TNG S3E15 "Yesterday's Enterprise" Review by AnswerMan

Horrible:Meh:Adequate:Good:Fantastic

Our heroes encounter a giant space vagina, which gives birth to a very late-arriving Enterprise C. Just then, everything changes...ever so slightly. The atmosphere is a bit darker, both literally and metaphorically. Their uniforms are somehow different in a way that you notice, but just can't put your finger on. Everyone is a bit more serious. They're wearing stylish holsters and carrying weapons. Oh and Worf is gone and Yar is alive. So ya, we're definitely dealing with an alternate timeline here. Sure enough, the Enterprise D is fighting a war with the Klingons. Meanwhile the Enterprise C was sucked out of a battle where they were defending the Klingons against the Romulans. Clearly these events are connected, but everyone lacks the perspective to understand what is going on since they are unfamiliar with the original timeline.

Hey it's that guy from that thing!

Except Guinan. Remember, she has mystical powers or something. Also Picard trusts her because they have some kind of history or because he knows more about who she is or because....I have no idea and we'll never find out. But at any rate, she convinces him, based on no evidence, that everything is off and they need to send the Enterprise C back even though it clearly means the entire crew will die.

At first they had taken the attitude that they shouldn't tell anyone on the C where and when they were, but this almost immediately gets thrown out the window as the crews merge and start sharing information willy nilly. The crew of the C agrees that they should be sent back to their deaths because some strange lady said so and gave no reasons. And Yar decides to go with them since Guinan told her she would die a pathetic meaningless death in the correct timeline. No one can think of a reason that she shouldn't go back with the C and die valiantly, so off she goes. Picard's rationale is that they are losing to the Klingons anyway, so what's to lose? The C defending the Klingons may be the event that births an alliance and prevents the war.

"Yesterday's Enterprise" feels a lot like a movie. The production value seems to have been stepped up for this episode. Also it doesn't follow the normal rules. For instance, we all know that when the ship shakes like crazy and consoles start sparking, no one gets hurt. Ok, maybe a redshirt dies, but that's it. Well in this episode, the captain of the C dies in this manner. She takes a piece of shrapnel right between the eyes. Later on, Riker gets his fricken throat cut right open in the same way! Look out for exploding rock-spewing consoles in this one, folks.

As the D fights off the Klingons, the C enters the space vagina in super slow motion. Seriously, it takes that thing FOREVER to get in there. And then, everything goes back to normal. What happened with the C and the Romulans? They don't bother to tell us.

It's hard to describe, because there are so many plot holes, but "Yesterday's Enterprise" is a Fantastic episode. The brilliance of it can't be explained by a simple synopsis. I struggled writing this review, because simply explaining what happened makes it sound like an average episode. It's not. It takes a kind of weak plot and just really does it really well. It's the opposite phenomenon that we're accustomed to. Usually they take a decent idea and blow it in the execution. In this episode, they have taken a so-so script and just nailed it. The moment when Worf is talking to Picard, and then everything changes, and Picard looks back and it's now Yar standing there is a very powerful and unexpected scene. As they're leaving the meeting where Picard has broken it to them that they're sending the C back, LaForge remarks that they don't even know if they'll be alive in the new timeline, and then behind him is Yar looking all awkward. Scene after scene, it just all works. Plus the way that everything is different in the alternate timeline, including the displays on the panels, the uniforms, and even the characters's demeanors and haircuts is really creepy. The couple of characters that we get to know from the C are interesting enough. But really this isn't an episode about alternate timelines and missing ships (because it fails in that aspect), it's actually an episode about Picard trusting one person over everyone else, and Yar being brought back just to face the reality that she doesn't belong.

Published July 21, 2017