I want to make a point about the nit that undoes "All Good Things . . .." The anti-time anamoly might not exist as anti-time when it is first made; anti-time does have to collide with normal time to make the anomoly and it might exist in normal time for a bit before the destruction begins. The collision might have lasted 8 hours allowing the Future Enterprise time to get back to it to go inside. Also, some say that the future timeline in this episode is loosely based on "Imzadi," by Peter David.
This in my opinion is the best Next Gen episode of them all and is the best Next Gen episode to show to people that what to know what all the Star Trek fess is about.
This episode may rank as one of the best Trek of all time, definitely the best series-ender. Granted, Classic Trek didn't know that "Turnabout Intruder" would be the last episode but this episode was better than DS9's last episode which will definitely make it better than Voyager's.
Amazing episode - really nice how they show the differences in Data over the 7 years.
Here's a nit - how come Worf doesn't have the same bumps he had in Encounter at Farpoint, but rather, the later forehead?
TPTB did consider this going into production. They opted just to do the one forehead.
Okay Brian, explain this one:
Data's rank pips in the past clearly show him at a rank of Lieutenant (Junior Grade). Aside from wondering how he got promoted to Lieutenant Commander so fast, why does Picard call him "Commander" while leaving Tasha in charge on the bridge?
I think the DS9 ender was better than this one.
This one was good but had too many problems....
the biggest one is that it never happened.
True, but I've actually come to believe that a lot of the best Treks are the ones that never happen- witness "The Visitor" (DS9); witness "Year of Hell" (VOY); witness "Before and After" (VOY); witness "Far Beyond the Stars" (DS9).
The Pasteur looks like a redesigned Daedalaus-class starship ("Power Play" (TNG)). Did Starfleet change its mind about these vessels, or at least the design?
Where's Guinan? Wouldn't she be able to confirm Picard's claims about time-shifting? Shouldn't Picard have been talking to Guinan about this, instead of Troi?
Admiral Riker must have a lot more political clout in Starfleet than Admiral Kirk. Starfleet tried to get the Enterprise-D decommissioned, but Riker said that as an admiral "you get to choose your own ship." Really? This is quite an interesting change from Admiral Kirk having to convince Admiral Nogura to let him command the Enterprise (Star Trek: TMP) and Kirk having to steal the Enterprise (Star Trek III) to retrieve Spock's body. After all that, he wouldn't get a starship Enterprise of his own to command until after he got demoted back to captain (Star Trek IV)! If he had Riker's clout, Kirk could have kept the rank of Admiral, and picked the Enterprise-B for his own command! (After all Kirk did for Starfleet, they could have done better than give him forced retirement.)
Also, it's interesting to see that Riker at some point got to be captain and later admiral in the anti-time future, when as of the most recent movie (Insurrection) he still is only a commander. This along with Kirk's advice to Picard in "Generations" not to retire would seem to lead to a situation where Riker, after waiting more than half his life to be captain of the Enterprise, only gets the center seat for good after Picard's command abilities are done in by Irumodic Syndrome. Then Riker would finally be promoted to captain by the age of 60.
I'm not a big fan of stories that never happen...well, check that - the odd episode or two that most characters won't remember I can live with, but I wouldn't have minded more than just Picard remembering the events of this one.
Anyway, onto the nit, that's why we're all here...
If time is flowing backwards (effectively) over the crewmembers, healing scars, shrinking babies and whathaveyou, why does it give Geordi new eyes? It's not like Geordi only went blind a few years ago, he was *born* blind. It doesn't matter how far back along his personal timescale he goes, he'll still be blind!
It is said the three tachyon beams from the three Enterprises are making the anti-time anomaly, yet in the future it is actually the Pasteur that emits the tachyon beam.
Speaking of which, when Beverly asks Data and Geordi how long it will take to modify the deflector dish to emit the tachyon beam they say 14 hours. Yet in the very next scene Beverly tells Picard she is adamant they will only stay there another six hours before getting out of the area. So why bother getting them to start work on it if they won't be able to complete it in time?
If Geordi's eyes start growing again why not Picard's hair and heart, replacing his artificial one? (Same nit as in Star Trek Insurrection).
How does Picard breathe when Q takes him back to the start of life on Earth - there was no breathable atmosphere then. [My guess: Q uses his omnipotent powers to allow Picard to survive]
When Picard and Geordi visit Data at Cambridge it sounds like Data says "it's possible" at one point, which means he used a contraction. [Although in the future maybe he's now able to use contractions?]
