We'll Always Have Paris

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Star Trek: TNG episode
"We'll Always Have Paris"
Picard thinks about the woman he had left behind in "We'll Always Have Paris".
Episode no.	24
Prod. code	124
Airdate	May 2, 1988
Writer(s)	Deborah Dean Davis Hannah Louise Shearer
Director	Robert Becker
Guest star(s)	Michelle Phillips, Rod Loomis, Kelly Ashmore, Isabel Lorca, Dan Kern, Jean-Paul Vignon, Lance Spellerberg
Year	2364
Stardate	41697.9
Episode chronology
Previous	"Skin of Evil"
Next	"Conspiracy"

"We'll Always Have Paris" is a first season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, first broadcast May 2, 1988. It is episode #24, production #124, teleplay written by Deborah Dean Davis and Hannah Louise Shearer, and directed by Robert Becker.

Overview: Picard meets an old flame, whose husband has created a haywire dimensional experiment.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

On stardate 41697.9, the USS Enterprise is on course to Sarona VIII for shore leave. Captain Picard has begun his recreation in the ship's gymnasium practicing fencing with Lt. Dean. He and Dean spar against each other when suddenly, there seems to be a shift in time and the last few seconds repeat. Picard calls the bridge where Commander Riker reports the ship had passed through a distortion in time. Picard comes to the bridge where Lt. Worf receives an automated distress call from Dr. Paul Manheim which repeats an urgent need of assistance. Riker recalls the story that Manheim was ejected from the Federation Science Institute for conducting unauthorized experiments. Picard's thoughts however, drift to something else. He then orders an intercept course.

Picard goes to a holodeck and brings up a program for the patio of the "Café Des Artistes" where he takes in the 24th century Paris skyline. He observes a lovely young girl at a nearby table talking to a friend and overhears her conversation about her boyfriend's decision to join Starfleet which would result in him leaving her behind on Earth. It bears an uncanny resemblance to Picard's past situation where he made a similar decision against the wishes of a former girlfriend and the memory pains him.

Picard returns to the bridge where Riker reports the time ripple had been felt by the USS Lalo and the colony on Coltar IV. La Forge then picks up new coordinates relayed from the original source of the distress call, but it leads to the isolated Vandor system. Apparently, Manheim doesn't want to be found so easily. Heading to Vandor they find a battered planetoid orbiting a red giant and a pulsar. Sensors detect an impenetrable force field surrounding the planetoid emanating from a facility on the surface. They then receive a hysterical call from a woman who says her husband, Dr. Manheim, is injured.

The two are beamed directly to sickbay where Dr. Crusher reports Manheim is in and out of consciousness. Picard arrives to see Manheim's wife Jenice standing in the doorway. Her eyes pop open at the sight of him saying, "Jean-Luc!". He takes her into Crusher's office and asks her what is going on. She says her husband has been working in the lab for days, but doesn't know what he's been doing. All she knows is that he was close to a major breakthrough. Picard explains he will beam a awayteam down to investigate, but Jenice warns of her husband's elaborate security systems.

Picard, Data and Riker find themselves outside the turbolift a second earlier

Picard walks to the bridge with Data and Riker. When the three enter the turbolift, they see their past-selves for a second standing behind them. Data indicates, the "Manheim Effect" is becoming more prevalent. On the bridge, Data reports the presence of an energy beam in the main lab of the facility, suggesting it may be keeping the dimensional door open. He states Manheim made pioneering efforts in the theories of linear time before leaving the institute and Picard wonders if any of it has to do with whatever is going on down there. He gives the go ahead to beam a away team down. Riker, Data and Worf beam down, but when they materialize in a corridor of the station, their forms become erratic and they bounce back to the Enterprise, nearly losing Worf in the process.

Crusher calls Picard to let him know that Dr. Manheim has finally come around, He and Data rush down to talk to him. Manheim is confused about what happened, incoherently saying he has been to the "other side". Picard tells him that whatever it is he has done is affecting the entire galaxy. Manheim says he was experimenting with relationships of time and gravity and states he was able to harness the energy of the pulsar, tapping into the gravitational power to produce a funnel into another dimension. Manheim says he doesn't remember his security codes, but provides transport coordinates that he thinks should be safe. He then falls back to unconsciousness.

Picard heads to the observation lounge where Jenice enters to talk. She asks him why he stood her up back in Paris. He admits it was fear in losing her and himself. She says not a day has gone by that she didn't look to the stars and think about him. She admits she still loves him, and always will. Picard smiles, but he is fearful if the time experiment goes out of control, he'll lose her again. Down in sickbay, Manheim awakens. Picard arrives and Manheim tells him that he deserves Jenice, he knows she has always loved him. He wants to be sure, that whatever happens to him, Picard must promise to take care of her. Manheim passes out again leaving Picard uneasy.

Later, Data reports that they have managed to bypass the security system and he gives Data approval to beam down alone. Data beams down into a corridor quickly encountering blasts from two automated security phasers beside the main door to the lab. He uses his machine reflexes to leap to cover and fires at the weapons to disable them. He walks to the door and deactivates a beam field. Inside the lab, he finds a column of energy which makes waves of visual distortion. He calls to the Enterprise and indicates he can add antimatter to the dimensional matrix and restabilize the energy flow. This should cause the dimensional window to collapse and end the "Manheim Effect".

Data uses a gripping device to carefully remove the antimatter container and readies to insert it into the dimensional column. He looks back and is amazed to see his past self entering the room. A third Data appears and repeats the actions of the second. Data realizes that only one of his counterparts is in the correct timeline. They decide to simultaneously work together as the Datas insert the antimatter and the column of energy flares up and finally vanishes. The hole has been plugged and Data's doubles have disappeared.

Aboard the Enterprise, Manheim makes an instant recovery. He awakes as his excited self again. Jenice is ecstatic and hugs her husband. He assures her that everything is okay now. Manheim thanks Picard for his help assuring he will not conduct such a foolish experiment again.

With everything settled, Picard heads back to the holodeck cafe program. He sits at his table, and smiles when he sees Jenice enter who came to say goodbye. They share a glass of wine together recalling the old times they had. She states they could have been the happiest couple in all the worlds, but knows that they had both made good choices. Jenice and her husband head back to their facility as Picard goes to the bridge. He tells Riker he remembers them being on their way to Sarona VIII, mentioning a great bar there, but he forgot the name. Deanna recalls the place, the "Blue Parrot Café", and Picard tells her she's buying.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Trivia

Jenice is played by Michelle Phillips, better known as one of the members of The Mamas & the Papas.

The episode's title comes from the movie Casablanca. The Blue Parrot Café is also from the same film; it is the bar across the way that competes with the character Rick Blaine's bar.

The matte painting of Paris was used again in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country for the president's office.

When the "Manheim effect" strikes Data while he attempts to seal the time rift, three Datas are momentarily present in the lab. While they try to determine which one of them is in the correct time stream to perform the work, the middle Data cries, "It's me!" This is one of a very few times in the series when Data uses a contraction.