I was, for some reason, expecting another Dixon Hill holodeck adventure.

It wasn't so.

Still, it was a nice Picard-centric episode. He's a very private individual and the viewer, along with Picard's crew, gets a peek at something in his past that makes him tick. The cast is getting comfortable and the show is working much better at this point. Note the looks that Riker and Data give to each other when Picard is awkwardly dealing with Michelle Philips. Their captain is human after all!

The time burp subplot doesn't completely work, but is serviceable. First, it portrays people reliving a few seconds of their lives. This could get annoying if it happened in real life. Later, it entails meeting past/future selves engaging in activity that happened/will happen a few minutes ago/from now. In real life, this could turn dangerous.

Sending down Data alone to implement the final solution was a good choice. There were three Datas and they had to figure out which one was real. A human, who would have an ego, would be absolutely insistent that the real one was himself. Data was not hampered by the ego and figured things out.

In one scene, transporter technician Whoever just kind of pushes buttons when there are problems beaming down. I was wishing Scotty was there. He'd rip off the panel and start cross-circuiting until he got the people back.

There was no Wesley.

Hooray.