Star Trek: The Next Generation: All Good Things...   Rewatch 
December 10, 2021 4:00 AM - Season 7, Episode 25 - Subscribe

"Time is come round, / And where I did begin, there shall I end; / My life is run his compass." - Julius Caesar, Act V, Scene III [Series finale]

If you're very lucky, Memory Alpha will drop by to say hello from time to time:

• Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore wrote "All Good Things..." and later drafts of Star Trek Generations [FF previously --ed.] simultaneously. This often led them to mix the stories up.

• Early versions of this story included the Borg attack at Wolf 359 as a fourth main timeline, with Picard appearing as Locutus. According to Brannon Braga, Hugh would have appeared as well, helping to rescue Picard from the Borg in this timeline. The story also originated from a pitch by Ronald D. Moore early in the season in which Q had gone insane, causing the universe to come unraveled. The other characters found themselves in a bizarre place, with Q as a homeless guy sitting in a corner next a garbage can muttering "I used to be a superbeing. I used to be a superbeing." Although Michael Piller did not want to do this story, he did like the idea of bringing Q back and using him to bookend the series.

• This is the only Star Trek spinoff finale [so far --ed.] to not be directed by Allan Kroeker. He directed "What You Leave Behind", "Endgame", and "These Are the Voyages...".

• Production on Generations began while this episode was being filmed. The scenes filmed were on the Enterprise-B sets.

Journey's End: The Saga of Star Trek: The Next Generation was mostly filmed during production on this episode too. This led to friction amongst the cast and production team, including an argument between Patrick Stewart (exhausted from having directed the previous episode, as well as appearing heavily in this one) and an Entertainment Tonight camera crew.

• The Romulan commander Tomalak had not appeared since Season 4. This was the only time that Andreas Katsulas appeared on Star Trek during his run as Ambassador G'Kar on Babylon 5 (he later played another character on Star Trek: Enterprise after the end of Babylon 5). With Colm Meaney guest-starring in "All Good Things...", this was a rare occurrence when regulars on competing shows Babylon 5 and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine appeared in the same episode during the run of both shows.

• Past-Data seems to imply that the anomaly was formed by the convergence of the tachyon pulses from the three Enterprises (though his exact words are "It is as if all three originated from the Enterprise"). In the future, it is in fact the Pasteur, not the Enterprise, that fires the tachyon pulse. Ronald D. Moore later said of this: "This is an error that no one caught until the episode was on the air. And who caught it first? Rick Berman's ten-year-old son. Kind of humbling."

• The USS Enterprise-D's possession of a cloaking device gives a hint that the Treaty of Algeron's agreement for the Federation to not use any cloaking devices may no longer be in force in the alternate timeline of the anti-time future in 2395. Given that the Klingons have conquered the Romulans in that timeline, it could mean the entire treaty was defunct.

• A line cut from the 2364 portion of the episode would have established Dr. Selar as being aboard at that time, acting as chief medical officer pending Crusher's arrival.

• After this episode, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine briefly became the sole carrier of the Star Trek franchise with the exception of the film Star Trek Generations. This began with "Tribunal" in June 1994 and ended with "Past Tense, Part II" in January 1995.

• Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean-Luc Picard) and Jonathan Frakes (Commander William T. Riker) are the only actors to appear in every episode of the series.

• During a discussion between Chase Masterson and Brannon Braga on the website "The Fandom" in August 2005, Braga stated that he thought this episode was the best Star Trek script he had ever written.

• In their joint 2004 commentary for the Star Trek Generations (Special Edition) DVD, Braga and Moore admitted that they felt "All Good Things..." turned out to be better than Generations.

• Colm Meaney commented about this episode, "It was strange, very nostalgic. I thought it was a very powerful way for ST:TNG to go out. I thought it was a great story and a terrific episode. It covered a lot of ground and left you thinking."

• This episode won the 1995 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. This episode was also nominated for four Emmy Awards, a distinction it shares with only three other episodes.

• Season 7 earned Star Trek: The Next Generation an Emmy Award nomination for "Outstanding Drama Series", the first (and so far only) time a syndicated series has earned that distinction.


