Deja Q
When omnipotent trickster Q is stripped of his powers and pursued by vengeful Calamarain, Captain Jean-Luc Picard must protect his crew and a doomed moon while guiding a terrified, newly mortal Q—failure risks millions dead and planetary catastrophe.
A verdant world faces annihilation when its irregular moon, Klyo, begins a fatal descent—an asteroid-sized ferrous satellite destined to impact within hours and provoke seismic cataclysms, tsunamis, and a planetary ice age. The Enterprise grabs the moon with its tractor beam and strains every system (Geordi warns of thermal limits and a required delta-vee), but the ship cannot move the mass; Data reports the impact would destroy an eight-hundred-kilometer radius and seismic fallout could condemn the planet. The crisis detonates the inciting incident: amid the ship’s frantic effort, an impossible sound crescendos and Q materializes, naked and fallible, collapsing to the deck. He announces, bluntly and with wounded vanity, “I am no longer a member of the continuum,” stripped of omnipotence as punishment—or so he claims—and pleads for sanctuary aboard the Enterprise.
Picard reacts with controlled loathing; Riker and Troi test his story while Worf confines him to a force-fielded cell. Q alternates self-pity, brittle humor, and naked terror: he lists human frailties, confesses he requested mortality so he could be near Picard (“Because in all the universe you are the closest thing I have to a friend, Jean-Luc”), and then, exposed and humiliatingly human, demands help. Data and Geordi reluctantly cooperate, extracting useful theoretical insights: Q proposes altering the gravitational constant—Data and La Forge translate it into a practical plan to wrap a low-level warp field around the moon to reduce its effective inertial mass. Geordi engineers a risky modification of the forward warp-field coils to extend a lobe large enough to embrace part of the moon.
A second crisis erupts: the Calamarain, an ionized, plasma-based alien intelligence that hates Q, attacks the Enterprise. Their tachyonic assaults penetrate shields, freezing systems and targeting Q in Ten-Forward, isolating and terrifying him. Guinan punctures Q’s hand to test his mortality; when the aliens cocoon Q in light, Data rushes to rescue him and is himself enveloped—his positronic net sustains catastrophic strain. Geordi and Crusher race in Sickbay to revive Data, and the fragile moral architecture of the ship becomes visible: Picard bristles but also shows restraint; Data acts out of a nobler curiosity, defending a creature who has repeatedly tormented humanity.
Engine Room drama crescendos into a desperate maneuver. Geordi enlists Q’s limited knowledge under Data’s supervision; Q performs humiliatingly human tasks and struggles with interpersonal dynamics. The ship extends the warp-field forward, successfully reducing part of the moon’s inertial mass enough to nudge its trajectory. When the Enterprise, hugging the atmosphere, takes a crushing hit from the Calamarain and plunges into the upper atmosphere, systems flare and the structural integrity field must be manually tuned. The Calamarain overwhelm shields again, the light-effect lifts Q, and Data sacrifices time and safety to pull him free; Data collapses under the strain, and the crew fears he is lost.
In Sickbay, Geordi and Dr. Beverly Crusher work to reset Data’s positronic circuits. Q confronts an inward truth: exposed to mortality, he confesses cowardice and shame and admits he would not have risked himself for Data. Picard refuses to forgive on sentiment alone, but he refuses to abandon principle: he assigns Data to guard Q and keeps him close. Q oscillates between suicidal despair and a trembling grasp of gratitude; he attempts to leave in a shuttle, apparently to invite the Calamarain to finish him. The Calamarain close in and systems fail—transporters, tractors, shields freeze—but an unexpected intervention halts the endgame: another member of the continuum, a second Q, appears in the shuttle, slaps sense and cosmic consequence into the first Q, and restores his powers. Q tests his regained omnipotence—snapping his suit into a Starfleet uniform, dispersing the Calamarain—and returns to the crew in extravagant, mocking celebration.
Q repays in his own currency: he restores the moon to its proper orbit, announces his forgiveness by the continuum, and offers Data a ‘going away present’—a mysterious gift that produces in Data an uncontrollable, genuine belly laugh, a first taste of human emotion. The plot resolves with Bre’el Four safe (Garin reports the moon’s altitude and circularized orbit), Data alive and changed, Q omnipotent and insolent, and Picard left to wonder whether a trace of humanity lingers in the trickster who tormented them.
The episode hammers a set of themes with blunt, dramatic clarity: vulnerability and responsibility collide; compassion proves strategically costly but morally essential; humiliation and mortality transform arrogance into humility. Q’s forced mortgage on humanity reveals empathy not through rhetoric but through consequence—Data’s near-sacrifice and subsequent laughter mark the most concrete evidence of moral growth. Picard steers the ship by principle: he refuses to use Q as a weapon, insists on restraint, and ultimately accepts an uneasy peace between moral duty and cosmic caprice. The screenplay closes on Q’s whisper—“Don't bet on it, Picard”—a sly reminder that mercy in the galaxy is always provisional, and that human decency remains a dangerous, unpredictable force.
