The final season of Star Trek, the Next Generation gave us some splendid episodes and also a fair share of stinkers. Everyone knew by this stage that they would not be renewed and attempts were made to wrap up various story lines before they said their final goodbyes. There is still a great deal to be enjoyed.
Parallels has the character of Worf skipping backwards and forwards between alternative realities after a blow on the head. We get a lot of "road not travelled" stuff such as did he/didn't he win the Batleth tournament, what is his relationship to Counsellor Troi, what colour uniform should he be wearing and why is Wesley Crusher back on the Bridge?
Plenty of people seem to have liked it (although not those writing their reviews here) and Michael Dorn certainly gave a very good performance as a person constantly having to come to terms with a shifting reality but........another quantum temporal rift? Really! If the viewer is reduced to checking out the background actors to find interesting "alternative universe" details such as the only time a Cardassian appears in a Starfleet uniform, then whatever is going on centre-screen has pretty much lost the plot.
The Worf/Troi romance was unpopular with long-time viewers too and, by the end of the season, the writers would have to admit their mistake. In the meantime, Marina Sirtis gave her best effort to bring this new-found relationship to life. I was a bit offended on her behalf that she only got to wear a couple of her oldest and most worn-out costumes for their domestic/romantic scenes. She's a lovely woman an she deserved better from the creative team - especially for the champagne scene.
Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5.