"Cause and Effect" is considered by many fans to be one of the best episodes of the series Star Trek: The Next Generation. It features guest star Kelsey Grammer and was directed by Jonathan Frakes from a script by Brannon Braga. It originally aired as Episode 118 on 23 March 1992 (Stardate 45652.1).

The show has a famous opening sequence: The Enterprise has suffered heavy damage and attempts to control the disaster are failing. Captain Picard issues the frantic order, "All hands abandon ship. Repeat, all hands abandon..." as the ship explodes.

After a commercial break, the episode resumes as if nothing happened. Riker, Crusher, Worf, and Data are playing cards, but a sense of déjà vu allows Dr. Crusher to call Riker's bluff. Crusher then goes to sickbay to treat Geordi LaForge for dizziness, and again thinks she's done the same before. After she goes to bed, she is haunted by strange voices.

Soon after, the ship loses power as a second ship emerges on a collision course with it. Riker suggests decompressing the main shuttle bay, but Picard takes Data's advice to use a tractor beam. This fails and the ship is again destroyed like it was in the opening sequence.

The same scenes are repeated again after a commercial break, but the crew experiences a greater sense of déjà vu. They determine that they are caught in a time loop. They work to figure out a way to escape the loop for the remainder of the episode.

The production team had hoped to get Kirstie Alley in a cameo role behind Kelsey Grammar in the USS Bozeman shots, but her asking price for such a small role was too high.

External link

• [1] (http://www.memory-alpha.org/en/index.php/Cause_and_Effect) at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek WikiWiki