Events in This Episode
The narrative beats that drive the story
The Enterprise strains against cosmic odds, wrestling a rogue moon from its collision course with Bre'el Four, a verdant world facing an apocalyptic ice age. Systems scream, circuits near thermal limits, and the tractor beam falters, unable to shift the immense mass. Amidst this desperate struggle, an impossible sound crescendos, ripping through the ship's frantic efforts. Suddenly, Q materializes, naked and vulnerable, collapsing to the deck. He announces his fall from omnipotence, claiming punishment from the Continuum and pleading for sanctuary, a shocking betrayal of his usual cosmic arrogance. Picard, seething with controlled loathing, disbelieves Q's tale, consigning him to a force-fielded cell. Q, now confined and terrified, bemoans the indignities of human existence, revealing a raw, uncharacteristic fear. As the ship grapples with the moon's inexorable descent, a new, unsettling threat emerges: an unseen entity probes the Enterprise with Berthold radiation, its lethal scan lingering ominously on Q, hinting at deeper, unseen forces now drawn to his newfound mortality. The stage is set for a perilous dance between cosmic caprice and human principle, with millions of lives hanging in the balance.
On the Enterprise bridge the crew moves from technical assessment to grim inevitability: Data confirms the moon's deteriorating orbit, Bre'el scientists reveal its ferrous crystalline composition makes tidal breakup impossible, …
After a grim briefing that catalogues impossible physics and planetary annihilation, Picard shifts from inquiry to command. Scientists confirm the moon's ferrous, crystalline make-up will not fragment and impact is …
Picard authorizes a desperate, full‑power effort to nudge a ferrous rogue moon despite Geordi's technical bleakness: the Enterprise strains engines and tractor emitters beyond safe limits while Worf vectors nearby …
As the Enterprise strains against a doomed moon, Geordi warns the tractor beam and engines are at their thermal limits. Picard orders the desperate, slim attempt anyway. A rising, unidentifiable …
As the Enterprise strains to hold Bre'el Four's moon, Chief Engineer La Forge reports the tractor emitters are flexing and unable to transfer sufficient kinetic energy — the ship lacks …
As the Enterprise struggles to halt Bre'el Four's plunging moon, Q appears vulnerable and naked, claiming the Continuum has stripped him of his powers and that he begged to be …
On the Enterprise bridge, Q abruptly reveals he has been expelled from the Continuum and rendered mortal. His theatrical humiliation collides with the crew's fury and fear: Troi senses genuine …
Trapped in his cell, Q, now acutely aware of his human frailties, leverages his vast, albeit now powerless, knowledge to secure his release, offering theoretical insights into the moon's crisis. Picard, driven by the looming planetary catastrophe, reluctantly agrees, assigning Data as Q's constant, vigilant shadow. Q, chafing under mortal constraints, struggles with the indignities of hunger and pain, yet his cosmic perspective sparks a breakthrough: he proposes altering the gravitational constant of the universe. Geordi and Data, translating this impossible concept into practical Starfleet engineering, devise a risky plan to wrap a low-level warp field around the moon, reducing its inertial mass. The fragile truce shatters as the Calamarain, an ionized plasma entity with a deep-seated hatred for Q, launches a furious assault. Their tachyonic blasts pierce the Enterprise's shields, freezing systems and isolating Q in Ten-Forward. Guinan, ever the pragmatist, confirms Q's mortality with a brutal fork stab, validating his terror. Data, acting on an impulse of selfless curiosity, rushes to Q's aid, only to be enveloped by the alien light, his positronic net sustaining catastrophic strain. The ship's moral architecture begins to crack, revealing the profound cost of protecting a tormentor.
