Time Squared (1 Apr. 1989)

Deep in space, the Enterprise comes across a Federation shuttle craft that is floating in space and without much power but which does exhibit the life signs of one human aboard. They bring ... See full summary »

Director:

Joseph L. Scanlan

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (creator), Maurice Hurley (teleplay),

Stars:

Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Patrick Stewart	...	Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes	...	Commander William T. Riker
LeVar Burton	...	Lieutenant Geordi La Forge
Michael Dorn	...	Lieutenant Worf
Marina Sirtis	...	Counselor Deanna Troi
Brent Spiner	...	Lt. Commander Data
Wil Wheaton	...	Wesley Crusher (credit only)
Diana Muldaur	...	Doctor Pulaski
Colm Meaney	...	Chief Miles O'Brien

Storyline

Deep in space, the Enterprise comes across a Federation shuttle craft that is floating in space and without much power but which does exhibit the life signs of one human aboard. They bring the craft aboard only to find that it is one of their own shuttle craft and to their amazement find a duplicate, but unconscious, Captain Picard aboard. Data and Geordi Laforge manage to restore power and determine that the craft actually comes from 6 hours into the future and the shuttle's log reveals that the Enterprise will be destroyed. As the Enterprise enters a dangerous vortex and the events in the recovered shuttle's log seem to be coming true, Picard and the crew must find a way to break the time-warp cycle they seem to be in.

---

Plot Keywords:

time loop | 24th century | repeated event

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

---

Details

Release Date:

1 April 1989 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shuttle #5, the El Baz, which Picard used to escape the Enterprise, is named after Farouk Elbaz (whose named is sometimes hyphenated or split), a geologist who helped train the Apollo astronaut Command Module Pilots to observe the Moon from orbit.

---

Goofs

In the very first sickbay scene, the "real" Captain Picard is momentarily transparent, and you can see the corridor wall through him.

---

Quotes

Commander William T. Riker: When we brought the shuttle and the other Picard on board, we committed to a sequence of events which may be unalterable.

---

Connections

Referenced in Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Most Toys (1990)

User Reviews

The Slingshot effect

This was one of the better Star Trek: The next generation episode. It deals with Captain Picard who is mysteriously found on a shuttle craft out in deep space. The problem is that this discovery is a duplicate of the Captain who is already on board the Enterprise. After the shuttle craft logs are broadcast, it appears that the Enterprise was destroyed six hours into the future with the sole survivor being the Captain. Since a captain always "goes down the ship", the "real" Picard cannot understand why the future Picard would do such a thing. What comes out of this is feelings of self-doubt and uncertainty as to what to do in the next several hours. As the time approaches with the current Picard coming to the same time reference as the future Picard, the future Picard starts to "phase back" and become more coherent. The current Picard realizes that the future Picard had made a deadly choice that resulted in the Enterprise destruction. The ship becomes enveloped in a time vortex that tries to drag it inside the vortex. Picard makes a last minute decision to stop the future Picard from repeating his previous actions and instead propels the ship using a slingshot effect. This changes the dynamics of the subsequent future time line. Picard essentially had a second chance to correct his "error".