Star Trek: The Next Generation
"Time Squared"
Air date: 4/3/1989
Teleplay by Maurice Hurley
Story by Kurt Michael Bensmiller
Directed by Joseph L. Scanlan
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
If "The Measure of a Man" plays as a rebuke to "The Schizoid Man" in terms of artificial-intelligence themes, then so "Time Squared" plays as a rebuke to "The Royale" in terms of procedural sci-fi mysteries. The crew is stunned when they discover a duplicate of an Enterprise shuttlecraft adrift in the middle of empty space, and inside the shuttle is a duplicate of Captain Picard.
Strangely, one of the reasons "Time Squared" works so well is because it comes fairly early in the series' run, at a point when the show hasn't been time-traveled to death. Here's an episode of TNG that is not jaded by the fact that a duplicate of Picard has crossed through time and brings with him crucial information about the Enterprise's near future. The story depicts the duplicate Picard as a harbinger; Picard himself is unsettled by the sight of his twin lying in sickbay, to the point that early on he flat-out refuses to accept that the doppelganger is in fact the same person. When the crew discovers the duplicate Picard's shuttle log, they determine the duplicate is from approximately six hours in the Enterprise's future; there's a disturbing video recording that shows the Enterprise being destroyed.
The episode is a triumph of mood and tone, in no small part because of Dennis McCarthy's ominous musical score, but also because the crew reacts with genuine awe and concern to this bizarre situation. The way the mystery is slowly broken down allows us to become fully immersed in the story. The notion that the duplicate Picard has an internal biological clock that is knocked out of whack is intriguing, even if it is the only such example in Trek time-travel annals. The closer to his time we get, the more normal he becomes, and yet we always get the sense that he's trapped in an unalterable loop where his actions have already been preordained.
Best of all, the episode is content to let a mystery be a mystery. The vortex that traps the Enterprise (which resembles an inside-out tornado in space) seems to be governed by some form of intelligence, but the story never spells out exactly how or why. And unlike "The Royale," the episode is able to make unanswered questions part of its appeal, rather than a lumbering mess.
Previous episode: The Royale
Next episode: The Icarus Factor
43 comments on this review
Sat, Dec 15, 2012, 7:05pm (UTC -5)
Sun, Dec 16, 2012, 1:56pm (UTC -5)
As it was, I found this episode terribly boring, so I'm surprised by the high rating. However, I'd be willing to re-view it with different expectations.
Mon, Mar 11, 2013, 10:09am (UTC -5)
But, Jammer is right when he said this ep comes so early that feels different, intriguing and even good. After season 3 this would have been quite boring.
I particularly liked the not-so-happy ending, music and Picard vs Picard action.
Fri, May 10, 2013, 7:31pm (UTC -5)
Sat, May 25, 2013, 8:26pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Sep 23, 2013, 7:35pm (UTC -5)
It was a good episode, no doubt about it. Although I'm not sure if it's worth 3.5 stars. On the plus side, the eerieness and mystery surrounding the whole thing works well. I like the fact that we have no freaking clue what happened or what that thing was, even after the episode ended. For all of TNG's episodic nature and need to solve problems, they occasionally do have the totally bizarre thing that never explains anything (Conspiracy and Schisms are two others). Why did this thing go for Picard, other than that it is the Enterprise's "brain"? Why did Picard go back in time? Who knows? Who cares? It's more about the whole WTF factor more than to have any conclusions.
Instead, we got a good Picard piece. He's thrown into a situation that is both personally and professionally uncomfortable. I was a bit concerned going into this episode, as I remembered Picard's anger at the end bit wasn't sure if it was handled well in the episode or not. Fortunately, it was. He didn't really act too irrational, just whenever he was around his future counterpart. And the theme of self doubt and second guessing played out well. Pulaski and Troi's conversation made it a bit heavy handed, but only a little bit. I thought that scene worked well.
So basically, the plot worked for me, as did the basic theme and the characters. For the most part, so did the pacing. I think we had just about the right amount of time dwelling on each of the mysteries (what's with the shuttle and the new Picard? Whoa, the Enterprise is about to go boom? OK, the weird energy thingy is here, now how are they going to solve it?). I'd say, essentially, the "macro" aspects of this episode were great.
Unfortunately, some of the "micro" aspects kept taking me out of the show a bit. None of my complaints are big deals, and none of them really impact the episode as a whole. But they still annoyed me:
- The whole aspect of the future shuttle and future Picard being opposites of normal shuttle and Picard. This was particularly ridiculous with the shuttle, when Geordi and Data had to do the opposite of what was needed to get the logs. Why would time impact it like this? The "internal clock" for Picard was silly too, especially when Pulaski said it would get better the closer they got to his time period. Except, of course, the future Picard would always be 6 hours out of time. This is probably the biggest issue.
