Star Trek: The Next Generation: Remember Me

"Remember Me" is the fifth episode of season four of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the seventy-ninth episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Cliff Bole and written by Lee Sheldon. It first aired in syndication on October 22nd, 1990. In this episode, the Chief Medical Officer of the Federation Starfleet starship USS Enterprise, Doctor Beverly Crusher is trapped in a collapsing warp bubble where all her friend's and loved ones slowly disappear, all while being pursued by a mysterious vortex.

Synopsis
"Chief Medical Officer's log, Stardate 44161.2. We are docked at Starbase One-Three-Three for scheduled crew rotation. I look forward to welcoming aboard my mentor, and dear friend, Doctor Dalen Quaice, who will be traveling with us to his home planet, Kenda Two."

-Voiceover (Beverly Crusher)

In the transporter room, Doctor Beverly Crusher waits patiently near Miles O'Brien. Before long the transporter activates, and an old man, Dalen Quaice, materializes before them. Beverly instantly moves to embrace and greet her mentor, clearly happy to meet him. Quaice offers his thanks for the Enterprise giving him transport to his destination, but Beverly assures him that it was on their way anyways. They then proceed to leave, with Beverly thanking O'Brien on their way out.

In the hallway, Beverly and Quaice walk closely next to each other. Beverly proceeds to offer her condolences for the recent death of Quaice's wife, and asks if that's why he's leaving the starbase. Quaice confirms this, and talks about how people just seem to keep disappearing as you grow older. Beverly quickly appears to seem disturbed by this, something Quaice notices. He quickly apologizes for this, and offers a joke about baggage, which cause's Beverly to smile. However as soon as they begin walking again, the smile disappears, and Beverly appears to continue pondering this, clearly disturbed.

In engineering, Wesley Crusher is busy running an experiment, as Geordi LaForge tries to get him to stop so that he can bring the engines back online. Wesley is attempting to experiment with warp bubbles. Beverly then enters engineering and watchs her son work, which surprises Wesley. Wesley continues to work, as Geordi gets increasingly impatient. Suddenly a flash of blue light occurs, causing both to be surprised. However, a quick check shows that nothing was wrong, and Geordi asks yet again for Wesley to stop, which he finally does. As he's doing so, Wesley notices that Beverly is gone, however he shrugs his off as her simply leaving the room. Wesley finishes shutting down the experiment, allowing the engines to come back on. The enterprise then proceeds to leave the starbase.

The next day, Beverly, with a smile on her face, as she walks down a corridor towards Quaice's guest quarters. Upon reaching the door she presses the button for the door chime, however there's no response. With a confused expression, Beverly hits the chime again, but there is still no response. Concerned, Beverly presses a few buttons which cause the doors to open Beverly enters the room, announcing herself and calling for Quaice. She looks around the room, but cannot locate her friend. Beverly then called out for the computer and asked it to locate Quaice. However the computer claimed the Quaice is not aboard the Enterprise. Beverly is left standing there confused and nervous, as she attempts to contemplate this situation.

Awhile later, Beverly is leaning against a table, a worried expression on her face. Then Worf enters the room, and greets Beverly, Beverly then explains to Worf about Quaice and when he came on board. Worf then claims to not have been informed of the passenger. Beverly expresses confusion at this, since she believed Worf was to be informed of all new passengers, something Worf confirms. Beverly then finishes by stating how she couldn't find Quaice in his room, leading to Worf asking the computer for his location only to get the same response as Beverly. Worf then looks at her with a slightly annoyed expression, but Beverly quickly states how Quaice is old and that something could have happened. Worf then informs her that he'll begin searching immediately. Beverly thanks him, and Worf then turns to leave. Before leaving Worf asks her that despite Quaice being missing, it doesn't make sense that his belongs are missing two. Beverly ponders this as he leaves, clearly disturbed by the current situation.

Worf, Data, Picard, and Beverly are all meeting in Picard's ready room. Worf and Data both state that they have not been able to locate anyone, either by a deck by deck search, or with the ship's scanners. Beverly then grimly states that the sensors wouldn't pick him up if he were dead, a notion that clearly distresses her. Data quickly confirms this. Picard then asks Beverly if Quaice could have simply returned to the starbase, something she states is possible, but her tone indicates her obvious doubt. Picard then states that they should check the transporter logs, and contact the star base just to be sure. Data, Worf, and Beverly begin to leave, but Picard orders Beverly to stay. Picard then asks Beverly if she's aware of the protocol regarding passengers, which causes Beverly to state that she was just as confused as he about how Worf didn't know about Quaice only to be informed by Picard that he too didn't know about the passenger. This leaves Beverly startled, and she claimed to have sent the request weeks ago. Picard then asks the computer about the request, only for the existence of it to be denied by the computer. Beverly then reiterates that she had sent the request and it had been approved. Picard then speculates that it may have been intercepted by some enemy of Quaice's. Beverly doesn't respond, but she appears to remain unconvinced.

