Lynch's Spoiler Review: "Time's Arrow, Part II"
Timothy W. Lynch
the sixth-season premiere of TNG, "Time's Arrow, Part II". Those not wishing
to have already seen spoiler information at the time of viewing are advised to
remain clear at this time.
Well, that was...strange.
There were quite a few things they did, many of them good...but there were
also a lot of things they *didn't* do, and a few things they did that I
didn't like. More after a synopsis:
Sam Clemens, convinced by his eavesdropping that Data and Guinan are invaders
from the future, tells a reporter of the broad strokes of his theory that the
19th century is in as much danger as King Arthur's time was in his novel _A
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court_. He abruptly stops, however, when
he sees Data emerging from a building and walking down the street. He moves
to follow Data, whom we see passing a well-dressed couple (known to us as the
true "invaders").
Some time later, Riker and Dr. Crusher (both in appropriate garb) are searching
the morgue for signs of the aliens' presence. Beverly finds that many of the
so-called "cholera victims" died, not from the disease, but from having their
neural energy completely drained; their souls were stolen, if you will. She
and Riker theorize that the aliens have traveled back to this disease-ridden
time to use the epidemic as a cover for murder. They return to the apartment
where the entire team is staying and report their findings, and the team
plans to infiltrate the charity hospital from which many of the victims have
come. Additionally, they note that the aliens should be detectable at close
range via tricorder thanks to their triolic emissions, and note that they
have not yet managed to contact Data.
Meanwhile, Sam Clemens is let into Data's hotel room with the help of Jack
the bellboy, and in return advises Jack to follow his dreams and write about
them. (Jack, his last name now revealed to be London, vows to do so.)
Clemens takes a piece of Data's strange construct for safekeeping, then hides
in the closet as Data returns with Guinan. Data and Guinan discuss ways to
enter the cavern where Data's head will eventually be found, until Data
suddenly notices the absence of the missing part. Guinan immediately
believes it to be Clemens, and Clemens then accidentally reveals himself.
As Data replaces the transceiver, Clemens angrily defends his actions by
claiming to be defending the interests of his race and his century. He
challenges Data to explain his journeyings all over the city in search of the
cavern they have now located, and accuses the pair of scheming to foul the
19th century with future technology.
Some time later, the away team is working in the charity hospital,
surreptitiously setting "alarms" to react to the aliens' presence. Beverly,
as a nurse, is the first to notice an alarm going off and moves to intercept
the strange doctor and nurse that have just appeared. Without a word, they
begin to move toward her, but she is saved by the arrival of the rest of the
team. Overmatched, the two aliens phase away, but without benefit of the
man's cane. The team tries to explain themselves to an arriving policeman,
but eventually are forced to assault him and escape, fleeing in a cart driven
by the arriving Data, whose device alerted him to the aliens' phasing.
Back in the team's apartment, the team tries to activate the cane. Phasered,
it turns into the ophidian they've been searching for and causes small
time-shifts. However, the shifts are both very small and very short-lived;
it becomes clear that a focusing mechanism is needed. The rest of the team
heads for the cavern, as Data and Picard detour to Guinan's home. There, the
true "first meeting" of Picard and Guinan takes place, as Picard for once
finds himself with the advantage of foreknowledge.
As Clemens, tipped off by his reporter friend as to Data's involvement with
the team at the hospital, heads for the cavern, the team arrives there.
Geordi finds that the walls of the cave have effectively been turned into a
giant focusing device for the ophidian's power; a triolic "lens", if you
will. Assuming the cavern on Devidia Two is similarly designed, destroying
that cavern should stop the aliens' presence on Earth. They decide to
attempt to use the ophidian to head back to their century, but are stopped by
the sudden arrival of Clemens, who threatens them all with his gun and
demands they leave with him. Just at that time, however, the aliens phase
back in and attempt to recover their cane. Data grabs it back and subdues
the man, only to have the cane flare twice. The first flare seriously injures
the female alien, and the second blows off Data's head and blows everyone
else to the ground. When they revive, they see the cane vanish and a
time-gate open. The male alien runs through, and all the away team save
Picard (with an injured Guinan) follows. Just as the gate closes, however,
Clemens revives and also follows through.