Hi, not a nit but an observation, and maybe a question. I've just watched Part One of this on terrestrial TV here in England - the second time through the series, I hasten to add - and noticed that there were quite a few cats hanging around his house in Cambridge, I counted five or possibly six. Has anyone got a definitive number - I think it's kind of sweet that he's become a real "cat person".
When Picard and Geordi visit Data at Cambridge it sounds like Data says "it's possible" at one point, which means he used a contraction. [Although in the future maybe he's now able to use contractions?]
Chris - Data uses several contractions during that first conversation, so clearly he has now got the hang of it! What annoyed me was Spiner's delivery of those lines - each time he used a contraction, he paused dramatically afterwards as if to say to the audience, "Didja hear it? Did you?!"
What a marvel of technology - you thought they might have shown Data with a full range of emotions in the future but, no, he can use contractions.
As it's generally believed Data can age himself (to explain away Brent Spiner's own aging), as the Mrs Soong android can, why don't we see a much older Data in the future? [Or in this timeline does he simply choose not to age himself, except for that white in his hair?]
He's known to be an android, so he doesn't need to age to fake being a human.
So why does he over the course of the series and into the films? The lines were very apparent in Star Trek Insurrection.
The same reason Duncan McLeod looks older then when Highlander first started. Some things just can't be halted by Makeup. That's the kind of nit that you just have to let slide.
I would - apart from the fact they went to great pains to explain that the Mrs Soong android ages, so it appears they have the capability.
The Mrs. Soong Android didn't know she was an android..right? Data can obviously age, but why would he want to fully age himself? In fact, what would a 300 yr. old Data look like anyway?? How about an 800 yr. old one?
Well I must have watched this episode half a dozen times but seeing it again tonight (and still crying at the end!), I noticed a humungous visual nit for the first time:
When Picard is in Ten Forward begging Will to go back to the Devron System, especially when he's leaning forward over the table, the lighting is such that you can very clearly see that he's wearing a false beard. The join between the beard piece and his real skin is really noticeable!
Does anybody know of the scenes that involved Christian Slater as Crewman Sutcliffe that were supposedly filmed as part of this episode but was subsequently deleted from the final draft?
Just out of interest, what (if anything) was cut out of this episode when they edited it down into two parts?
When Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby) takes Picard to the Enterprise via shuttle (a Starfleet tradition since STTMP, I understand), she is a little fuller(read-Heavier)and her haircut is a bit different. (At least it does not look like she did it with a Flowbee.)Also, the shot of the Enterprise in drydock is re-used from "Family".
The only time I've ever seen Christian Slater on Star Trek is the sixth movie where he tells Sulu that the Enterprise isn't answering Starfleet.
why does Picard call Data "Commander"
The same reason he told Worf instead of Tasha to do that Security thing. Data had been a lieutenant commander for 7 years. He got so used to calling him Commander Data that he forgot that Data was a lieutenant. They never did decide to explain why Data got promoted. Maybe they wanted to show fans that it had been seven years and even though we never saw it, he actually got promoted twice so we wouldn't get mad that the android had never been promoted
When the sd47988 Picard orders helm to get into the anomaly, a male voice says "Aye, sir!" But before and after this in that timeline there was a female helmsperson. I think it's a stock sound clip, it was also used in Unification IIRC.
Josh: wasn't Data always a lieutenant-commander?
He was - another nit. He was Lt Cmdr in Encounter At Farpoint but he was given the wrong insignia for All Good Things.
I'm not in the navy (army) but a lt. commander is still refered to as commander, just like a sergeant first class is still called 'sergeant'.
D4
"What You Leave Behind" was great, but "All Good Things..." is, hands down, the BEST Trek series ender. I doubt Voyager's will be this satisfying.
I totally 100% disagree. The main problem is that the thing that the plot falls apart when analyzed. "WHat happens in one time period doesn't affect the other two." And yet...the anamoly was caused by three beams from the three times periods acting together. "It was as if all three originated from the Enterprise." The future Enterprise never sent a beam. "We think it started in the past, but it started right here in the future." Then why didn't they see it when they first arrived in the system.
Heck, "Turnabout Intruder" defeats both "All Good Things" AND "What You Leave Behind". The TNG finale didn't make any sort of logical sense, and the DS9 finale didn't tie anything together really and left all of the series' events as a bunch of unrelated happenings. Of course, this is what happens when you try to make a science fiction series into soap opera form.
I suspect that Voyager's finale will be even a bigger groaner. Does anyone else remember the finale to "Gilligan's Island"?
Then why didn't they see it when they first arrived in the system.
Because they weren't looking for it?
