UNCUT - Parallels (TNG S7E11) | Star Trek Journey 298
Comments (109)
Great episode. Although with LaForge dead the he could have stayed with Troi and been 1st Officer. Small price to pay.
Worf encounters the Council of Rikers.
This is one of my very favorite episodes! I mean, yes, Worf belongs with my girl Kheylar forever and ever, and Troi should be with Riker if he wasn’t so dumb. . . But isn’t it fun to take a little side trip to see other possibilities? Of course, we’re used to thinking about the multiverse today, but back in the 90s this was a wild concept. Yep, a personal favorite of mine. I hope you like it too.
I love this episode. Trek first brought up parallel universes in TOS, but this develops it in such a way that Trek has countless possibilities. If you want to write a Trek without earth being a complete utopia, you can. Parallels. You want brighter trek or darker trek? Parallels. You can get around any fan panic about canon because of Parallels. The crews Worf met were almost identical to his timeline… it’s all still trek. I think the Suits would be wise to watch this episode. It gives them ways of changing something like classic bridge design without changing classic trek. It’s slightly parallel. Of course if it’s too far from trek, that won’t work, but you can stay close and just say it’s a slightly alt-u
TOS just had the mirror universe...which is distinct from quantum multi verse. Honestly I abhor the whole multi verse stuff in all genres including star trek. It takes away jeopardy and just becomes a lazy way of doing fan fiction stuff
Can we please acknowledge that Alex and Josh were actually the ones explaining the techno-babble to the rest of us?? What is happening?!? 🤯
They're becoming one of us.
Mr. Worfs, FIRE! *Destroys entire universe* Hahaha. Great episode, basically a collection of either intriguing scenes or pure comedies with Worf as the star. Perfect. I really like Josh's idea of Barclay still being around connected directly to the Enterprise computer, and the quantum universes being so complex, that he's the only one able to solve it and find Worf's original universe.
I wonder how many universes exist where Worf was still carrying his Batlif when they yelled SUPRISE! causing him to swing it around and cut someone's head clean off? 🤔
something i never noticed before is that the badges when in the universe with riker as captain are different depending on rank
Meet, the, cut, copy, and paste fleet!
the bajorn ship: we can take a galaxy glass, open fire, suddenly thousands appear, oh crap
Another change to the bridge design which Alex didn't specifically mention was a single Captain's chair when Riker was Captain, with no side chairs for First Officer, or Counsellor
There is an episode where Josh calls the Scotty episode a few seasons before it happens. Can't remember which one.
I think Prime Worf was the only one who experienced multiple shifts, and every time he shifted, he traded places with the Worf from the destination universe. So the Worf we saw on the viewscreen on the Prime Enterprise was probably very surprised to learn he didn't belong. He presumably came from a universe where the only change was that the cake was yellow instead of chocolate, and he never thought any more about it.
1:09:06 ROTFL!!!!
This is an entertaining and very Star Trek-y episode.
34:20 No, Worf's Worf overwrites the Worfs of the realities he jumps to. They're gone!
If that was the case there should be no Worf on our Worf's Enterprise because he would have never returned from the tournament, the first hump happened when the shuttle flew through the anomaly.
27:40 Data's eyes.
regarding 'Sliding Doors'. Well, patreon is independent but uses amazon web services (AWS) so technically the patreon takes comment with sliding doors in it was on some server... some amazon bot / ai / software may have used it to show it on your amazon prime dashboard. I don't say that it really happend, but technically it is not a big deal - as long as you have access to the data (which amazon does) and both account are identified to the same person... ;p
The intro to the YouTube reaction to Star Trek V contains a flashback to a TOS episode where you said you wanted to see Scotty beam himself in the head in a Jeffries tube. There is precedence unfortunately
And I didn’t go back and find that either!! Someone else did!
It's actually incredible how often you correctly predict future plot lines. The two surest things on the channel are getting future plot points right while getting behind-the-scenes guesses about how episodes came together wrong. (Great reaction.)
Fun episode but I hate the idea there are "infinitve universes", kind of destroys the weight of the outcome of events knowing that it went differently in "some other universe"..
Even if the multiverse were true (which I do not support), there would not be infinite universes, because there are not infinite possibilities.
Loved this episode! And, just FYI, "Happy Birthday" is no longer copyrighted.
I may have traveled into the future. I was watching a Voyager Season 2 episode this week, and a major guest star was spoiled in the opening credits. I could hear Josh and Alex complaining in my head already. lol
It's called "a hook"
When Deana Hangs Worf’s painting she takes down a shield. I noticed in the prime universe he doesn’t have a shield on that wall.
Yeah I just noticed this on the reaction rewatch, though I think they said in the episode that his shuttle caused the split and first jump, so maybe that first few minutes wasn't the prime universe either? This is why the episode is so good - it's still being debated 30 years later!