Back on Devidia Two, everyone seems all right, but Riker harshly upbraids
Clemens for following. They find Data's headless body (still holding the
cane), and all six people beam aboard the Enterprise. There, Geordi begins
attempting to reattach the head they currently have, while Troi volunteers
herself as Clemens's escort.
Five centuries earlier, Picard tends to a seriously injured Guinan. When she
seems puzzled by why he would do so, he reveals something of how close they
will one day become (well beyond friends, he says). They spy Data's head,
which Picard refers to as history fulfilling itself.
Back in the 24th century, Guinan tells Riker that history must be allowed to
fulfill itself, and refuses to tell him anything about what he should do.
After Troi tells Clemens a bit more about her century (and convinces him that
many of his century's baser elements such as poverty and greed have been
eliminated), they arrive at Geordi's lab, where nothing constructive has
happened yet. Clements finds his broken watch and talks of having misjudged
Data.
Back on Earth, Picard interrogates the dying alien, who insists that they
needed human energy and had no choice but to do what they did. When Picard
tells her of their plan to destroy the Devidia Two cavern, she gloats that
the Enterprise's weaponry will only amplify the time distortion and destroy
Earth as well. Dying, she fades into nonexistence.
While Worf (over Riker's initial objections, then with his grudging support)
prepares a photon spread to destroy the cavern, Geordi finds an iron filing
causing intermittent problems in Data's input polarizers. Puzzled, he
wonders how it got there.
Picard, meanwhile, uses an iron filing to encode a message in Data's head.
With one minute left in the 24th century until the torpedoes are launched,
Geordi successfully revives Data, who comprehends Picard's message and aborts
the torpedo launch. The problem revealed, they begin modifying the torpedoes
in ways that would destroy the aliens without causing time-shifts.
However, that doesn't solve the problem of how to recover Picard. Beverly
explains that their weaponry could open a gate, but only powerful enough for
one person to go back and then one to go forward. Clemens offers himself as
the obvious choice to return to his own time and allow Picard to return to
his. He thanks Data for allowing him to begin a new adventure and recover
from his own bitterness, then departs.
As Picard readies to leave the cave and help Guinan, Clemens rushes in with
instructions. With less than five minutes until the torpedoes are launched
against Devidia Two, he explains the situation to Picard and agrees to help
Guinan get proper care. Picard bids both farewell (telling Guinan that he'll
see her in a few minutes) and prepares to leave.
However, with no trace of him in the 24th century and signs that the aliens
are becoming active, Riker orders the torpedoes fired. Picard arrives just
as the first torpedoes hit, and is transported aboard barely in time. The
cavern is destroyed, and Picard returns to a new understanding of his
relationship with Guinan. Finally, Clemens gets Guinan help and, knowing
what lies ahead, deliberately avoids picking up his 19th century watch,
leaving it to gather dust just a few meters away from Data's head.
Well, that should do it. Now, onwards.
As I said before, there are good and bad things here. Perhaps I just wasn't
particularly in the mood for Trek this week, but I found this somewhat
disappointing. Not *awful*, mind you; just disappointing.
One of the things that disappointed me is that very little about the actual
reason for all this got *answered*. The basic storyline about these aliens
works out to be: Picard and company find signs of aliens in the 1890s,
assume they're hostile, attack them when they find them in the past, and
eventually destroy their base in the 24th century. We're never given any
evidence that they *must* be hostile, or that they have a choice in the
matter (remember the Crystalline Entity? "It is not evil, it is
*feeding*."), and I find that disturbing. Even more annoying is that we
found out precisely zero about why they picked Earth at that time, or at all.
Riker and Bev gave a theory which might work, but we have no sign that it's
the case. Finally along these lines, the particular aliens involved more or
less ended up drifting off screen rather than being resolved somehow. Yes,
the female presumably died and faded offscreen, but the male jumped back
through the portal. Where is he? Did he remain on Devidia Two with the
others? We don't know. Too many unanswered questions that *should* have \
been answered.
Here's another, for instance: Why, *why*, did the away team not try to
simply find Data via communicator? We're given the clear impression from the
hospital scene that they work; why not try it? If in fact Data *had* lost
the communicator in last show's poker game, then we'd be the wiser for it,
and the show would look very bright for having thought of *and blocked* that
easy way out. Instead, it looks like they forgot. Sigh.