In the detention cell Worf coldly converts years of betrayal into action: he orders Q silent, refuses mercy, and physically divides the room by activating a forcefield. Q's mocking, incredulous …
Worf physically asserts control over the formerly omnipotent Q by ordering him into the brig and having a forcefield activated that literally divides the room. Stripped of escape, Q's theatrical …
In Picard's ready room the technical failure becomes moral ballast: Geordi delivers a blunt debrief that the tractor beam drained critical power and they lack the time or energy to …
In the ready room, technical failure hardens into a moral crisis when Q insists he has been stripped of the Continuum and rendered mortal. Picard and Riker confront him — …
Imprisoned and newly mortal, Q pleads for sanctuary and offers the only thing he still has: knowledge. Picard faces a moral calculus—release a tormentor or condemn millions—then reluctantly removes the …
Picard confronts a newly mortal Q in the brig and, despite deep mistrust, chooses pragmatism over principle: he deactivates the forcefield and orders Data to be Q’s constant minder. Q, …
The Enterprise reels from the Calamarain assault, its structural integrity tested, as Q's true, self-serving motives are laid bare. Cornered, Q confesses his plea for sanctuary was a calculated gambit for protection against his myriad cosmic enemies, exploiting humanity's 'weakness' for compassion. Picard, his contempt boiling, refuses to be manipulated, declaring Q will be deposited at the nearest starbase. Yet, Data, ever the voice of logic and nascent empathy, intervenes, highlighting Q's crucial theoretical contributions to the moon crisis. Reluctantly, Picard assigns Q to Engineering, forcing him to assist Geordi, a humiliating plunge into manual labor and human teamwork. As the moon reaches its perigee, the Enterprise prepares for its desperate maneuver, lowering shields to extend a massive warp field. The Calamarain, sensing vulnerability, renew their attack with devastating force. The ship plunges into Bre'el Four's upper atmosphere, systems flaring, structural integrity failing. Amidst the chaos, the alien light re-envelops Q, lifting him. Data, without hesitation, sacrifices his own safety and precious time, battling the encroaching energy to pull Q free. The heroic act comes at a terrible cost: Data collapses, his circuits overwhelmed, leaving the crew fearing he is lost.
In Engineering, with ten hours until the moon's perigee, Geordi lays out a desperate, high-risk plan to hold and push the moon with continuous warp-equivalent power while the ship skirts …
In Engineering Q, newly mortal and in visible pain, interrupts a tense technical briefing. Data calls for medical assistance; Dr. Beverly Crusher arrives, skeptical but clinical, and administers a hypospray …
Stripped of omnipotence and bewildered by appetite, Q allows Data to guide him through ordering human food in Ten Forward. The android's detached curiosity contrasts with Guinan's cold, moral clarity: …
In Ten Forward, freshly mortal Q stumbles through human ritual under Data's awkward tutelage. Guinan calmly undermines his bravado — stabbing his hand with a fork to prove he bleeds …
The Enterprise detects an amorphous cloud of energetic plasma whose internal patterns read as highly organized; the ship's computer declares it intelligent but cannot translate its signals. Picard orders contact …
A sentient Calamarain plasma cloud locks onto Q and rips through Enterprise defenses, exposing him as suddenly mortal. On the bridge the crew races to understand the intelligent signal while …
On the bridge, Picard confronts a newly vulnerable Q and uncovers the ugly motive behind his plea for sanctuary: he exploited human compassion to hide from vengeful enemies. Riker urges …
Stripped of omnipotence and visibly terrified, Q admits he sought refuge aboard the Enterprise as a calculated exploitation of human compassion. Picard confronts the moral rot of that confession and …
Under the pressure of a ticking catastrophe—Bre'el Four's moon reaches perigee in fourteen minutes—Picard makes a begrudging, pragmatic choice: the depowered, terrified Q will be escorted to Engineering to aid …
Data lies unconscious in Sickbay, his positronic net critically damaged, his life hanging by a thread. Geordi and Beverly work feverishly, their faces grim, as Q watches, a rare, disoriented silence falling over his usual bluster. Geordi's bitter words cut through the tension: Q is not worth this sacrifice. Alone with Picard, Q sheds his last vestiges of arrogance, confessing a profound, terrifying truth: exposed to mortality, he feels overwhelming cowardice and shame. He admits he would never have risked himself for Data, grappling with the android's selfless act. Picard, unyielding, refuses to grant absolution, still suspecting Q's machinations. Broken, Q declares himself a miserable failure as a human, a coward unable to endure the fear and indignity. In a desperate, self-destructive act, he attempts to leave the Enterprise in a shuttle, intending to invite the Calamarain to finish him, believing his death will protect the crew and offer a shred of dignity to his pathetic mortal existence. The shuttle launches, a tiny vessel speeding towards a vengeful, plasma-based doom.