1:07.39: 'We say a lot of shit!' 14:02:00: 'Are we slipping through two dimensions or what?' And sometimes you nail the shit straight to the wall, Alex.
Can i just assure you that i love Geordie but he tends to die a lot in my favourite episodes, like this one, he was declared dead in The Next Phase, almost died in Timescape, and disappeared in Remember Me lol.
It's not uncommon for nurses to become doctors, I'm a nurse and some of my co-workers went to medical school and kept working as nurses part time while doing it.
"Why be the nurse when you could be the doctor?" — My mother, the MRN
I’m glad someone mentioned it, but that prediction about a Worf and Deanna coupling was in one of the first videos I saw from you guys. I immediately thought of this episode. I guess some people don’t like or speak badly about a possible Worf and Deanna relationship. That’s why this episode has a bad rep. And I didn’t agree and Josh totally confirmed my opinion about their chemistry. Having mostly watched TNG from random reruns, this was one of the first eps that I saw that didn’t treat Worf like a joke. So it’s special to me for that reason.
Hell yeah Worf and Deanna would break the bed in two
Nurse Chapel became a doctor by the time of her appearance in ST:TMP.
That was technically only 2 years after the end of TOS.
Definitely one of my favorite S7 episodes and one of my favorite Worf episodes as well. The appearance by Wesley Crusher would’ve been better if they hadn’t spoiled it in the opening credits.
The credits are legal requirements, they could have negotiated with Wil Wheaton to waive his credit or agree to be credited in the end credits but that's probably more work than they were willing to do for an appearance that's not a major plot point.
I usually comment after watching, but i'm fairly certain you will both love this as much as i do (ok i thought the same about Star Trek 6 lol) but this is one of my favourite 5 episodes of TNG...and guess what it's not even my favourite episode of the Season.
here we go.
this was one of the best of Season 7
For me a Top 10 TNG Episode. Just the few Scenes with Diana and Worf as Couple felt so real. Such a good Perfomance from Marina Sirtis.
I imagine they went there because of their chemistry? Since Ethics? The cost of living?
I work in healthcare on a med-surg floor, and honestly I’ve never known a nurse who went on to become a doctor. I’m sure it’s happened somewhere, but it’s not common since becoming a doctor is a totally different path with a lot more school, training, and cost. What I do see a lot more often is nurses moving into advanced roles, like becoming a Nurse Practitioner (NP). That’s something I’m actually thinking about once I finish my Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). Nurse Practitioners do many of the same things doctors do, like diagnosing and prescribing medications. In some states they still have to work under a physician, but in others they can run their own practice and be someone’s primary care provider. It comes down to what kind of work you want to do. While I currently work on a med-surg floor, I have spent a lot of time working in the Emergency Department (ED) and I just really love being in the trenches in that kind of environment. Though, I think I'm going to end up in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). I like working with complex cases, but also just having two patients for the twelve hours :P
My wife is a nurse and that’s exactly what she’s doing. She’s told me that, as a nurse, there’s more human contact and emotions involved while a doctor is (for a very good damn reason) more clinical. That might be why, also.
re: the nurse/doctor question, technically those are different professions. I have 2 cousins who actually got their doctoral degrees in nursing, so they are doctors of nursing, but those are academic degrees, not medical doctorates. A nurse, a nurse practitioner, and a doctor all work in healthcare, but they have different training and roles. Nurses focus on direct patient care and usually work under the supervision of doctors or nurse practitioners. Nurse practitioners are more advanced—they’re still nurses by training, but with a master’s or doctorate in nursing, they can diagnose, prescribe medication, and often work independently, especially in primary care. Doctors go through medical school and residency and have the most extensive training, allowing them to specialize, perform surgery, and handle the most complex medical decisions. Even though some nurses have doctorate degrees, they’re not medical doctors—they just hold a doctorate in nursing.
I have seen this many times, but have *never* noticed Data's eyes blue in the one quantum reality. Wait, WAAIT... I just realized, what if as quantum Worfs were switching around, the Husband Worf was with Prime Deanna, gave her the idea of it being possible, so she then arranged the private birthday celebration for Worf, hoping he would make a move, and he did!
I think him going back to before he re joined the enterprise canceled out any of that.
So after a rocky star, TNG S7 is getting pretty good. And after a really strong start, DS9 S2 is getting pretty bad. What new twists await for our Target Audience?
Carl Weathers?
Yay! I always enjoy this episode. Some really funny bits
Love Love Love that painting!
"Happy Birthday To You" used to be copyrighted, but about a decade ago a court ruled that the copyright claim was invalid because nobody could prove who originally wrote it. So now it is in the public domain.