As long as we're on the away team, we are told absolutely nothing about how
they got from the situation at the end of part one to the apartment they were
in now. There are several easy answers, but nothing obvious; how did they
get, not only a room, but an apartment large enough to hold the whole team?
How did they get, not only clothing, but *precisely* the clothes they all
needed to do what they had to (Riker's policeman outfit, Beverly's nurse
garb, etc.)? That felt decidedly like ducking the issue to me, and I'd
prefer something more honest.
Another one that just occurred to me: the soul-searching about whether the
portal would open and get Picard back was completely unnecessary. The
Federation has had the knowledge of time travel for a *century* now, and I
cannot believe that a situation like this would not at least allow them to
consider using it. The Devidia Two cave was hardly the only way back to
1893.
I also thought the whole resolution was too...well, just too *easy*, or too
obvious. The surface interpretation some people had at the end of part 1 was
that the aliens were some sort of soul-vampires, and that Data would be
revived by having the discovered head reattached. A great many people,
myself included, scoffed, saying "they're not going to go with something that
obvious". Unfortunately, they did; and it feels like a gyp to me. If the
head could be reattached, why was there a big worry about it being
*disattached* in the first place?
Another thing that got to me slightly was the end of the Jack London riff. I
*liked* it in the first part: very quietly and subtly done (to the point
where I didn't even notice it myself first time around). Even most of this
part of the story was all right; if we'd been left with Clemens encouraging
Jack to write about his experiences and Jack determined to go to Alaska, that
could have been nice. But instead, we get the answer thrown up in bright
neon letters: "Look, I'm Jack London!" Maybe it's just me, but that sort of
soured the deal for me. I prefer things said a little more softly than that.
On to some of the good things, though. Far and away, the best part of the
show had to be the several meetings in 1893 'tween Picard and the young
Madame Guinan. From the first moment those two met, I felt the bond between
them jump into sharp focus. (It helps that the actors involved are among the
best TNG's got, of course. :-) ) This whole sequence of events brought so
many memories of past TNG home ("A bald man was kind to me once"..."once,
when I was in trouble, a *lot* of trouble...somebody helped me"..."we'll
*never* meet"...) that this felt like a kind of...well, like a circle
closing. I was very impressed. ("Do you know me?" "Very well." "Do I know
you?" "Not yet...but you will." That hit home; I've no idea why.)
(I do wish, though, that someone had let slip to Guinan "oh, by the way,
don't schedule any visits home in the mid-23rd century" and thus started up
another informational loop about the Borg. :-) )
Speaking of time loops, that's another thing the show did quite well. Lots
of little loops were set up, and the big one was resolved *without* changing
history in any significant way. Let's see if I can catch all of them:
1) Picard has now made himself known to Guinan, so she can make herself
known to him when she's ~470 years older and he's 20 (perhaps) years younger.
Er...check, please. :-)
2) There is one uninterrupted timeline both for Clemens's watch and for
Data's head. The watch traveled a linear path from its beginnings until
2368, then traveled back to 1893 with Clemens and continued on at the usual
speed. There are two watches post-1893 (at least until he junks the broken
one he's got now :-) ), but these things happen when you start mucking with
time travel. (Look at Kirk's glasses. :-) )
3) Same goes for Data's head. It traveled a linear path from its origins to
the beginnings of "Time's Arrow", then had a long stint from 1893 back to
2368, then reattached itself and continued on. One head, just with a very
long down time in the middle there.
Yes, it looks like there are two heads and two watches, but these things do
happen. I've always liked stories that manage to manipulate time-travel
while keeping their wits about them, and this definitely won that. (Those
who want an example of a much deeper paradox that could *really* make their
head spin are strongly advised to pick up a copy of Heinlein's short story
"By His Bootstraps". You won't regret it.)
Back to some bad news, unfortunately. While I thoroughly enjoyed Jerry
Hardin's turn as Sam Clemens in part 1, it was used way too much here. More
than that, it was in some ways used *carelessly*. Twain jumping through the
gate to arrive in the 24th century is all well and good, but having everyone
be so nonchalant about it is quite definitely not. You don't want someone
heading back with lots of knowledge of the future, even if it's Mark Twain.
