YMMV / Star Trek: The Next Generation S4E8 "Future Imperfect"

• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • In the first simulation, Tomalak's title is "Ambassador". Three years later, Andreas Katsulas was cast as Ambassador G'Kar in Babylon 5.
  • Despite being a Faked Rip Van Winkle scenario, the episode seems strangely prescient about future Star Trek developments:
    • Riker comments about how unlikely it was to see a Ferengi Starfleet officer. On Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Nog became the first Ferengi to serve in Starfleet.
    • Similarly, Riker is surprised to see a female Klingon officer. Star Trek: Voyager would feature Lt. B'Elanna Torres, the female half-Klingon/half-Human chief of engineering.
    • Geordi no longer has his VISOR, his eyes having replaced with cloned implants. In Star Trek: First Contact, we see Geordi had replaced his VISOR with cybernetic implants, and in Star Trek: Insurrection, he temporarily gains real eyes regenerated by the Ba'ku planet.
    • Set 16 years in the future, Admiral Picard tells Riker that the Federation has been in peace talks with the Romulans for the last 4 years, which is right around the time Star Trek: Nemesis takes place. And Riker's ship was in charge of the task force handling the negotiations with the Romulans.
    • Troi is seen in a standard uniform. She would start wearing a standard uniform again in season 6's "Chain of Command".
    • Picard is shown as an Admiral. Star Trek: Picard revealed that Picard was promoted to Admiral before resigning over Starfleet's treatment of, tragically enough, the Romulans.
  • After Picard is informed Riker had amnesia, he says "To lose sixteen years. It's almost beyond belief." Jonathan Frakes would later host the TV series Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction.
  • The simulation makes frequent mention of the Fornax Disaster, an incident that sparked the Federation-Romulan alliance. For Mass Effect fans, this takes on a very different meaning, as "Fornax" is the name of a xenophilia porn magazine. Which, come to think of it, is not out of character for William Riker to be involved in a disaster related to that, either...
• Memetic Mutation:
  • The immortal "No you can't. Don't even try!"
  • Also, "I said shut up! As in close your mouth and stop talking!"
• Narm: The true appearance of "Jean Luc" is a bit over the top, even for Star Trek.
• The Woobie: Barash. He may have essentially kidnapped Riker but look at his situation. His world was destroyed in an invasion, his family and possibly his entire race are dead, and he's spent years alone on a desolate planet with only holograms for company. And by his species' standard he's still a child. You can't really blame him for wanting someone real to interact with.

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