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

I love Star Trek, especially Next Gen but this episode is the epitome of horrible pseudoscience.

I know enough about physics to absolutely confirm that the idea of parallel universes is the stupidest ever. I can understand why some laypeople like this concept: its a nice fantasy to think that every choice that you make that could happen, has happened in a different universe. You never lost your childhood pet dog, you asked that handsome man for a date and never shied away, you followed your dream and became a dentist - of course that all happened somewhere - face palm!

But what I don't understand is how can so-called scientists believe this crap and try to publicize it. If you know a little bit about physics you will know that there is no where is quantum mechanics that tells us that every "choice" we make can actually happens and leads to parallel universe. What happened before humans made choices? are there parallel universes for cats, and spiders when they make choises? and the biggest problem is; DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH ENERGY IS NEEDED TO CREATE A WHOLE NEW UNIVERSE WHEN YOU MAKE A CHOICE?!!!

Totally absurd. Scientists, stop this madness, now.

The 2 stars is just because I love Data, in any universe.

Worf is one of my favorites, and I usually really enjoy stories where he is the main character. This one, however, was just too disjointed to be enjoyable. I've seen shows with parallel universes before, but not where they kept changing every 10 seconds. What they were doing and saying didn't make sense to me at all, even in a Sci-Fi world. I guess my poor little brain just couldn't handle the complexities. One version of the Enterprise is talking to a hundred different Enterprises, all in different universes? Again, just too convoluted for me. Wesley was back, which is always a bummer, Geordi and Picard are dead, and the Worf/Troi romance? Ugh. That was totally unbelievable and cringy. Overall, not a very good episode.

This TNG story concerns Michael Dorn returning from a Batleth tournament when he travels through a locus point where many universes cnnverge. Things are not asd Lt.Worf remembers them.

When the crack really widens we see a few hundred Enterprises out there each with a different story to tell. Quite a sight even on the small screen.

Michael Dorn and Marina Sirtis are a married couple in one of those realities. Patrick Steart was killed by the Borg in another.

Michael Dorn is one confused Klingon, but it all; works out

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.