Can you imagine being those Bajorans, attacking the Enterprise, and then seeing thousands of galaxy class ships appear out of nowhere? I hope they were wearing their brown uniforms. I agree this isn't a S tier, but it's a solid A or maybe A+. Very entertaining concept and it's well executed. At first the little changes make you wonder if Worf is just losing it or it's a practical joke, but then the changes are too much to explain away. While the whole multiverse thing was pretty novel at the time, it's become a much more common trope in recent decades. Because of that, it feels like these days this episode is more known for the memes it generated. One being Frakes running down the corridor shouting "TRACEE!!!", and the other(funny enough also related to Riker even though it's a Worf ep) is of course the dishevelled Riker from the universe where the Borg won. "The Federation is gone, my beard is everywhere" is the most common. As for Worf and Deanna, does pairing them up work? Eh. Yeah it's true Worf was at least somewhat bullshitting about klingon sex being too dangerous for non klingons. Klingons definitely have some resiliency with the redundant organs and all, but they're not nearly as tough as they claim. Still Hide and Q did give us the impression they go at it pretty rough. Could someone like Tasha or Kira play on their level? Most likely......with a trip to the doctor afterward. Could Troi? Probably not, but real talk she doesn't have to. Worf clearly moderates himself in many ways around non klingons. In Troi's case he probably dials it back to moderate hair pulling, and she's probably into that. Anyway I'm starting to sound like Prof Moff here. Does a romantic relationship between Worf and Troi work? Most Trek fans would say no. I still think K'Ehleyr was the best match for Worf(RIP). I don't think Troi/Worf is a terrible idea like some, but I'm not terribly fond of it either. Lastly I do like the fact that at least in one universe, Riker was able to step up to be captain after Picard's death, and Worf was able to step up to the XO role(bit of a snub to Data but alright) and by all accounts they seemed to be doing a solid job running the ship.
While Data is the most competent at everything! He doesn’t have the ambition of his human counterparts.
lol They found the clip. You guys do too much work, already. This is a great channel.
They seem the Tracy! Clip?
"Worf's Remember Me" is a PERFECT description. Its a perfect story idea for season 7, getting to play with all kinds of things from the whole show so far having gone differently.
Remember, when this originally aired in 93, most of us were viewing it on CRTs with roughly 200 visible scanlines per frame... and the image quality often depended on the quality of the actual TV's reception of the broadcast signal (or cable signal). The details like Data's eye color change weren't so easy to pick out... it wasn't until I saw the HD remasters decades later that I noticed the blue eyes! Pretty cool.
I saw this episode when it first aired and have watched it countless times since then, and I didn't notice Data's eyes being blue until today.
Also, Josh and Alex....are you familiar with the show, Sliders? I highly recommend it! At least the first season.
Yes, someone sent us the box set. It’s on the list
I was pleased with the Borg-Runnning-The-Alpha Quadrant reality we briefly got here, but it also would have been nice to see an Enterprise-D from the mirror universe we know and love from TOS. Just a quick little cameo.
The mirror universe is a different continuum than the multiverse.
There is a fantastic clip of one of the anniversary celebrations with the TNG cast where they mention the scene where Geordi dies. Spiner and Dorn kept cracking up because Data asks to speak to Geordi, but he’s like six feet away. It’s painfully obvious that he is dead from where they’re standing. Burton thought they were laughing because he was naked, but it was the dialogue!
To be fair... Geordi did not have a sheet over him, so it wasn't THAT obvious he was dead.
It’s like the movie Timecop, if Worf encounters another Worf they would devolve into a terrible looking CGI blob and disappear
An absolute favorite, especially when Riker runs madly down the corridor chasing Tracy.
Perhaps the best outtake of TNG came from Parallels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HqSH2HYA8g
I don't think Geordi is dead in the last universe because I think everything reset for all the universes to the point where Worf originally jumped in
Nah he’s dead. Worf hopped around, F’d up about six universes, then went home. Like a boss.
Not a nurse but know enough of them. Very few nurses go on to become doctors. But there are levels of nursing, and the highest levels literally do end up with about as much education as a doctor.
I haven't seen Sliding Doors, but that sounds like Run Lola Run which plays with a very similar concept. Highly recommend it, if you haven't seen it. Also no one owns the copyright to Happy Birthday anymore. It went public domain in 2016.
Great reaction guys, this was epic. And Josh that Nth Degree callback idea would have been BRILLIANT - I dig it.
I feel like this is different branches of possibilities in 'our' universe; but the mirror universe is something fundamentally different - it's not just events that are different in the mirror universe, it's inherently warped and people are the opposites of who they are in the main universe.
Yeah, they would be different continuums. But, realistically, the mirror universe could be just a very long ago quantum branch of the TNG universe.
