Parallels

Another day, another time crisis episode. While I've heard complaints over the years about the abundance of these sorts of stories on Star Trek, I've ever had that problem with them, at least as far as TNG is concerned. They usually go together pretty well.

Turns out it's a good hook for a Worf episode, primarily because it's the ship's resident tough-guy who's slipping between different realities. It's actually kinda scary when a Klingon battle cruiser shows up and your tactical officer is drawing a blank. The camera tricks and editing keep you on your toes, and the story keeps shifting. Even the cast flickers in and out, with Wesley showing up on the bridge at one point. Overall, it's an entertaining one.

7/10

Worf returns from a bat'leth tournament and notices random changes to people and events.

This is one of those sci-fi mystery episodes where the status quo is changed in an entertaining way and we see it from the disoriented perspective of one of the main characters.

I like the idea of the multiverse that Star Trek has been using to great effect since the sixties and this is a strong example. The solution is rather technobabble heavy, but it is explained as simply as possible for the layperson.

There are some memorable moments for Worf, Counsellor Troi and Riker.

Michael Dorn leads the episode well and has great support from Marina Sirtis, Jonathan Frakes, and Brent Spiner.

This is works in the spirit of the story. The only other episode that feels close is the last episode: All Good Things.

I have never rated any episode with Worf as the main character this low until now. With any Trek series there comes the temporal episode. These types of episodes are hit or miss; some being great, like "timescape" and some not so great like "Parallels". "Parallels" comes off as insincere and flat. Troi's performance is decent, but the Worf, Troi romance never made since like the Worf, Dax relationship in DS9.

I did like the idea of the bat'leth tournament. Too bad no one ever wrote an episode about that. In the future Star Trek should focus on aspects of the unique cultures it has created. Sometimes the elaborate time warp episodes are too much, and "Parallels" is an example of this.

The final season of Star Trek, the Next Generation gave us some splendid episodes and also a fair share of stinkers. Everyone knew by this stage that they would not be renewed and attempts were made to wrap up various story lines before they said their final goodbyes. There is still a great deal to be enjoyed.

Parallels has the character of Worf skipping backwards and forwards between alternative realities after a blow on the head. We get a lot of "road not travelled" stuff such as did he/didn't he win the Batleth tournament, what is his relationship to Counsellor Troi, what colour uniform should he be wearing and why is Wesley Crusher back on the Bridge?

Plenty of people seem to have liked it (although not those writing their reviews here) and Michael Dorn certainly gave a very good performance as a person constantly having to come to terms with a shifting reality but........another quantum temporal rift? Really! If the viewer is reduced to checking out the background actors to find interesting "alternative universe" details such as the only time a Cardassian appears in a Starfleet uniform, then whatever is going on centre-screen has pretty much lost the plot.

The Worf/Troi romance was unpopular with long-time viewers too and, by the end of the season, the writers would have to admit their mistake. In the meantime, Marina Sirtis gave her best effort to bring this new-found relationship to life. I was a bit offended on her behalf that she only got to wear a couple of her oldest and most worn-out costumes for their domestic/romantic scenes. She's a lovely woman an she deserved better from the creative team - especially for the champagne scene.

Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5.