Time Squared

TNG Season 2 Episode 13
Air Date: April 3rd, 1989

Plot

The Enterprise finds a Federation shuttle craft adrift in an uncharted part of space where the Federation had never been before. They tractor the shuttle craft into the shuttle bay to find it is one of the Enterprises shuttles, which has an exact duplicate still in the shuttle bay. Once they open the shuttle, they find a duplicate Picard. They find out that the Enterprise was destroyed in the future by some vortex and Picard ended up in a shuttle and sent back in time.

As the duplicate Picard gets closer to his own time, he starts to become alert and demands to get into the shuttle as the vortex is alive and only wants him. He thinks he can save the Enterprise. They let him go and realize that the first time they would have tried to escape the vortex but the solution was to go straight into the core. They emerge the other side safe, the other Picard gone.

Commentary

I generally don't like time travel episodes as they tend to have flaws or they ignore the interesting parts. In this episode they don't even really explain why Picard ended up back in time and given that the vortex was interested in him, why did it destroy the Enterprise. Or even why going into the center of the vortex was the correct solution. Time travel gave them the option since they figured doing it the same way as the first time would lead to destruction.

Quotes

"Well, they say if you travel far enough, you will eventually meet yourself. Having experienced that, Number One, it's not something I would care to repeat." - Picard

"We have to anticipate, and not make the same mistake once." - Picard

"Like a rag in a dog's mouth." - Riker