All Good Things...

Your reading this for one of possibly two reasons:

A) You want to know how others feel about this final episode that you've also seen or,..

B) You have no idea about Star Trek

Given the popularity of this series, I'll assume "A" is your reason. However, if your the rare "B" person, then I recommend avoiding this episode until you've watched at least a few episodes of The Next Generation.

This wonderful 2-hour finale utilizes the history of these characters and plots beautifully and with reverence.

The lead character of the series, Jean Luc Picard, finds that he is inexplicably shifting between 3 time periods within his own liftime (past, present and future). Once he finds the reason for this, things become more complex and intriguing. His eyes are opened to an even greater threat than what he had perceived to be his own. As wonderful a premise that is, the subplots greatly enhance the characters and draw you into the story.

For example, Tasha Yar, a well regarded character in the series was killed early in the shows run. In his shift into the past, Picard once again sees her alive, accompanying him to the Enterprise for the first time (again, ironically). Once he returns to the present, he laments over having seen her again. A beautifully played little scene.

The main story combined with these subplots makes for one of the best written series endings ever in TV history.

Let's hope that future TV series (not necessarily Trek, of course) have the opportunity to do the same.

Just spent the last few months watching every TNG episode in order from episode 1 all the way through to AGT.

Even after 30 years since I watch this as a teenager, this show still blows me away.

AGT is the culmination of 7 years of hard work from some very talented actors, writers, producers, directors, make up and visual artists and everybody else that's involved with making these excellent shows, and it doesn't disapoint.

The second time around its still hard to say goodbye to the crew one last time, but if your going to end on a high, this episode has to be one of the best series finales ever made.

Watch it uninterrupted, with friends and think of all the things you can accomplish in your future, its not written yet.........

"I should have done this a long time ago."

"You were always welcome."

Tears.

I cried at the ending of the movie, because you remember all good thing you had , all good times you had , when you watched all of the series.

Great , the BEST ending of a series that i loved and shared with the rest of the world.

The best actors,who played the best characters, did an outstanding job. Thank you.

Rating: **** out of ****

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. Enterprise took a while to get going but had a superb third season and a solid fourth.

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; in the past, right before the Farpoint mission, in the present, and in the future, where the crew has long 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 possibilities; 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 plot less 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 a certain 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 self-prophetic than anyone would have guessed.