"He's Jean-Luc Picard and if he wants to go on one more mission that's what we're going to do."
- Crusher

"You obtuse piece of flotsam!"
- Q, to Picard at the trial

"Has Starfleet approved this proposal?"
"No."
"Hmm, I like it already."
- Tomalak and Picard

"Strange, isn't it? Everything you know, your entire civilization, it all begins right here in this little pond... of goo."
- Q, to Picard while observing life beginning to form three billion years before on Earth

"I know you have your doubts about me... about each other... about the ship. All I can say is that although we have only been together for a short time, I know that you are the finest crew in the fleet and I would trust each of you with my life."
- Picard, in the past

"Q, what is it that you're trying to tell me?"
"...You'll find out."
- Picard and Q


Poster's Log:
Watching this right before Q's return in PIC season 2 made it feel almost as much like a cliffhanger as BOBW1.

Seems to me Colm Meaney said it best: it's a terrific, thought-provoking, but strange episode. And it needed to be strange: it needed to bring back the trial from the pilot, which was never gonna be not-strange. (Coulda done without the implication that Geordi got together with Leah Brahms, though *full-body shudder*)

And yet in spite of all that strangeness, and in spite of the production difficulties and the general difficulty that seemed to dog season seven, the finale manages to remain an engaging and very human drama. I think that watching this series in this format—about two eps a week, with attentiveness and also a lot of comparison/"meta-watching," and listening to "The Greatest Generation" all the way through—is probably why the part that got me misty-eyed this time was the speech quoted above, the one Picard gives to his Season 1 crew.

I'm very glad I did this rewatch. It revealed many more warts throughout TNG than I remembered (and, heretical thought incoming: without Sir Pat, is Voyager a better show overall?! Maybe?). But it also crystallized just how great TNG's great moments are—thanks in part to FanFare, without which I would not now have seen every minute of canonical Trek for comparison. And y'all have been a fine crew of commenters and co-posters! Special thanks to my co-poster hanov3r, and to Halloween Jack for keeping the FF Trek Flag flying with DISCO and Prodigy (PROD? PRDG? PRG?).

You who have stayed with us this long will no doubt feel the void of no-more-TNGs pretty soon. DS9's seven seasons will fill it admirably. Look there, they await you; now, go to them.

See y'all back here for PIC season 2, sometime next year!

Poster's Log, Supplemental:
A plot point of PIC season 1 is JL's worsening "brain abnormality." They don't call it irumodic syndrome in PIC for some reason—maybe Doctor David Paymer doesn't believe in it?—but "All Good Things" locates it in the parietal lobe, which IIRC was the same location mentioned in PIC.

More weirdly, considering "All Good Things": why is Dr. Crusher not even mentioned in PIC so far? Did Maurice Hurley return from the grave?

• Slashfilm did a "Ten best TNGs" list back in September.
Greatest Gen episode link
• "Fashion It So" has somehow not yet gotten around to doing this one.

Guinan Headwear Watch:
What the hell was Guinan doing through all this? Attending a conference? Probably a conference about hats.

Pointless STO Comparison:
Anti-time appears in Star Trek Online in the form of a character trait and a kit module.

Cheeses' Top 10 TNGs (a combination of "the eps I think are the overall best" and "the eps I like most"):
1= "Chain of Command, Part II" (season 6)
2= "The Inner Light" (season 5)
3= "Yesterday's Enterprise" (season 3)
4= "First Contact" (season 4)
5= "Parallels" (season 7)
6= "The Best of Both Worlds" (season 3)
7= "All Good Things..." (season 7)
8= "The Next Phase" (season 5)
9= "The Chase" (season 6)
10= "Cause and Effect" (season 5)

