Picard suspects that Q causing him to shift through time is his way of helping him since he's always seemed particularly interested in him. Data's analogy of Picard as Q's favorite pet is hysterical and surprisingly accurate. So they deduce that the anomaly in the Neutral Zone must be an important piece of the puzzle. They arrive at the border of the Neutral Zone with Romulan ships lined up on the other side and Picard asks to hail them. It shifts to the main view screen of the Pasteur in the future as Beverly greets an aging Worf asking if he can get them permission to cross the border into the Devron system. Now, in the last episode they make it clear that the Neutral Zone doesn't exist anymore and that it's all Klingon territory now, but the future characters continually refer to this area as the Neutral Zone. It's a slight glitch in the script, but it's an acceptable one since the events will move faster in the second part and it's just easier to keep the audience focused in on one area. Worf explains that he's not on the High Council anymore and doesn't have much pull. He is aggravated that Riker didn't give him a cloaked ship so they could sneak in and shows obvious animus towards him. Picard sways him though by appealing to his sense of honor and loyalty above the rules and regulations he's bound to follow. Worf tells them they can pass through but only if he comes along. As they set out for the Devron system, Beverly allows him to give the order to "engage" for old time's sake. It then shifts to the past Enterprise where he says "engage" to that bridge crew. But he's not given them the heading yet. They're alarmed that he's giving orders to enter the Neutral Zone but obey. He then asks to contact Farpoint Station to tell Commander Riker they'll be delayed in picking him up. This is pretty brilliant. They called up some stock footage of first season Frakes without his beard on the Farpoint set and with a little creative splicing and voice overs from present day Frakes, they create the necessary conversation. It also absolved them of having to put him through the trouble of shaving to recreate the first season Riker. Troi awkwardly tries to tell Picard that the crew are worried about his erratic behavior and admits that she used to be involved with Riker. He expresses confidence in the crew's capabilities that they don't even know they have yet including hers and Riker's ability to work together in spite of such history. He orders his Earl Grey tea which hasn't been programmed into the replicator yet and the scene switches back to the present where Commander Tomolak is trying to get his attention over the view screen. Picard cuts through the BS and acknowledges that they're all there to see the anomoly so he proposes that each side send one ship in to look at it. Tomolak is intrigued since it's not a Federation approved plan and goes along with it.
They approach the anomaly, a swirling white mass in the middle of space and begin to scan. In the past they approach it as well. It's larger in the past as Picard remarks aloud to everyone's confusion. He sets them to scanning it as well. In the future he demands to see the anomaly but all he sees on the screen is an empty star field. They are at the exact coordinates but nothing is there. Beverly wants to get back to Federation space but Picard wants to know if there's a way to scan for a temporal anomaly that isn't normally done. Data suggest a tachyon pulse and it would take over 12 hours to scan the whole area. Beverly agrees to six hours only and Picard throws a sort of fit about it demanding that they stay as long as it takes. But she stands by her orders and takes him aside to lay into him for trying to undercut her authority. He apologizes and he's sincere but frustrated that she doesn't see the urgency of the situation. It's then that she admits that his Irumodic Syndrome is advanced and that she believes that there's a good chance that this is all in his head. She does let him know, to comfort him, that if it was anyone but him that had requested this, she wouldn't even have gone out here. She leaves him in the room alone and Q appears as a deaf old man to toy with him more. He asks where the anomaly is and if it causes the destruction of humanity. Q only reminds him that he does and indicates that the answer lies in his time shifting. But Picard doesn't get to ask many more questions before it reverts to the present again.
