Overview of Season 6 of Star Trek: The Next Generation
“Somehow I doubt that this ship will be the last to bear the name ‘Enterprise’”
- Julien Picard’s closing quote in the episode All Good Things… (Part I).
Time’s Arrow (Part II)
The crew of the Enterprise follow Data into 1890s San Francisco to stop the Devidians from altering Earth’s history. While there, they interact with Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), a young Jack London, and Guinan’s past self. Meanwhile, the crew still on the ship must find a way to destroy the time portal without amplifying its time shift, which could potentially devastate 19th century Earth.
Realm of Fear
The Enterprise arrives to assist the USS Yosemite, which has had crew members go missing following a transporter accident. The transporters of the two ships must be modified in order to beam across an interference field around the two ships. During transportation, Lt Barclay sees worm-like creatures that reach out to him, which leads him to believe that he is undergoing transporter psychosis, a rare affliction, worsened by his pre-existing fear of transporters.
Schisms
Members of the Enterprise crew begin to suffer from sleep deprivation and insomnia, but with certain shared characteristics and experiences, leading them to believe that something is affecting them. With the help of Counsellor Troi and Dr Henderson, they determine that they are being experimented on after being somehow abducted from the ship.
Man of the People
The Enterprise is tasked with transporting an ambassador to a pair of planets to mediate negotiations. The ambassador, Alkar, is accompanied by a woman he claims is his mother. The woman begins to act strangely jealous when Troi expresses an interest in Alkar, and dies soon after, but with a strange neurotransmitter residue. Soon after, Troi begins to act strangely, and begins to age rapidly.
Relics
The Enterprise investigates a distress call from the USS Jenolan, a transport that has been missing for 75 years. Upon investigating, they find a Dyson Sphere, and the Jenolan crashed on the outer shell. Investigating the Jenolan, La Forge finds that the transporters have been jury rigged to hold two transporter patterns. Beaming the patterns out, he finds that one has degraded, but the other is Montgomery Scott, the engineer from the original Enterprise. Scotty struggles to adjust to 24th century life while the Enterprise investigates the Dyson sphere.
Guest Star: James Doohan as Montgomery Scott
The Death of Chivalry
The Enterprise arrives at a planet which is applying for Federation membership. They are warned beforehand that previous diplomatic missions to the planet, Arctos, have generally ended poorly, as the planet’s population follows a completely difference social code to most of the species in the Federation. Upon arriving, the talks of membership Federation start well, but are complicated by the Arctosians’ constant interruptions. Meanwhile, Kelly and Crusher befriend one of the attaches in an effort to learn more about the culture and if it can truly fit with the Federation’s ideals.
True Q
A young intern with Starfleet, Amanda Rogers, is brought aboard the ship to study biology under Dr Henderson. It soon becomes clear, however, that she possesses powers beyond that of a typical human. Q soon arrives and reveals that Amanda is the offspring of two Q who decided to leave the continuum, and that she is therefore also a Q.
A Fistful of Datas
The Enterprise arrives early for a rendezvous with a supply ship, leaving the crew with time to pursue personal activities. La Forge and Data propose that they rig Data so that he could run some of the ships’s critical functions in the event of a main computer failure, which Picard agrees to. Meanwhile, Worf and his son Alexander play out a holodeck adventure set in the Old West, later joined by Troi. After a power surge, they find that Data’s likeness had begun to replace certain characters, who also gain his skills and abilities.
Rascals
Captain Picard, Guinan, Ensign Ro, and Keiko O’Brien transport back to the Enterprise from the planet Marlonia, but due to a transporter malfunction, arrive back in the bodies of their twelve-year-old selves. Although their minds are not altered, the crew finds difficulty in taking them seriously due to their youthful appearances. Matters are further complicated when Ferengi pirates take control of the ship and transport the adults to a nearby barren planet.
