Q

Star Trek spin-offs

Star Trek, with its idealized view of the future and temporal-anomaly-of-the-week solution to every problem, was always a bit over the top. So it's hardly surprising that the three spin-off series (The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager) have made an omnipotent character seem perfectly normal, even when he plays with the universe as if it were his own little holodeck.

The playful, conniving, and mischievous Q, portrayed by John de Lancie, first appeared in the pilot episode of The Next Generation and figured into no more than a dozen episodes. But his whimsicality was always refreshing in a show that leaned toward the self-serious. Q was godlike, but not quite God: he would whisk the Enterprise from one end of the galaxy to the other with a mere snap of his fingers, but when it came down to it, Q cared. He sympathized with the human condition and, like all of us, he tried to understand it.

When we last saw Q, he was on Voyager, and he wanted to procreate with Captain Janeway. She didn't go for it, which bummed out many fans. Perhaps it's time for Q to snap his fingers and make the whole franchise rest in peace.

-- Theresa Regli