"this is what happens when you try to make a science fiction series into soap opera form."
Whatever.
"Because they weren't looking for it?"
Huh? What the heck kind of answer is that?
I still liked the TNG finale, even if it didn't make sense. It was made by Q (well, pretty much), it doesn't have to make sense.
Be quiet! The Voyager writers might hear you.
Shut it u dipsticks. Although this episode was good, Voyager has always been better and always will be better. The finale to Voyager will be magnificent I have no doubt. So stop arguing about it!
Agreed
Who cares about Voyager? I'm working on series 5 now.
As good as the Melrose Space-sorry, DS9-finale was, "All Good Things..." has it & "Turnabout Intruder" beat hands down!!!!
Oops. I noticed I phrased that wrong. The DS9 finale has "All Good Things..." and "Turnabout Intruder" beat hands down.
I'm really drunk aren't I? "All Good Things..." is THE BEST. You all have my permission to kill me if I say any different again.
Hey! Who impersonated with in that last post? That wasn't me. I really do love the DS9 finale better.
If "What You Leave Behind" is so much better, how come "All Good Things..." won a Hugo and "What You Leave Behind" wasn't even nominated for one?
Come to think of it, DS9 & Voyager NEVER won Hugos, whereas both the original & TNG each won 2("The Menagerie" two-parter, "The City on the Edge of Forever," "The Inner Light," & "All Good Things...").
Now look at me, all drunk. Like awards have anything to do with good story telling.
No, but doesn't it at least say that they're doing something right?
Awards mean nothing. It's just a popularity contest. I mean..."Nutty Professor" winning best makeup instead of Star Trek First Contact? Please!
In many cases, yes! Although I'm still happy that Schindler's List & Unforgiven both won Best Picture Oscars!
They *did* do an impressive job on Eddie Murphy, come to think of it...
As for DS9 and Voyager not winning Hugos, you can blame that on the existence of the other (sorry!) poorer excuses for sci-fi that are out at the minute, competing with these two (relatively, in Voyager's case) excellent Trek series. The competition simply wasn't up to scratch or wasn't present at the time of "All Good Things...". It could be said that the three Star Trek spin-offs opened the floodgates for Nineties sci-fi (or is it science fantasy?)...
Oh please. First Contact...The Borg makeup was alot more work than those pathetic fat faces Eddie Murphy wore on "The Nutty Professor"...and I saw that movie. BORING!!!
Just because a movie is terrible doesn't mean you have to put down the efforts of the other members of the film crew such as make-up....
I didn't find the makeup impressive at all.
In response to Rene's post from 1/26/01
The main problem is that the thing that the plot falls apart when analyzed. "WHat happens in one time period doesn't affect the other two." And yet...the anamoly was caused by three beams from the three times periods acting together.
I always thought that the whole setting of this episode ended up being in a some kind of "Q-holodeck" as opposed to the real reality our heroes have known. It would make sense since the Q are trying to test Picard and would explain why & how Picard ends up sitting in the post-atomic courtroom after the final Enterprise goes boom.
Plus, as you all say, in our reality this test is just unpracticable. The three timelines cannot interact with each other, otherwise all Picard has to do once he realizes the paradox is head into the past and send a message forward to the future, telling himself to sit in a room and keep quiet. That would resolve the situation, but wouldn't get the Q anywhere. Yet, obviously the 3 timelines must interact to form the anomoly. Hence, in reality it's very difficult (even for omnipotent beings), but in some kind of elborate, Q holodeck it could work very easily. That would also account for why nobody recalls the event.
Another problem I haven't heard much about with this episode is the existance of the anomoly in the 1st two time periods. The anomolies pop up in the 1st two time periods before the word "tachyon" is even mentioned in this episode. The anomoly shouldn't be created until all three time zones fire a tachyon pulse into the Devron system, yet it's in the 1st two time periods before any pulses are sent off into the Devron system. Guess we can chalk another one up to the omnipotent Q, playing tricks on us poor nit-pickers.
A pair of continuity errors on the past Enterprise is that the stations at the back of the bridge follow designations they weren't given until the second season: Science I, Science II, Engineering, etc. And those stations had monotone green displays the first couple seasons, but were depicted with their later, more colorful displays.
Also, Picard once said that he recruited Tasha to serve on the Enterprise after he had taken command of the ship. I remember this being brought up in the first Chronology as being hard to explain away, because "Encounter at Farpoint" was clearly meant to be the Enterprise's first mission. But in this episode, Tasha is already security chief and escorts Picard to the Enterprise his first time on board.
