Great episode! Excellent acting by Amanda Plummer- and Michelle Forbes was OK too. I particularly liked the idea that when a timetraveller keeps remembering entire timelines that don't exist anymore, the cummulative effects on their mental health can be powerful. Nice sue of timetravel and the wrinkles it can cause.

I have read of and witnessed chimerical (def.: imaginary) situations in which time-travellers are unaffected by alterations in the time line, even if such alterations result in that time-traveller's death. In fact, I would be willing to accept this theory as truly being a liable proposal. However, I do possess some contrary beliefs. For example, Dr. Theresa Givens journeys back in time and slays individual men who have committed such atrocities as rape and murder without her travelling to that point in time being affected by the alteration to the time line. This notion I may permit, but one thing baffles me: How come Dr. Theresa Givens does not encounter a present counterpart of herself when returning from the past? If you cogitate this conundrum, then you would realize that Dr. Theresa Givens would not have had any incentive to descend into the past after she had already prevented the incident. Thus, there ought to be a Dr. Theresa Givens remaining in the present and even alarmed at the arrival of her counterpart back from the past. Furthermore, the conclusion of this episode involves Special Agent Jamie Perrin and Dr. Theresa Givens appearing at a crucial moment in Ms. Givens's life--the moment in which she lost her innocence from being raped by a petty thug. When Dr. Theresa Givens decides to allow herself to be shot by this same petty thug so that her past counterpart may elude him and that Special Agent Jamie Perrin may consequently subdue him, Special Agent Jamie Perrin realizes she must leap back through the portal to return to the present, as warned by Dr. Theresa Givens prior to her death. The discrepancy I notice is this: How could Dr. Theresa Givens activate a reentry portal from a device that technically no longer exists, considering her past counterpart was never raped and therefore never endeavored to acquire a means of eliminating sinister males? Also worth mentioning is how time was not altered as soon as Dr. Theresa Givens had already leapt through the portal, unless of course she failed during her time in the past. If this were to be the case, then Perrin's scene of reluctance of pursuing Dr. Theresa Givens could exist. Please feel free to share your own theories, perspectives, etc.

Well, you've identified the central paradox of ALL time travel stories: i.e., if you're unhappy with the present and go back to the past to change things and succeed, then there is no reason for you to go back to the past to effect the change. It's really unanswerable and, basically, must be fudged by time travel writers.

For example, in the TV show 7 Days, when time traveler Col. Parker goes back in time, his younger (by 7 days) version of himself simply disappears (along with the younger (by 7 days) version of the time machine. A similar type of treatment can explain why there's no 2nd Dr. Givens when she returns to the past.

As to the continued existence of the timetravel portal once the event that caused the creation of the time machine is erradicated (i.e. the rape of young Dr. Givens), there are 2 possible explanations: (1) like her memories, the time machine, being in the center of the timetravel, does not become erradicated; or (2) luckily, the time machine still exists, even though she wasn't raped. It exists for other reasons (ex. scientific curiosity). The episode directly implies this solution when Agent Perrin goes back and confronts the older Dr. Givens and insists that the machine does in fact exist- followed by a scene where Agent Perrin goes back to stop her friend's murderer.

I once read a story, I forget the title and author, unfortunately...

This guy builds a time machine, and goes back and does all sorts of things to change history. When he returns, there is no effect, except he becomes more ghostlike. He essentially is destroying his personal reality. He eventually fades from the world and meets a fellow time traveler. The universe is like a bowl of spaghetti, where each strand is a timeline, and the "ghosts" are now like the sauce, able to travel between them.

Anyone remember the title/author?

It's just yet another way of resolving time travel paradoxes.

yes- the story is definitely by Alfred Bester- I forget the title though- but it's in the compilation called (something like) Starlight and Other Stories.

I HIGHLY recommend Alfred Bester by the way- he's a terrific author - both for short stories and novels (especially the wonderful all-time classic, which also deals with time travel, The Stars My Destination) (he's also, btw, the inspiration for the Babylon 5 character of the same name).

...and that Special Agent Jamie Perrin may... = ...and [so] that Special Agent Jamie Perrin may... Typo.

The story referred to by ScottN is Bester's The Men Who Murdered Mohammed, and I read it in the collection The Dark Side of the Earth.

So is Jamie now going to go and save all those women? It's an interesting idea. Imagine going back and taking out the likes of Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy before they became killers.

Michelle Forbes (Ro Laren on TNG) did a great job, IMO.