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"All Good Things" was one of the best series finalies in television history. It takes us back to the first episode and shows a lot of the character development through the the entire series. I tend to think of the episode as the true ending of TNG, and yes, Q is the ghosts of Christmas from Dickens, exactly what he knew Picard would appreciate.
Dec 13, 2014 · The seventh season of Star Trek: The Next Generation on Blu-ray along with a standalone release of “All Good Things…” are now available on Amazon.
One of the things I like best about All Good Things that I think you touched on is that, while it's satisfying as the final episode of the series, it isn't really an ending at all. They could have changed their mind and come back and made an eighth season and not had to retcon anything out of it.
- Overview
- Summary
- Memorable quotations
- Background information
- Links and references
Picard learns from Q that he is to be the cause of the annihilation of humanity and begins an incredible journey through time from the present, to the past when he first took command of the Enterprise, to twenty-five years into the future. (Series finale, feature-length)
Teaser
On the holodeck, Lieutenant Worf and Counselor Troi have just finished a walk on the Black Sea beach at night. Upon exiting the holodeck, Troi gets a bit irritated when Worf refers to their romantic experience as nothing more than "stimulating" and rolls her eyes when he tries to add that it was "very stimulating". On the way back to her quarters, Troi discusses how she doesn't spend nearly enough time on the holodeck, and should go there more often. Worf is about to drop her off at her quarters, but wants to talk about their next date. He feels that they should get approval from Commander Riker before continuing their relationship and is concerned about hurting his feelings, but Troi firmly states that their relationship does not need such approval. Worf is about to kiss Troi goodnight, when Captain Picard walks off the turbolift. In a hurried mood, he asks Troi for the date, to which Worf answers that it is stardate 47988. Picard confirms the date with himself, before he reveals to Troi that he, without knowing the reason, is somehow moving back and forth through time.
Act One
In Counselor Troi's quarters, Picard explains the experience. He had the feeling he was somewhere in the past. Troi asks for a description, but Picard says that it is as hard to remember as trying to recall a dream. He remembers that it was years ago, before he took command of the USS Enterprise-D. But then, the experience was that of him in the future, as an old man. He remembers being outside, doing something, but can not remember any specifics. Troi asks him to consider if this was merely a dream, but Picard says that the experience was much more real than a dream. The very touch and smell of things was more real than a dream. Troi asks how long he was in each period, but Picard responds that he is not sure. He remembers feeling disoriented, but this soon passed, and he felt as if everything was perfectly normal. As soon as he tries to explain something, Picard stops speaking in mid-sentence. Picard is now an old man in a vineyard, tying up some vines. As he does this, he hears La Forge's voice, jokingly complaining about an issue on the Enterprise, "the warp core or the phase inducers… or some other damn thing" as he approaches, smiling warmly. Picard is very delighted to see his old friend and they embrace each other. La Forge is unsure of how to refer to the ambassador. Picard suggests Jean-Luc, but La Forge doesn't feel sure about calling him that, and settles on captain, like he had done twenty-five years prior, the last time they served together on the Enterprise. La Forge offers to help, and tells Picard how to help his plants grow better, saying he picked up some gardening experience from his wife Leah. Picard asks how she is, and how the kids (Alandra, Bret, and Sidney) are. La Forge responds that they are just fine, his wife had just recently been named Director of the Daystrom Institute, but their son Bret is applying to Starfleet Academy in the next year. It is at this moment La Forge confesses that he stopped by from Rigel III to see Picard and how he was holding up to his newly contracted Irumodic Syndrome. As they begin to head back to Picard's house for tea, Picard tells La Forge what he thought of his latest novel, but in the middle of a comment on the protagonist, he suddenly sees a strange group of people, dressed in shabby clothes, and supposedly mocking the captain. La Forge apparently does not see the people, but before Picard can say anything, the scene shifts again, to another time period. On board the shuttlecraft Galileo, Natasha Yar, an old member of the crew, is talking with the captain about any previous experiences he has had with Galaxy-class starships. He states that he has never been aboard one, but is familiar with the blueprints and specifications. Yar comments that Picard is in for a treat, as the Enterprise is quite a ship, and the shuttle is cleared for arrival. Outside the window, the USS Enterprise is docked at McKinley Station, in orbit of Earth. The time shifts back to the "present," in Troi's quarters, and he tells her that he was just with Yar in the shuttle. Picard sits down, seemingly troubled by this.