Data has preformed regular scans of the anomaly but can't find its source of power. Picard suggest the tachyon pulse to present day Data who is impressed with his knowledge of temporal theory. Still being careful about the timelines, he doesn't tell him the idea came from the future Data. They have to configure it all though so Geordi sets it all up in Engineering. They initiate the pulse and when the data begins to come back, Geordi is afflicted with pain in his head. In Sickbay Beverly is shocked by the fact that his optical nerves are regenerating; that he's essentially growing new eyes. There's also mention that other crew members have reported old scars healing as well. There is no medical explanation but Data suggests that there may have been a burst of anti-time emanating from the anomaly describing it as working opposite of normal time the same way matter and antimatter react. Picard asks Data what could've caused an eruption of anti-time but he's switched to the past again, and the past Data doesn't know what he's talking about. Picard recommends that if he were to send out a tachyon pulse into the anomaly he will discover a rupture of time and anti-time which this Data finds fascinating. He doesn't stay to discuss it further, he only remarks again that the anomaly is bigger in the past and goes to his ready room. He steps back into the future though where Klingon ships have arrived and are beginning to attack Beverly's ship. The little medical ship is far outmatched. Beverly tries to hail them to tell them they're on a mission of mercy, but they continue their onslaught. They're rescued at the last moment when the Enterprise decloaks next to them and attacks the Klingon ships with a grand display of fire power. Riker confesses that he knew Picard wouldn't let his notions go, but angrily and without any affection. It's too late to save the Pasteur though. They beam everyone over to the Enterprise before its warp core explodes.
He badgers Worf for allowing this to happen who in turn blames him for not giving Picard a ship. They all refer to Picard as "Captain" throughout all of this too. Perhaps another glitch, but one could also believe that it would be hard to address him by any other title after the years they'd spent together. Their cloaking device is damaged so Riker just orders them to get as far away as they can at warp 13. Picard demands and begs that he go back trying to impress on him that the fate of humanity is at stake. Beverly sedates him. He's shifted to the present where he's headed to Sickbay. The anti-time emissions are having negative effects as well. Geordi can see without the VISOR now but Nurse Ogawa, who was visibly pregnant, has lost her baby. The fetus had grown younger until the DNA broke down completely. There's a possibility that this backward aging effect could kill all of them. So Picard gets the others together to order them to find a way of collapsing the anomaly without causing further damage. Once alone he begins to show the strain of dealing with the circumstances in three time periods. Q appears and speaks Picard's thoughts about what an impossible responsibility it all is. He starts Picard to wondering if collapsing the anomaly is the right thing to do or if leaving it alone would be better. Finally Q offers a different perspective and whisks him a way to a primordial landscape. It is approximately France before life began on Earth and the anomaly fills the sky. Picard is breathless to realize it fills the entire quadrant of the galaxy this far in the past. Q then calls his attention to a pool where life is about to begin for the first time. But it doesn't. Picard concludes that he caused the anomaly and the anomaly reached into the past to prevent the beginnings of life on Earth. Q confirms it. The scene is a shout out to the Doctor Who episode City Of Death in which something similar happens. He's then transported to the past where he begins to urge the crew to find out how the anomaly was formed and asks if there's a way to see into the center of it. There isn't yet, but Data tells him of a theoretical scanning device that's being developed. Switching to the present he asks that Data if one of those scanners is available and it now is. They scan the interior of the anomaly to find two other tachyon pulses that all appear to be coming from the Enterprise; one from each time period. Future Picard wakes up and sets out to find Riker. In Ten Forward, Riker, Beverly, Data, and Geordi all sit at a table while Worf sits at the bar. After briefly admiring the condition of the Entperise they discuss why Riker and Worf are still mad at each other after 20 years. They intimate that Counselor Troi wouldn't have wanted them to be alienated. Riker claims that he tried to settle their differences at her funeral but Worf wasn't interested. The others think that he took her death very hard and always saw Riker as the reason they never got together. He says he never did anything to stop them but admits that he never really got over her. They're interrupted when Picard comes walking in. He now knows how the anomaly started and states that they have to go back. As they try to calm him down he determinedly explains that they caused the anomaly when the Pasteur initiated the tachyon pulse. Riker's not following the logic but Data is and suggests that Picard is describing a paradox. He admits that the three pulses being fired in the three different time period could've caused a rupture of anti-time the effects of which would travel backwards in time. Riker's more trusting of Data's judgement and when Picard suggests they go back to the Devron system Data admits that if they go back they may see the initial formation of the anomaly. As they leave, Riker softens further and asks Worf to come along to help them.