They both exit to the bridge, and Riker informs Picard that they are still on course for their destination. Picard acknowledges this, and turns to Data. Data informs him that the star base claims to have no record of Quaice at all. Beverly appears dumbfounded by this and Picard questions her again about Quaice and she delivers the same response. When Data reiterates Quaice's apparent lack of existence, Beverly retorts that she had interned with him as a student. Data then states that he believes her, but that he simply cannot locate any records. Some of them, including Wesley at the conn, begin to look at her suspiciously. Worf then enters and reports that he still cannot locate Quaice, with Riker responding that he isn't alone. Beverly continues to plead that she met him in the transporter room. Riker then asks who was on duty at the time.

Beverly and Riker are speaking to O'Brien. O'Brien asks if Quaice is a regular part of the crew, only to be informed that he was a friend of Beverly's and was beamed aboard during his watch. Beverly tries to make him remember Quaice, but he claims that she was all alone. Beverly, annoyed, asks if she was having a conversation with thin air. O'Brien looks at her, clearly beginning to doubt her mental state, claims that she entered the room, said thanks to him, and left. Beverly is left stunned by this, and looks at the equally surprised Riker.

Afterwards, Riker and Beverly are in the turbolift to the bridge discussing their conversation with O'Brien. They both quickly dismiss the possibility of O'Brien lying. Beverly suggests that O'Brien may have simply forgotten, but thinks she should examine him to make sure he hasn't been tampered with. Riker agrees, and adds that he'll check the transporter log, but makes a quip about how nobody has seen Doctor Quaice, showing that he's beginning to doubt Beverly. This causes Beverly to sigh and shake her head in distress.

Later in Sickbay, Beverly greets O'Brien who is waiting for her on a bed already. Beverly quickly walks over and greets O'Brien. O'Brien immediately complains and states that checking his eyesight won't change his story. Beverly assures him that she'll be more comprehensive than that. She then attempts to contact a doctor named HIll. However she gets not response, confusing Beverly. She then immediately calls for another doctor named Selar, but gets no response again. Annoyed, Beverly asks the computer to locate the two doctors, only to be told that these two doctors are not onboard. Beverly is left deeply perturbed by this development, as O'Brien looks at her strangely.

In the ready room, Beverly informs Picard that in addition to the two missing doctors, four other members of her staff are missing, with her nurses and even their families having no memory of them. Picard questions her if they came with Quaice, but Beverly assures him that they've been aboard for months. Picard notes that this is similar to O'Brien, and Beverly reports that she found nothing wrong with him. By this point it's becoming obvious that Beverly is becoming increasingly distressed. Wesley then calls Picard and asks him to come to engineering, stating that he's found something. They both exit to the bridge, and Picard asks about the progress, only for Worf and Riker to inform him of their lack of progress. Picard then orders them to continue working, as he wants answers as soon as possible.

In Engineering, Wesley and Geordi explain the warp bubble experiment to Picard and Beverly. They explain that they were unable to keep it stable and as a result there was a flash of light, which Beverly states that she remembered. They question if Quaice could have been captured inside the bubble, but is told the bubble never extended out of Engineering, meaning its unlikely to be the cause of the disappearances. However, Picard urges them to keep working on the theory, since its the only working one they have.

Beverly then returns to sickbay, but her pace slows considerably when she notices that the room is completely deserted. She walks around, desperately trying to find anyone, but its deserted. She stops and places her hand on one of the beds as the shock sinks in. Beverly is deeply shaken by this, and is clearly getting scared. Beverly then immediately leaves Sickbay.

Beverly arrives on the bridge and announces that her entire staff is now gone. This causes Riker to question why she is surprised. Beverly retorts that she should always have 4 staff on duty at all times, only for Data to respond that she has no staff. Bewildered, Beverly questions how she could be the only medical professional on a ship of over a thousand people, but Data calmly responds that the crew numbers at only 230. Beverly is left shocked and speechless at this revelation. She is clearly losing all of her composure, which is only made worse as all of the officers look at her as if she's out of her mind. Picard then asks her to come to his ready room, and she complies.

