Cheap Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 177: All Good Things...The Final Episode ('94-'95) (Video) (LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden, Gabrielle Beaumont, Robert Becker, Cliff Bole, Timothy Bond, David Carson, Chip Chalmers, Richard Compton, Robert Iscove) Price

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Customer Reviews of Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 177: All Good Things...The Final Episode ('94-'95)

Totally fitting
"Star Trek - The Next Generation" aimed for more style, more depth, and more complexity than its predecessor, as a way to take Gene Roddenberry's concept a step further, and they usually succeeded. <
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>In this series finale, they outdid themselves, and that's saying a lot. It starts with a confused Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) claiming that he's moving back and forth through time. No physical evidence of this can be found, and everyone wonders about insanity or dementia. But, it is much more interesting than that. As the episode progresses, it becomes clear that the Captain is indeed shifting between three distinct time periods: the time just before and after his initial arrival on the Enterprise; the "present" time (immediately chronologically following the previous episode); and in the future (for them), where most of the crew is retired and/or scattered around the quadrant. <
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>Why is this happening? In the very first episode of the series the alien entity Q used Captain Picard and his crew as representatives of humanity, and put them on trial for humanity's crimes. They just barely survived, and passed the test, by solving the riddle of Farpoint Station, and being able to see beyond the obvious, display insight and foresight, and display altruism. But, what they didn't know is that the trial never ended. In this series finale, Q is back, to continue the trial, with another test, to give humanity a chance to show that they are continuing to grow and move forward. Will they solve the riddle of the temporal anomaly that is growing backward in time, and will eventually destroys humanity, before it even begins? <
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>This series finale is good in many, many ways. It acts as a bookend to the series premier. It gives us a chance to see all of the crew, including Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby), who left the series early on. It gives a peek into the possible future of most of the main crew members. It is thoughtful and intellectual, and represented what the entire series strived for. <
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>And, of course, it gave us more of Q, who is a fascinating character, played brilliantly by John de Lancie. Q was almost god-like in his abilities. He, at times, seemed to be humanity's ultimate nemesis, and played with the idea of destroying humanity. But, he also seemed to be on humanity's side. He kept presenting tremendous, possibly disastrous challenges, in the hope that humanity would prove itself worthy. Q was complex, annoying, witty, stylish, and both an ally and an enemy. Giving Q a big role in the finale was perfect. <
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>Many television series end abruptly, by cancellation. Others go out with a friendly wave and a weak smile, often including a retrospective. "Star Trek - The Next Generation" ended cleanly, clearly, with a darn good story, and with the entire cast showing us why we watched them all those years. <
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>Bravo!

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Better than any of the movies.
While the original crew had it better with the movies, The Next Generation was the only Star Trek TV series that I watched consistently. The show had a cast that at least equalled that of the original, boasted better production values, and plots that were intriguing and touched on varieties of concepts that Kirk, Spock, and Bones never got the chance to explore. Deep Space Nine was too mired into the whole "war of the quadrants" to explore any ideas with real satisfaction, and while Voyager had the best effects and the best premise, the cast was middling at best. As for Enterprise, hell, I tried to watch one episode and got too damn bored.

All Good Things..., the swan song episode for TNG, is possibly the best of Star Trek, period, focusing on mind-boggling concepts while retaining the character development and human interest that made the show so appealing. It's the seventh year that the crew of the Starhip Enterprise have been together, but Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) is experiencing odd timeshifts. He's constantly switching between three different time periods; to the past, right before the Farpoint mission, the present, and the future, where the crew has long since split up, Picard is retired and is diagnosed with a debilitating mental illness. Naturally, the rest of the crew is skeptical (be it in any time period), but when Picard discovers the true nature of his constant shifting, he realizes it is both the means and cause with which the existence of mankind could be erased.

I hesitate to give too much away, though I doubt anyone with a passing interest in Star Trek hasn't already seen this episode. But it plays as an interesting comparison and contrast to the series' first episode, Encounter at Farpoint, which it directly ties in to with Picard's timeshifting to the past. There's been a notable improvement in the quality of the sets and the visual effects, and also the acting, the pacing, and the plot development.

All Good Things... has all the solid acting one expects from the cast, and a human touch that was missing from the latest film, Nemesis. It's interesting to note that this episode (meaning the whole series, as well) ends with the door open for all sorts of possibilites; at this time, this clearly implied the much-hyped transition to the big screen.

Unfortunately, some of the more open-ended questions this episode focused on were never even touched on. Sure, the Worf/Troi/Riker triangle was resolved, but one of my favorite ongoing side stories, the burgeoning romance between Picard and Dr. Crusher, was completely ignored in the movies. And the final scenes lead one to believe that the movies would take us to "places" never explored, even though the most recent film was merely a plotless action movie that didn't even have enough action to warrant the movie's existence.

Stewart is the true highlight of this episode, displaying the great acting chops he's been known for. The fact that we care for him and the rest of the crew as well, adds a sense of urgency and involvement in the proceedings that the otherwise quite frantic pace alone might not have been able to develop. The plot twists are pure Trek, each mysterious element giving away to some big revelation that only leads to more questions. The story is engrossing, the dialogue is strong, and the performances and characterizations are spot-on.

There are a few problems with All Good Things. The timeshifting obviously means we're going to see past and future versions of the cast, but everyone's aged to the extent where they can't quite pass for their more youthful selves, and the old-age makeup is never entirely convincing (Old Riker's first appearance gave me a good laugh). That said, I would like to make mention of what full-blown hotties Marina Sirtis and especially Gates McFadden became (McFadden is easily the most attractive post 50-year old actress I've ever seen).

The continuing movie series actually began quite well; Generations and First Contact were enjoyable adventures, but everything seemed to fall apart with Insurrection. Funny, All Good Things... is a title that turned out more prophetic than anyone would have guessed.
**** 1/2 out of *****

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The End
This final episode of TNG stands alone as an all-time classic science fiction episode. "All Good Things", (co-directed by David Carson, from Star Trek: Generations) moves back and forth across time in an eye-appealing way. It's very fulfilling to see Picard deal with both his past, present, future, and Q to top it all off! A great way to end the series.