“Deja Q” is written by: Richard Danus and is directed
by: Les Landau. It was produced under
production code 161, was the 13th episode of Star Trek: The Next
Generation Season 3, the 61st episode overall, and was broadcast
on February 5, 1990.
If “Q Who” was a dramatic masterpiece, “Deja Q” is a
comedic one. The premise of Q’s
appearance in Season 3 of Star Trek: The Next Generation is what if we
allowed the crew of the Enterprise to get their revenge on Q. How do we do that? By having Q rejected from his people,
stripped of his extradimensional powers, and given mortal form as a human
being. The choice of mortal form is
actually his own, a fascinating choice for the character as this is an episode
that really does add layers to the immortal.
This is almost entirely the plot of “Deja Q”, Q is powerless and sent to
the Enterprise. There is a B-plot
involving a moon that has been flung out of its orbit and is going to crash
into its planet, Bre’el IV, which is inhabited.
Technically the Enterprise attempting to stop this destruction is
the large threat of the plot, but it is more a vehicle to explore Q as a
character and just let the crew of the Enterprise flex their acting
abilities and the characters. The only
real narrative problem with “Deja Q” is the ending, like last season’s “Q Who”
is that it is a deus ex machina of another Q coming to give our Q his immortal
status back, though even with that it does at the very least give Q one last
chance to really show that even if he denies it by forcing a cigar into the
hand of Captain Picard, he does have a little bit of humanity inside of himself. This also comes after the best scene of the
episode, Q’s celebration via among other things a mariachi band which has given
the internet a beautiful GIF (this episode is also responsible for the GIF of Picard
facepalming). Okay it’s not like it’s
particularly telling about Q’s character or anything, it’s just an aspect that
is so ridiculous it acts as the pinnacle of the episode’s comedy. It’s one final massive joke to really go out
on leading into that final sting that is perfect.
There’s also something particularly special about the
first act of “Deja Q”. Discovering Q has
become human and not quite trusting him, the crew do take him aboard, giving
him a particularly ugly costume and the cast’s general performances become a
comedic revenge against Q for “Encounter at Farpoint”, “Hide and Q”, and “Q Who”. This works because Richard Danus’ script is
particularly witty and Les Landau’s direction really plays into the reactive
comedy of the characters. John de Lancie
for his part is able to give just this true sense of being put out and limited
by his now human form, but everybody gets at least one good jab in. Gates McFadden as Dr. Crusher gets some
particularly great ones because she has to help Q with back problems that
develop in the mortal form. This is
really confined to the first act of the episode as it builds to the point where
Q has to realize how to act as a mortal: eating and sleeping are the big ones because
using the restroom on television isn’t a thing.
Like the episode elevating to a great conclusion, this first act is
building to a great conclusion: the second confrontation between Q and
Guinan. Yes, Whoopi Goldberg is back as
Guinan for this episode and while the role isn’t as big as it was in “Q Who”, Goldberg
and de Lancie verbally sparring, this time with Goldberg on top, is just another
delight in the episode. You van
particularly feel how much Guinan is getting out of this interaction, but it
isn’t ordinary verbal sparring, it’s an addition to the episode’s exploration
of what makes someone human.
“Deja Q” actually pairs Q with Brent Spiner’s Data for
much of the runtime, this paring being what really gives it the substance. While Star Trek: The Next Generation
does have some continuity of plot points, especially with recurring characters
like Q, it isn’t truly serialized, but Data as a character over all three seasons
has been given several pieces of developments.
Data’s quest to be truly alive and human is a recurring theme and “Deja
Q” posits that Q sees the android as actually a superior life form. The weaknesses of mortality and humanity are
not worth what would be gained, that cold logical thinking being closer to the
Q Continuum’s omniscience that a mortal could get. Spiner and de Lancie both play these scenes straight,
playing them like serious philosophical discussions on the science fiction backdrop
of the Enterprise. Spiner plays Data
here as aware of developments from the show’s history, he is seen as human in
the philosophical sense, but he is not biologically a human being. His emotions are simulated and he still wants
them, the good and the bad. The act of
living life as an ordinary man is very much the idea that Q learns to see by
the experience of being human: he has to make a selfless sacrifice because part
of being human is facing consequences for previous actions. Q has created several enemies, enemies that
could not touch him as an immortal, but only the discussions with Data about
humanity could allow Q to make that decision.
The episode doesn’t quite sit in the decision as well as it could to get
us to the deus ex machina conclusion, but the buildup to that is so good and
the ideas at play really do work.
Overall, while “Deja Q” isn’t quite as gripping in
terms of suspense and action as “Q Who” was, it is an episode that is more than
a worthy follow up to what Q is slowly becoming over the course of the
show. It’s explicitly a comedy, but it’s
a comedy very much concerned with philosophical truths about the nature of
humanity and living an ordinary life. The
cast are also just having the absolute best time of the episode (I didn’t even
mention the comedic scenes with Jonathan Frakes as Riker and Michael Dorn as
Worf and how they also reveal aspects of Q learning to be human). If only it didn’t just end so quickly with a
deus ex machina of Q becoming omniscient again, it would be the best Q episode thus
far. 9/10.
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