Parallels (27 Nov. 1993)

On his return from a bat'leth competition in the Klingon Empire, Worf finds himself shifting realities where events and details are in a constant state of flux and only he is aware of the changes.

Director:

Robert Wiemer

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (creator), Brannon Braga

Stars:

Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Patrick Stewart	...	Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes	...	Commander William T. Riker / Captain William T. Riker
LeVar Burton	...	Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge
Michael Dorn	...	Lieutenant Worf / Commander Worf
Gates McFadden	...	Doctor Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis	...	Counselor Deanna Troi
Brent Spiner	...	Lt. Commander Data
Wil Wheaton	...	Lieutenant Wesley Crusher
Patti Yasutake	...	Nurse Alyssa Ogawa / Doctor Alyssa Ogawa
Mark Bramhall	...	Gul Nador
Majel Barrett	...	Enterprise Computer (voice)

Storyline

Lieutenant Worf proudly returns, by shuttle, from a holiday in the Klingon Empire as winner of a battle tournament. Back on the Enterprise nothing is normal, and everything keeps changing repeatedly. He's convinced it's not his memory. He finds himself promoted to XO and married to Deanna, with two children (instead of Alexander), but unable to work the command console during a battle with the Cardassians - a situation that never took place, even their empire is taken over. After analyzing Geordi was in all the subsequent transition scenes, standing at his autopsy, Data works out a quantum physics answer. This spells huge potential consequences, not just for Worf but for the whole ship, and even much more.

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Plot Keywords:

parallel universe | 24th century | party

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Details

Release Date:

27 November 1993 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In one reality, we see a Cardassian ensign at the helm of the Enterprise, the only time we see a Cardassian in a Starfleet uniform. With the Bajorans a more militant race here, and having conquered the Cardassian Empire, it suggests their roles in this universe are reversed.

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Goofs

When Worf checks his personal log after the Cardassian attack on the Enterprise, he accesses "Any personal logs referencing the bat'leth tournament", the log mentions he will not be able to attend and his brother must take his place. But it still has the same stardate given in the other universes after the competition has ended.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Lieutenant Worf: Personal log, stardate 47391.2 - I am returning from the bat'leth competition on Forcas III. The conditions were difficult. Several contestants were maimed, but... I was triumphant. I won Champion Standing. I am looking forward to resuming my duties aboard the Enterprise. However, I am anticipating a troubling situation.

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Connections

Referenced in The Young and the Restless: Episode #1.9077 (2009)

User Reviews

Temporal misfire

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.