Star Trek The Next Generation Ruminations S4E05: Remember Me

[@THE_Dodge_Morningstar]

Yeah, this is one of my favorites. Lol Picard sitting on the bridge alone, pokes his head up to see Crusher looking like she's barely hanging on by a thread... I love it.

[@RIUUI007]

Yeah that head-poke was truly funny, I agree 😄

[@cecasander]

This is one of my favorites as well. It also gave one of my most favorite lines in fiction: "If there's nothing wrong with me, there must be something wrong with the universe."

[@chriscolabella880]

It might be your favourite, but you've remembered it wrong

[@rheiagreenland4714]

​@@chriscolabella880lol

[@TiagoLageira]

“Remember Me” is also a quote to the last bit of the lyrics for the Star Trek theme that Roddenberry wrote. The theme has lyrics and due to copyright law the royalties are shared between the composer and the lyricist even when played as an instrumental.

[@MarionRelics]

That extreme trust and the idea of characters behaving with respect and reason is something so special to TNG that you rarely see in modern TV. It’s almost jarring because you just expect all the drama to come from people doubting her and refusing to listen.

[@Sevish]

One of my all time favourite episodes. Leaves a slightly spooky impression, and Crusher's scenes in the final act give me shivers.

[@athrunzala6919]

Hey, it's that Weseley episode where Obi Wan Kenobi comes back! Oh, and the universe is trying to eat Beverly.

[@harpercole5321]

You've summed up why the 2nd part of the episode isn't as strong - it's a shame they didn't stay on her perspective throughout. I loved the 1st part, though, the steady escalation. The moment when Worf's gone and we realise it's not just the expendable characters sticks with me, and there are some genuinely funny lines ("we've never needed a crew before"). One of the best, despite the flaws.

[@cyanmanta]

There is one line in this episode that is not only a favorite of mine, but which cements the newly formed Detective Crusher trope being established. "Here's a question you shouldn't be able to answer... Computer, what is the nature of the universe?". I just want to shake her hand when she says that, because it's a bizarre question to ask in most contexts and almost no sane person would ever ask it. By asking the (theoretically) impossible, she makes a major leap forward in understanding where the hell she is.

[@Kirvin]

I was just a wee tyke when I first saw this episode and it gave me actual nightmares. I had to get a nightlight 'cause I was afraid the world would stop existing if I couldn't keep an eye on it :( Still uncomfortable re-watching it. McFadden did a really great job T-T On a completely different tangent, I've been loving watching these videos, they makes mondays so much better :D

[@SchneeflockeMonsoon]

I like how this episode called back to the TOS line: “This world was made from our own thoughts. How could it be anything but what we expect of it?”

[@ohgoditshimrun1346]

I agree wholeheartedly about the constructional fumble in double-loading the exposition. And it's always been one of my favorite TNG episodes, because it's a well done bottle episode -- no spectacle needed to distract the audience.

[@DrownedInExile]

How do you make an incredibly creepy unsettling episode, without icky monsters and a big SFX budget? This is how. Sleight of hand can be very creepy when used right. I agree the reveal shouldn't have happened until after Crusher figured it out herself.

[@tylisirn]

This is also among my favourite episodes. It has great atmosphere, and I really like the way Crusher works through the problem in the second half. And I do agree with your complaint about the story construction. It would be stronger if audience worked it out only with Crusher.

[@andrewkyriacou6405]

This was definitely one of the episodes I enjoy watching. I don't remember most episodes by the title (with some obvious exceptions like best of both worlds), so each time I watch one of your ruminations I need to look up the title. This time when I did my google search one of the first things I saw was an image of the warp bubble on screen and it all instantly came to me. I think that's a good sign at how memorable this episode is. As you said Gates McFadden is fantastic when given the chance to show what she can do and she's so good that she basically carries this episode alone. I was surprised when I heard they were initially making this as a dream episode and so glad that they changed it. I'm also not a fan of the whole Wesley super human story starting, I never was on board with the Wesley hate train and I didn't mind that the traveller took a shine to him and talked about how Wesley is special ... then he starts doing stuff like this and I do dislike that they did this to his character.

[@Stovetopcookie]

This episode gave me many sleepless nights! One of my faves !!

[@mr51406]

A very quirky intimate episode that works because of the outstanding performance by Gates McFadden. “If there’s nothing wrong with me, maybe there’s something wrong with the Universe!” Great line! 🌟 The bubble is centred on main engineering which is where it would collapse to a point, imho.

[@KertaDrake]

Lessons for life on the Enterprise D... Lesson #1: Wesley is great for solving existing problems. If the ship is in danger, listen to him because he's always right on how to fix it. Lesson #2: Wesley is great at causing entirely new problems. Never let him touch or do anything if the ship isn't already in danger.

[@allennfla420]

Another well done entertaining episode.. thank u for your work and passion

[@linsqopiring6816]

Bringing in the real crews perspective wasn't a disconnect it was an addition that enriched the plot and they did it at the perfect time because if they had done it later it would have been too brief and bunched up at the end.

[@EnvisionerWill]

Maybe there could have been a cutting back and forth between Beverly and the Traveler, where they're both laying out the same overall deductive argument, though in different words, so that there's minimal repetition.