Notice how the set lighting for the past Enterprise was much brighter than what it was the first season? I remember trying to make out background details then and not being able to because of the deep shadows. Now I'm noticing low lighting again in the early episodes of "Enterprise." I wonder if, in a couple years, it will be brighter there, too.
I thought this was a very well done episode. I have always had a fondness for any time travel related stories and this one did not disappoint.
But on another level I have a lot of problems with an episode like this as well as many others. Don't get me wrong, Star Trek in whatever incarnation it comes is always an enjoyable experience for me. The tension comes in because of the whole worldview Roddenberry built into the show, that being evolutionary and humanistic in nature. Man has evolved from whatever grunting and senseless creatures are supposed to be down tree of evolutionary development and in the time period of this show we have progressed to a near utopian society on Earth at least.
Enter Q who treats his buddy Picard to a visit back in time to when the first blobs of goo are miraculously transforming into the first building blocks of life. I come from a creation science mindset where an omnipotent Creator has designed everything we see.
It just seems to me that those who wrote this final episode were taking one more opportunity to make sure the viewers got the lesson as far the Darwinist tale of our origins (as if we haven't gotten the message at every turn in our society from the totalitarian scientific establishment).
Today's society has illustrated to me over and over again that even with all our present day advances in science, technology and health that mankind still has the same potential for incredibly evil acts against it's fellow man. It just seems to me that man is degrading in many senses rather than developing into the type of society in which Star Trek is set.
But like I say, apart from these considerations, I found it a pretty decent way to wrap up many elements of the series that had developed over 7 seasons.
I understand that you are nitpickers, but why do you need to let that get between you and your enjoyment of an episode? People who say that they disliked this episode because it had so many nits are missing the point of the episode because they like looking for problems. So what if the plot falls apart? You're dealing with an omnipotent being who is trying to cause trouble. He can do a few things so that he wins as long as he feels the test is still valid...
Steven, I'm sorry that one element the show upset you, but Gene Roddenberry never made it a secret that humanism was a dominant element in Trek, and I don't see how "one more" reference to it makes a difference. I also don't see references to evolutionary science as "totalitarian." I myself don't come from a literal creationist mindset myself (the proper term, since "creation science" isn't really science), but I can still enjoy movies like The Ten Commandments. 
Anonymous, to my knowledge, most Trekkers, while enjoying nitpicking, do not let it "get between" them and enjoyment of a given story. It's just done out of fun. Generally, the only time nits or plot holes ruin an episode is if they're contrived, gratuitous, avoidable, call into question major premises of the story, or don't serve the story in some way.
"So what if the plot falls apart"
I can still enjoy a story if a character uses a word that is anchronistic. I can enjoy a story with minor nits. But if a plot has so many holes one can walk through them, if the characters, action, world is not internally consistent, then I can't enjoy the story. Just because it's science fiction does not excuse the creators from the need of constructing an internally consistent universe.
Plot is essential to a story. Without a plot, the characters are just wandering around aimlessly. A good story shows us how the characters' character influences and is influenced by events. That is, someone's hubris leads them to do a foolish act in which someone is killed which affects the character deeply. Overwhelmed with guilt, he visits a monastary and meets another character who takes advanatage of his guilt and convinces our protaganist that the only way to make this right is to steal the time-warp thingie and go back in time and prevent his own conception. You see, characters drive the action and then the action turns around and changes the characters who then act again until the whole thing comes to a thrilling, emotionally satisfying conclusion.
The Star Trek Universe and History is so large it would be impossible to construct stories which are free from all possible nits. That doesn't excuse them from constructing a story within this universe which has consist characterization (that is, the characters' characters remain basically the same, unless affected by events, and do not just change from show to show to fit the plot) and has a well-structured plot free from illogic.
That's why it matters if the plot falls apart.
Just my two cents.
Merry
You guys who were comparing the final episodes of each series forgot one small item-"Turnabout Intruder" was never written or intended as a series finale (although the cast and crew probably knew it would be the last one.) "All Good Things," "What You Leave Behind" and "Endgame" were all written as definitive ends to their respective series.'
Why was Picard talking to Troi at the beginning of the episode? Shouldn't he be talking to Geordi or Data to see if their sensors detected any temporal anamolies? Or maybe to Dr. Crusher, asking her to scan him and see if there is anything out of the ordinary with him?