Act Two
In sickbay, Dr. Crusher reports that she found nothing to indicate hallucinations. There are also no indications of temporal displacement, and Crusher believes that Picard is enjoying waking people up in the middle of the night, to which he responds that he really just likes running around the ship in his bare feet. Nurse Ogawa gives Crusher bio-spectral results, but these also show no signs of temporal displacement. After asking Troi to excuse them for a moment, she tells Picard about results of a scan for Irumodic Syndrome. There were no signs of the disorder itself, but there is a small structural defect in his parietal lobe that could lead to the syndrome. Although she says that it is possible to live a whole life without developing problems, she is not confident about it. Riker enters to report that Worf has found nothing on his security scans. Worf comes on the comm to report that there is an incoming transmission from Admiral Nakamura. Picard answers it in Dr. Crusher's office, to hear that Nakamura is issuing a fleet-wide yellow alert. Nearly thirty Romulan warbirds have been diverted to the Neutral Zone from Romulus, and there is also some sort of spatial anomaly in the Devron system. The orders are to go to their side of the Neutral Zone, and to find out what the situation is, and what the anomaly is. They cannot, however, enter the Neutral Zone until the Romulans do. Suddenly, the time shifts to the future, but this time, Picard notices the difference. He says that he was somewhere else a few minutes ago, a long time ago, talking to Beverly Crusher. He notices that he was on the Enterprise, in sickbay, but conjectures that it may have been a hospital. La Forge wants to call Picard's doctor, thinking that it is the Irumodic Syndrome, but Picard says that it is not. La Forge then asks what he wants to do about it, and Picard responds that he wants to see Data, to which La Forge agrees. Then, Picard sees the strange, barbaric people again, but doesn't understand yet. Again, La Forge sees nothing, and then takes the captain to go see Data. They go to Cambridge, and Picard explains how real the experience was. Data's housekeeper Jessel offers them tea, and Picard accepts. As Picard and La Forge attempt to exchange seats with Data's cats (who seem to be sitting on every available chair, shelf, or other horizontal surface), Picard starts to compliment Data's home. Data explains that it is one of the perks of holding the Lucasian Chair at Cambridge, the home itself once belonging to Sir Isaac Newton, one of the early Lucasian professors. Data then goes on to explain the change in his hair color, and then Picard remarks that the tea is not Earl Grey, but Darjeeling tea. Data asks Picard about how long it has been since he has seen a doctor about his Irumodic Syndrome. Picard responds a week and that he has been taking peridaxon, which will not cure the syndrome. Picard starts to explain that Data, too, likely thinks that his time shifting is all a delusion, an idea which Data says had indeed crossed his mind. Yet, Data says that because there is no evidence to disprove the captain, they can run some neurographic scans with the equipment he has on campus. He tells the captain that they will get to the bottom of this. As Picard says that this is the Data he remembers and could count on, another time shift occurs. In the past, Captain Picard just exits the shuttlecraft Galileo with Tasha Yar. Picard then commences to read the orders which placed him in command given by Admiral Norah Satie, but is interrupted several times by the strange people he saw in the future. The assembled crew look around and see no one present. As he finishes reading the orders, he goes to shake hands with Counselor Troi, but is again distracted by the shouting people he sees all around the bay. Deeply disturbed, Picard calls for red alert and orders all crew to battle stations. The crew look puzzled at each other, hardly the reaction they were expecting from their new captain, but Lieutenant Yar barks at them to follow the captain's orders and everyone quickly exits the shuttlebay to comply. Picard, alone, takes hold of himself and with concern, exits as well.
"Now that was an incredible program."
"I am glad you approve. I have always found the Black Sea at night to be a most… stimulating experience."
"Worf, we were strolling barefoot along the beach while balalaika music played in the air… ocean breeze washing over us… stars in the sky… a full moon rising… and the most you can say is "stimulating"?"
"It was… very stimulating."
- Troi and Worf, first lines of the episode
"I… I don't know how or why, but I'm moving back and forth… through time."