- Picard tells Troi to wait in sickbay because future Picard would be able to talk to her first or something. Troi and Pulaski have their little argument about whether or not Picard's orders still need to be obeyed. And then Troi leaves. I guess she thinks everyone should obey Picard except for her.
- Early on, the music disappeared for about 5-10 minutes. This was in a fairly slow, talky part of the episode (right after the shuttle came aboard I believe). When I said the pacing was good for the most part, this was the only part it wasn't. It seemed to drag on a bit, and scenese were a tad silly.
- Picard shot future Picard to kill, not to stun? That seemed very unPicard-like. I'm not sure what the intention was, but it did hurt the show.
- Pulaski then walked in, checked on dead Picard, and left. So, she just left the dead body sitting there? Waiting for someone else to take out the trash? Kinda dumb.
These seem to be the kind of mistakes that simply aren't present in season 3, at least based on what I remember. But they're far less aggravating than the mistakes of season 1. For a show still trying to find its legs, it does a good job here.
Mon, Sep 30, 2013, 4:38pm (UTC -5)
I actually think later star trek lost something by not having more pure mysteries like this.
Thu, Oct 31, 2013, 6:03am (UTC -5)
Sat, Nov 16, 2013, 11:21am (UTC -5)
Sat, Nov 16, 2013, 11:25am (UTC -5)
Thu, Mar 27, 2014, 9:38pm (UTC -5)
Sun, Oct 5, 2014, 7:41am (UTC -5)
Tue, Nov 25, 2014, 4:20pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Feb 25, 2015, 11:03pm (UTC -5)
At one point Present Picard requests Deanna remain in sickbay, with Future Picard under her observation. Only moments after Present Picard departs sickbay, Deanna has a disagreement with Pulaski and what does she do?
She leaves sickbay!! (defying a direct order)! Doesn't really matter though....after that, Present Picard never asks Troi anything about this observation of Future Picard.
Picard KILLED his future self? What? Awful episode.
@ Jack re: "your father liked to cook?"
I always heard this as Pulaski, to herself, finishing the thought with something like, "the bastard never even made a slice of toast for me!", or "I knew that arrogant pr**k was keeping secrets"....Perhaps ol' Kyle hid this idiosyncrasy so that Dr. Kate would handle all of the culinary responsibilities. He was, after all, characterized as arrogant, secretive and manipulative. And a tad chauvinistic....Actually, I rather enjoyed this as a positive continuity point, not the opposite.
All in all though, this episode is a heavy slab of dead weight.
Fri, Mar 13, 2015, 9:52am (UTC -5)
The notion of the biological clock being out of whack is interesting, but why would Picard-2 get more coherent as the hours passed? Wouldn't he always be six hours ahead of everyone else?
2.5 stars
Sat, Sep 26, 2015, 10:55am (UTC -5)
Mon, Oct 19, 2015, 12:59pm (UTC -5)
I hate this episode, I think mostly because future Picard acts like such an idiot. I do not agree that Stewart showed good acting here. I really just wanted to slap him and tell him to answer the questions!
And then Picard shoots himself. Why? He has zero evidence that doing so will fix the problem--I thought it was a really stupid moment. He honestly doesn't know what is going to happen--it's a wild shot in the dark. And the way they solved the problem--by going into the vortex instead of fighting it--could have happened whether or not future Picard had left the ship in the shuttle.
I enjoy time travel episodes--this one left me flat and I didn't find the mystery compelling in the least.
Fri, Apr 15, 2016, 5:47pm (UTC -5)
I thought Pulaskis comment (Your father liked to cook?) implied that she knew him, why else would she be so surprised about Rikers father.
Tue, Aug 23, 2016, 1:28pm (UTC -5)
By the way, I find the early shuttle pods from the first few seasons to be ugly and very TOS-like in design. Considering what a gorgeous and sleek ship the Enterprise D is, the art department really let us down when it came to her shuttles. In the shuttle bay, the thing looks like it's made of cardboard - a real embarrassment.