And they say our generation is a bunch of slackers
When Picard sees Worf and Troi in the teaser, he is in his robe. The stardate Worf gives Picard in the teaser is 47988. Since 1000 stardate units equals one year, then one day is 2.739 stardate units, and one hour is .114.125 stardate units. Midnight, Dec 28, 2370 falls on stardate 47988.779. If you subtract the .779 stardate units, or 6.8 hours, to get this episode’s stardate, you get shortly after 5 PM. So Picard was sleeping until shortly after 5 PM? Or did he go to bed several hours before this scene, around three, or noon?
Kinda the opposite of what’s happened with Brannon Braga
Geordi has apparently found a talent he didn’t think he had. He told Leah Brahms in Galaxy’s Child that writing was not his strong suit, but in the future, he’s become a novelist. Or did the creators intend this as irony, taking someone who thought he had no writing ability and making him a successful writer?
And that sound you hear is Tylenol stock going up every time this episode is aired
The creators have messed up a bit with the Trek timeline. In Legacy, Picard told Ishara that both Tasha’s ship and his responded to a distress call from Carnel. We have to assume this was the Enterprise, because the Stargazer was abandoned in 2355, and since Tasha was born in 2337 (The Naked Now established that she was 15 at the time she escaped the Turkana IV colony, and the episode Legacy was set fifteen years after her escape), she would have been only 18 when the Stargazer was abandoned. But if the ship he referred to was the Enterprise, how could he have requested her assignment to the Enterprise, if she was already onboard when he first took command of it, as seen in this episode? Was the ship he was referring to an intermediary ship he commanded between the Stargazer and the Enterprise that we’ve never seen or heard of before, one whose command assignment by Picard just ended around the time he met Tasha?
An improvement over the original script, in which he gave the job to Guinan
Is it customary for a ship to leave spacedock without a chief engineer, an assistant chief engineer, or even an engineering lieutenant (Geordi)? There’s no one else in Engineering for Picard to give the warp plasma inducer job to, so he has to farm out the task to O’Brien?
Ah, but he is shown with a higher rank than he had in that pilot. They call him "O’Brien," but he didn’t have a name yet!
Speaking of O’Brien, The Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion says that O’Brien’s rank pips show him to be of the revisionist rank of Chief, as established in Realm of Fear, not ensign, as they originally did in Encounter at Farpoint, but I personally don’t see the difference. It’s one solid pip.
Donald Trump must’ve bought the property, and decided he didn’t like those hills
After Picard first met with Robert in Family, we saw a panoramic wideshot of the vineyards. The vineyards were surrounded by some houses, possibly the village that was mentioned, then by hills, after which were mountains. In the future timeline, there are no houses, barns, or even hills! Just the mountains in the distance, even though we see in virtually every direction in the scenes with Geordi and Picard.
He turned off that program when people kept complaining to him about how he’d start off every sentence with "Back in my day…"
In the episode Inheritance, Crusher, when examining Data’s mother, said she had an aging program, just like Data’s. It sure doesn’t look it. In the future, aside from the gray streak, he looks the same physical age as in the present.
And you thought Isaac Newton was the Cambridge Professor with the silliest-looking hair
And speaking of that gray streak, what did he use to make it? Spray paint? It sure doesn’t look like anything resembling hair dye.
Does Geordi have Irumodic Syndrome now?
During Picard and Geordi’s meeting with Data at Cambridge, Data asks Picard when he last saw a doctor about his condition, and Picard says a week. Geordi is present during this conversation, but when the trio first meet with Captain Beverly Crusher, and Picard leaves the bridge to go to his quarters, Crusher asks Geordi when his last neurological scan was, and Geordi says he doesn’t know. Picard said his last examination was a week prior to the meeting at Cambridge.
Great. Now Worf’s gone senile too. Is this Irumodic Syndrome contagious?
The elderly Picard established when he sat on the couch with Geordi at Cambridge that there is no longer any Neutral Zone, but when they later speak with Worf, he says, "The Neutral Zone is extremely volatile," and then, when he insists on coming along to the Devron System, he says that he is "familiar with the Neutral Zone."
Could be worse. He could be governor of Texas
After first arriving on the Pasteur bridge, Picard asks if Worf is still on the Klingon High Council. Data says he’s not sure, because information on the Klingon government is hard to come by, but knows that the last time they heard from Worf, he was governor of a planet on the edge of the Klingon/Federation border called H’atoria. Doesn’t that mean…..no? How, after all, can one be a member of the Klingon ruling council if they’re governor of a planet, especially one as lowly regarded as Worf’s is?
He meant the civil trial
Q tells Picard that a judgment was never handed down when the crew was put on trial in the pilot, Encounter at Farpoint. That’s funny. He told Riker in Act 2 of Q Who that they were exonerated.
