Time Squared, your thoughts
- Thread starter RAMA
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They did the same thing in "Cause and Effect." They had a recording that mentioned the temporal anomaly, and every time they got to it they were stuck.
Which is why I like the episode. It was a risk that TNG seldom took, everything had to be neatly tied together at the end and the point of the episode hammered home. Sometimes there aren't any easy answers in a universe filled with both horror and wonder. The ending of the episode always leaves me with a chill as Picard and Riker can't explain what happened, only knowing that they got a second chance.
This episode and several others are why I prefer the second season over the latter ones. The tone was darker and the final frontier was both awe inspiring and terrifying. It's a same that Q's warning in "Q Who" wasn't followed up in the later seasons.
Middyseafort:
While I don't agree with your preference for the second season, I agree that the unresolved nature of the ep is what makes it appealing. Also, it was a unique time travel ep in that the future Picard came from only a short six hours ahead, giving the crew a brief time to avert the destruction of the Enterprise.
I also like how our Picard was noticeably frustrated by his future self's inability to explain what happened because of the time distortion. Like his line to Dr. Pulaski, "Save for his features, there's nothing about him that I find familiar." As Q said in All Good Things, this was "just another anomaly, just another day at the office," but of course, unlike our days at the office!
Like Rama, I like this ep, but am glad that Q had nothing to do with it. It makes sense that the crew would encounter unsolved mysteries, as space is vast and mysterious.
Red Ranger
In Trekcore it states that is was GR who was "adamantly opposed" to Q's involvement in "Time Squared" and that it was the Great Bird himself who squarshed it. I wonder what his reasoning was.
I like that episode. I'd have to re-watch it though to get a new perspective, I didn't catch it on TV last week.
I like that episode. I'd have to re-watch it though to get a new perspective, I didn't catch it on TV last week.
But that's what I was trying to suggest: there really WAS a lot happening in the episode, but you kind of have to use your imagination to tie up loose ends. It is kind of open ended though we know what was originally intended. I think it makes for an interesting episode.
RAMA
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Generally speaking both GR and the studio wanted standalone episodes so they can be shown in syndication. They also hold up better over time. For example, a lot of people won't rewatch Babylon 5, DS9 or other similar serialized shows because you have to watch almost all the episodes to get the complete story. Now this can be great when they are first aired, but is not good for repeats. The DVD market today though has changed this somewhat.
RAMA
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Probably the reason why VOY wasn't in mulit-ep story arc form, and why they abandoned story arcs for ENT, too. The imperatives of the marketplace and all that! -- RR
I got to watching it again last night. I'm a little confused about the beginning. Not with the Picard future doppleganger stuff, but earlier than that: eggs and ale? For breakfast, or is he just making eggs in the middle of the day for the hell of it? Or did Dr. Pulaski have a bit of a drinking problem and just shows up with ale for all occasions?
This was an excellent episode I thought. Season 2 had a lot of high concept sci-fi, this being one of the extremes. I though the scene in the observation lounge that showed the ship explosion was pretty eerie. You got this feeling of impending doom, similar to "Contagion" when the ship starts malfunctioning.