The Quality of Life
The Enterprise arrives at Tyrus 7A to observe the use of an emerging mining technology, a “particle fountain”, created by Dr Farallon. While there, the crew find that Dr Farallon uses machines called ‘Exocomps’ to perform repairs. Dr Farallon reports that they can analyse problems, find the correct solution, and ‘learn’ from it. During a test, an Exocomp appears to show a self-preservation instinct, and the unit shows signs of having advanced more than Dr Farallon was expecting. Data decides to investigate further.
Chain of Command
Picard, Henderson and Worf are assigned on a covert mission by Starfleet to locate and destroy a Cardassian biological weapons site on the border planet of Celtris III. To replace Picard as the Enterprise’s captain, Starfleet appoints Captain Edward Jellico, whose command style is greatly different from Picard’s, creating tension among the crew. Picard, Crusher and Worf arrive, but find no signs of biological weapons, suspecting a trap. Cusher and Worf escape, but Picard is captured and interrogated by Gul Madred.
Guest Stars: Ronny Cox as Captain Jellico, David Warner as Gul Madred
Aquiel
The Enterprise arrives at a subspace communications relay on the Klingon border, only to find that the two officers assigned to it have gone missing. The crew finds signs that there was a Klingon present on the station at the time that the two officers disappeared, and the crew begins to suspect that the two may have been attacked.
Ship in a Bottle
While repairing the holodeck, Lt Barclay inadvertently activates the character of Professor Moriarty from Data’s Sherlock Holmes program. The Professor appears to have memory since his creation, including the times in which he was offline, which should be impossible. He is annoyed by the crew’s lack of effort in finding a way for him to exist outside of the holodeck, and takes control of the Enterprise, holding it hostage until the crew can find a way to free him. [1]
The Face of the Enemy
Deanna Troi is kidnapped and then taken on board the Romulan vessel
Khazara. There, she finds that her appearance has been altered so that she appears Romulan. The first officer of the ship, Subcommander N’Vek, explains that he needs her to pose as Major Rakal of the Romulan intelligence agency, the Tal Shiar, so that he can smuggle a Romulan dissident who wishes to defect into the Federation.
Tapestry
Whilst on a diplomatic mission, Captain Picard is taken to sickbay with severe, unforeseen injuries. Picard dies on the table, awaking in a white space, where he is greeted by Q. Q explains that Picard dies due to the weapon damaging his artificial heart, remarking that an organic heart would have survived. When Picard expressed that he would have acted differently if he could relive the moment that resulted in the loss of his natural heart, Q takes him back to see how his life would have changed if he had an opportunity to change that moment.
Starship Mine
The Enterprise docks at the Remmler Array to undergo a routine baryon sweep decontamination. The sweep will kill any living beings on board the ship, but will be safe for those in the station. The command staff are invited to a cocktail party by the station’s commander, Captain Hutchinson, but Picard wants to avoid small talk. While grabbing a saddle so that he can go horse riding, he sees a technician acting suspiciously, who then attacks him when he attempts to investigate. Simultaneously, the crew are held hostage at the cocktail party by the officers on the station.
Honor Among Thieves
The Enterprise travels to the Federation colony Reval II to drop off supplies to the garrison there. One of the newer members of the crew, Ensign Hall, is from the planet and is attached to the away team. However, a gang on the planet notices the crew there and kidnaps Hall, claiming that he was once a part of the group. The gang is part of a group that agitates for independence from the Federation, and claim to have a highly destructive weapon aimed at the Enterprise, ready to fire should it attempt to leave or contact Starfleet.
The Chase
Captain Picard is contacted by his former archaeology professor, Professor Galen, who claims to have found an amazing discovery. Galen, however, refuses to disclose the nature of the discovery unless Picard accompanies him, leaving his career in Starfleet behind. Picard declines, and soon after, Galen’s vessel is boarded, and Galen is killed. Picard decides to continue Professor Galen’s research, and uncovers evidence that many of the species in the galaxy may share a similar genetic origin.
Lessons
Captain Picard begins to spend time with the head of Stellar Cartography, Lt. Cmdr. Daren, bonding over their shared love of music. Over time, they begin to express an attraction towards each other, and begin a relationship. Their fledgling relationship, however, begins to cause complications with the running of some of the ship’s operations, compounded further when Daren is endangered as part of a mission.