Picard begins to question Beverly, calmly stating that she's stating that most of the ship is missing, yet the remainder have no memory of their existence, and their is no record or test that proves their existence. Beverly protests, desperately begging him to believe her. Picard assures her that he does, since not believing her may mean his ship is in danger, but gently asks if she's sure that she is in her right mind. Beverly briefly loses her composure, as her emotions give way and she retorts that she ran the tests herself and found nothing. She then collects her emotions, and regains a semblance of composure. Beverly then states that she'll talk to Deanna Troi. Picard is pleased by this. Beverly turns to leave, but then turns back around and begs Picard to return to the starbase, which after only a moment, he complies and gives the order. Beverly looks at him, clearly grateful and relieved.

Beverly returns to sickbay, and walks over to a table filled with supplies. She wraps her arms around her center, still clearly trying to come to terms with recent revelations. After a moment she drops her arms and begins rummaging through the supplies. Meanwhile off to the side, from the direction she entered in on, a bright blue light begins flashing, accompanied by a loud roaring sound. Confused, Beverly turns all the way around, and faces the direction the light is coming from, her face becoming illuminated by the light. As soon as she finishes turning around, a powerful air current suddenly forms, and Beverly is buffeted by the powerful winds, her hair is blown forward and covers her face, and her labcoat flutters freely around her, as she stands still stunned.

In front of her a swirling blue form of light constantly flashes in and out, until suddenly it forms a solid blue vortex. Sickbay suddenly becomes filled with the blue light, and the winds intensify immensely. Beverly, stunned, stands in her previous spot watching the vortex, as the powerful winds continue to buffet her. Before long, the winds become gale force, and a vacuum is formed. Objects from all over sickbay begin to be drawn into the vortex, as Beverly watches. Soon, even Beverly begins to be dragged forward by the powerful vacuum. Beverly attempts to dig her feet into the ground, but to no avail as she continues being dragged forward. Realizing she is about to be dragged in, Beverly screams in horror and desperately flails her arms in an attempt to latch onto something. The screaming Beverly is able to grab onto the door way she had previously walked through before she is completely pulled in. Her body is pulled through the doorway though, and she is left turned around.

Beverly struggles to hang on, with one of her hands being ripped free. The terrified woman places her back against the corner, as her long hair continues to blow over her face, covering it. She attempts to replace her hand on the wall, but she is quickly ripped back forward, and she stares at the vortex in terror. She manages to place her free hand in the gap of a nearby replicator, managing to stabilize her grip. More objects continue to fly by, as Beverly struggles to remain rooted. Before long the vortex begins to die out and the powerful vacuum fades with it, disappearing as quickly as it appeared.

Stunned and frightened, Beverly remains against the wall for a moment, staring at where the vortex had been, her hair falling over her face. Beverly slowly releases her grip and upon doing so her shoulders drop from a mixture of exhaustion and fright. However, Beverly manages to avoid collapsing to the floor. She wipes the hair from her face, as she stands up straight. She then walks forward toward the vortex's former location, shock and disbelief on her face. Clearly badly shaken, Beverly is left unable to speak, and only shakes her head in disbelief and horror at what happened to her.

Later the senior staff, minus Worf and Data, attend a briefing regarding Beverly's experience with the portal. Geordi explains that he had a team search for hours, but found no trace of the portals. Beverly protests loudly that she barely escaped from it, but all this does is draw stares and cause Geordi to state his doubts about its existence. Picard questions if perhaps the warp bubble was floating around the ship, though Geordi quickly denies that possibility. Data enters and explains that he found no malfunctions. Riker asks if any ships in the area have reported any similar disappearances, but Data denies this. Beverly nervously asks about the crew count. To Beverly's visible despair, Data claims the count is 114, which he claims is the correct number. Annoyed and scared, Beverly asks for an explanation of why the ship is so empty if that's the number, only for Data to list seemingly practical reasons. Picard gets Data to stop and then orders the crew to be confined to quarters. Beverly then asks if Worf could help her monitor the statuses of the crew, only to be questioned on who Worf is. However she is met with blank and concerned stares as she realizes Worf has now disappeared as well.

Beverly walks down a corridor, clearly nearing the breaking point. She finds Deanna, and they walk up to each other. Beverly asks if she has gone insane, only for Troi to doubt it, but her response leaves Beverly unsatisfied. Beverly then rants in frustration about the situation, before briefly succumbing to despair about the situation. Deanna reassures her that she's simply doing what she thinks is right, but does express doubt about her beliefs on the matter. Beverly expresses doubt that they'll even reach the starbase, before she nervously mentions Wesley, before rushing away. Deanna is left concerned.