Cheeses' Bottom 10 TNGs, Not Including Season One Because That Wouldn't Be Fair, Also Not "Violations" Because I Skipped It This Time:
10= "Journey's End" (season 7)
9= "Force of Nature" (season 7)
8= "Cost of Living" (season 5)
7= "The Perfect Mate" (season 5)
6= "Shades of Gray" (season 2)
5= "Ménage à Troi" (season 3)
4= "Sub Rosa" (season 7)
3= "Up the Long Ladder" (season 2)
2= "Man of the People" (season 6)
1= freakin' "Masks" (season 7)
posted by CheesesOfBrazil (28 comments total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
47988

I still don't understand why, but the big promotional push for this episode revolved around its stardate: Stardate 47988. I know Picard ends up mumbling it to himself at the start to get his temporal bearings, but all of the first-run commercials for the finale made a big deal of this number, so much so that decades later I still remember it.
posted by Servo5678 at 6:22 AM on December 10, 2021 [2 favorites]


My favorite bit of this episode has always been Geordi chuckling at the line "or some other damn thing". It has always struck me that, after seven straight years of serious technobabble, the line was spoken as much by LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 7:22 AM on December 10, 2021 [7 favorites]


Best Star Trek movie.
posted by rocketman at 7:40 AM on December 10, 2021 [7 favorites]


Cards of the episode in the Star Trek CCG:
We're starting with part 1. Cuz this is a lot. A lot a lot.
Here we get to Future Enterprise a shamelessly 'ultra rare' chase card, randomly packed in one out of four boxes of 36 packs. Getting together 3 AU icons was a bit tough at the time, but it's totally doable. Range 13. A Federation mainstay. Its counterpart is I.K.C. Fek'lhr, not quite as great given Klingons are lighter on AU, still really nice stats. Admiral Riker appeared as an ultra rare 'preview', with a standard black border(and foil) version following. He fishes you a free Enterprise from your deck when play him and he provides a bucket of skills, what's not to love?

Maximum Firepower is kinda the ultimate Tactic card in 1E, providing a very nice weapons bonus and the potential to take out the opposing ship in one attack with your future ships. Examine Singularity cleans up the overpowered and annoying Black Hole.

Second Edition features The Trial Never Ended and Ohhhh! Nothing Happened! , providing some meta control of the dilemma piles, decent if you have a plan. Jean-Luc Picard, Vintner is a really key card in Fed decks, trading control of your mission pile for retrieval of 3 personnel of your choice from the deck. That's super, super good.

The final 2E set, What You Leave Behind, features a few more of our future crew: Beverly Crusher, Captain Picard; Data, Lucasian Chair; and Geordi La Forge, Retired Engineer. All worthy choices. Then there's U.S.S. Pasteur, Medical Ship..of which of course there is also a 1E version. We aren't experiencing things in the right temporal order!

To Be Continued...
posted by StarkRoads at 8:33 AM on December 10, 2021


WRT the episode itself, it may be the best-put-together finale of all the series, with the possible exception of Star Trek VI for the TOS crew. Of course, Trek finales have had a decidedly, ah, mixed reputation. [glares balefully at a locked door, behind which something slithers restlessly; on the door is a sign marked "ENT: 'These Are the Voyages...' This place is not a place of honor... no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here... nothing valued is here."] It is kinda weird, both in and of itself and with the subsequent changes in canon making the future parts... obsolete? Defunct? You know what I mean. The "past" versions of O'Brien and Yar look older than they were then--I guess that CGI de-aging was itself in the future at that point--and the future E-D looks oddly out of balance with the third nacelle. (I still see some of those in Star Trek Online, and I feel the same way--they stick out, and not in a good way, even with some of the eccentric ship designs in that game.) But it's still good and reasonably tight for what it is, and at the very least, fodder for "Riker as he was in 'All Good Things...' vs. Riker in PIC" memes.