Actually, that’s the number of Trek fanatics watching who now hate the episode because of that nit
In the future, after Worf allows the Pasteur into the Devron System, Beverly orders a course set at warp 13. Warp 13? I thought the warp scale ended with warp 10, at which one would occupy all points in the universe simultaneously. Or is this another recalibration of the warp scale, as they did between the original Trek and early NextGen?
Was Data simply patronizing the senile Picard?
When Crusher examines Picard in the present, she detected a 13% increase in the acetycolene of the hippocampus. Then, in the future, Data suggested running a series of neurographic scans on Picard using the biometric lab on the campus. So what happened? What did his scans show? They never bother to mention it afterwards.
That’s because Lieutenants outrank ensigns, Commanders outrank Lieutentants, and Regulars outrank Extras
Why in the world are Geordi and Worf operating weapons and engines on the Pasteur? Doesn’t the Pasteur have its own crewmen?
She’s still a doctor at heart. Warp core ejections aren’t covered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
Why didn’t the Beverly eject the Pasteur’s warp core instead of letting the ship explode?
But that transporter beam can get pretty uncomfortable if everyone hasn’t used deodorant
Transporter technology must SKYROCKET in the future! The future Enterprise is able to beam the ENTIRE Pasteur crew onto it with one beaming!
Yeah, you’d think since this is filmed in California, everyone would have no problem getting younger and younger
The anti-time rupture causes Ogawa’s fetus to de-age, old scars to heal, Geordi to grow eyes, etc. Why doesn’t anyone begin growing young?
So they still have something to talk about at the Retired Starfleet Officers Home
Speaking of old scars, with the dermal regenerator and general sophistication of 24th century medical technology, why would people still have scars to begin with?
Looks like the writer of this episode "flipped the bird" to the Great Bird
I don’t know where, if at all, this fits into nitpick law, but Gene Roddenberry stated that a starship should always have an even number of nacelles.
No one grows younger, Data’s aging program doesn’t work, Q looks much older, what is this, a Star Trek episode, or a commercial for Botox?
Around the time of this episode’s original airing, I saw publicity photos (in places such as the episode’s novelization) showing a very aged Q confronting the elderly Picard, yet this scene was presumably cut, because I’m positive it wasn’t on TV when it first aired. It is, however, on the video version you can buy from Columbia House. Q has a one minute chat with Picard after Captain Beverly Picard rebukes Jean-Luc for his behavior on her bridge, and before the middle time period scene where Data informs Picard of the anomaly’s diameter.
Guess everything old is new again
After Nurse Ogawa tells Crusher and Picard that crew members are complaining of old scars healing, Data informs them that the anomaly is a rupture of anti-time, which he describes as "a relatively new concept in temporal mechanics." Anti-time was first postualted in the twentieth century.
That wasn’t the antimatter explosion. That was the heads of real-life physicists trying to understand the cooky timeline logic of this episode.
The first of the three Enterprises to explode toward the climax of the episode is the one from seven years prior. It explodes because its matter-antimatter containment system fails. That system is in Engineering, in the stardrive section, on Deck 36, but the first explosion on that ship occurs in the saucer section.
Wow, only seven years and already people are revising history
The creators went to great lengths to recreate all the differences from the pilot episode, Encounter at Farpoint when crafting the past timeline of this episode. Here are some of the discrepancies: In EaF, Troi had slightly more weight. By AGT, she is thinner. So she now appears with her current look in the past timeline of this episode.
---In EaF, Troi’s hair was darker, shorter, and definitely more styled in its curliness. You can especially see the difference by looking at the hair just behind her headband. It is also shinier, probably due to some gel or spray. It’s not like this in the past timeline of AGT.
---In EaF, Yar’s hairstyle was not as it appears in the past timeline of AGT.
---In EaF, Worf’s skin looks much lighter, and whereas the makeup for Worf’s cranial ridges and brow has evolved over the years, the past of AGT has Worf with his current skin tone, ridges and brow, but with the correct hairstyle seen in EaF.
Luigi: Or is this another recalibration of the warp scale, as they did between the original Trek and early NextGen?
It's good nit, Luigi, especially as they make no attempt to explain it.
On the other hand, I can see why they might redefine the warp scale. I can imagine the problem with getting politicians and accountants to commit resources to enhancing warp technology:
"So, the engineers want substantial Feberation resources in order to take the maximum speed from warp 9.7 to 9.75. I think we do without that 0.5% improvement, don't you?"
Of course, we know that warp 9.75 is a lot faster than 9.7, but convincing non-scientific types could be difficult. Easier to redefine the warp scale.
