It is a highlight of season 4 and was another in a series of episodes that season where TNG takes a single character and makes them the headliner of a particular episode(Bev here, Data next in Legacy, Worf in Reunion, Riker in Future Imperfect, Wes in Final Mission, Troi in the Loss, Data in Data’s Day etc).
TNG really could have rested on its laurels following BoBW but the show continued to churn out solidly entertaining hours in what I find is its most consistent season.
The episode is an example of really strong storytelling with its elegant construction, its fresh sci-fi concept, its deft handling of its mystery elements not giving away too much too soon, its skilled balancing of both plot/character and its nice pacing.
The thought put into assembling it enhances it that much more for me as a viewer. The way the writer Lee Sheldon built the tension up of the mystery by first cleverly focusing our attention on one man’s isolated disappearance and localizing the threat to the ship was a great hook leading to a host of questions--What is going on? Why Quaice? Who took him? Why erase all evidence that he ever existed?
It starts out like a routine missing person’s investigation which nicely works as a way of having the audience settle into a comfortable feeling before things get really interesting and the plot thickens. I particularly liked all the attention to details—Worf mentioning that even if Quaice is missing why would his luggage be missing, the crew suggesting checking for replicator usage since Quaice couldn’t go long without eating, scanning for Quaice’s communicator, Picard suggesting Quaice might have returned to the starbase amidst all the traffic and Beverly realizing O’Brien would have remembered seeing the two of them in the transporter room.
Then we get our next twist… O’Brien denies ever seeing Quaice! Is Beverly now the focus? Is there a conspiracy by Starfleet? Why? Is Picard involved and why would Bev be left out of the loop? Because of her relationship with Quaice? What was Quaice possibly involved in? Why is O’Brien lying? Is O’Brien lying? Or did someone or something alter his memory? Once again I liked she thought to run a scan on him to see if he had been tampered with.
If those moments weren’t surprising enough the scope of the unknown threat continues to widen even further with a series of nicely placed revelations that pack a nice punch. First, there are now more missing faceless crewmen, then the crew complement has dwindled, then no one seems to remember Worf.
These are shocking revelations on their own but made even more insidious by the fact that they don’t faze the crew at all, who casually accept it as normal—the way things have always been. The crew acts intelligently about the threat considering Wes’ experiment might hold the answers before determining it couldn’t have the reach to effect anyone beyond Engineering which was another nice bit of misdirection. Also it soon becomes clear whatever is happening is beyond just an alien conspiracy. Then we get the biggest revelation in a series of Twilight Zone-worthy shocks-something is wrong with the very universe itself which is a very bold notion to put forth.
It all culminates in an appropriately surreal scene where Picard tells Beverly that they are the only crew the Enterprise has ever needed. I really liked that poignant moment after everyone has finally disappeared and she makes a promise to them all that she will *never* forget any of them and that pained look on her face. She now realizes for whatever reason she is the only one left in the universe and the staggering responsibility of not only finding these people but saving the universe itself which is becoming nothing is devastatingly overwhelming-- this certainly is a compelling meditation on nihilism in the most literal sense.
Sometimes the payoff is never quite the equal to all the build up but this was a perfect way to handle the mystery. The big reveal that Geordi & Wes are trying to reach her and she has been inside the bubble all along is so very clever. A brilliant twist and the execution of said twist was outstanding as we see them on the otherside working to maintain the threshold as the camera panned from her side to theirs.
Then came the ultimate WTF mind-boggling moment when she learns that she is the only one left in a universe that is only 700 meters in diameter and the shape of the universe is very familiar. The writers just kept ratcheting up the insanity. It was great. It reminded me of the very best of the Twilight Zone where perception and reality are distorted.
The last 10 minutes were just as tension-filled and thrilling as Beverly raced to reach the threshold. space starts collapsing and more of the ship ceased to exist. The mystery was compelling and original, the internal logic holds together even after the mystery is solved.
Gates did a fantastic job as Dr. Crusher trying to solve the mystery in these extraordinary circumstances. And this episode also showcased exceptionally well the qualities I like best about her. She is a formidable woman with such a steely resolve that once she has her mind made up not even someone like Picard can say no to her. And even when others might cave in and succumb to the overwhelming situation she finds herself in, she remains steadfast keeping her wits about her never letting herself fall to pieces. She just keeps thinking up more ideas to solve this dilemma even getting into it with the computer. She got in some good lines—“ Was he invisible? Did I carry on a conversation with thin air?”, “Will, I didn't conjure up one of my best friends from a test tube.”, “I'm sorry I lost my temper. You do remember that?” and Picard’s “vividly” in reply, “If there isn't anything wrong with me... maybe there's something wrong with the universe...” or her clicking her heels line. And I loved the moment when she sits in the captain’s chair.
I also thought including the Traveler made sense. And the final scene although rather brief was a nice way to cap things off after everything Beverly had been through.
However brief his appearance, I really liked Quaice too and the way the two managed to sell the warmth and long history between them in such a short amount of time was impressive(The way Beverly intertwined her arms in his as they walked down the corridor for instance).
This is one of those episodes that the show did over the years that really was fun and exploited the series’ sci-fi premise to wonderful effect. Others that come to mind--The Survivors, Cause and Effect, Timescape, Clues, Night Terrors, Frame of Mind, Parallels, Conundrum.
So I'll rewatch it sometime.
