Cause and Effect is an interesting episode that is almost exceptional. The premise is intriguing. There is plenty of action. The acting is solid. The opening sequence showing the destruction of the Enterprise is riveting. But in the final analysis, the execution of plot is just a little bit too redundant.

As time travel episodes go, Cause and Effect ranks among one of the best in terms of concept. Unlike Time Squared this episode’s premise is both plausible *and* engaging. It seems that the Enterprise is caught in a “temporal causality loop” — in plain English, the Enterprise and crew repeat the same sequence of events indefinitely, until they can figure out how to avoid the disaster that awaits them, and sends them back in time. It sounds complex, but it plays out in the episode quite reasonably.

The episode, then, is structured around watching the crew repeat events over and over, with minor variations each time as they slowly discover their predicament and then work to solve it. It starts with a mild case of déja vu during a card game and slowly escalates to the point where data manages to send a “message” back through time.

The real problem is that we’re forced to sit through the entire sequence of events each time it plays out on screen. And even though the episode does vary each sequence slightly, and even though we are eager to see how far the crew will get on each attempt, the end result is that we’re simply overwhelmed by having to see the Enterprise blow up again and again. And, too, the repetition diminishes the initial riveting effect of seeing the Enterprise‘s demise.

Things do improve when Data does receive the “message” and starts, subconsciously, making the number “3″ appear throughout the ship. It’s easy to see why: at least this is something different. In the end, we learn that the number 3 corresponds to Riker’s rank insignia, indicating how the ship and crew can escape this loop.

And then we get the best “surprise” of the episode: Kelsey Grammar as a ship’s captain commanding and eighty-year-old starship. It seems his ship, the U.S.S. Boseman was also stuck in the loop — but for much longer than the Enterprise‘s 17 days. It is an enjoyable conclusion to the episode.

Cause and Effect is, on the whole, a good episode. Had there been more variation throughout, it could have, perhaps, been more enjoyable to sit through. As it stands now, the general lack of variety diminishes how enjoyable it would be on repeat viewings.

Topics: Time Travel
Filed under: TNG Reviews