In terms of the series as a whole, I've gotten a much better appreciation of it, for what it did and didn't do. I'd said before that I hadn't seen the whole series, due to life circumstances (and, frankly, hitting the high points/recommended eps when I did finally get access to the whole thing); it wasn't until watching "Emergence" recently that I'd seen all of Star Trek. And, you know, I liked most of it, but I very much admire the series as a whole, both for doing the supremely daunting task of following up one of the most singular pop culture phenomena ever (TNG's existence was due in part to the success of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, then the most successful Trek movie) and for establishing its own groove, with its own stars, favorite tropes, and considerable expansion of the Trekverse. Even though I wasn't a regular watcher at the time, I did remember a fair number of fans of the previous iteration of Trek acting as if it were some sort of zero-sum game between the two, a "tradition" that sadly persists to this day. (I also remember a lot of cyberbullying of Wil Wheaton, of which he has written and talked a lot about.) Especially in the first season or two, things must have seemed kind of grim, between trad TOS fans and Roddenberry's declining creative powers. But they stuck it out, to everyone's gain (even if it ended up getting pissed away during the UPN years/shows). My favorite is still "The Wounded", which seems even more of the moment than ever, at least in America; my least favorite is probably in your list, but I don't want to dwell on the Trek dreck.

As for future watches/rewatches, well, one of the nice things about FanFare is that comments in threads never close, so if people want to start revisiting those, cool. (I didn't join the DS9 rewatch until a couple of seasons in, so I might drop something in those early threads.) Also, if other people want to post some of the nuTrek stuff, that would be cool; since I didn't understand that PRO was going on hiatus while the new season of DIS played, I asked someone who'd been commenting in PRO if they wanted to take over posting, and they gracefully declined. I wouldn't say that it's a chore to post up the threads, usually, but I also don't want to get in a rut.

Thanks to all the people who worked on this rewatch. Glory to you... and your house. }}}>8D
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:09 AM on December 10, 2021 [4 favorites]


Cards of the episode in the Star Trek CCG(TNG version, at least) concludes:
Q and Anti-Time Anomaly are typically overpowered Premiere cards. Blow up every personnel in play, blow up all the dilemmas under a mission? Early 1E swings for the fences. We also got more of our time-shifted crew in Beverly Picard, Governor Worf, and noted face-on-a-screen Commander Tomalak who A) has an error in his lore box and B) is distinguished from the original by 1 point of integrity and not having his own ship. I'm still annoyed. If you lay the cards side by side, U.S.S. Pasteur is being fired on by I.K.C. Chang.

In Second Ed, Q continues to manipulate dilemmas with Quarantine, which you can pull out of your deck with Collapse Anti-Time Anomaly. Tomalak, Irate Commander makes welcome improvements. William T. Riker, Wistful Admiral gets the handy Law added to his usual mix. Worf, Governor of H'atoria can make a flavorful appearance on your U.S.S. Enterprise-D, Personal Flagship which, in turn, gives bonus points on those Honor/Leadship missions you wanna be doing anyway as a TNG player.

No, Kirk, the game's not over. The Continuing Committee is still out there. The latest fan produced set, Second Star to the Right, is released 12-17-21.
posted by StarkRoads at 9:38 AM on December 10, 2021 [1 favorite]


Best Star Trek movie.

(after Galaxy Quest?)
posted by LooseFilter at 10:41 AM on December 10, 2021 [2 favorites]


Future-Beverly's odd enunciation grates on me every time I watch this one. On the other hand, DeLancey's cadence and the particular way he emphasizes "goo" always tickle me.

This is the first time I caught the "three tachyon beams from three Enterprises" goof.

As pointed out by Servo5678 in the thread for PIC: The Impossible Box, Future Picard's interaction with Future Worf here, using Worf's own honor against him for Picard's own purposes is just one of the first examples we get of the cost of Picard's particular management style.

I love this episode and think it's one of the most solid series finales in TV history. Bringing back the trial on the heels of Picard's speech from Emergence triggered (for me, at least) a questioning of how honorable Picard's character arc had been and what he might have done differently if he'd realized the trial was continuing and Q was still watching.

CheesesOfBrazil and Halloween Jack, thanks for letting me play in your recap playground!
posted by hanov3r at 10:59 AM on December 10, 2021 [3 favorites]


The story also originated from a pitch by Ronald D. Moore early in the season in which Q had gone insane, causing the universe to come unraveled. The other characters found themselves in a bizarre place, with Q as a homeless guy sitting in a corner next a garbage can muttering "I used to be a superbeing. I used to be a superbeing." Although Michael Piller did not want to do this story, he did like the idea of bringing Q back and using him to bookend the series.