(*Especially* if it's Mark Twain, now that I think about it. Someone that
outspoken and that prominent is not someone you want with the power to change
history, folks.) And while a couple of minutes of Clemens' speechmaking is
fine, after a while it gets very wearing, *especially* when it's countered by
a speech about 24th-century Utopia. (I don't mind having the show take place
in an optimistic future; I've gone on record about that many times. I *do*
mind having the extreme optimism that occasionally shines through tossed in
my face.)
The basic feeling I got after watching was that the show was very *clever* in
clearing up all the time paradoxes, but that except for the Picard/Guinan
elements, I was given very little reason to actually *care* whether they did
so. Aside from the aforementioned scenes (and the scene where Data actually
lost his head), very little stands out to me as memorable, and that's rather
rare.
Onwards to some more short takes. Maestro:
--For credits-watchers: Brannon Braga and Rene Echevarria are now story
editors, replacing Peter Allan Fields. This seems an extremely good sign to
me, given both the talents of Braga ("Cause and Effect", "Reunion") and
Echevarria ("The Offspring", "I, Borg"), and the real qualms I have about
Fields ("Cost of Living"). Congratulations to both.
--Also for credits-watchers: Poor William Boyett is doomed always to play a
San Francisco cop, it seems. First he ends up as a cop in a fictional 1941
SF in "The Big Goodbye", and now we see him again as the cop Riker slugs here
in 1893 SF. If I didn't know better, I'd think we were seeing a whole family
line of Frisco cops. :-)
--I thought the bits with Picard's landlady were decidedly fillerlike. Bits
of the first one weren't bad ("Ah...Milan."), but the second one had my teeth
on edge. (On the other hand, it *was* cute to see how Geordi avoided having
questions asked about the VISOR. :-) )
--I did enjoy the scene where Riker was "convinced" to destroy the cave
rather than try to go back. Voiceovers from the room were easy.
("Permission to speak freely?" "Granted, Mr. Worf." "You're acting like an
idiot, sir." :-) )
I think that's really about it. I wish I liked it better than I did, but it
was not to be. That might bode ill for the season...but then again, last
year we had "Redemption II", which I also found disappointing, followed up by
"Darmok", which I've found to be one of TNG's strongest shows. We shall see!
So, the numbers:
Plot: 4. The main plot points were answered and well-woven, but we had
absolutely no answers to all but the most crucial of questions.
Plot Handling: 4. Too much padding and too little subtlety.
Characterization/Acting: 7. Had Clemens been either less annoying or less
present, this would be higher, as Spiner, Stewart and Goldberg all
did terrific jobs.
TOTAL: 5. That feels about right. Not bad, but decidedly disappointing.
NEXT WEEK:
Barclay returns, this time with a phobia of transporters. Or is it really
that irrational a fear?
Tim Lynch (Harvard-Westlake School, Science Dept.)
BITNET: tlynch@citjulie
INTERNET: tly...@juliet.caltech.edu
UUCP: ...!ucbvax!tlynch%juliet.ca...@hamlet.caltech.edu
"I'll see you in five hundred years, Picard."
"And I'll see you...in a few minutes."
--
Copyright 1992, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but feel free to ask...
Iain Odlin
I just remembered one HUGE plot hole that TAII both set up and left hanging
while reading Tim's (far kinder than I was -- or felt like being) review:
How in Hell did our heros -- and later, Mark Twain -- get into the cave at
all, especially given that Data specifically said they'd have great difficul-
ty getting to it since it was in the middle of an army camp, or somesuch?
Just another glaring and awful hole in a glaring and awful episode... I'd
almost rather watch "The Cost of Living" or "The Outcast." Almost...
*sigh*
--
--------------------------------- Iain Odlin ---------------------------------
10 Crosby Street, Level 3, Portland ME 04103
od...@reed.edu
--- Today could just as easily be the *last* day of the rest of your life. ---
Atsushi Kanamori
>
> I just remembered one HUGE plot hole that TAII both set up and left hanging
> while reading Tim's (far kinder than I was -- or felt like being) review:
> How in Hell did our heros -- and later, Mark Twain -- get into the cave at
> all, especially given that Data specifically said they'd have great difficul-
> ty getting to it since it was in the middle of an army camp, or somesuch?
>
> Just another glaring and awful hole in a glaring and awful episode...
>I'd almost rather watch "The Cost of Living"
Let's not go overboard.
. . . .
: : . :. . : :....: : . ::.: . ..: : .. : : .: :.:
::::::::::.: :::::::.:::::::::::.:::::: :?.:::::..::::.:.:: :.:::?
