Synopsis: Double your pleasure, double your fun!

Memory Alpha Summary:  Imzadi is back!

Review:  Having two Rikers around is probably dangerous for potential father-in-laws everywhere, but it’s twice as much fun for the rest of us.  Well, except for yet another gushy “Boys! Tee hee!” moment that Troi and Crusher share.

This episode is such a feast for the visuals.  Two Rikers on one screen is nice, but the best parts are the looks William Riker shares with both his twin and Troi throughout the episode.  Like Back to the Future, I feel this episode dances on the edge of some seriously uncomfortable romantic subjects but allows the viewer to sort through them as they please.

I also love how the episode effectively discusses the psychology of finding out one has a twin.  I would imagine it would be easy to be disappointed in what the other person represents about you, and this is played out for all its worth.

My only quibble:  why is this database down on the planet so damn important?  If it’s worth risking the lives of some very important Star Fleet members (including Data, your lone android), it would be nice to know what it is.  As it stands, it’s just a MacGuffin.

Money Quote by Worf:  Fold!!     I love the running joke throughout the series.  Worf never wins a hand.  Never.  And then he draws four cards and Data glares at him like he’s nuts.

Synopsis:  Famke Janssen is hawt.

Memory Alpha Summary:  And was born solely for the purpose of being an ambassador’s arm candy.

Review:  This episode was highly contingent on the actress not only being physically attractive, but being a damn good actress, believably becoming attracted to all sorts of different men.  Janssen knocks it out of the park, as this is for me the most sexually charged episode of the series, while still being dramatic at the same time.  The ending is simply heartbreaking as Picard looks the most vulnerable he’s been since Family.

I read Janssen was considered for Jadzia Dax.  Ferrell was good, but oh man Janssen could have cornered the teenage boy market.  Instead of watching DS9 when I was a teen, I played Final Fantasy.

Money Quote:  Riker to bridge, if you need me I’ll be in Holodeck 4

Depressing Quote:  Ambassador, have a safe trip home.

Synopsis:  The right of machines are questioned, and a Federation scientist is impatient and willful.  Craaazy stuff.

Memory Alpha Summary:  All for one and one for all?

Review: Hey a poker game with a real bet!  Seeing Worf with his beard shaved would have been awesome, but Crusher as a brunette?  No thanks.

The episode starts slow but slowly builds into a fantastic crescendo, reminiscent of its cousin, The Measure of a Man.  Not surprisingly, I find myself moved by another Spiner performance.  Data’s decision to be insubordinate to save the exocomps actually holds some water, and the solution and subsequent climax are perfect.  When Picard tells Data “It was the most human decision you’ve ever made,” I couldn’t agree more.

Synopsis: Riker’s first contact with the Malcorians is being a…well, you know.

Memory Alpha Summary:  I’ll call you the next time I pass through your star system

Review:  The most memorable part of this episode has to be Bebe Neuwirth’s performance as the nurse with the alien fetish.  But I thoroughly enjoyed the politics that play out as the Malcorians decide whether or not to make friends with the Federation.  Watching scenes from their point of view is a nice treat, and the fear and resistance might be how things would play out on Earth if a Riker landed in D.C.

I am disappointed that Mirasta Yale never reappears during the series run.  It could have been really interesting to see how she handled her transition to being in space and in the Federation.

Synopsis: Riker’s rod of love finally gets him in trouble, though he adamantly denies making any “Krieger Waves” at his extradition hearing.

Memory Alpha Summary:  He really should plead nolo contendere to whoring

Review: Obviously borrowing from Rashomon, this is one of the tightest scripts this series had.  It really is a true testament to the fact that our memories are flawed and that when two people remember an event differently, there are likely truths and falsehoods in both accounts.  That Riker is proven innocent is a foregone conclusion, but the logical way the script gets there is a sight to see.  Speaking of sights, two Rikers on the same screen is always a treat.

One thing I wonder about is that it seems to me there isn’t a species in the alpha quadrant that doesn’t believe “guilty until proven innocent.”  A few sure, but it seems the writers use this trope a lot just to create conflict, even when it’s unnecessary.

Synopsis:  Moments in time repeat themselves while Picard (prophetically) has to face the first of many romantic liaisons he pissed off.

Memory Alpha Summary:  A glitch in the Matrix

Review:  I forgot how much awesomeness is packed into this episode.  First, we have Picard fencing on the holodeck.  The glitches in time are very well done, creepy as hell.  Troi actually confronts Picard about his emotions (which aren’t obvious to everyone else) and convinces him to engage in some cognitive behavioral therapy by himself (because she knows he would never go through actual therapy with her).  Picard wrestles with his own emotions in a way only a superb actor can do.  Watching three Datas wrestle with who is in the correct time continuum is a nice climax.

The only misstep I felt was Troi’s very uncomfortable and inappropriate confrontation of Crusher about her feelings for Picard while she’s in the middle of trying to save the life of a dying patient.  I’d prefer not being reminded of Grey’s Anatomy while watching Star Trek.

Synopsis: Picard plays JFK and Captain Tamalok plays Khrushchev.

Memory Alpha Summary: Looks like Castro was left out

Review:  I like how closely this episode follows up the events of The Enemy.  Too many TNG episodes have no bearing on any other, and it’s nice to see an actual progression of acts and consequences.  The middle part is a bit slow, when the entire crew debates over and over and over whether or not Admiral Jarok is telling the truth about being a traitor; however, the endgame is fabulous.  Picard’s toe-to-toe with Tamalok is chilling television, while his surprise for Tamalok in the final hour is perfect.  The writers did an excellent job at alluding to Picard’s back-up plan while hiding it enough that it becomes a surprise.  They could have easily gotten lazy and written a deus ex machina.

Synopsis: Lieutenant Barclay gets caught in an embarrassing moment of holodiction.

Memory Alpha Summary: Choppin’ broccoli?

Review:  Near every young man who grew up watching Star Trek had to have fantasized about what it would be like to use a holodeck for unseemly purposes.  It’s about time somebody on the Enterprise did.  Naturally, they couldn’t show Barclay actually having sex, but what he gets caught doing is perhaps just as embarrassing.

Simply put, this episode is funny as hell.  We get Picard slipping up Barclay’s name after admonishing the crew for his denigrating nickname.  We get Geordi subtly acknowledging his own inappropriate jonesing for some holodeck lovin’.  And then Barclay’s fantasies are perfect, with his superior officers acting like weasels and Troi and Crusher acting like goddesses.

As far as recurring guest stars go, Barclay might just be my favorite.  It’s kind of nice to have someone on board who’s kind of a screw-up, as it makes the future seem a bit more…human.

Synopsis: Where we finally hear the end to Crusher’s “Jean-Luc, I may never get another chance to say this…”

Memory Alpha Summary: We also see sexy uniform sweat.

Review:  I have to comment that the phrase “With all due respect” gets used way too often on the series, especially since it’s really a euphemism for “I fucking hate your guts, but…”

After seven seasons we finally reach the point where Picard and Crusher finally spill their guts to each other, even if it’s only because they have no choice.  Their interactions while telepathically linked are actually quite touching.  Sadly, when Picard finally makes his move, he gets shot down.  Vashar shot him down.  Kamala shot him down.  Nella left.  And now Beverly completely crushes him.  The only time he ever gets to truly be with anybody was as Kamin.

This might be my favorite individual performance by Gates.