Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 177: All Good Things...The Final Episode ('94-'95) [VHS]

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The reason this is one of the best series finales in all of television history is that it's clearly a labor of love on behalf of the show's fans. Unlike some series ends which merely include gratuitous flashback, or which portray a significant event such as marriage, "All Good Things" is 100 minutes of innovative plot that pays homage to the entire run of the series. Building on the very first episode of the show, it creates in effect a "bookend" to tie the series together. At the same time it closes out the show, it also prognosticates about what's to come and shows us a bit of series' origin. Better still, it does so by affirming the most idealistic of Star Trek's core values, preferring to be an episode about exploration rather than conquest.

What makes it most impressive, however, is that it's ultimately about the relationships among the various crewmates. This, more than the plot-induced time trippin'--shows how far the show has come. Gone are those initial days of painfully awkward dialogue that made Denise Crosby (whose Tasha Yar thankfully reappears here) leave the show. No, just as THE WRATH OF KHAN is arguably the best Star Trek movie involving the original cast, "All Good Things" succeeds most because we get to see what these characters mean to each other.

It's such an effective blending of dynamic plot, fan wish-fulfillment, and amazing acting (especially by Patrick Stewart), that one hopes that future editions of this story will be treated more like a movie than a mere episode. Though Paramount doesn't have a particularly great track record of making feature-rich DVD versions of Star Trek movies, hopefully one day they'll release "All Good Things" on DVD with behind-the-scenes featurettes, and cast and crew commentaries.

As a kid, I grew into a huge Star Trek The Next Generation fan. And I remember all the way back to 6th grade when The Next Generation went of the air. During the Final Episode's week, there was a program showing the Fan's choice for The Next Generation's Five best episodes. While watching this I realized how important Star Trek had been in my life and how much of a positive influence Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise had been for me. Before I watched the final episode, I didn't know what to expect, I never heavily anticipated a final episode for a series before. This final episode was perfect. It brought together the past, present, and future all into one episode focusing on the core values of The Next Generation: Honor, Duty, and Friendship. In this episode, we see the frailness of humanity showing Captain Picard faced with a disease which tests his sanity and we see the importances of loyalty of all crews of the Enterprise to Captain Picard by giving him the opportunity to show that his visions are real and play an important part in finding a solution possible end of humanity. In addition, John De Lancie as Q is top notch again, my favorite part is at the end abroad the futuristic Enterprise he says to Picard " Two down one to go, I will miss you Jean Luc" and you see the final Enterprise seal the rupture and the time line is conserved. In this final Episode, the greatest aspects of TNG is shown which represents how special of a television program this was.

As good as Star Trek: The Next Generation managed to get over the years on air, this, the series finale proved to be its finest hour(s).

This grand episode neatly expands on the original pilot story line and incorporates all the richness of character developed over seven seasons.

It combines the best elements of Star Trek: a wild mystery, the fate of humanity, self-sacrifice, duty and those darn temporal mechanics into an engrossing plot line that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the final climax. And climax is the word; next to this masterpiece episode, the subsequent movies have seemed anti-climatic... good, great even, but not a leap forward from the quality television that this episode epitomizes.

This will appeal even to non-Trekers (although they probably won't wear the tape out).

"All Good Things..." is the perfect final episode to the best Trek series, and one of the best television series of all time.

For TNG fans, there are a lot of wonderful moments that weaves together all of the loose ends, without interfering excessively with the story. It all fits.
Led by Patrick Stewart and John DeLancie, the acting is top notch (Q's final speech brought tears to my eyes).

Like Shakespeare's Sonnet 73, this episode is also all the sweeter because you know that it is the last. This was clearly a labor of love. It's also the rare final episode that leaves us clearly wanting more -- I can remember the merciful endings to Cheers and Seinfeld, two excellent series that had long past become parodies of themselves. With TNG, so many of us fans just wanted one more year...but if we had gotten it, would we have enjoyed the probably mediocre results?

Alas, All Good Things, even the best things, must come to an end.

BTW, Paramount, us fans want this on DVD, and we want it with all the fixin's -- interviews, outtakes, lost scenes, et al.

Enjoy!

This is the epitmiy of the series that was "Star Trek: The Next Generation", a series that went before her time. What makes this episode(s) great is the awesome storyline, "Q", getting the chance to see the Enterprise D in 25 years, and, of course, the chance to see the ever-famed Tasha Yar and Reginald Barkley. If you buy ANY of the series' episodes on video, make it this one. Hek, I think it's even bettter than some of the movies they're making! ;-)

While the original crew had it better with the movies, The Next Generation was the only Star Trek TV series that I watched consistently. The show had a cast that at least equalled that of the original, boasted better production values, and plots that were intriguing and touched on varieties of concepts that Kirk, Spock, and Bones never got the chance to explore. Deep Space Nine was too mired into the whole "war of the quadrants" to explore any ideas with real satisfaction, and while Voyager had the best effects and the best premise, the cast was middling at best. As for Enterprise, hell, I tried to watch one episode and got too damn bored.

All Good Things..., the swan song episode for TNG, is possibly the best of Star Trek, period, focusing on mind-boggling concepts while retaining the character development and human interest that made the show so appealing. It's the seventh year that the crew of the Starhip Enterprise have been together, but Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) is experiencing odd timeshifts. He's constantly switching between three different time periods; to the past, right before the Farpoint mission, the present, and the future, where the crew has long since split up, Picard is retired and is diagnosed with a debilitating mental illness. Naturally, the rest of the crew is skeptical (be it in any time period), but when Picard discovers the true nature of his constant shifting, he realizes it is both the means and cause with which the existence of mankind could be erased.