Beverly enters Engineering and calls for Wesley, but when she doesn't see him at first she is briefly concerned. However, he quickly appears and questions if she's alright. Beverly explains that she needs his help, but can tell he doesn't believe her. They discuss who they should contact regarding this, and Wesley thinks the Traveler is the best option. They begin to leave Engineering to go to the bridge, with Beverly discussing her plan. However, as she turns a corner, Beverly quickly realizes that Wesley is gone. Beverly is left traumatized by this, and quickly runs out of the room.

Beverly quickly reaches a bridge that is completely deserted, except for Picard. Beverly calmly asks if they're all gone, and mentions some names and realizes that Picard has no idea who they are. Picard is clearly getting annoyed, but Beverly keeps ranting at him about the crew and who they are. However, Picard still can't remember any of them. Picard tries to console her, though he clearly thinks she's losing it. Beverly realizes its completely logical to him that they're completely alone on board. Beverly explains her plan to find the Traveler, but Picard remains doubtful. However, she manages to convince him to let her monitor his stats until he disappears. Picard sits in his chair, and Beverly sits in Riker's. Beverly promises to find the sources of this, but also apologizes for losing her temper. Picard quickly accepts this, knowing that she's acting in the best interests of everyone. Beverly begins to tell Picard something, but as soon as she looks away from him, he disappears. Devastated, Beverly vows to remember all of them.

Devastated, Beverly gets up off of Riker's chair and walks forward to the center of the bridge. She then turns her back to the viewscreen and glances around at the empty bridge. She stands there taking in the solitude of it all. However, behind her a faint roaring sound begins. Beverly then turns around towards the viewscreen as blue flashes begin to appear. One of the flashes illuminates her face as she stares at the source. As soon as the flash vanishes, a gust of wind rips through the bridge, blowing her hair forward. The before her eyes the flashes continue to intensify until the vortex appears yet again in front of her. The vacuum quickly reforms as the helm and ops consoles are flipped towards it.

Beverly stands there watch the vortex, stunned, as her hair blows over her face. The powerful force quickly takes hold of Beverly and begins dragging her forward. The powerful wind quickly knocks Beverly off of her feet, and she is dragged to the floor, screaming in terror.

Beverly hits the floor hard, and she is quickly pulled towards the vortex feet first. Realizing her situation, Beverly screams in terror as she is dragged closer and closer to the portal. Desperate, she frantically flails her arms, trying to grab something and prevent herself from being sucked into the powerful vortex. However, the frightened woman is unable to grab anything, and is left mere seconds from being pulled in. About to be dragged in, the screaming Beverly manages to grip Data's chair, finally having a grip to hold.

Beverly now struggles to hang onto the chair, because if she loses her grip she'll be dragged in. The powerful vortex quickly lifts Beverly off the ground and she is hovering in midair. Beverly frantically struggles to maintain her grip, with one hands being constantly ripped off. Beverly is looking at the chair, a terrified expression on her face as her hair is pulled completely back. The hand towards the bottom is ripped away, and the frantic Beverly quickly replaces it, just as the top hand is torn away and she is flipped over.

The powerful winds flip Beverly's body away from the chair, and her free hand is now her entire body length away, and she is floating in midair. Beverly stares at the vortex in utter terror as she is violently buffetted by the winds. Her hair is flying in front of her face, as her labcoat flutters freely in the wind. All that is keeping her from being blown in is the hand still on the chair. Beverly, continues staring at the vortex in utter horror as she is blown up and down on the chair.

As she is blown up again, Beverly turns her head back towards the chair. She rotates her arm all the way around her body, and moves to grip the chair with her free hand. Beverly misses the first attempt and her arm is briefly blown backwards. However, she manages to recover and grip the chair, as her hair is blown backwards. The winds continue to buffet Beverly, but she manages to maintain her grip.

After that, the vortex begins to dissipate yet again. The windblown and frightened Beverly drops to the floor, her hands still gripping the chair and her hair falling over her face. She slowly lefts go of the chair, and draws her legs closer to her as she leans against the chair. She then wipes some of her hair upwards, and begins pushing herself off the ground. Exhausted, Beverly just barely manages to boost herself into the chair. She then just sits there, watching the vortex vanish, still frightened.

Notes & Trivia

 * Production code number: 179


 * Stardate: 44161.2


 * The events from this episode take place in the year 2367.