------------ -------------------------- -------------------.------
Kanamori's Episode Ratings: (last episode rated: "Time's Arrow")
"This season began with a turkey. I'm simply trying to see
that it doesn't end that way." -- fictitious Paramount writer
Dhanesh Gupta
Spoilers Ho!!!
I think that Guinan just went to the Presido and asked Sean Connery if he
would let our fearless crew into the mine shaft... :->
Dhanesh K Gupta Your friendly neighborhood
biomedical engineer
(and med student too)
The hardest thing about learning is getting over the fear of not
understanding. DKG
Erik Cunha
(Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>WARNING: The following post contains critical spoiler information regarding
>the sixth-season premiere of TNG, "Time's Arrow, Part II". Those not wishing
>to have already seen spoiler information at the time of viewing are advised to
>remain clear at this time.
>Well, that was...strange.
True, but it was also a satisfying conclusion.
>There were quite a few things they did, many of them good...but there were
>also a lot of things they *didn't* do, and a few things they did that I
>didn't like. More after a synopsis:
[synop deleted]
>As I said before, there are good and bad things here. Perhaps I just wasn't
>particularly in the mood for Trek this week, but I found this somewhat
>disappointing. Not *awful*, mind you; just disappointing.
I tend to agree, but I give it a "satisfying, not great, but satisfying."
>One of the things that disappointed me is that very little about the actual
>reason for all this got *answered*. The basic storyline about these aliens
>works out to be: Picard and company find signs of aliens in the 1890s,
>assume they're hostile, attack them when they find them in the past, and
>eventually destroy their base in the 24th century. We're never given any
>evidence that they *must* be hostile, or that they have a choice in the
>matter (remember the Crystalline Entity? "It is not evil, it is
>*feeding*."), and I find that disturbing.
I felt this question was answered well enough uder the circumstances.
Picard's conversation with the alien indicated that a substitute was not
possible. While it's true that they are not evil, there feeding, the crew
was not evil, they were defending their race from predators.
They did assume they were hostile. This was mentioned in TA I. I saw
this assumption as a hypothesis, which they then confirmed in TA II during
their investigations at the morgue and hospital. I don't see a problem there.
They attacked them at the hospital, but lets remember they were there to
kill another person. It would be different if they found the aliens in
thier lair, or detected them on the street, but attempting to communicate
with them before restraining them would have been foolhardy.
I do take off a point or two because there is no explicit attempt to
communicate with the aliens in the cavern on Devidia II.
>Even more annoying is that we
>found out precisely zero about why they picked Earth at that time, or at all.
>Riker and Bev gave a theory which might work, but we have no sign that it's
>the case.
I don't have a problem with this. Why they choose Earth is not central to
the plot. The question was "they are on Earth, what do we do about it?"
Besides, TNG always "explains" situations by having a main character give
a theory and then look no further.
>Finally along these lines, the particular aliens involved more or
>less ended up drifting off screen rather than being resolved somehow. Yes,
>the female presumably died and faded offscreen, but the male jumped back
>through the portal. Where is he? Did he remain on Devidia Two with the
>others? We don't know. Too many unanswered questions that *should* have \
>been answered.
On the other hand, answering every question is not that great either. I
like having a few loose ends every once in awhile, such as Lore in "Brothers."
>Here's another, for instance: Why, *why*, did the away team not try to
>simply find Data via communicator? We're given the clear impression from the
>hospital scene that they work; why not try it? If in fact Data *had* lost
>the communicator in last show's poker game, then we'd be the wiser for it,
>and the show would look very bright for having thought of *and blocked* that
>easy way out. Instead, it looks like they forgot. Sigh.
We are agreed here. Sloppy.
>As long as we're on the away team, we are told absolutely nothing about how
>they got from the situation at the end of part one to the apartment they were
>in now. There are several easy answers, but nothing obvious; how did they
>get, not only a room, but an apartment large enough to hold the whole team?
>How did they get, not only clothing, but *precisely* the clothes they all
>needed to do what they had to (Riker's policeman outfit, Beverly's nurse
>garb, etc.)? That felt decidedly like ducking the issue to me, and I'd
>prefer something more honest.