!

....Someone told me about the existence of this pitch almost thirty years ago and I am delighted to finally have some kind of independent confirmation.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:40 AM on December 10, 2021 [6 favorites]


Playmates toys went all in on our future crew, featuring Vintner Picard, Captain Picard, Governor Worf, Admiral Riker, Professor Data, and Author Geordi. As these arrive after the early cartoonier waves the sculpts are pretty nicely detailed for the time.
posted by StarkRoads at 12:37 PM on December 10, 2021 [2 favorites]


Definitely one that brings on the tears. Picard's speech to his crew on Day 1; joining the Senior Officers for cards at the end -- an all around great piece of TV.
posted by Saxon Kane at 12:44 PM on December 10, 2021 [1 favorite]


One of the best final episodes I've ever seen.
posted by Urtylug at 12:58 PM on December 10, 2021 [1 favorite]


I honestly can't remember anything about this one except there was vineyard stuff and episode 1 stuff, unlike VOY and DS9. Maybe I'm due for a rewatch.
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 2:38 PM on December 10, 2021


Sir Patrick Stewart certainly carried TNG until it hit its stride, and kept lifting the show well beyond its weight class and niche.

The last two episodes of TNG have been a tribute to Stewart.

Picard's expressions right after the transitions - sublime.

I'm super curious if anyone has episodes where they thought that Stewart's performance detracted from that episode.
posted by porpoise at 7:30 PM on December 10, 2021


An odd thing is that Geordi jokes about calling Jean Luc "Mister" - unless he was dishonourably discharged, doesn't Admiral (ret.), like General and President stick? The only weird counterexample I can think of are surgeons in the UK, after being inducted as a fellow in the FRCS, can drop Dr. and take on (again) Mr (or Miss).

But yeah, one of writer's wives* probably was a gardener; Bacillus (thuringiensis) is really a thing. A GM corn (maize) was engineered to express the insecticidal protein from Bt in the mid-90s. I'm pretty sure its still in wide use.

*which is a bit peculiar; why couldn't Geordi take a tangential interest after retirement? Especially if he married Leah Brahms (yes, yuck), who's probably an even better engineer (if less of a generalist - but as the Director of the Daystrom Institute... must have broadened her engineering horizons) than LaForge. Headcannon: Geordi grew as a person and thrives as a house husband and supports Brahms wholly and entirely and mellowed out after shacking up.

It was a nice gesture to bring back Denise Crosby as an apology for the shoddy treatment of her character, despite knowing that those intervening years are physically telling for most people around that age, and the then-current limitations of cosmetics/ CG. At least TNG ended before broadcasts went HD (?). Those years might not have been as noticeable during the original SD broadcast.

Scanning through the (1080p remastered) S01E01, Crosby already had a fair amount of makeup and didn't get any shots quite as close-up as the shuttle scene in this one. (Oh wow, Dorn's Worf changed looks so much - and a bigger discrepancy than Yar.)

As an aside, I couldn't help but giggle when Picard: "Now hear this! Printout message: Urgent. All stations on all decks: Prepare for emergency saucer sep." 'Sep' for separation. The subtitles got it differently, replacing "sep" with "sever." That look on Troi's face right afterwards... lol! But wow Crosby's short cut bobbing when she strides to take the turbolift to go to the battle bridge. Spiner's Data looking grim, Sirtis' Troi's concerned but strict look - in love with all of them again... and back to S07E25; they forgot/chose-not-to to colour her (hair) underlayer darker than the top layer, and it isn't close to the same cut.

Picard and Data. Yeah, I really appreciated that oldPicard wants to see Data! "Data. I want to see Data. ... Because I think he can help. ... I don't know! I don't know. I want to see Data!!

Great acknowledgement of Brent Spiner as an (almost) co-equal Captain (or [principle] Assistant Captain, in the sense of a sports team) of ST:TNG - and repeated in the movies and in PIC. Spiner's refrain from chewing scenery in the finale speaks greatly to his appreciation for the opportunity and respect for Stewart to me. Spiner's age-related abdominal adipose repositories are evident in this ep, compared to the pilot.

