Deja Q 

Much to Picard's displeasure, Q reappears on the Enterprise, claiming to have been ejected from the Q Continuum, and therefore, lost his powers.

Director:

Les Landau

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (created by), Richard Danus

Stars:

Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Patrick Stewart	...	Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes	...	Cmdr. William Riker
LeVar Burton	...	Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
Michael Dorn	...	Lt. Worf
Gates McFadden	...	Dr. Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis	...	Counselor Deanna Troi
Brent Spiner	...	Lt. Cmdr. Data
Wil Wheaton	...	Wesley Crusher (credit only)
John de Lancie	...	Q
Whoopi Goldberg	...	Guinan
Richard Cansino	...	Dr. Garin
Betty Muramoto	...	Scientist

Storyline

The Enterprise assists the planet Brial 4 which is threatened by its moon which falls onto the Western continent, reason unknown and impossible to shatter without even greater damage. The tractor beam proves too weak; then suddenly the dreaded Q appears aboard, naked, claiming to be stripped of his omnipotence too, thrown out of the Continuum and forced to chose a mortal life form: human. While Q makes a brilliant engineering suggestion and wrestles with the human condition, the Calimarane, a species with a grudge against him, and next a deus ex machina appears...

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Plot Keywords:

moon | master systems display table | tractor beam | returning character | female human alien hybrid | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

As a thank you gift to Data, Q gives him the gift of laughter, but in fact, it's not the first time data is seen laughing. In Star Trek: The Next Generation: Manhunt (1989) Wesley, Cmdr. Riker and Data are joking about Captain Picard's reaction to Deanna Troi's mother and Data is laughing along with the others. Although Data may have pantomimed laughing in the past, he states in Deja Q that he does not know what laughter "feels" like. This gift grants Data the knowledge of what it truly feels like to laugh. Not just Data approximating laughter the visual actions of laughter.

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Goofs

Any body in space large enough to become a spheroid that collided with a an earth-sized (or even "super-earth sized" planet) would not cause tsunamis and damage half a continent. It would obliterate all life on said planet and change the entire surface into boiling lava which would take hundreds or thousands of millennia to cool.

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Quotes

Q2: There's still this matter of the selfless act. Now, you and I both know that the Calamarain would have eventually destroyed the Enterprise to get to you. And that's really why you left, right?
Q: It was a teeny bit selfless, wasn't it?
Q2: [exasperated] GRRR, yeah, and there is my problem! See, I can't go back to the Continuum and tell them that you committed a selfless act just before the end. If I do, there's gonna be questions, there's gonna be explanations for centuries!

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Connections

Featured in re:View: Mike and Rich's Top 5 Star Trek TNG Episodes! (part 1) (2020)

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Soundtracks

Star Trek: The Next Generation Main Title
Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage

User Reviews

"You make my writing sound better than it is."

This is what Roddenberry allegedly told De Lancie after his Q audition, and I totally concur. It is a good summary of De Lancie's amazing performance as Q.

The episode itself has a few good storylines: Q's fall from grace, Data's "humanness", and how people can learn and develop. It's a good sci-fi/philosophical funny episode. However, as a stand-alone episode to someone who is not familiar with the Star Trek characters it might appear a bit plain.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 February 1990 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

46 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1