In the turbolift en route to Engineering, Data coolly strips away Q's theatrical fury and reframes the crisis: this is not a question of raw ability but of Q's incapacity …
In the turbolift en route to Engineering, Q simmers between bluster and brittle confession while Data calmly punctures his theatricality. Data reframes the problem: omnipotence isn't the issue—Q's inability to …
On the Main Bridge, Bre'el Four's representatives report that the moon is accelerating toward perigee and civilians—especially on the western continent—face catastrophic loss if the Enterprise fails. The scientist's grim …
On the bridge Picard receives a desperate, moral appeal: Garin and a Bre'el Four scientist report accelerating tides and the impossibility of sheltering everyone if the moon impacts. As the …
On the bridge Picard pieces together why Q has sought refuge: stripped of omnipotence, Q is terrified and seeking protection from enemies such as the vengeful Calamarain. The revelation forces …
On the Enterprise bridge a tense moral and tactical debate erupts over the now-mortal Q. Riker urges handing Q to the vengeful Calamarain; Picard resists abandoning a prisoner. When Data …
Under a tightening time clock—the moon reaches perigee in fourteen minutes—Geordi presents a risky engineering workaround: manually extend the forward lobe of the warp field to buy crucial seconds. Picard …
Q, a self-proclaimed coward, races toward the Calamarain in a shuttle, seeking a definitive, if ignoble, end to his mortal torment. Picard, despite his profound disdain, cannot abandon principle; he orders a rescue, but the Calamarain's interference freezes transporters, shields, and tractor beams, trapping Q in his suicidal trajectory. Just as doom closes in, an impossible intervention shatters the endgame: a second Q, an omnipotent member of the Continuum, materializes in the shuttle. This Q2, the architect of Q's punishment, reveals he orchestrated the entire ordeal, observing Q's struggle. He acknowledges Q's tiny, unexpected flicker of selflessness in attempting to sacrifice himself for the Enterprise. With a cosmic slap of consequence, Q2 restores Q's powers. Q, reborn into omnipotence, revels in his regained abilities, snapping into a Starfleet uniform, then effortlessly banishing the Calamarain with a flick of his wrist. Returning to the Bridge in a flamboyant, mocking celebration, Q repays his debt: he restores the moon to its proper orbit, announces his forgiveness by the Continuum, and offers Data a profound 'going away present'—a mysterious gift that ignites in Data an uncontrollable, genuine belly laugh, a first taste of human emotion. The crisis resolves, Bre'el Four safe, Data transformed, and Q, insolent as ever, leaves Picard to ponder the lingering, dangerous question of whether a trace of humanity now truly resides in the trickster.
Data lies inert as Geordi and Dr. Beverly Crusher race to repair a nearly destroyed positronic net while the bridge officers and a bewildered, newly mortal Q look on. Picard …
In Sickbay, Data lies unconscious while Geordi and Beverly fight to stabilize his crippled positronic net. Picard and a shaken, newly mortal Q watch as medical reality collides with command …
Q enters Picard's ready room stripped of bravado and delivers a raw, unexpected confession: witnessing Data's selflessness has left him terrified of mortality and ashamed of his own cowardice. Picard …
In Picard's ready room Q arrives uncharacteristically somber and confesses that Data's selfless act exposed his own selfishness and newfound terror of mortality. Picard, rigid in principle, refuses to offer …
In Sickbay, while Beverly and Geordi frantically work to restore Data, Q — newly mortal and morose — stoops by the unconscious android and delivers an unexpected, intimate confession. He …
Newly mortal and suddenly vulnerable, Q delivers a small, surprising benediction to Data — admitting envy of humanity while confessing personal failure — then departs Sickbay morose and urgent. His …
Picard reluctantly orders Shuttle One beamed back to the Enterprise, but the transporter engineer cannot lock on. As the Calamarain closes, Geordi reports shields are frozen and the tractor beam …
On the Enterprise bridge Picard reluctantly orders Shuttle One beamed home, but the Calamarain's proximity cripples every conventional option. The transporter cannot lock, shields report as "frozen," and tractor controls …
A pivotal reversal: a second, omnipotent member of the Continuum (Q2) materializes in the crippled shuttle to confront the newly mortal Q, revealing that a tiny, unexpected act of selflessness …
An omnipotent member of the Continuum (Q2) materializes in the shuttle to confront a newly mortal Q. Q2 reveals he has been watching and, reluctantly admitting that Q committed a …
In the cramped shuttle Q2—an identical, implacable member of the Continuum—materializes to confront Q, confessing he engineered Q's exile and has been watching. When Q2 admits to registering a last‑minute, …
After sensors confirm the alien attackers and their shuttle have vanished, Q reappears in full, stage-managing an extravagant, mocking celebration—confetti, a mariachi band and fantasy distractions—before solemnly thanking Picard and …
Q abruptly returns to omnipotence and theatrically celebrates on the Enterprise bridge, dissolving the immediate Calamarain threat offscreen. He offers Data a cryptic 'going away' present that triggers Data's first …
Q theatrically returns to the Bridge, restored to omnipotence, celebrating with absurd fanfare before solemnly presenting Data with a mysterious "going away" gift. The gift triggers Data's first uncontrollable, genuine …