[@landostark]

can anyone deduce how many times deduce is said here? Haha, just busting chops, I look forward to your ruminations every week, seriously keep up the great work

[@AlcomIsst]

_"I'll talk to Troi."_ _"Who?"_

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

I actually did want to know WTF was going on by the time they made the reveal from the other side, so, for me, it was quite in a timely place in a way

[@nomadicweatherbear]

The TV series Eureka took this theme in a similar direction, using a different method of reasoning. You should be proud. 😁

[@Eelco_de_Boer]

Mem-summary: Following an anomaly in a warp bubble experiment, Dr. Crusher finds that crewmembers are beginning to disappear, while she is the only one who seems to notice. (pretty good episode actually :-)

[@V2000-t8v]

Bev. to traveler: Do I have you to thank for getting me back? Me to Bev.: YES ! because Wes screwed up a bloody experiment (again) !

[@KnightRaymund]

It's a great episode. And The Traveller is definitely better than 'it was all a dream' which is one of the worst ways to ever end a story. It ruins a pretty good Enterprise episode later, one of the few Hoshi ever got. But you're right. Them coming in and dumping the explanation on us is so bad because the scenes of Crusher figuring it out herself are so good! Gates can be so good it's a pity they didn't give her many plots. The later episode with the ferengi scientist is quite good too imo. Ghost rapist is bad but nothing could save that episode.

[@terminat1]

Traveler.

[@rafetizer]

It is nice how the crew works to help Beverly, but it's also got this subtle air of gaslighting going on. This is from her own mind, of course, but everyone at some point inflects just a little bit of suspicion that she may be acting a little crazy. Riker's a good example, because he often does the upward head tilt + narrowed eyes combo, as though he's only humoring her because she's respected, and not so much because he believes her. Data's got the quick eyebrow raise and sideways head tilt, Worf is generally a little impatient, and even Geordi seems to be a little curt with her at a certain point. I think the final rift only appears in engineering because that's where Beverly expects it should be, if she wants to return. I have to imagine it would have worked anywhere, but since the inside of the bubble was controlled by her, that's just where her end of it appears. I picture it as her being on a "treadmill" inside the bubble, more or less like the holodeck. The rift was always going to be in the same static place within the bubble from everyone else's perspective, but from her perspective, it had to be in a spot that made sense to her.

[@quasimodojdls]

In an episode filled with good acting, I have to point out the horrible acting job by Wil Wheaton in the final scene in Engineering (when Wesley is hugging Crusher). What the hell was he doing there? I think he was trying to emote utter exhaustion combined with joy and relief, but he fails - HARD! Just look at his face. It's freaking hilarious! It actually harms the emotion of the scene.

[@ShadowStoryteller]

Interesting fact: The Bridge stunt where the second rift appears was done all by McFadden herself...while she was unknowingly pregnant. I liked this episode for the fact that it showed Crusher could be more then JUST a Doctor. She used the scientific method to reason her way out, for God's sake. But they could have shaved a little bit of the opposite side of the bubble off just to keep the mystery going, I agree.

[@augustday9483]

If you edited out all the traveller stuff and kept the episode with Beverly until she escapes the bubble, it'd be 10/10.

[@Belzediel]

"The more it tilts, the more it tilts, right? Hence the see-saw effect." No. To seesaw is to oscillate between two equal but opposite positions. Like you do on a seesaw. That's why they call it that. I have no trouble buying that you were that kid in the playground sitting on one end of the seesaw because no one wanted to sit on the other, but that is not what the analogy is about. You might mean snow-ball, where the pace of things increases dependent on the totality of what has gone before. That wouldn't apply here, though, as if anything the events are becoming less severe the closer they get to the end point. Perhaps you meant exponential growth, but, again, it's slowing, so, not that either.

[@linsqopiring6816]

To be fair to Lore Runner you can make two different analogies from one object. Although it's not good communicating since people only think of the one you mentioned.

[@Yura-Sensei]

I adored this episode because of the creepy vibe. Too bad those were extremely few and far between

[@CavalloDiSpade]

I like this episode a lot, since it's the somewhat unexpected linchpin in the lore that explains the power of the Q, traveler, and Wesley's abilities. old.reddit.com/r/DaystromInstitute/comments/8jb2pj/on_the_origin_and_nature_of_the_qs_power/

[@Species1571]

If she woke up in the shower, the dream idea might have been ok.

[@Brando64]

A kind of guilty pleasure for me, because sometimes I feel all alone in my little universe. Why does Geordi let Wesley muck around with the engine? I just don't get it. The Troi episode you're thinking of is "Skin of the Enemy". I've alway liked the Crusher/Picard friendship, but The Traveler was unnecessary, IMO.

[@quasimodojdls]

"Face of the Enemy"

[@tbk2010]

I used to like this episode, but it's actually kind of boring if you already know the mystery. It's honestly not that much better than the dream explanation. As far as I can tell her warp-bubble-reality doesn't really behave any different from a dream, with none of the other people there actually being "real". Now imagine if it really was the "real" reality that had people disappearing without a trace, people that actually have a will to live. Wouldn't that be scary. But i guess we'll leave that to the Avengers.

[@tubeviewerX20]

I like this episode, but I never cared for The Traveler. He always seemed like an outlandish plot device to me.

[@nickokona6849]

This one for me was a TNG Twilight Zone or Outer Limits episode. I’ve not really liked Beverly Crusher episodes. In a way it reminds me of If Wishes We’re Horses in DS9. I never really liked this episode. I had a crush on McFadden growing up (hehe), but I never found her acting to be that convincing to me. Personal preference.