Also:

"Good night, sir."
posted by porpoise at 8:34 PM on December 10, 2021


I love that they had Q in the finale, it really was a great choice to bookend the thing.

When Q first appears in the courtroom everything he says has a double meaning. He's dropping clues like crazy, trying to help but also trying to appear unhelpful. And at the end where they are speaking authentically to each other, Picard is genuinely grateful and Q is unguarded and earnest for the first time in the series, it just gets me every time. Like, "I'm a space captain and this is my omnipotent being, we're old pals."

Also, I don't think Q has a single throwaway line, every word is diegetic and meta at the same time. The awards are well earned.

Cambridge Data has so many cats :-3
posted by Horkus at 8:41 PM on December 10, 2021 [4 favorites]


McFadden's enunciation has to be from her terrible wattle prosthetic.
posted by porpoise at 9:03 PM on December 10, 2021


I'm super curious if anyone has episodes where they thought that Stewart's performance detracted from that episode.

Not really; most of the wince-worthy moments that I remember are from his having to do one of Roddenberry's "humanity is beyond that now" bits, and he still does them as best he can.

An odd thing is that Geordi jokes about calling Jean Luc "Mister" - unless he was dishonourably discharged, doesn't Admiral (ret.), like General and President stick?

As with so many current military traditions, as we've seen in this and other Trek shows, it's a toss-up as to whether they still carry on with them. Can't remember how much PIC keeps up with calling him Admiral, although I think that someone still does, can't remember who.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:51 PM on December 10, 2021 [1 favorite]


I love that they had Q in the finale, it really was a great choice to bookend the thing.

Well, it was him or Groppler Zorn.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:03 AM on December 11, 2021 [3 favorites]


I haven't been commenting much I don't think, but I've enjoyed this rewatch. It's been fascinating to see what episodes I remembered/forgot/misremembered. I remember hating the whole Worf/Troi arc as being out of character/weird/tacked-on, but while I'm still and forever a Troi/Riker shipper, I didn't find Worf/Troi as out of nowhere this time around. (I do still find it to be tacked-on as a final-season thing, and that kiss in 'Eye of the Beholder' looked about as romantic as the Back To The Future mother/son-McFly kiss, gah, but it doesn't seem as completely "Do Not Want" to me now as it did to young first-watch me.)

I'm not sure what Trek I'll watch next. I haven't seen any of the new Paramount+ Trek shows, and the idea of signing up for yet another streamer just to see them gives me a great big 'meh.' And I only made it through S1 of the Voyager Fanfare watch and none of the Enterprise Fanfare. I'm plowing through listening to the Greatest Generation DS9 podcast episodes without stopping to re-rewatch the DS9 episodes themselves. Maybe when I get up to the Greatest Gen Voyager episodes I'll give that show another try.
posted by oh yeah! at 6:58 AM on December 11, 2021 [1 favorite]


Like, "I'm a space captain and this is my omnipotent being, we're old pals."

I love how their dynamic evolved to this point. The new PIC trailers imply Picard hasn’t seen Q since this episode, but I still really want to believe that Q has been dropping in on him at the vineyard for years and asking him cutting questions about humanity. For instance, how did that whole Romulan evacuation thing go, hmmmm?

Can't remember how much PIC keeps up with calling him Admiral, although I think that someone still does, can't remember who.

Feels like it’s any character who reveres him still as a great Starfleet hero instead of a washed-up old man.

the idea of signing up for yet another streamer just to see them gives me a great big 'meh.'

Try PlutoTV. It’s free and owned by Paramount/CBS now. There’s a 24/7 ad-supported Trek channel and sometimes they run DIS and PIC. Not a lot, but it has happened.
posted by Servo5678 at 7:16 AM on December 11, 2021 [1 favorite]


Groppler Zorn.

Groppler? I hardly know 'er!

