Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 82: Future Imperfect [VHS]

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While others have pointed out the surprising nature of this episode's hypothesis, the thing that impresses me most about "Future Imperfect" is how its premise allows for normalcy. The drama here is propelled by very ordinary concerns: fatherly instincts, the grief of a wife's death, and simple disorientation. Marina Sirtis, divorced from her normal psychobabble, provides an unusually sympathetic performance. And Jonathan Frakes is allowed to step outside his posturing bridge presence to display rather more individual concerns. The result is an episode which contains not only satisfying plot twists but more subtle acting as well.

Riker and much of the crew are celebrating his birthday in Ten-Forward as the Enterprise detects strange readings from a planet near the Neutral Zone. An M-Class planet, yet unhospitible conditions - they are being probed and the crew suspects that this could be from an underground, secret Romulan base that there have been rumors about. Riker's birthday party is put on hold as he, Worf & Geordi beam to the surface to investigate.

Volcanic gasses including sulphur become overwhelming and they have to beam back right away, but the Enterprise cannot lock on to Riker due to unknown interference. He coughs as the gasses become thicker and he is overcome and collapses.

He wakes up in Sickbay to find Dr. Crusher standing over him - but she looks considerably older and her hair and uniform are different. He catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror and sees that he's a little worse for wear himself. Dr. Crusher then tells him what has happened. While on the planet, he contracted an Alterian Virus. The DNA from the virus lays dormant until one day, it becomes active, destroying memory synapses in the brain... all the way back to the date of infection. After 10 days of fever, he has awakened in Sickbay to find out that he is missing 16 years worth of memories. He is the captain of the Enterprise, and he is supposed to rendevous with the Romulan ship Decius to sign a landmark treaty that will mean peace between the Romulans and the Federation at last.

He finds out that he was married, but his wife died 2 years earlier, and he has a 12 year old son named Jean-Luc. It's all a little too much for him to handle as Admiral Picard thrust him into negotiations with the Romulans when he feels he lacks the proper information to proceed with the negotiations. He only needs to reveal the location of a long-time secret Federation base to clinch the deal and seal the bond of trust.

He feels uneasy about it, but is goaded by Troi and Picard to proceed. Trying to jog his memory to recall any memory from the past 16 years, he accesses the ship's computer to look at his family record and photos until he finally sees a photo of his wife and he realizes that nothing is truly what it seems.

Just when you think the mystery is solved, another one surprises you. This is a well-thought-out story with excellent acting and mind-stimulating plot twists.

A perennial favorite among fans, 'Future Imperfect' is also one of the very best episodes to spotlight the character of Riker. Following closely in sequence after the episode 'Remember Me', initially it looks like a paraphrase of that show. And although they seem to share a few similar themes on the surface it soon becomes apparent that this is mining entirely new territory.

The Enterprise intercepts a nearby M-class planet's probe of the ship and believes it to be a suspected secret Romulan base in the Neutral Zone. Riker, LaForge and Worf beam down to the surface to investigate and very soon the atmosphere becomes hostile and unbreathable. Because of atmospheric interference a crew member has difficulty attempting to transport them back up during which time the three on the surface begin to pass out. When Riker regains consciousness in sickbay he is alarmed to find out that 16 years have passed! Not only that but he is now captain of the Enterprise. He tells Dr. Crusher the last thing he can recall is struggling to breathe while investigating the source of the probe. She informs him that the loss of memory he is experiencing is caused by a viral infection, occurring while he was on that investigative mission all those years before. Escorted through the ship first by the doctor and later Troi, both ladies attempt to help him recover missing memories and fill in the gaps. Riker discovers he is a widower, has a son, Data is his first officer, Picard is now an admiral plus some other startling changes on the Enterprise. Most shocking and difficult for him to deal with are the peace negotiations with the Romulans - an event he just can't fathom being possible. But when he calls the bluff he's sure is being perpetrated he finds another veil in its place...