Mon, Sep 5, 2016, 7:55pm (UTC -5)
As much as I enjoy the clean, technical, explanatory sci-fi of TNG's later seasons, I've also been a big fan of the way the series explores human consciousness as a complicated thing, and have always thought Troi was used to some very good effect in her confident, advisorly (versus strictly therapeutic) role of the early seasons. In this episode, the writers make her the pivot-point between the unknown event "out there" and the unravelling of real-Picard inside himself. He has a naturally difficult time confronting his own weakness, what he thinks is the cowardice of the other Picard who's only six hours older than he is. His cautious, cool-headed patience in "Where Silence Has Lease" is contrasted against Picard's second-guessing of himself in this episode. As digitaurus points out, the uncertainty leads Picard away from his natural instinct to stay and explore, and by pulling away, the ship gets sucked in. Danger increases with every effort they make to force their release. There's a kind of folkloric, even spiritual, message here about giving in, letting go, finding release ultimately by setting resistance aside. Such an interesting antidote to the idea that exploration equals acquisition. And yet, Picard kills his future self -- maybe for good reason so that the space entity doesn't think he's trying to escape (?), but which still adds a flavor of mystery to a captain celebrated for being so measured and humane.
Wed, Sep 7, 2016, 2:17pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Sep 12, 2016, 9:24pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Nov 21, 2016, 1:39am (UTC -5)
His short little condescending remarks to the crew when they note that they can't imagine any reason he'd leave the ship is just one example.
The other problem with him being an asshole is in the way it's portrayed: it's not consistent with his character. After getting more than enough evidence that this is indeed him he keeps behaving as if he doesn't believe it. That's not how Picard would normally react.
He's also an introspective man who is comfortable with his strengths and weaknesses so for him to act so threatened by his other selves odd behavior is... not necessarily jarring but, I guess, against the grain. It rubs the wrong way and laces the entire episode with a bad taste.
I remember watching this when it aired and being angry because this is exactly the kind of story I love and it ruined it for me.
All these years later and I find my reaction is the same.
Mon, Dec 26, 2016, 6:16am (UTC -5)
Mon, Jan 23, 2017, 12:26pm (UTC -5)
A let-down, though, at the end. PIcard executes his double emotionlessly - like a hit man taking down a mark. This iciness is weird - DUDE YOU JUST MURDERED A MAN, and HE HAS YOUR FACE!!! - and deflates the rising tension of Picard-present's impending mental breakdown which has been teased all episode (Pulaski to Troi: "There's only so much stress a man can take,").
I would rather have seen the episode play out like this:
Present-Picard becomes increasingly edgy as the destruction of the Enterprise nears. He is worried about saving his crew; but more is going on: he is suffering "survivor's guilt in advance" and loathes future-Picard for having apparently done something both stupid and cowardly - run from the ship and left his people to die while saving his own ass. Present-Picard develops a mounting hatred of future-Picard which becomes unbearable as he sees the man once again trying to board the shuttle. He tries to restrain his double while shouting at him: "Why are you abandoning your crew? They're about to die, you fool! What's the other choice, damn you!" They struggle. Present--Picard kills his double in a moment of rage and terror. Then he stands over the corpse. Horrified.
He pulls himself together somewhat and returns to the bridge, where he hits on the idea of taking Enterprise into the vortex. It's hinted that this is a nihilistic act rather than a heroic one: "I'm a murderer and we're all going to die. So okay, we can't run from fate. Let's do this."
They survive. Corpse-Picard vanishes and no crew member learns what Picard did in the shuttle bay. Picard is relieved but still has a burden of guilt: He knows he cracked under pressure and acted like a murderer. (Meanwhile everyone on the crew is hailing him a hero).
Last scene: he withdraws to his ready room and sends Troi and Pulaski and Riker away as each of them knocks on the door and tries to find out what's eating him.
Episode ends either depressingly (lonely Picard looking out the window, bearing his burden of command and imperfection alone) or upbeat-ly (Picard chooses a Shakespeare play off the shelf and gets some solace from lines he loves that shed light on human frailties... Then he looks up from the book and sends for Troi or Guinan)
Mon, Jan 23, 2017, 5:26pm (UTC -5)
Picard is responsible for the safety of a thousand people, and yeah he's used to that, but he knows what's at stake. This is his worst nightmare: he has lost his ship. He has screwed up and all these people who trusted him are dead. In thenother Picard, he sees in front of him the self he is most afraid of: himself as a failure ,the captain who Made the wrong call and let everyone down. Worse still, he somehow saved his own neck while getting all the others killed! He should be looking at future-Picard with horror, thinking "What kind of man am I? Did I lose my nerve? Did I lose my mind? Is my great career about to end in disgrace and horrific tragedy six hours from now?"
Imagine.
But instead we end up getting superchill always-right Picard again. Which isn't terrible but isn't anything new.