On the other hand, do we *really* need to see a rehash of the
main-characters-try-to-cope-with-past theme from "City on the Edge of
Forever", ST: TVH, and holodeck epsidoes? This actually *improved* the
episode for me.
>Another one that just occurred to me: the soul-searching about whether the
>portal would open and get Picard back was completely unnecessary. The
>Federation has had the knowledge of time travel for a *century* now, and I
>cannot believe that a situation like this would not at least allow them to
>consider using it. The Devidia Two cave was hardly the only way back to
>1893.
But it has been made clear that slingshooting around a star is not a
trivial matter. Besides, Picard would *definitely* not approve of placing
the entire ship in jeopardy to save him.
>Tim Lynch (Harvard-Westlake School, Science Dept.)
>BITNET: tlynch@citjulie
>INTERNET: tly...@juliet.caltech.edu
>UUCP: ...!ucbvax!tlynch%juliet.ca...@hamlet.caltech.edu
>"I'll see you in five hundred years, Picard."
>"And I'll see you...in a few minutes."
>--
>Copyright 1992, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but feel free to ask...
=============================================================================
/\ ecu...@sumax.seattleu.edu I hope to one day work for a big company /\
\/ Erik Cunha that will require a disclaimer \/
=============================================================================
Michael Rawdon
>In article <1a2lih...@gap.caltech.edu> tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>WARNING: The following post contains critical spoiler information regarding
>>the sixth-season premiere of TNG, "Time's Arrow, Part II". Those not wishing
>>to have already seen spoiler information at the time of viewing are advised to
>>remain clear at this time.
>>particularly in the mood for Trek this week, but I found this somewhat
>>disappointing. Not *awful*, mind you; just disappointing.
>I tend to agree, but I give it a "satisfying, not great, but satisfying."
Well, I might say "Entertaining, and satisfying for what it was, but
frustrating for what it could have been, and wasn't."
Come to think of it, that's what I did say in my review! :-)
--
Michael Rawdon raw...@colby.cs.wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin Computer Sciences Department, Madison, WI
You can watch them die, live on TV.
- The Box, "Live On TV"
ROBERT HAMI BALLANTINE
Tim Lynch writes:
[lots of stuff deleted]
>One of the things that disappointed me is that very little about the actual
>reason for all this got *answered*. The basic storyline about these aliens
>works out to be: Picard and company find signs of aliens in the 1890s,
>assume they're hostile, attack them when they find them in the past, and
>eventually destroy their base in the 24th century. We're never given any
>evidence that they *must* be hostile, or that they have a choice in the
>matter (remember the Crystalline Entity? "It is not evil, it is
>*feeding*."), and I find that disturbing. Even more annoying is that we
>found out precisely zero about why they picked Earth at that time, or at all.
>Riker and Bev gave a theory which might work, but we have no sign that it's
>the case. Finally along these lines, the particular aliens involved more or
>less ended up drifting off screen rather than being resolved somehow. Yes,
>the female presumably died and faded offscreen, but the male jumped back
>through the portal. Where is he? Did he remain on Devidia Two with the
>others? We don't know. Too many unanswered questions that *should* have \
>been answered.
Picard and company don't assume that the aliens are hostle. They
find out that they are killing humans before they attack them.
And they didn't want the aliens to change history in some way.
Thats good enough reason for me.
As far as the alien that got away is concerned, he was phased
with the other aliens on Devidia Two, so you couldn't see him. Duh...
I think the writers probably expected us to figure this out on our own.
>Here's another, for instance: Why, *why*, did the away team not try to
>simply find Data via communicator? We're given the clear impression from the
>hospital scene that they work; why not try it? If in fact Data *had* lost
>the communicator in last show's poker game, then we'd be the wiser for it,
>and the show would look very bright for having thought of *and blocked* that
>easy way out. Instead, it looks like they forgot. Sigh.
Data sold his communicator for $3.00 to the poker player in order
to have money to play, remember? It is odd that the crew didn't try
to contact him via communicator anyways. Unless they did try while they
were getting their clothing.(How they did that, I don't know)
[rest deleted]
Rob
Joseph Malloy
> while reading Tim's (far kinder than I was -- or felt like being) review:
> How in Hell did our heros -- and later, Mark Twain -- get into the cave at
> all, especially given that Data specifically said they'd have great difficul-
> ty getting to it since it was in the middle of an army camp, or somesuch?