Worf's sash was gold in season 1 but they changed to the silver one when he switched to the yellow uniform and became security chief in season 2. For some reason this is an episode I remember watching once as a kid but I don't think I ever rewatched it - it's much better than I remember and I enjoyed it a lot. On the plus side; because it's been so long I didn't remember anything other than the basic plot summary, so it was almost like watching a lost episode for the first time.
for your last sentence i like when that happens
I just love that you guys have been joking for a few seasons of the disaster that would unfold if we left Riker and Worf in charge with no backstop…after seeing that one universe where they’re crazed and battle damaged, now we know.
OTOH, we also saw a universe where Riker was captain and Worf was first officer, and things were otherwise normal apart from BOBW turning out different for Picard
Oh this one is fun just for Worf’s obvious discomfort for his birthday party.
And that chocolate cake looked luscious. Even without the mint frosting!!
What's interesting is, Everett's Many World's Interpretation is slowly becoming THE top contender for Quantum Theory Interpretation. The Copenhagen Interpretation (waveform collapse, alive-dead cats, etc) is falling out of favor and rightly so! (it's ridiculous). Many quantum theorists are saying Many World's is most likely what happens, and without getting into the science, the fact that quantum computers do work is hard evidence (some even say proof). I have a feeling we will know one way or another in the next 30 years.
Mark my words: the multiverse isn't real. But the alive-dead cat thing is supposed to be ridiculous. It was posited as a criticism, not an explanation!
When I first saw this episode, I totally missed Data's blue eyes. Now that I know, I cant ignore them.
One of the most Star Treky episodes out there for me. Constant rewatch value and joy.
Fun episode, but it kinda ruins the stakes/lore for the entire show. Who cares if our Enterprise gets destroyed and all crew members get killed, because there are infinite other Enterprise crews out there.
Probably the same reason you care when someone you know dies even though there could be infinite versions of them out there. Because this version is the one you know.
Oh man. Been waiting for this one Why? I know the episode name for being a great one. But never saw it for some reason. Answered some questions for me.
The Sex scoreboard has to make a tough call scoring this Ep. We have decided NOT to give Troi and Worf a King-on-bang-on. This is a close one. Did they? yes. In one universe they had kids. BUT we must remember what a score is for the sex scoreboard. The rule is, there must be a banging (or one that can be assumed) during the Ep. For example we do not have a horizontal loop-to-loop for Riker and Troi because it happened before the series and never in an ep. So, at no time does Troi get Worfed during the ep. So the scoreboard does not change. The sex scoreboard Riker 14 Troi 6 Picard 4 Dr. Bev 3 Data 2 Geordi 2 Broccoli 2 i Ro 1 Worf 1 Chief/Keiko 1 If you disagree (or agree) reply with your reasons. The Sex scoreboard does change the score but the wompa-bompa must meet what we started the series counting and that is where it just does not look like this can count. To be clear, it is not that it was a different universe or not "real", if it is in ep we will strongly consider and count it. That just does not seem to be the case. The one argument is at the end of the ep (which would count), did the dinner and champagne lead to some Klingon biting and nibbling. The Sex Scoreboard says no it did not.
No disagreements here. I think you nailed it so far!
More common for nurses to become nurse practitioners than physicians, but it does happen. The NP route is overall quicker, easier, and less expensive. Also, some do choose the physician's assistant (PA) route for the same reasons.
Same with CNAs becoming RNs. My wife is a CNA and a few in her field go on to be RNs. I would imagine the amount of schooling involved would prevent RNs from becoming doctors.
There was a court ruling a few years ago that “Happy Birthday” was public domain because of a long-ago lapse in copyright. (Back in the Nineties I’m pretty sure Paul McCartney’s company MPL owned it.)
W
It's funny, the multi-verse is such a tried sci-fi trope in 2025. If I remember right, the concept blew me away in 1993 when this episode aired, it wasn't nearly as circulated of an idea back then. Great episode, one of season 7's best for sure!
I know they gave it the whole this has fixed everything, don't worry about it treatment but I've always wondered if it wasn't and it was just a fix in the sense of sending the worfs back to their own universe.. Well, I've always taken it that all worfs are flicking between dimensions not just ours, after all when they contact our enterprise there's a worf on the bridge. So when they destroy the borg universe one, doesn't that mean there's an innocent worf who's now never getting back home? Not to mention what happens to the Worf from the borg universe who'd now have nowhere to go. Like I say, it's all fixed, don't worry about it but God I love this kinda stuff lol.
With the element of time travel I assume they do get back to their original universes, but with their memory.
Hell yeah one of the best of the season.
A perfect palette cleanser for Sanctuary.
So F-ing hyped to watch this today!!!!!!
My absolute favourite episode, but that's mainly because I'm a sucker for a nice little alternate universe exploration 😅
The last one of 1993... Star trek 7 came out in 1994.
😭
I (and presumably most of my variants) have been waiting for this one! It’s a favorite of mine.
What are you talking about?! You said you HATE this episode.