Something I love about this episode how the 'vignette' style writing strengthens the story and makes it more interesting than a usual hour of TV. Two things to mention.
"Show, don't tell" is a writing cliché, but it's also ignored by writers because 'showing' is harder than 'telling' and I've got to get this draft in by noon on Tuesday. Trek is especially bad when it comes to 'telling'. (I always think of the time the Borg are introduced, and Q just stands over Picard's shoulder explaining the whole concept of the Borg to him, while the drones walk around doing not a heck of a lot.)
But until Bev and Geordi figure things out at the end of the third loop, this episode does a lot of showing and almost no telling. We're inside a poker game. We're inside a medical diagnosis, where something feels fishy. We're with Beverly as she clips flowers, drinks wine, and gets into bed. We're on the bridge, feeling the moments of panic unfold until Picard's desperate, "All hands--abandon ship!" For Star Trek, this is an unusually close and intimate story. We're plopped inside these scenes, experiencing them as the characters experience them, becoming curious and nervous alongside them. Detailed vignettes! The poker banter, Geordi's medical history, Aunt Adele's nutmeg tea, Beverly's plant, these are the sort of wonderful details that are usually left out in favour of high concept explanations, technobabble, or plot intrigue. I don't know about you guys, but this episode makes me feel closer to the day-to-day life aboard the Enterprise than Data's Day or Family did.
Another old writing axiom is that you want your story to go, "This therefore that therefore this therefore that..." instead of, "This and then that and then this and then that." One scene should logically set up the next; scenes shouldn't just happen, one after the other, without any sense of flow. But the scenes in this episode don't set each-other up. We're just air-dropped into one scene after the next without any sense of reason or significance. And then around the third revolution, it clicks: each scene isn't setting up the next one, it's setting up its own future repetition. Each scene sets itself up. And, you guys, that is so cool. Someone else mentioned Groundhog Day. They both use the same structure, they're both terrific, but I prefer this one. Unlike Bill Murray, our heroes aren't aware of the loop. So it's up to us, the audience, to make significance out of each minor change in the scenes. Not as funny or heartfelt, granted, but for my money this story is more engaging.
And the director (Frakes?! Didn't know that!) does a great job with those minor iterations. The scenes start off shot in standard Trek angles, then become progressively unhinged. We get a 'briefing room' shot that begins at the empty end of the table, then drifts in smoothly to catch each character's face as they discuss the problem. We get an uneasy spy-camera shot of Picard reading on his couch. We watch Bev and Geordi talk about his VISOR from behind their backs. It's weird stuff for Trek to do, and it creates an almost David Fincher-ish effect of camera voyeurism (not as strong, obviously!). I'm not sure what that adds, if anything. My guess is they were just looking for little ways to make each scene feel different. But it's there, and it gives this episode a weird, eerie tone.
I love this episode. We all do. I've seen other time-loop stories, but I don't think I've ever seen one where the characters aren't aware they're looping. The deja vu is a great, eerie device. The whole episode is great. I've seen it so many times. When she's warning me not to try something dumb my wife often says, "It's a looong way down to the bottom of the warp core."
Final note. Does anyone else see a face in the localized subspace disturbance? I have always seen a face in it. Big flight gogggles and a Yosemite Sam moustache. It's dumb, but I can't unsee it.