I hesitate to give too much away, though I doubt anyone with a passing interest in Star Trek hasn't already seen this episode. But it plays as an interesting comparison and contrast to the series' first episode, Encounter at Farpoint, which it directly ties in to with Picard's timeshifting to the past. There's been a notable improvement in the quality of the sets and the visual effects, and also the acting, the pacing, and the plot development.

All Good Things... has all the solid acting one expects from the cast, and a human touch that was missing from the latest film, Nemesis. It's interesting to note that this episode (meaning the whole series, as well) ends with the door open for all sorts of possibilites; at this time, this clearly implied the much-hyped transition to the big screen.

Unfortunately, some of the more open-ended questions this episode focused on were never even touched on. Sure, the Worf/Troi/Riker triangle was resolved, but one of my favorite ongoing side stories, the burgeoning romance between Picard and Dr. Crusher, was completely ignored in the movies. And the final scenes lead one to believe that the movies would take us to "places" never explored, even though the most recent film was merely a plotless action movie that didn't even have enough action to warrant the movie's existence.

Stewart is the true highlight of this episode, displaying the great acting chops he's been known for. The fact that we care for him and the rest of the crew as well, adds a sense of urgency and involvement in the proceedings that the otherwise quite frantic pace alone might not have been able to develop. The plot twists are pure Trek, each mysterious element giving away to some big revelation that only leads to more questions. The story is engrossing, the dialogue is strong, and the performances and characterizations are spot-on.

There are a few problems with All Good Things. The timeshifting obviously means we're going to see past and future versions of the cast, but everyone's aged to the extent where they can't quite pass for their more youthful selves, and the old-age makeup is never entirely convincing (Old Riker's first appearance gave me a good laugh). That said, I would like to make mention of what full-blown hotties Marina Sirtis and especially Gates McFadden became (McFadden is easily the most attractive post 50-year old actress I've ever seen).

The continuing movie series actually began quite well; Generations and First Contact were enjoyable adventures, but everything seemed to fall apart with Insurrection. Funny, All Good Things... is a title that turned out more prophetic than anyone would have guessed.
**** 1/2 out of *****

This episode has some incredible moments. The future with Picard facing an incurable brain disease that has his friends doubting his sanity, but still willing to go across the galaxy just because Jean-Luc says so...the past with Picard's first shuttle ride to his new posting: The USS Enterprise...and the present, with Picard finding that he can't prove his time-traveling. And of course, there's Q! Though Q doesn't make as much of an appearance in this one as he has in the past (this episode is truly spotlighting Picard more than anyone else), it does show an affectionate side of Q and his view of Picard. I hated to see the series end, but it's nice to see that it went out so well!

Captain Picard is shifting through time. One moment he is twenty-five years in the future, a retired ambassador tending his vineyard but suffering from Irumodic syndrome, a degenerative neurological disease. The next he finds himself seven years in the past, at the time when he took over the Enterprise and headed for their first adventure at Farpoint Station (Episodes 1 & 2). In the present timeline the Enterprise is sent to the Romulan Neutral Zone to investigate an anomaly that has appeared in the Devron system. The Romulans are also investigating the anomaly in force. In the past the Enterprise heads off to investigate the anomaly as well, which convinces Picard that they must go to the Devron system in that timeline as well. Without access to the Enterprise, Picard receives help from Captain Beverly Crusher, captain of the medical ship the USS Pasteur (and Picard's ex-wife). With La Forge and Data on board they receive permission to enter Klingon Territory from Governor Worf. In the past timeline Picard finally knows who is responsible for his time shifting and finds himself once again in the courtroom Q created to try humanity in "Encounter at Farpoint." Apparently the trial never officially ended and the Continuum has finally reached a verdict. The human race should be destroyed, but the Q do not have to do anything for this to happen. The anomaly is going back in time, growing larger as it does, until it will arrive at Earth at the pivotal moment when life is created--and prevent it. Now only will there never be life on Earth explain Q, but Picard will be the one who caused it.

Most fans rightfully think "All Good Things..." is superior to the trio of STNG films that have been produced so far. The future time line allows us to find out what happens to the Enterprise crew down the road: Picard a diplomat who managed to marry and divorce Beverly Crusher in the interim, La Forge without his visor, Data a professor at Cambridge, Worf an embittered Klingon, Riker the captain of the next generation Enterprise, and veiled references to something not very nice happening to Troi. The past timeline brings back Tasha Yar and Miles O'Brien, effectively getting the entire gang back together (except for Guinan, who would have been very useful in an episode dealing with time problems). At stake in the episode is all life on Earth, which certainly is a problem big enough for the finale STNG episode. At the heart of the story, as he has always been throughout the series, is Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard. As his ex-wife says in the future when she becomes convinced he is telling the truth about what is happening, "He's Jean-Luc Picard. And if wants to go on one last mission, we're going to help him." All things considered, this is a very satisfying conclusion to the seven-year run of the series.

I started at Bangor High School a month before Star Trek-The Next Generation premiered. I stuck by the show and watched every single episode from 1987 to 1994. I left Bangor High School in 1991 but I never stopped watching the show. I was very sad when Gene Roddenberry passed away and when the show ended, I was both sad and hopeful for the movies that came afterward. Encounter at Farpoint set the tone for the series and All Good Things ended it very nicely. Since the show ended, Star Trek-First Contact has been the best movie to follow up. I look forward to Star Trek X and the fifth Trek series premiering in 2002 or so. Live long and prosper to the Next Generation and the crew of Deep Space Nine...

Through tv my love of TNG has been born and grown and it was by a chance showing i came across this final episode. It is probably the best television i have ever seen. I have read reviews claiming the story isnt any good and that picard is jumping through time too much blah blah. I like to respect others opinion however that is complete garbage, anyone who can say that about 'all good things' and keep a straight face obviously didnt understand it. Watch it, then buy it.