TNG: All Good Things

A couple years ago I was sitting around a table with some friends when the subject of series finales came up. Cheers, Frasier, Seinfeld, Buffy, and Lost were all brought up and I declared that Star Trek TNG's series finale was the one that had made the biggest impact on me. Actually, at the time I realized that I couldn't even say the name of the finale without choking up. Aptly titled it's: "All Good Things" You know, as in, "...must come to an end."

As a kid, it was as if part of my childhood was ending when Star Trek: TNG stopped. I'd been watching it almost as long as I could remember. It had stuck around through several moves and my parents' divorce. My mom had told me bedtime stories about Geordi and Data and my dad bought me my very own NCC-1701-D. And while these characters would return for movies, I knew even then that it wouldn't be the same.

I've only managed to watch "All Good Things" a few times. I just knew that I couldn't handle it again--at least, maybe not on my own. So, when it came time for me to finish up the series, I waited until the weekend so that I could watch it with my husband. It had been a while since he'd seen it and as the episode progressed, we both remembered all the parts that had effected us the first time we saw it:

Geordi's long conversation with Picard in the vineyard. The big kiss. Picard's very rare moment of obvious self-doubt. Data's office full of cats at Cambridge. Tasha. The broken relationship between Worf and Riker. Q's handfull of goo.

By the time we got to, "You are the finest crew in the fleet..." I was pretty broken up. I'm actually still a little overwhelmed. Although I saw TOS when I was a kid, I didn't really get into it until later. TNG was my Star Trek. It's the one that introduced me to phasers and transporters, replicators and communicators--a world full of hope, absent of poverty and populated with selfless, wide-eyed explorers who would do anything for their fellow crew-members. TNG taught me that lasting relationships do exist and that one should always question one's reality. It offered me examples of characters who made bold choices and didn't back down from the life they desired. It showed me a hopeful version of our future--a better version of ourselves. It gave me something to live up to.

Now my time with TNG is mostly over. I still have the films but my daily episodes are no more. I'll move on to DS9, Voyager and Enterprise and I'm excited about them. I love each of those series for different reasons and I've seen all of them less than I have TNG. And, while I'm sad to leave my Next Gen friends behind, I know that all good things must come to an end.