Since there are (in the Trek world) hard physics reasons for the speeds warp 1-9, I assume they'd just redefine the warp 9-10 region.
Also, redefining the warp scale above warp 9 would make orders easier and clearer. In an emergency, do you really want a command such as "pursue at warp 9.9855"?
("Sorry Captain. We lost them because I didn't hear the 2nd '5').
The elderly Picard established when he sat on the couch with Geordi at Cambridge that there is no longer any Neutral Zone, but when they later speak with Worf, he says, "The Neutral Zone is extremely volatile," and then, when he insists on coming along to the Devron System, he says that he is "familiar with the Neutral Zone."
Potential anti-nit. Even though the Romulan Neutral Zone formally no longer exists (since the Romulan Empire was conquered by the Klingons), perhaps the informal usage of the name to describe that area continues? For example, here in L.A., about a decade ago, the community of Sepulveda changed its name to "North Hills" (never mind that there are no hills there!). Many people still refer to it as "Sepulveda", even though Sepulveda no longer exists.
The anti-time rupture causes Ogawa’s fetus to de-age, old scars to heal, Geordi to grow eyes, etc. Why doesn’t anyone begin growing young?
The {real} question is, "Why does the anti-time rupture cause Geordi to grow eyes? Wasn't he born that way?}
In the future, after Worf allows the Pasteur into the Devron System, Beverly orders a course set at warp 13. Warp 13? I thought the warp scale ended with warp 10, at which one would occupy all points in the universe simultaneously. Or is this another recalibration of the warp scale, as they did between the original Trek and early NextGen?
Haven't the posters at nitcentral had this conversation about if they recalibrated the warp scale about 6 times already?
Around the time of this episode’s original airing, I saw publicity photos (in places such as the episode’s novelization) showing a very aged Q confronting the elderly Picard, yet this scene was presumably cut, because I’m positive it wasn’t on TV when it first aired. It is, however, on the video version you can buy from Columbia House. Q has a one minute chat with Picard after Captain Beverly Picard rebukes Jean-Luc for his behavior on her bridge, and before the middle time period scene where Data informs Picard of the anomaly’s diameter.
You're talking about the scene where Q holds the horn to his ear and responds to Picard's question about the anomaly with "what's that you want your mommy?" correct? I have a tape of this episode that I made when it first aired (as a 2 hour movie back in 1994) and I assure you it is in my copy. In the version of the ep where they make it into a 2 part ep that's probably the scene that got cut to make room for the credits.
Thats' odd. I've never seen it in the original televised 2-hour version.
As for the warp nit, Brian, yes, I know it's been mentioned before, but I just felt like posting the nits I had for this episode in my Nitpick Document, and make funny headings for them, and didn't want to edit out part of it.
I remember the scene with elderly Q with elderly Picard.
I saw the episode when it originally aired, but like Luigi, I don't remember the elderly Q scene either.
Most of your nits Luigi, are so trivial that it doesn't take away from the enjoyment of this great episode.
Like Stardate 47988 being at 5 PM? Who carse?
Also the unavoidable ones of trying to recreate the past...Troi's weight difference, unavoidable, but who cares? Just imagine that it is and the story's fine.
Cliff: Most of your nits Luigi, are so trivial that it doesn't take away from the enjoyment of this great episode.
Luigi Novi: Of course my nits are trivial. All nits are. Who ever said that nits were important, or that they in themselves take away from the enjoyment of an episode?
It seems that some people perceive nitpicking as some form of criticism or complaint. As I've stated many times, I don't. Nitpicking for me is just for fun.
Things that do affect the enjoyment of an episode or film for me pertain to the overall quality of the writing, acting, or directing, not nits.
Besides, I liked this finale! A bit too much technobabble, but the anti-time premise was cool, as was Q's test, and that final scene with the pullback over the poker table was nicely done.
Well said...I misunderstood.
I subscribe to the multiple universe theory of time travel. Under this theory, the three seperate time periods are seperate universes all existing simultaniously, but in different time frames, and they have no direct causal relationship with each other. When the ships in the different time periods began their seperate inverse tachyon pulses, they were in fact all aiming pulses at the same point in space simultaniously. This caused an anomaly to form which linked the three universes together. This explains how when the three enterprises entered the anomaly, they were all visible to each other.
Luigi Novi: Around the time of this episode’s original airing, I saw publicity photos (in places such as the episode’s novelization) showing a very aged Q confronting the elderly Picard, yet this scene was presumably cut, because I’m positive it wasn’t on TV when it first aired. It is, however, on the video version you can buy from Columbia House. Q has a one minute chat with Picard after Captain Beverly Picard rebukes Jean-Luc for his behavior on her bridge, and before the middle time period scene where Data informs Picard of the anomaly’s diameter.