Production history
•Final draft script: 10 March 1994 •Filmed: 11 March 1994 – 5 April 1994 (17 days) •Premiere airdate: 23 May 1994 •First UK airdate: 19 June 1996
Story and script
•This episode was the series finale for Star Trek: The Next Generation. •Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore wrote "All Good Things…" and later drafts of Star Trek Generations simultaneously. This often led them to mix the stories up. •Early versions of this story included the Borg attack at Wolf 359 as a fourth main timeline. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (3rd ed., p. 299)) According to Brannon Braga, Hugh would have appeared as well, helping to rescue Picard from the Borg in this timeline. (The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years, p. 281) The story also originated from a pitch by Ronald D. Moore early in the season in which Q had gone insane, causing the universe to come unraveled. The other characters found themselves in a bizarre place, with Q as a homeless guy sitting in a corner next a garbage can muttering "I used to be a superbeing. I used to be a superbeing." Although Michael Piller did not want to do this story, he did like the idea of bringing Q back and using him to bookend the series. (TNG Season 7 DVD – "The Making of 'All Good Things…'") •Michael Piller had an influence on the writing of the second half of this episode. "The first draft of 'All Good Things' was very similar for an hour, but the second hour wandered around without a clear story direction," Piller recalled. "I wanted Ron [D. Moore] and Brannon [Braga] to get more ambitious and suggested the idea of Picard working with different versions of himself in the different time periods to solve the crisis." (AOL chat, 1998) •A line cut from the 2364 portion of the episode would have established Dr. Selar as being aboard at that time, acting as chief medical officer pending Crusher's arrival. •The episode's final line – "So, five-card stud, nothing wild... and the sky's the limit" – was coined by Brent Spiner. (Making It So, p. 375)
Cast and characters
•According to Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission (1st ed., p. 206), John de Lancie, upon hearing that The Next Generation was ending with the seventh season, approached Rick Berman. The book quotes him as saying, "I actually felt motivated and sentimental enough to go to Rick [Berman] and say, 'You know I've never asked you for a job, but I did the first episode, and I understand you're doing a two-hour last episode, and I'd love to be in that." Rick Berman is said to have replied, "'Say no more. You're already in it anyway, whether you like it or not.'" However, when asked about this story in a 2012 interview, de Lancie denied that he had ever approached Berman. •Denise Crosby (Natasha Yar), Colm Meaney (Miles O'Brien), John de Lancie (Q), Richard Sarstedt (Enterprise-D officer), and David B. Levinson (post-atomic court spectator) are the only actors, besides the regulars, to appear in both this episode and the pilot "Encounter at Farpoint", although Crosby was a regular at the time of the pilot. •Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean-Luc Picard) and Jonathan Frakes (Commander William T. Riker) are the only actors to appear in every episode of the series. •This is the only season finale for which Denise Crosby filmed scenes as Tasha Yar, since the character had been killed prior to the end of the first season. Yar appears in "Shades of Gray" via stock footage and Crosby also appeared in the fourth season finale "Redemption" as Sela. •The Romulan commander used, Tomalak, had not appeared since Season 4. This was the only time that Andreas Katsulas appeared on Star Trek during his run as Ambassador G'Kar on Babylon 5 (he later played another character on Star Trek: Enterprise after the end of Babylon 5). With Colm Meaney guest-starring in "All Good Things…", this was a rare occurrence when regulars on competing shows Babylon 5 and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine appeared in the same episode during the run of both shows. •Colm Meaney commented about this episode, "It was strange, very nostalgic. I thought it was a very powerful way for ST:TNG to go out. I thought it was a great story and a terrific episode. It covered a lot of ground and left you thinking." ("An Enlisted Man", Star Trek Monthly issue 16, ?)
Starring
•Patrick Stewart as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard •Jonathan Frakes as Cmdr. William T. Riker
Also starring
•LeVar Burton as Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge •Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf •Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher •Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi •Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data
Guest stars
•John de Lancie as Q •Andreas Katsulas as Tomalak •Clyde Kusatsu as Nakamura •Patti Yasutake as Alyssa Ogawa
All Good Things was the perfect ending for all those characters in general and not just for the show. Too bad they had to ruin all of it with Nemesis and Picard.
"All Good Things..." is the series finale of the syndicated American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. It comprises the 25th and 26th episodes of the seventh season and is the 177th and 178th episodes of the series overall. It aired on May 23, 1994.
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Apr 23, 2021 · Guest stars Denise Crosby and Colm Meaney return as a tribute to the first season, while John de Lancie's Q bookends Picard's story perfectly.