They arrive to find the beginning of the anomaly, very small at this point. They speculate on ways to collapse it. Data informs them that it's being sustained by the tachyon pulses in the other time periods so Picard says he'll shut them down. Now the show starts to jump quickly between the time periods. He jumps to the present and orders the pulse to be shut off updating them by explaining that the three pulses are what caused it. He then jumps to the past and orders it shut off but it doesn't go away. Returning to the future he reports that he's stopped the pulses but nothing's changed. Geordi then informs them that the only way to collapse it would be to take the ship into the center and create a static warp shell but that the other two Enteprises would have to do it as well. Picard states worriedly that because the anomaly is so much bigger in the other two time periods it could be dangerous to take the ships into the center. Taking the ship in is the only part of that sentence the past crew of the Enterprise hears as he is pushed back to that time period again while speaking. But he clarifies that they will have to take the ship into the anomaly. At this point the past crew balks and starts to question his judgement. After describing the static warp shell they need to create, he gives them a brief but heartfelt speech expressing his faith in them and humbly asking that they take a leap of faith to trust him and the fact that he's acting for a greater cause. It works and they comply. When he shifts to the present, the Data of that time postulates the warp shell theory as Picard finishes his thought praising him for being brilliant in any time. He returns to the future and they all head in. It's a rougher ride for the past and present crews. Then they all react in shock and horror to see the three Enterprises converging at the center. They create their warp shells and it has the desired effect. The anomaly begins to collapse. They hold their positions as long as they can as the Enterprises explode one after another. First the past, then the present. As the future ship is getting ready to explode Q appears one more time to Picard to tell him that he'll miss him but that all good things must come to an end. The anomaly is sucked down into that final Enterprise before it explodes as well.
The explosion fades to Picard sitting with his head in his hands in the empty and quiet 22nd century courtroom. Q speaks from his judging chair to congratulate him again. He's annoyed with the fact that Picard is only interested in knowing if they'd collapsed the anomaly and if his crew is safe. Picard sincerely thanks him for helping him get out of it but Q admits that he got him into it on orders from the Continuum. However, helping him out was his own idea. They wanted to see if humans were capable of expanding their minds and Picard did when he realized the paradox. He leaves him with the idea that deeper discoveries are what await them as opposed to just mapping stars and studying nebulae. Picard asks for specifics and Q leans in as if he will tell him, but he doesn't. He just backs away saying that he'll be watching. Picard then walks out into the corridor again. He's back at the beginning of the episode in his bathrobe, interrupting Troi and Worf's date. He asks Troi for the star date which confirms that things are back to normal and he's the only one that knows what happened over the past several hours. He's relieved so he just goes back to bed leaving Troi and Worf puzzled. Some time later Riker is winning a poker game again with Geordi, Beverly, and Worf. Picard has obviously spoken to them about the events and Crusher ponders why Picard had alluded to events in the future, telling them that they'd all grow apart, wondering if that wouldn't pollute the timeline. But Data points out that the timeline with the anomaly was unique and that since the anomaly hasn't occurred things will be different anyway. Riker adds that telling them about the future would help them to change things now so that some things never happen. That last part he says as he turns to Worf who understands the hint he's dropping about not dating Deanna and readily agrees with what the other two just assume was Riker's random opinion. Troi then comes in to join the group and before they can deal the next round, the doorbell rings again. It's the Captain. He sheepishly asks to join the game and they exchange looks of amusement as they offer him a chair and give him the honor of dealing. He starts to speak about playing cards in his youth and pauses for a moment to look around at everyone and acknowledge that he should've done this years ago. It's a truly touching moment that brings a tear to the eye. The camera pans away as the Enterprise flies away into a beautiful spatial phenomenon.
No, it wasn't perfect. The future Enteprise didn't initiate a tachyon pulse at any time, so when present time Data observes that all three pulses appear to be coming from the Enterprise, that's officially a goof I think. And I didn't like the way they wrote Riker and Worf's bad blood in the future. It seemed so vague. Vague it had to be since there wasn't a lot of time, but I would think they could've thought of something more defined since the death of another character was involved. And I always thought they could've found a better word for what was going on than just "paradox." That seems so generic. And of course, being a time traveling episode, one must point out that Humanity should've vanished the instant the anomaly was formed in the future... but we also forgive things like this since it's fiction. Still, I have no real complaints. It's all of the little details displaying the evolution of the characters and how they've bonded that the episode is really about. The rest is just backdrop. I have only love and admiration for a brilliant episode that killed
everyone off and gave everyone a happy ending at the same time. Only in Star Trek. Five Stars.
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