'Future Imperfect' could have been just another so-so amnesia styled story but because of the very clever usage of the Romulans it is so much more than that. The changes that Riker is continually confronted by are equally ingenious: everyone on the crew has moved up in rank and position; Geordi no longer wears a visor; Picard is an admiral posted to Star Fleet command; there are several subtle changes in the familiar techno-devices on the ship. And the writers found yet one more way to work Riker's trombone playing (non-playing?) into the plot - even having his faux son learning to play the instrument. The double switch leading to two alternate timelines is a real staggering blow. Like Riker, never for a moment do we suspect what the real truth is until Barash makes a critical mistake in conversation while they are planning their prison break. But having the Romulan nemesis Tomalak figured into the story is its greatest selling point. Interestingly Riker (and the rest of the Enterprise crew) had only ever had dealings with him via onscreen communication; they had never met face-to-face prior to this.

Isn't it a bit ironic that Beverly should be the one to orient Riker to his 'new' surroundings when he awakens? It was only a few episodes back that she herself experienced a bit of a quandary concerning the Enterprise and its crew. In fact the first time I watched this show I felt sure that Riker would mention it to her if only in passing; in hindsight it was probably conveniently left out because the creative staff didn't want to have viewers drawing comparisons between those stories. It would be inevitable later of course, but to purposely mention it might have seemed too intentionally misleading. An oddity I noticed: at one point in the story Riker comments to Troi that he can't imagine her ever leaving the Enterprise. Since everything he is experiencing is based upon his memories and imaginings how did this reassignment come about then? It was a necessary element to develop the storyline concerning the peace negotiations so it's probably an oversight on the writers' behalf - a forgivable one to be sure. And besides I'm sure he's also never imagined or day-dreamed the possibility of peace with Tomalak!

Some final notes: the actress Carolyn McCormick makes another cameo appearance as 'Minuet'; she appeared in that role in the first season TNG episode '11001001'. Unfortunately, this was the last appearance of Tomalak in the series; to date he has not appeared in any of the subsequent series or movies either. He was such a great antagonist - it's a shame the creative staff didn't develop any further storylines with him. The name of the Romulan warbird in this episode is Decius and if that sounds familiar to fans it should. It was first used as the name of one of the Romulan warriors in Star Trek's classic original series episode 'Balance Of Terror' where the Romulans were initially encountered.

This episode is engaging until the last five minutes or so when it closes with one of the most implausible endings of any episode in the series. Commander Riker leads an away team on a mission that is aborted due to the buildup of dangerous gas. However, when he awakens in sickbay his first sight is that of an aged Dr. Crusher. He is told that sixteen years ago he was infected with a virus that damaged his memory and that for the last nine years he has been captain of the Enterprise. Picard is now an Admiral and when he arrives Picard informs Riker that he is the only one that can handle delicate negotiations with the Romulans over a peace treaty with the Federation. Riker also learns that he has a son and that his mother is dead.
It does not take long for Riker to start finding holes in his current reality and it fades, replaced by his being in a cell, a prisoner of the Romulans. The Romulans are trying to extract critical information from Riker and they are determined to get it. A young boy is his cellmate and together they escape although Riker quickly realizes that this new reality is also a false one. Finally, it all fades away to just him and the "boy", which is not a human at all. It is an alien being that was just lonely. In a bizarre conclusion, Riker seems to have no interest in learning about "him"; he just beams back to the Enterprise. Given the mission of the Enterprise as stated in the opening, this ending lands with a dull and uninteresting thud.

Imagine you go to bed tonight, and tomorrow morning you wake up in your bed, but the room has changed. And who is that woman in bed beside you? Soon you see that 16 years is missing from your memory!

This is not exactly the scenario facing Riker, but he does awaken to find 16 years missing from his memory. Most of the crew is there, but they, like himself, have aged. He is now the captain, Data is his first officer, and Picard is an Ambassador. It seems that during those 16 years Riker has married, become a father, and a widower.

But he has little time to adjust to his new world. He is the key in an important negotiation with the Romuluns. But as time goes by, Riker becomes suspicious. Is this future indeed reality? If not, who is fooling him and why?

This episode is well written and directed, and it provoked many thoughts in me. For instance, I am in my middle 30's, and if I woke up tomorrow and I was 50, in time I would be distressed how I had in a sense "lost" 16 years. It is in contrast to the 25-30 years that Picard "gains" in the "Inner Light".

It is also interesting to see how Riker reacts to his being such a changed person. He has always distrusted the Romulons, but it seems that in the last 16 years he has helped bring peace between this race and the Federation. This is one of several episodes that would have been a good movie.