Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 39: Time Squared [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Star Trek: TNG has, more than any other film or TV show, except perhaps the "Back to the Future" series, capitalized on terrific ideas involving time travel. In this, one of the series' best time conundrums, (I would rank it after "Cause and Effect" and "Timescape") the crew discovers a wandering shuttle that not only appears to belong to the Enterprise, but contains an exact double of Captain Picard. It is deduced that the new Picard has come from seven hours into the future, and that in his time, the enterprise was destroyed and he was the only survivor. Thus begins a gloriously suspenseful race against time (as usual) to discover what this Picard did that must be avoided. "Time Squared" is easily one of my favorite episodes, though I must admit to being thoroughly partial to the time travel ones. But even with my biases aside, this one has a terrific story and an involving mystery- the essence of any great episode.

"Time Squared" is the initial foray into time travel for the Next Generation crew. The Enterprise finds one of its shuttles drifting in space with an unconscious Picard on board. This is rather confusing since Picard is sitting on the bridge at the time. When they examine the shuttle's logs they discover it is from six hours in the future when the Enterprise was surrounded by an energy vortex. The Picard from the future is barely able to communicate anything since he is caught up in the painful throws of a time paradox. The shuttle left the Enterprise right before the starship was destroyed and apparently there is nothing they can do about the situation (going off in a completely different direction from what was indicated in the logs would be a start). To no one's surprise, six hours later the energy vortex appears. Troi tells Picard the entity is focusing on him as the ship's captain. Understanding now why he left the ship on the shuttle, Picard knows this is the one thing he cannot do if he wants to save his ship and crew.

Time paradoxes are always fun logic loops (what happens if you accidentally go back in time and kill your grandfather is one of the classics, the other being that if you go back in time to stop the Titanic from hitting the iceberg you will be the one that causes the accident because you already went back in time to have caused the accident you went back in time to prevent--but I digress) and "Time Squared" offers a simple but compelling mystery. The theoretical ramifications of it all get rather lost in the necessity of solving the mystery and avoiding the destruction of the Enterprise, but the key thing in this particular episode is the growing sense of unease. After all, there are two Picards and visual proof that the Enterprise is about to be destroyed. Like "Contagion" (Episode 37), this episode presents the crew dealing solving problems and really helps develop the idea of them as a team. Well into the second season the roles of each character are becoming well defined, which, in turn, makes it easier to write for the series, thereby setting the stage for some really good episodes in the near future.

Stories involving alterations in time are a staple in science fiction overall and the Star Trek section in particular. There is a wide variation in quality, some leave a lot to be desired and some are excellent. This one is pretty good, and involves the destruction of the Enterprise.
The Enterprise is on a routine mission when it encounters an out of control shuttlecraft that could not have reached that point under its own power. They capture it and are stunned to find another Captain Picard unconscious in the pilot's seat. It also turns out that the craft is registered to the Enterprise. After some trials where the power is incompatible with that of the Enterprise, Geordi and Data manage to download some of the log entries. They indicate that the shuttle is from a few hours in the future and clearly demonstrate that Captain Picard willingly piloted the craft from the Enterprise and watched it being destroyed.
Since the copy is from the future, his body is not properly synchronized with the time line it is in, so he cannot inform them of the reasons why he left the ship. As the time where the copy was sent back in time approaches, the copy becomes more aware of his surroundings, but remains unable to communicate with or even recognize the Enterprise crew around him. For the first time, we see Picard being indecisive, as he tries to determine what command decision led to the destruction of the Enterprise.
At the end, the true Picard gets his will to command back, which forces him to kill his double and avoid a repeat of the mistakes of the first time. As the Enterprise crew faces what seems to be certain death, we see why they are the best in Star Fleet. They know that Picard made a command decision that led to their destruction and his survival. And yet they remain loyal to him, expressing surprise at his leaving the Enterprise at such a critical time. The remaining command crew expresses no doubts about Picard, nor do they assign any blame. Their focus is on solving the problem in the few hours they have left.
At times, the best thing about Star Trek is the loyalty that the main characters show to each other. This is one of those episodes, where we see the best that the human race can deliver.

Plot: Upon discovering a Federation shuttle craft floating about helplessly in space, the Enterprise brings it in for investigation. Riker and Worf look at the shuttle and it's identity is, "NCC 1701 USS Enterprise Shuttlecraft 05". Interestingly (and a little disconcertingly), the same exact shuttle is also in the bay, in perfect shape. Well, as if things couldn't get anymore freaky, inside the shuttle is...Captain Picard. It appears the shuttle is from the future (approx. 6 hours ahead) with our dear captain inside of it. Well, when they play a recording from the shuttle, it shows the Enterpise being destroyed in some sort of space tornado...six hours from now. Meanwhile, the future Picard has been placed in sick bay. He's unable to communicate, his physical signs are all out of normalcy, and Consuler Troi indicates that he's terrified (due to the time distortion thing). 6 hours later, the Enterprise is caught is space vortex, and now they must find out what actually happened before it's too late.

A pretty good episode. Everyone remains loyal to the captain despite from what the shuttle recording seems to indicate. Dr. Pulaski, interestingly, is a bit of a worry-wart in this episode. She's not sure if Picard can handle the stress of the situation (as if this isn't anything new to her) and is worried that he won't be fit to command. Fortunately, Counselor Troi stands up for the captain, saying that he's handling it quite well (and since she can sense his emotions, I think we can give her and the captain the benefit of the doubt).

While I do like "Cause and Effect" better, this is nevertheless, quite a good episode.

Get's a solid 4 pushing 5 stars.

This episode was one of the first TNG episodes that delt with time travel. And it was pulled off really well. The plot is the Enterprise picking up a Federation shuttlecraft. When they discover that the shuttlecraft is an identical match to a shuttlecraft that is already in the shuttlebay, they discover an somewhat identical Captain Picard. The reason was that the Enterprise had attacked by a vortex that was also attacking Picard himself. Which led him to the conclusion that the vortex would leave the Enterprise alone, if he left the ship. It turned out that the Enterprise would be destroyed and the shuttlecraft with the past captain then was hit with an amazing force and sent hurdling through time. The kicker is that the event occurs six hours after the present Enterprise discovers him. Will the Enterprise meet up with this vortex "again"? Another splended performance by Patrick Stewart playing a dual of himself ala Brent Spiner. We also learn that Riker loves to cook. On of my favorite second season episodes.

Meeting Yourself

Picard meets his future self six hours into the future. Originally planned as a Q episode, the Enterprise is engulfed by a vortex that takes the crew into an unknown dimension. Another version of Picard comes aboard the Enterprise to warn the Picard from the present. Of what purpose, it's never revealed. We don't find out much about the one from the future. The best scene is when Riker discovers future Picard in the shuttle. You don't know weather or not the second Picard will avert the coming disaster or cause it. Picard has a line that best describes the story. "If you travel far enough you will meet yourself." This one was what was called a "bottle show." All of the scenes take place aboard the Enterprise and no other location shooting was required.