“Deja Q” is one of my favorite episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It manages to be equal parts funny and poignant, adding a new dimension of nobility to the Q character that gets explored in later Q episodes like “Tapestry” and “All Good Things.”

“Deja Q” is from season 3 when the show was reaching its long-lasting zenith. There are two parts of the story: Q loses his godlike powers, and a planet is about to be destroyed by powerful gravitational forces when its moon falls out of orbit. Q helplessly spends the first part of the episode in the brig of the Enterprise, and he’s also imprisoned in a lowly human form.

My Idea for the Title

Even though I like the pun on déjà vu (and it might seem strange for the Deja Reviewer to want to get rid of a title with that term), I think there’s an even better title they could have used. Ready? Here it is.

“Arrest Q.”

That would be a double entendre that plays into both parts of the story: Q being stripped of his powers and thrown into the brig, and his desire to prove himself to Captain Picard by rescuing the endangered planet’s inhabitants.

Triple Entendre

In the end, Q rescues the planet and himself (both of which seem doomed) by embracing his human prison and being willing to sacrifice himself for the good of others. After his selfless act, his powers are restored and he uses them to put the moon back in perfect orbit. He demonstrates that his time spent as a human may have changed him for the better, even if he’s reluctant to admit that. Both halves of the story come together perfectly. And the revised title would feed into that clever combination, too.

Not only is it a great double entendre (arrest Q, leading to a rescue), but there’s even a third way that “Arrest Q” would complement the episode. Q quickly wears out his welcome amongst almost every Enterprise crewmember he encounters, inspiring them to say in one form or another, “Give it a rest, Q!”

This is the Deja Reviewer bidding you farewell until we meet again.

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