Suspicions
Guinan consults Dr Henderson when she suspects that she may have incurred a minor injury from playing tennis. Dr Henderson breaks the news that she is being court martialled, and will no longer serve on the Enterprise, sharing the story with Guinan. Dr Henderson had been acting as a scientific diplomat for a Ferengi scientist, who then died suspiciously, and then investigated the death against orders after the case was ruled as a suicide.
Rightful Heir
Worf, while reconnecting with his Klingon heritage, visits the Temple of Boreth, finding there what appears to be the reincarnation of Kahless. Kahless, however, seems to lack certain memories that would be expected of him, for example, having no recollection of Sto-Vo-Kor, the Klingon afterlife. Chancellor Gowron arrives to test the authenticity of the new Kahless’s claims, but finds that he is genuine. Worf soon finds out from one of the priests that the new Kahless is a clone of the original, made to provide unity for the Klingons.
Second Chances
The Enterprise is sent to retrieve data from the Federation research station on the inhospitable planet Nervala IV. Riker leads the away team, having been on the team that originally evacuated the base. There, they find a man who appears to look just like Riker, and claims to be him. They soon realise that when Riker was beamed back to the ship during the rescue mission, he was duplicated. The two Rikers then have to work together, but find themselves clashing on the mission.
Timescape
Picard, Troi, Data and La Forge return to the Enterprise on a runabout, discovering temporal distortions. They find that the Enterprise is locked in time with a Romulan warbird, which has fired a disruptor blast at it. The four then investigate the frozen moment, trying to find how to stop it without destroying the two ships.
Frame of Mind
While readying for a covert mission, Riker also rehearses a play called “Frame of Mind”. Riker starts suffering from a pain in his forehead that will not go, and begins hallucinating alien doctors who speak to him as though he were in a mental asylum. Riker begins to question the nature of the reality he is experiencing, and tries to escape from the visions he is having.
All Good Things… (Part I)
The Enterprise is recalled to Earth to begin a scientific mission in conjunction with the mysterious Breen, who have suddenly begun to reach out to the Federation. The Breen wear encounter suits for all meetings, leading to distrust among the crew of the Enterprise, especiallt Worf. Many years prior, the Klingons sent a large fleet to subjugate the Breen, but the fleet was never heard from again.
Upon setting out on the mission, which will involve the surveying of many planets on the Federation-Breen border, the Enterprise begins to suffer from power failures. The Breen attaches deny any knowledge, but much of the crew suspects that they have tampered with the ships system. Suddenly, a pulse from the planet they are surveying, Gorvela I, hits the Enterprise, completely disabling it. The Enterprise begins to fall towards the planet, and the crew hurry to restore power.
The crew is evacuated to the Breen ship, and a skeleton crew remains to restore power to the Enterprise. Minimal power is restored, and the crew resolves to pilot the ship so that it is repairable. The ship loses power again, however, and the crew attempts to hail the Breen, but receive no answer to their hails. The crew brace themselves for impact as they approach the surface of the planet.
The Enterprise crashes onto the surface of Gorvela I, wrecking into multiple pieces. The skeleton crew take stock of their injuries, and find themselves with no major injuries, but Leslie Crusher cannot be found. Tricorder scans show no sign of her alive anywhere within the wreckage, and she is presumed dead. As the Breen arrive to provide medical assistance, they mourn for her and the ship, which is not recoverable.
[1] The cast for this episode is slightly different, as it was only when I was writing this that I found out that Stephanie Beacham guest starred in it, and she's a bit busy being Dr Henderson. I didn't decide who plays the Countess though, so you can headcanon it for yourselves.
So, big update. Leslie Crusher is (assumed) dead, a lot of things here will be paid off later. There's a new Enterprise on the way soon-ish, and the crew is about to be shaken up. Stay tuned, as there's some big stuff coming soon.