Tue, Mar 14, 2017, 11:43am (UTC -5)
Thu, Mar 23, 2017, 1:06pm (UTC -5)
Kudos as well for referencing Star Trek IV when Picard and Riker are discussing attempts at time travel (slingshot around a star)
Wed, Apr 19, 2017, 4:07pm (UTC -5)
Allowing a mystery to remain a mystery?
Oh, you mean lazy writing.
Superb acting?
Just a lot of typical pompous posturing.
Why did the future shuttlecraft systems need reverse polarity power supply-my guess would have been because it comes from an anti matter universe but no the real answer is-oh yeah-the writers didn't bother to explain it-its just a mystery.
How do we get to plan B-got it just drive this thing right down the space entity/wormhole's throat-it worked for Kirk in the Doomsday machine-oh yeah-the Constellation was blown up.
Oh well never mind everyone can jig about a bit in their seats like this was an episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and then reality can reset.
Yuk-cancel the series time again.
3 wormholes for this one from me.
Fri, May 5, 2017, 8:54pm (UTC -5)
In a more grounded science fiction show it might be interesting to see a duplicate of a main character show up in the first act, but in Trek you're just like "God-like being or magical space anomaly, got it".
Tue, May 9, 2017, 4:32pm (UTC -5)
The early part of the episode is pretty solid - with future Picard as a harbinger as Jammer says.
One of the things that stands out in certain episodes is the musical score and in this episode, it is great. The whole first 30-40 mins. does build a creepy, impending doom atmosphere.
As far as Picard's role - got to see a different side, one dealing with doubt, frustration. Some may say it's out of character but I'd put it on confronting the future Picard in such a strange state.
I also didn't see or like the need for Picard to kill future Picard or why the future shuttle needs to work on reverse power etc. How does that jive with time shifts? Some small points that could have been sorted out to make the episode marginally better. But overall, a good episode - 3/4 stars for me.
Mon, Jun 12, 2017, 12:19am (UTC -5)
Sun, Jun 18, 2017, 4:45am (UTC -5)
One of the worst episodes ever.
You are so biased when it comes to Voyager and giving three and a half stars to dribble like tells me everything I need to know.
Fri, Jul 14, 2017, 8:36am (UTC -5)
In season 1 or 2, I'd say 2.5 stars. Seasons 3-7, more like 1.5.
As an aside: What was with the Riker-makes-"gourmet"-scrambled-frickin-eggs scene? I'm guessing the story ran about 5 mins short...
Fri, Jul 14, 2017, 10:40am (UTC -5)
There was a closing scene for this cut from the script that had Riker make an apology dinner, Alaskan stew. Pulaski and Geordi love it, while Worf says he wishes he could have another omelette. I think the scene is just trying to reinforce Worf's foreigness, much like the tea scene in "Up the Long Ladder".
Mon, Oct 9, 2017, 4:01am (UTC -5)
Sun, Nov 5, 2017, 10:27am (UTC -5)
Thu, Nov 9, 2017, 3:24pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Dec 4, 2017, 12:15am (UTC -5)
That ending sank the episode. Too bad Maurice didn’t get to do what he originally planned and have Q to do this for a reason and lead into Q Who
Tue, Jan 23, 2018, 7:31am (UTC -5)
Also, I'm all for sci-fi weirdness and mystery, but some kind of answers would have helped. And it seemed fairly obvious to try flying straight through the anomaly, it wouldn't have taken an act of murder and six hours of buggering about to sort this one out.
Sun, Mar 18, 2018, 9:26am (UTC -5)
Tue, Apr 10, 2018, 7:41pm (UTC -5)
Thematically, I read this episode as a comment on death and mortality. We open with youthful eggs and then jump to Picard confronting his corpse-like double and news that his ship and crew will perish. These deaths, he learns, are a certainty. Inesapable. Fated. Picard's means of evading this fate? He will abandon the ride and go backwards in search of an out. This doesn't work so he metaphorically faces his mortality instead; he kills his corpse and goes fearlessly forward.
Fri, Apr 20, 2018, 7:12am (UTC -5)
Unfortunately the end was beyond the pale; Picard killing himself completely pulled the episode over the edge. I suppose you could say that phaser was on stun, and that in his fragile state Picard-2 simply couldn't take it, but I'm not convinced.
As others have stated this episode would make far more sense tied to Q Who, but as it is presented to us there is no such explanation and therefore feels completely arbitrary. I prefer to think of this episode as something that never even happened.
2 stars from me.
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