TNG S5E26 and S6E1 "Time's Arrow" Review By AnswerMan

Horrible:Meh:Adequate:Good:Fantastic

I really wanted this two-parter season finale/opener to be fantastic, but just as I had feared, it hasn't aged very well. There is a great story here, but the production of certain elements takes away from it, giving it the feel of a cheesy holodeck episode. In particular, the casting and/or portrayal of Samuel Clemens takes away from every scene that the character is in. He is shrill, nasally, obnoxious, and just over-acted in general. Plus, why is Samuel Clemens a part of this show anyway?



The episode begins with the discovery of Data's severed head in a cave under San Francisco. It appears to have been there for more than 500 years. This knowledge seems to indicate that, as implausible as it would seem, Data will meet his end on Earth in the 1800s. This causes everyone close to Data to begin to mourn his loss, even though he's still very much alive and they have no idea when his end will come. Data, on the other hand, is sort of comforted by the idea that he will not live forever. Knowing that his life has an end gives it more meaning to him.

Even though they try to protect Data, he seems to be the only one suited to check out the alien planet that the clues in San Francisco let them to. Sure enough, he gets sucked through a time portal that the aliens utilize, and winds up in 19th century America, seemingly sealing his headless fate. Nevertheless, it's fun to watch Data try to blend in on Earth. He attempts to get a job, but times are tough in post-gold rush California. So instead he learns of a high-stakes poker game and cleans up. He sets up shop in a hotel and begins doing technobabble to attempt to get out of there. He then sees Guinan's picture in a newspaper article discussing an upcoming literary event. He goes to see her, mistakenly thinking that she has time travelled as well. Actually, she is in her original timeline and has no idea what he's talking about. But she does play along because she is an alien and aliens and time traveling robots gotta stick together. Unfortunately all of this is overheard by the irritating Clemens, who sets about trying to spoil everything.

Meanwhile on the ship, Guinan is convincing Picard to join the away team to rescue Data. She can't say much, but indicates that it's necessary for the timeline. This all further adds to the mystery of the character of Guinan and raises more questions that the series never answers. Who is she and where did she come from? Why is she so tied to Picard? Why was she on Earth hob-knobbing with literary types in the first place? Later, after Picard does also end up talking to original 1800s version Guinan, she asks if they are friends in the future, and he responds that they are so much more than that. What does that mean? He says it as if they are lovers, but there's never an indication of that.

So Picard, LaForge, Riker, Crusher, and Troi are now all in San Fran looking for Data. Eventually they meet up and set about planning the next step. Again, it's kind of fun to watch our crew try to blend in. They pretend to be an acting troop, and there is a very funny scene where they pretend to be rehearsing while the land lady is checking on them. This scene works much better than any scene with the grating Clemens, and I think that replacing him with the land lady would actually make for a much better episode.

Anyway, it turns out the aliens are killing people and stealing their life forces for nourishment of their species. They chose this time period because health crises were common and technological restraints would prevent any further investigation. Eventually they all end up in the cave, Data's body makes it back to the future but his head stays behind, as does the entire Picard to look after an injured Guinan. Clemens ends up in the future as well, where an explanation of what's going on makes him a bit more tolerable.

It's in the cave where Picard and Guinan have a heart to heart while staring lovingly into each other's eyes. Picard also gets to talk to an injured alien who tells him that they should have just minded their own business. He explains that hunting people in the past is not an acceptable food source, and that the Enterprise is going to blow their shit up and put a stop to it. The alien says that exploding their cave will only make things worse. So Picard has an idea, and leaves a message in Data's head. Somehow, with no tools or method for doing so other than cramming a chunk of metal behind a panel, the captain creates a binary message which informs future Data, who has been re-assembled with his current body and dug up ancient head, that the torpedoes need to be time phased or some such technobabble. Clemens comes back to care for Guinan and write more books, and Picard returns to the Enterprise to find future Guinan and look knowingly at her.

"Time's Arrow" is a solid, Good episode of Trek. The time travel stuff is not only fun, but well thought out in its complexity. The rejoining of Data's head makes sense and ties everything back together. However, the episode would be so much better without Clemens. Or at least, with a Clemens that was less annoying. The only plot point that doesn't really work is the binary message from Picard. I'm not sure why they went that route anyway, when a simple not tucked behind his ear would have been just as effective. Again, it's a solid story, but just hasn't aged well.

Published September 16, 2018