10 Best Time-Loop Sci-Fi TV Episodes

10. Star Trek: The Next Generation - “Cause And Effect”

"Cause and Effect" opens with a poker game, followed by the discovery of a spatial anomaly. When the vessel studies the anomaly, a ship emerges on a collision course with the Enterprise. Data suggests using a tractor beam while Riker says they should decompress the shuttle bay.

Captain Picard uses a tractor beam to try and push the ship out of the way. It almost works, but it hits one of the warp nacelles, resulting in a catastrophic failure and the Enterprise's destruction. The next scene begins with the officers playing poker, and nobody realizes they are caught in a temporal causality loop.

Eventually, Dr. Crusher begins to hear voices and experiences déjà vu, which ultimately uncovers that they were stuck in a loop. Data manages to send himself a message in the subsequent loop, and he begins seeing the number "3" all over the ship.

He realizes that the threes are referencing Commander Riker's pips, revealing his plan as the one to save the ship. The anomaly disappears, and the time loop comes to an end after 17 days. The vessel they nearly hit turned out to be the USS Bozeman, which had been missing for over 90 years.