>
about Guinan's 'connections' getting them onto the grounds of (what was
it) the Presidio?
But even if not, I didn't find it at disturbing. Certain plot "holes"
in an production that moves in episodic fashion is well known in the
literary-dramatic world (I mean, you don't need to know the details of
every turn of events in normal theatrical events). That they got there
at all means simply that something was resolved.
Indeed, what we're likely witnessing is some sort of bad editing. Why
bother mentioning the "difficulty" of getting somewhere unless you hope
to use the solution to that difficulty as part of the plot? Well, they
probably had to cut some scene in which Twain or Guinan or Date or
whoever manages to get in via some sort of guile.
Now, the old "life spirit sucking" aliens were more problematic to me...
j
Nicholas C. Hester
BALLANTINE) says:
>
>Picard and company don't assume that the aliens are hostle. They
>find out that they are killing humans before they attack them.
>And they didn't want the aliens to change history in some way.
>Thats good enough reason for me.
But the humans they 'harvested' were the old and weak and on their way
out. I didn't see a single person taken who was fit. This episode
was way too weak.
___
Nicholas Hester "I'm a virgin...I'm just not good at it."
ia8...@Maine.bitnet -Ramada, "Hot Shots!"
ia8...@Maine.maine.edu
Kenward Chin
>
>Tim Lynch writes:
>
>[lots of stuff deleted]
>
>>eventually destroy their base in the 24th century. We're never given any
>
>find out that they are killing humans before they attack them.
>And they didn't want the aliens to change history in some way.
>Thats good enough reason for me.
>
>
>Rob
Hm. I don't know why I've never thought of this before, when considering
time travel stories, but there is a fundamental problem, here isn't there?
It is just that the aliens in Earth's past *cannot* change history - they
*are* history. Like comments are addressed to the problem of Picard et al.
wondering in the conference room whether these aliens are mounting some
sort of attack on human history - if they were, it had already happened, and
hence there was no need for concern. It's all happened already, everything's
ok, why worry about it?
The only explanation I can think of, and it was never explicitly addressed
(as far as I could tell), was that the portal to the past did *not* allow
the aliens to choose the period of history they wished to return to - it
only allowed them to go back in time by a discrete, specific amount of time.
Thus the need to "hurry" into the past to stop the aliens, because by allowing
say 2 hours to pass on the Enterprise, that would give the aliens who had
just gone back into time 2 hours to mess up history....
Wow, my mind's gone pretzel. See ya.
Kenward Chin
--
Disclaimer: Since transmission of this article is by imperfect methods, there
may well be discrepancies between what is above and what was
intended. Therefore, please edit this article to read as you wish.
Ryan 'Gozar' Collins
> Tim Lynch writes:
>
> [lots of stuff deleted]
>
>>simply find Data via communicator? We're given the clear impression from the
>>hospital scene that they work; why not try it? If in fact Data *had* lost
>>the communicator in last show's poker game, then we'd be the wiser for it,
>>and the show would look very bright for having thought of *and blocked* that
>>easy way out. Instead, it looks like they forgot. Sigh.
>
> Data sold his communicator for $3.00 to the poker player in order
> to have money to play, remember? It is odd that the crew didn't try
> to contact him via communicator anyways. Unless they did try while they
> were getting their clothing.(How they did that, I don't know)
I would have suspected that he would've won back the watch, along
with all the money, that hat, and that vest he was wearing.
I think the technical manual has a good explaination about the
limited range of the communicators, and the fact that they require the
Enterprise to boost the signals so they can communicate on the surface.
Later.......
------======={{{{{{{{((((((Ryan 'Gozar' Collins))))))))}}}}}}}}=======--------
"You can never own enough / __ ___ ___ \rlco...@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu
computer equipment" / / / / / / \RC1D...@miamiu.acs.muohio.edu
/ / _ / / / \rcol...@apsvax.aps.muohio.edu
||| "Power Without / /__/ /__/ /___ \ R.COLLINS1 on GEnie
/ | \ The Price" / \
------======={{{{{{{{(((((())))))))}}}}}}}}=======----- 29-SEP-1992
ROBERT HAMI BALLANTINE
|>
|> In article <1992Sep28....@ncsu.edu> rhba...@eos.ncsu.edu (ROBERT HAMI BALLANTINE) writes:
|> >
|> >Tim Lynch writes:
|> >
|> >[lots of stuff deleted]
|> >
|>
|>
|>
|>
|>
|> >>...works out to be: Picard and company find signs of aliens in the 1890s,
|> >>assume they're hostile, attack them when they find them in the past, and
|> >>eventually destroy their base in the 24th century. We're never given any
|> >
|> >Picard and company don't assume that the aliens are hostle. They
|> >find out that they are killing humans before they attack them.
