Deja Q

This is far from the best episode of TNG, but it is riddled with some of the very best lines. Especially John De Lancie, and his delivery of:

"Eaten any good books lately?", "Please don't feel compelled now to tell me the story of The Boy Who Cried 'Worf'.", "Simple. Change the gravitational constant of the universe.", "You weren't like that before the beard.", "Ah, Dr. Crusher. I see Starfleet has shipped you back into exile." "Your bedside manner's admirable, Doctor. I'm sure your patients recover quickly, just to get away from you!"

This is what Roddenberry allegedly told De Lancie after his Q audition, and I totally concur. It is a good summary of De Lancie's amazing performance as Q.

The episode itself has a few good storylines: Q's fall from grace, Data's "humanness", and how people can learn and develop. It's a good sci-fi/philosophical funny episode. However, as a stand-alone episode to someone who is not familiar with the Star Trek characters it might appear a bit plain.

It's yet another outstanding performance by de Lancie as Q. I know that he is a successful actor now, but given his consistent greatness on this show and his outstanding performances in "Breaking Bad" I'm surprised that he isn't a superstar and I'm not seeing him in every other big budget movie that I watch. It's also a testament to Gene Roddenberry's genius that he recognized his immense talent and cast him in the first couple of episodes as the iconic Q entity.

Data's simpatico interactions with Q and his guidance through the mores of humanity make for some of the best dialogue on the show. It's great subtle and witty humor. I really love this episode.

This is one of my favourite episodes. Q is my favourite character in all of Star Trek, he is consistently entertaining. Q and Picard have great chemistry as usual, but I also really enjoyed the scenes between Q and Data. The ending of this episode is one of the funniest and heartwarming endings ever.

The very first "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode, "Encounter at Farpoint" wasn't particularly good. The show's first meeting with Q was, to put it bluntly, pretty dull stuff. Fortunately, the more times this supreme being appeared in the show, the better these meetings became--and "Déjà Q" is exceptional.

When the show begins, Q makes his most memorable entrance ever! While the ship is trying desperately to save a planet below, Q arrives and expects everyone to drop everything and welcome him. As usual, however, he's made to feel about as welcome as an outbreak of herpes! In an odd twist, Q is now mortal--turned into a human by the Collective. Why exactly is uncertain--all you know is that Q is very whiny and hates the prospect of living out life this way.

Although the Q plot is diverting, the crew really must work on stopping the moon from leaving its orbit and destroying the planet, so much of the time Q whines and everyone but Data ignores him. As for Data, his conversations with Q are awfully funny. Bizarrely, despite Q's immense knowledge, no one considers asking him to help save the planet. Still, despite this, Q does manage to save the day! How and why? Well, see the show.

This episode has a lot of fun moments and just goes to show you that the humans on the show are pretty dumb and NEVER are the least bit grateful for his help--and he IS quite helpful here despite himself. Well worth seeing and memorable...and a sign of continual improvement in the Q episodes.