Dad jokes aside I feel like this episode marks a thesis to the antithesis of Journey's End and Preemptive Strike, in which two characters explicitly reject the values of Picard to some extent. This episode says, no, he's not all bad after all...
posted by StarkRoads at 10:47 AM on December 11, 2021


Well, this is awkward. I guess I'm the only person who has never been impressed by this episode. I realized when rewatching it that I'd never seen it since my initial few watches when it first aired (maybe I've seen parts of it or watched it again without paying attention, though I'm hard pressed to say), probably because I was so underwhelmed. I still don't know what the point of anything that happens in it is, other than that they wanted to bring back stuff from the first episode to bookend the series and they wanted to show old Picard.

The choice to kill Deanna off-screen as a motivating factor for a fight between Riker and Worf is repulsive (we don't even really know how she died, just that she conveniently died for their manpain rivalry), and I also hate the choice to have Picard and Crusher's marriage (AND divorce!) take place entirely off-screen. How nice that both women's core stories get elided out of view. The men get gray hair (and apparently for Riker and Worf, dramatic leaning and hunching; also those stripes in Worf's hair!!) for their aging while Bev gets wattles and crepey skin and a weird concave posture that looks like her shoulders are up around her ears. (I too was incredibly distracted by the strange sort-of mid-Atlantic speech choice.) In fact, I couldn't not laugh at Riker and his pitching forward squinting snarls, they were hilarious.

I did like seeing some of our old pals from before, even if they have obviously aged well past their initial appearances. And I do get the warm fuzzies when Picard sits down to play poker with the staff. But I dunno, it's not enough for me to get past the ugly aspects. As It's a Wonderful Life takes go, it feels really off-putting to me, and it bored me then and bores me now. Maybe if they'd spent less time on technobabble and more on actually fleshing out the emptier character beats and what the story is about, it'd work better for me.

Though I would like to thank hanov3r and CheesesOfBrazil again for running these (and mwhybark, who I miss!). I initially wasn't going to participate, but as they went on I found myself getting more and more into it and realized it had been so long since I'd had a chance to talk about this Trek with anyone, I simply couldn't resist (though I know some people probably wish I had!). It's been so interesting to see people's different perspectives and see the history of the show, which I wasn't aware of before. I will really miss these.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 12:20 PM on December 11, 2021 [4 favorites]


I don't know, I think I felt kind of the same as you about the finale, kitten kaboodle. Though I think that the future timeline being only a possible future made the dead-Troi part less egregiously awful to me, since it was made non-canonical pretty quickly by the movies (and Worf going off to DS9).

But I did like all the Q+Picard stuff, and the final poker game. Mostly I appreciated the open-endedness of the ending. I know they did it because there were movies and spin-offs happening, so it's not like they could do a M*A*S*H* style 'war's over folks, off the ship everybody' style finale. But there is something lovely about a finale that leaves room for the audience to imagine the characters continuing onwards versus the finales that try so hard to do something BIG that they retroactively destroy the show for re-watches.
posted by oh yeah! at 2:18 PM on December 11, 2021 [2 favorites]


• Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore wrote "All Good Things..." and later drafts of Star Trek Generations [FF previously --ed.] simultaneously. This often led them to mix the stories up.

This also explains the heavy Dickens motifs in both of them, doesn't it
Is this the one where we're having the 'ol guy confront his past/present future or the one with the heavy Christmas and family motifs? Who can say
posted by StarkRoads at 8:07 PM on December 11, 2021


It feels very weird not to have to post a 'new' episode this morning.
posted by hanov3r at 9:32 AM on December 13, 2021 [3 favorites]




I'm giving my gold star to Brent Spiner for the distinctions he portrayed in Data's evolution at the different points in time. One of the best aspects of this ep was that some part of me wondered whether we really were just seeing the delusions of old Picard as he was losing his mind, even though of course he has to save humanity again. I have mixed feelings about the callbacks to Q in the Farpoint episode. In the end it worked well and put a nice bow around the series, but I sure could have done without those raggedy-ass characters in the peanut gallery.
posted by polecat at 5:28 PM on March 12, 2022 [1 favorite]


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