Okay, this is it! The final post about my review of a TNG episode, ever. Wow. My first ever review for Encounter at Farpoint along with my original Star Trek page was published on October 1st 2012. Yes, it’s been 10 years now of me reviewing episodes, longer than the series was on the air! I took a hiatus from September of ’13 until May of ’16, with just a couple of episodes written in between. In the past 10 years I’ve moved, married the love of my life, opened my own private practice, had four kids and am now into the second half of my 40’s! Lots of changes. Let’s talk about All Good Things and then I’ll say a little more about what’s next for me.
All Good Things… is the final episode for The Next Generation–the series finale. It aired on May 23rd, 1994. I had just turned 19 earlier that month and had been out of high school for a year. In this outstanding and unforgettable episode Picard becomes unstuck in time (for those Slaughterhouse Five fans out there), and begins appearing 25 years in the future as well as seven years in the past, just as he is first taking command of the Enterprise. He learns from Q that he somehow will cause the annihilation of the human race, and has to wrangle three different crews to identify and deal with this threat–with a big dose of nostalgia along the way. After resolving the plot our crew flies off into the sunset.
There are a lot of behind the scenes information for this episode. This is one of the most quotable of all the TNG episodes, and I include some of my favorites in my last full review. You may not know this is the most watched episode of the entire series, and with good reason. Ron Moore and Brannon Braga said it took them about a year to write the Generations film and only two weeks to write All Good Things, but it’s pretty clear which of them turned out better! The final line, however, “the sky is the limit” was written by Brent Spiner. This episode was nominated for four Emmy’s and won a Hugo award, the most prestigious award in science fiction. There are lots more information to be had, as I wanted to make sure I did the best job I could on the finale, so click on my link or on the photo above if you like.
There have been multiple Star Trek series since TNG, but I’m not sure any of them have really carried the torch on the promise of TNG, which was in line with Roddenberry’s vision. It was lightning in a bottle. Will we see another series where there are families on board, episodes done just for fun, or based on an optimistic, bright future where things like integrity and morality are still adhered to? I’ve started watching Strange New Worlds and I think they are aiming for something in that classic direction, but we’ll see.
Okay, I am done. I have to say I’ve learned a lot more about TNG than I ever knew, even in the 30 years of watching the episodes previously. I have a different perspective now on practically each episode. I’m not exactly sure what’s next for me on my site here. I may start reviewing another series, I may do some movie reviews, I may post more faith-based content, I’m not sure. One thing I do know is that I will keep posting! If there are any requests based on the content I have published please be sure and let me know. For now, thanks for coming on in this journey with me! Check back from time to time, and thanks for your support.