episode #24: We'll Always Have Paris

**BoG** Mon May 03, 2010 5:15 pm

WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS - episode #24 / Air Date: 5/2/88
written by Deborah Dean Davis, Hannah Louise Shearer; Directed by Robert Becker

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This one delves a bit into Picard's past but chooses the very cliche & tired method of resurfacing a past love (played by the strikingly pretty Michelle Phillips) and a missed meeting long ago (in a Paris cafe, natch). Picard's long ago girlfriend has married a radical scientist who had evidently tampered with the laws of time which govern our universe. Picard notices this in the pre-titles scene when a few moments of time are suddenly repeated. This effect is spread throughout several thousand light years, we soon learn.

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My problem with such a concept is the thought that something a human does - some experiment - is able to tamper with a very basic law of the universe. This hints at eventual universal Armageddon like the TOS episode The Alternative Factor, unless Picard & his crew take a few steps. This episode (i.e. the writers) seems to assume that a few hints dropped at the end by the scientist about this alternate dimension he's trying to reach will be enough to make this all thought-provoking. Sorry - not.

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The trippy moment occurs when the trio of Picard, Riker and Data see themselves from inside a turbolift. The perspective then switches from the guys in the lift to the ones outside the lift - this does play with your head a bit, but it also doesn't make much sense. geek

BoG's Score: 5 out of 10.