Time Squared
- FIRST SHOWN (US)
- 3 April 1989
- ON
- First-run syndication
- STARDATE
- 42679.2
- DIRECTED BY
- Joseph L. Scanlan
- PRODUCTION NO.
- 139
WRITTEN BYTeleplay by Maurice Hurley; story by Kurt Michael Bensmiller
The Enterprise picks up a drifting shuttlepod carrying a passenger who should not exist: Captain Picard himself, from six hours in the future.
Red alert: the full plot, ending included. Haven't watched yet?REVEAL SYNOPSIS
The crew recovers a shuttlepod carrying a dazed duplicate of Captain Picard. Data and La Forge find that its clock runs six hours ahead of the ship's, and the shuttle's records show the Enterprise being dragged into an energy vortex and destroyed, with only Picard escaping in the shuttle. The future Picard is barely coherent and cannot explain himself. Troubled by the thought that he abandoned his own ship, Picard struggles with what to do as events begin to repeat exactly as recorded. When the vortex appears, it seems to be fixed on the captain himself. Picard realises the real trap is his double's choice to flee, a choice that leads to disaster. He stops the future Picard from leaving by shooting him with a phaser, then orders the Enterprise directly into the heart of the vortex, which carries the ship safely out. The loop is broken.
- 01Maurice Hurley wanted a time travel story that played out over just six hours, rather than the long spans usually involved.
- 02Q was originally behind the vortex, linking it to “Q Who”, but Gene Roddenberry vetoed the idea.
- 03The shuttlepod is named El-Baz, after NASA scientist Farouk El-Baz.