"Next Generation" Episode: "Cause and Effect" Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The events of the episode are set in motion when a ship hits one of the Enterprise's nacelles. Which nacelle was damaged in the collision, the right or the left?

Answer: right

The ship's right nacelle is struck in the collision, causing major structural damage to Enterprise and a drive plasma leak, which leads directly to the the warp core exploding and the destruction of the ship.

2. Who directed the episode?

Answer: Jonathan Frakes

In addition to playing Commander William Riker, Frakes directed several episodes in the series, and also directed the movie "First Contact".

3. Which character appeared in all of the primary scenes that were shown during every full sequence of events?

Answer: Dr. Crusher

She was a player in the poker game with Worf, Data and Riker, treated Geordi in sickbay, was alone in her cabin when she heard voices, was in the staff meeting shortly before they encountered the other ship, and was next to Worf on the bridge during the collision sequence. The scenes in engineering and Picard's ready room weren't shown each time through.

4. What effect was causing the problem?

Answer: Causality Loop

When the Enterprise blew up in proximity to the "localized disruption of the space-time continuum", this caused the Causality Loop to form. In it, a portion of time kept repeating itself, and the only way to escape the loop was to avoid the collision that led to the Enterprise's destruction.

5. The first time we see the full sequence of events is the only time that we see the poker hand fully played out. Who won the hand?

Answer: Crusher

In the hand, Riker tries to bluff the doctor, but she has "a feeling", calls his bluff, and wins the hand. As they keep repeating the loop, the players find that they not only remember Riker's planned bluff, but what cards will be dealt to each player before Data deals the hand.

6. No matter what Dr. Crusher does to avoid it, we see her break a glass in her quarters every time the events play out.

Answer: False

The final time the sequence of events repeated, we don't see the glass break, but we hear it over the comm system while she was talking to Data and Geordi in engineering.

7. Which character has to go to sickbay because of physical problems that turn out to be related to the events taking place?

Answer: La Forge

Images from the prior loops were being picked up by his VISOR, but when the device tried to interpret them, it generated an effect that caused Geordi to have a dizzy spell. The increasing sense of deja vu from Geordi and Dr. Crusher as they repeated the events in sickbay led to additional testing that would would play a role in the crew solving the mystery.

8. Dr. Crusher found that voices from what turned out to be the crew during prior trips through the loop could be heard when she went to bed, and began recording them. Whose voice was not heard on the parts of the recording that were played in the staff meeting the next morning?

Answer: Troi

Worf mentioned the "localized disruption of the space-time continuum", Data said "impact in 36 seconds", and Picard orders "All hands abandon ship!" Troi had about as small a role in this episode as the character had at any time in the series. Of course, the issue of why a 6 second recording by the Doctor would include lines by the crew that were uttered 1-2 minutes apart was never really brought up.

9. In the next to last trip through the loop, the crew figured out how to have Data send a message to himself in what turned out to the final trip through the loop, primarily because of the message. What was the message?

Answer: Three

Data picked up the message and one result was that he subconsciously caused three to be a theme throughout the ship. There were 2 suggestions for avoiding the collision with the ship that came through the disruption. Data suggested using the tractor beam, which the crew kept trying unsuccessfully, and Riker suggested decompressing the main shuttle bay to blow the ship out the way. Based on the 3 pipes on Commander Riker's rank insignia, Data decided to try his suggestion, which prevented the collision and ended the Causality Loop. One other curious thing about this part of the sequence is how pretty much every system on the ship was down except for the tractor beam.

10. What sitcom actor played the captain of the USS Bozeman, which was the ship from the past that kept hitting the Enterprise?

Answer: Kelsey Grammer

Grammer, who's best known for playing the character Frasier on "Cheers", then later on his own series "Frasier", played Captain Bateson in a brief appearance. The Bozeman came through the distortion from 90 years in the past, although for them, it was apparently instantaneous.

Source: Author BaronTR

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ladymacb29 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

One night you sit down to watch the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Cause and Effect", and the Enterprise gets blown up before the opening credits. Here's a quiz for those of you who stayed to see what would happen next.

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>