Remember Me - Beverly welcomes her mentor Doctor Quaice onboard. He talks about his wife and all his old friends dying. Meanwhile Wesley's doing some experiment, which Bev watches. She goes to see her friends but he's disappeared and the computer says he isn't on the Enterprise. There's no trace of him at all, not ever any records of his existence, and O'Brien doesn't remember beaming him onboard. Crusher can't find the other doctors on the ship either (including a Selar mention!) and nobody remembers them. Wesley's theory is that a warp bubble made the people disappear. More and more people disappear, and Data tells Beverly there's only 230 people on the ship instead of over a thousand. Picard says "tea, Earl Grey, hot" again! Then a weird votex appears in Sickbay and nearly sucks up Crusher. They're down to just 114 people on the ship now, but Data can explain the empty space! Even Worf disappears and he's a main character. She runs to Engineering in a panic but finds Wesley still there. He suggests getting The Traveler (from season one, remember) to help, then disappears.
Now everyone's gone except Crusher and Picard and he's sick of her crazy theories about people disappearing! Crusher thinks she's going mad as she desecribes everyone on the ship and Picard can't remember any of them. Crusher has something she wants to say to Jean-Luc...right before he disappears too. Crusher is nearly sucked into a votex again, and this time we discover that it's Wesley and Geordi in the real universe creating the votexes, trying to rescue her. The Traveler appears (Wesley is instantly turned on) and says there's still a way to save her. He says "as long as we think she's alive, she's alive" and Riker says "what the Hell does that mean?" in a brilliant Frakes' line delivery. Crusher is trapped in a static warp bubble where she now only has the Enterprise computer for company. She trips the computer up asking how she can possibly crew the ship all by herself. The Traveler speaks his usual gobbledygook to Wesley about using his space Mozart powers to save his mother. Crusher finds out that the whole universe is disappearing and it's just her and the Enterprise left. "If there's nothing wrong with me, maybe there's something wrong with the universe!" She finally figures out that she's the one trapped in the bubble. The ship itself starts to disappear. The Traveler keeps talking about Wesley's magic abilities. Crusher keeps trying to figure out ways to escape. To be honest this is where the episode starts to drag slightly since she's basically just figuring out that the votexes were sent by Wesley. She runs to Engineering and jumps in the votex as Wesley and the Traveler phase in and out. Picard tells her everyone is onboard including her friend Quaice.
This episode is very strong in a lot of ways! I've been critical of Gates McFadden's acting in the past (mainly season one) but she's very good here. The mystery is well developed. I like how she starts going nuts and the scenes with just her and the computer are good. The downside is the return of the Traveler who feels out of place in season four, a relic from the sillier season one, and the return of Wesley's magic space abilities. It also does start to drag near the end when Crusher is talking to the computer for ages about warp bubbles, it feels a bit like padding. Still a very good episode!
SCORE: 8.5/10