Time Squared

DVD, TNG S2 (Time Squared)

A little less conferencing, a little more action. That might have benefitted what was an extraordinary occurrence. In some ways it's the perfect example for someone to hold up as proof of the series' overly cerebral and dull style. This isn't quite the case, and certainly most episodes are more kinetic than this one, but the high number of scenes of characters discussing, pensively and passively, the appearance of a double, the prospect of destruction and what to do to prevent it, does detract.

The episode begins in an unfocused manner, with the whimsical scene in Riker's quarters. It's odd that he's cooking dinner for some of the senior staff, odd that Deanna isn't among them, and odd that the scene exists at all, as before it goes anywhere Riker's called to the bridge, and most of his dinner guests follow him, though they weren't instructed to. It would have made more sense if it were the teaser for the following episode, and not having seen this one before, I wondered if it was going to be Riker's Father in the shuttle. People turning up unexpectedly, becomes a recurrent theme of this episode, with various people going somewhere they weren't asked to, or appearing in a room, like O'Brien did at the end, with the sole purpose to look confused. Deanna even manages to follow Picard to sickbay when he leaves the bridge, then already be there when he gets there! Either she knew where he was going and he had to pop into his quarters or somewhere first, or there was more than one double on that shuttle!

These little out of place moments don't serve the already strange story, and the whole affair comes across as a bit disjointed and lacking a strong direction, paralleling Picard's worry of lacking resolve. The mystery keeps us guessing, but in the end nothing is determined of the situation except for the inevitable aversion of destruction. The other plot point of Picard's discomfort with having to deal with a duplicate isn't investigated enough for it to carry the story. The episode isn't without merit, as beyond the mystery of time travel and doubles, we are treated to some of the most vibrant spatial vistas seen so far in the series. The unexplained phenomena looked very 'wormhole' to me, and brought to mind the images of V'GER from the first feature film. The score sounded better in some way, too, or perhaps it was only more noticeable.

The scenes where Picard follows himself, talking to... himself, and trying to work out what's going on, are inventive and technically impressive for the time. I should have guessed the only reason Picard would abandon ship was to save it, but this time he realises to escape the loop he needs to do the opposite of perceived wisdom. We even had references to the Traveller and Dr. Manheim, but they only served to remind us of better sci-fi tales than this one: an attempt to do a complex tale, part psychological, part mystery, part disaster which doesn't exceed its reach in any direction.

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