‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Retro Recap – ‘Cause and Effect’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

The majority of famous franchises out there, tend to be known for a specific hook for their respective and prospective audiences. For instance, anyone that is tuning into Doctor Who knows that they are going to be treated to a wild adventure through time and space and if you’re settling in for a Star Wars feature or series, you’re likely going to enjoy some kind of epic battle or action sequence. But one franchise that tends to defy this logic is Star Trek, simply because it has a great deal of concepts present to excite audiences that tune in. For it features a wonderful future for mankind and it also offers up thoughtful adventures throughout the stars and something that is sometimes lamented but featured prominently in this saga… is time travel as well.

In fact, some of the franchise’s most iconic and famous stories revolve around that concept and it is of note today, simply because Star Trek: The Next Generation finally took a solid crack at a concept that the crew of The Original Series thrived within and well… putting time travel into TNG actually turned out to be a wonderful decision. Mainly because ‘Cause and Effect’ offers up a different kind of time travel story, one that outright take the audience by surprise. Because after watching the 1701-D blow up in the cold teaser, it appears as though everything is just fine since the episode opens with everyone going about their daily business without a care in the world. But it doesn’t take long for the story to reveal the fact that the crew is trapped within their own temporal causality loop, and the destruction of the Enterprise produces enough energy to reset the event over and over again and that really is quite the cool twist.

Because up until this point in the franchise, time travel was all about setting things right timeline wise or saving the future from cataclysm by say… recusing two incredibly cute humpback whales. So, to see the crew forget what’s happening or deal with Déjà vu on a consistent basis really is a neat way to build up to a plan to save themselves from forever being stuck in a time loop of terror and the solution to get out of that problem, is equally as engrossing. Because it really is a refreshing idea to use Lieutenant Commander Data’s positronic network to receive a message from the future since this writer is hard pressed to think of any other science fiction story that used that kind of delivery system to solve the problem and well, that makes this a refreshing and original time travel story for certain, one that definitely raised the bar for the franchise. 

Plus, we would be remiss to not talk about the fact that this episode features quite the epic cameo as well. Because despite spotting his name in the opening credits, actually seeing Kelsey Grammer pop up as Captain Morgan Bateson was quite the incredible surprise. After all, he was still on Cheers at this point in time, playing Dr. Frasier Crane, and that show was a juggernaut back in the 1980s and 1990s and well, having someone of his stature swing by… really was a big deal for the franchise. Because it made it a touch more mainstream and respectable and Grammer is super impactful during his short time on screen and he’s not the only actor that sells this particular tale through and through. Because the cast is simply electric in this tale and that is likely thanks in large part to the fact that Jonathan ‘Two Takes’ Frakes directed this particular entry and he knows how to get the best out of the actors he works with.

If anything, this is just a supremely satisfying episode through and through. One that engrosses you from beginning to end with a juicy plot that really does shake the time travel trope right up and most important of all, this is an episode that wipes away the bad taste of its predecessor. All by getting back to the basics of what makes Trek so great. Because this is a story where people from all walks of life come together to solve a horrible problem and they do it in an open and diverse manner that works and well, that’s what you love to see from this series and the good news, is that now that this adventure has come to a satisfying close, the next chapter in this saga has another powerful concept waiting in the wings for us by way of a morality tale. One that challenges young Wesley Crusher, to do the right thing. Until next time.   

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