|> >And they didn't want the aliens to change history in some way.
|> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|> >Thats good enough reason for me.
|> >
|> >...
|> >
|> >Rob
|>
|> Hm. I don't know why I've never thought of this before, when considering
|> time travel stories, but there is a fundamental problem, here isn't there?
|> It is just that the aliens in Earth's past *cannot* change history - they
|> *are* history. Like comments are addressed to the problem of Picard et al.
|> wondering in the conference room whether these aliens are mounting some
|> sort of attack on human history - if they were, it had already happened, and
|> hence there was no need for concern. It's all happened already, everything's
|> ok, why worry about it?
|>
The actions of the crew of the Enterprise are also history. If they hadn't gone
back in time and killed the aliens and all that stuff, they would have changed
history.
|> The only explanation I can think of, and it was never explicitly addressed
|> (as far as I could tell), was that the portal to the past did *not* allow
|> the aliens to choose the period of history they wished to return to - it
|> only allowed them to go back in time by a discrete, specific amount of time.
|> Thus the need to "hurry" into the past to stop the aliens, because by allowing
|> say 2 hours to pass on the Enterprise, that would give the aliens who had
|> just gone back into time 2 hours to mess up history....
|>
Possible...
ROBERT HAMI BALLANTINE
In article <1992Sep29.1...@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu>, rlco...@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu (Ryan 'Gozar' Collins) write
|>
|> In article <1992Sep28....@ncsu.edu>, rhba...@eos.ncsu.edu (ROBERT HAMI BALLANTINE) writes:
|> > Tim Lynch writes:
|> >
|> > [lots of stuff deleted]
|> >
|> >>Here's another, for instance: Why, *why*, did the away team not try to
|> >>simply find Data via communicator? We're given the clear impression from the
|> >>hospital scene that they work; why not try it? If in fact Data *had* lost
|> >>the communicator in last show's poker game, then we'd be the wiser for it,
|> >>and the show would look very bright for having thought of *and blocked* that
|> >>easy way out. Instead, it looks like they forgot. Sigh.
|> >
|> > Data sold his communicator for $3.00 to the poker player in order
|> > to have money to play, remember? It is odd that the crew didn't try
|> > to contact him via communicator anyways. Unless they did try while they
|> > were getting their clothing.(How they did that, I don't know)
|>
|> I would have suspected that he would've won back the watch, along
|> with all the money, that hat, and that vest he was wearing.
|>
Deborah Nunn
>
>Tim Lynch writes:
>
>[lots of stuff deleted]
>>simply find Data via communicator? We're given the clear impression from the
>>hospital scene that they work; why not try it? If in fact Data *had* lost
>>the communicator in last show's poker game, then we'd be the wiser for it,
>>and the show would look very bright for having thought of *and blocked* that
>>easy way out. Instead, it looks like they forgot. Sigh.
>
>Data sold his communicator for $3.00 to the poker player in order
>to have money to play, remember? It is odd that the crew didn't try
>to contact him via communicator anyways. Unless they did try while they
>were getting their clothing.(How they did that, I don't know)
>
"other" Frenchman to get an opening stake for the game. Since he
cleaned out everyone at the table, it is only logical to assume that he
got his communicator back. In fact, wasn't it attached to the Indian's
vest when he walked into the hotel room? I agree that they *definitely*
should have tried to use the communicators. It was but one of the
annoying mistakes in the story line that made this episode *not* one of
my favorites.
**************************************************************************
___/\ /\ One to beam up, Scottie!
__/ * \ / / (My dogs made me say it! Really!)
| |_______/ /
///// \ Deborah J. Nunn | Snail mail:
| | e-mail: nu...@sura.net | SURAnet
| ______ | phone: (301) 982-4600 | 8400 Baltimore Blvd.
|___/ \___| fax: (301) 982-4605 | College Pk, MD 20740