Thats' odd. I've never seen it in the original televised 2-hour version.
I am almost certain that this scene was in the original airing. Since that only aired once, it's understandable that it was forgotten.
The scene you mention did appear in the first terrestrial airing of the feature-length episode here in the UK. (I can't say for sure what it was like for the very first UK showing, on satellite.)
The first terrestrial airing? Ah, but what about the first Martian airing?
In regards to Tasha's posting nit.
It's true Picard says that he requested Tasha to be aboard his ship when he took command. But the nit does not go here, after all, I believe she was aboard the Enterprise in Encounter at Farpoint. So my guess is that when he was offered command of the Enterprise D he requested Tasha be included in his crew.
As to why the ship left dock with many crew members missing, that is also an event that happened in Encounter at Farpoint.
The reason the nit belongs here is because Picard told Ishara in Legacy that when he first saw Tasha, she was making her way through a Carnellian mine field to rescue a wounded colonist, and requested that she be transferred to the Enterprise-D, but this episode indicates that he is meeting her for the first time when she pilots the shuttlecraft taking him to the Enterprise.
But since in Encounter at Farpoint the ship had just left spacedock we can assume he was not on the Enterprise when he saw her in the mine field. When he was given command of Enterprise D he started putting a crew together (with many others from starfleet command) and requested she be transfered from her current assignment to his crew.
It's possible that he was present at the Carnellian mine field in a capacity other than as Captain of a starship. Perhaps he had diplomatic experience with the Carnellians, and was there for that reason.
I've somehow got the impression that Picard worked for Admiral Quinn some time before he got the Enterprise. If he was indeed Remmick's predecessor that would have involved travelling to many SF posts.
Obviously, he had to be doing something during the nine years between the Battle of Maxia and Encounter of Farpoint.
Admiral Riker must have a lot more political clout in Starfleet than Admiral Kirk. Starfleet tried to get the Enterprise-D decommissioned, but Riker said that as an admiral "you get to choose your own ship." Really? This is quite an interesting change from Admiral Kirk having to convince Admiral Nogura to let him command the Enterprise (Star Trek: TMP) and Kirk having to steal the Enterprise (Star Trek III) to retrieve Spock's body.
A couple points I'd like to make:
First of all, we know that Kirk as an admiral worked in Starfleet Operations on Earth. This posting is not the same as Riker's, who operates out of a starbase and apparently has administrative control over a region of space. Kirk, while a flag officer, might not be entitled to a flagship due to his assignment.
Second, according to his rank insignia, Riker is a four-star admiral. We're not entirely sure what rank Kirk held, but there is simply no way that he went from captain to a four-star admiral in just a few years. For comparison, in the U.S. Navy there are three ranks between captain and admiral: rear admiral (lower half) (which used to be called commodore), rear admiral, and vice admiral. Given that Starfleet includes such ranks as fleet captain and commodore (at least in TOS), Kirk could only be a rear admiral (one-star). There simply isn't enough time for him to have progressed higher in the ranks. Therefore, he is probably two grades lower than Riker is.
Even ignoring these two points (differences in rank and differences in assignment), the situations referenced were entirely different. All Riker did was convince Starfleet not to decommission the Enterprise-D. How is this different from Kirk convincing Nogura to give him command of the Enterprise? They seem to be the same. And as far as the events in STIII, this situation was a very special circumstance. There were interstellar politics involved that were far more important that Kirk's concerns over Spock's body. Therefore there is no real reason to assume that Riker has a lot more clout than Kirk.
Luigi Novi: When Picard sees Worf and Troi in the teaser, he is in his robe. The stardate Worf gives Picard in the teaser is 47988. Since 1000 stardate units equals one year, then one day is 2.739 stardate units, and one hour is .114.125 stardate units. Midnight, Dec 28, 2370 falls on stardate 47988.779. If you subtract the .779 stardate units, or 6.8 hours, to get this episode’s stardate, you get shortly after 5 PM. So Picard was sleeping until shortly after 5 PM? Or did he go to bed several hours before this scene, around three, or noon?
Interesting, except for one fatal flaw. Picard asks Worf what the "date" is, and Worf tells him. When I ask someone for the date, they don't say "Monday, March 15, 2:27PM." Therefore, we have no way to know that it is exactly 47988.0000.
Maybe Picard likes to catnap during the day?
On to Part 2