The Enterprise is summoned to Earth, where evidence has been found of alien activity on the planet in the late 19th century. Also found: Data's head, implying a destiny to be transported back in time to meet his death. The crew is able to trace the aliens to the planet Devidia II, where they discover a cavern existing just slightly outside of normal time. When Data devises a way to investigate it, he is transported to Earth, and back in time to 1893. In the past, he looks to a young Guinan as a possible ally; meanwhile, in the present, the crew tries to find a way to follow Data.
Although season ending cliffhangers had become the norm for Star Trek by this point, executive producer Rick Berman and showrunner Michael Piller hadn't originally intended to end the fifth season with one. But the word was out about the upcoming spin-off, Deep Space Nine, and they became concerned that fans would think The Next Generation was leaving to make room for it. A Next Generation cliffhanger was their way of demonstrating the show was still in business.
Unfortunately, it's not a terribly exciting cliffhanger. It seems to be trying to crib from one of the successful aspects of "The Best of Both Worlds," namely audience fear that a main character might be leaving the show. But this episode never really convinces us that Data's number might be up, as Picard's seemed to be against the Borg. Part of the problem is Data's blasé acceptance of his fate. He can't be emotional about it, of course, and there's clever writing in the way he "bright sides" impending death by comparing it to the bleak prospect of outliving all his friends. But Data being cool with dying only reinforces the audience's doubt that his end is really near, and undermines all of the soul searching the other characters seem to be doing. The episode could say something meaningful about death, but doesn't. ("The Next Phase" very recently covered that subject.) It could say something about fate, but doesn't. It's really just a gimmick for a rather empty time travel romp.
The destination for that romp was a subject of brief discussion among the writing staff. They considered several possibilities, but dismissed each as having been covered already by the original Star Trek: the "present day" was done in the movie Star Trek IV, the 30s in "City on the Edge of Forever," and the 60s (then the present day) in "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" and "Assignment: Earth." Finally, the writers settled on the 1890s.
That time frame creates a few opportunities, some seized, some missed. Bringing in Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) is clever, and casting Jerry Hardin to play the role was particularly great. Hardin had never played Clemens before -- he looks nothing like him (as you can see in The X-Files or in season one's "When the Bough Breaks"). Yet after a masterful makeup job by Michael Westmore, and a lot of his own research, Hardin grew to love Clemens so much as a person that he later developed a one-man theater production about him. On the other hand, as tantalizing a prospect as it is to learn of Guinan and Picard's past, it seems a missed opportunity to place Guinan in the 1890s as a wealthy socialite without commenting on the state of race relations in the U.S. at the time. (Particularly when you read some of Mark Twain's casually racist -- but of the time -- writing.)
Perhaps the lack of emotional punch in this episode is due to the fact that its primary writer, Joe Menosky, was on his way out the door. He'd decided to take a sabbatical after the fifth season, though he did leave behind some notes about how the cliffhanger could be resolved. Menosky does at least put a few great lines in the script. ("Your head is not an artifact!") He also includes some nice character touches, like Guinan's metaphor-for-time-travel drink that comes crashing down with the slightest misstep, and Troi's recitation of how Data describes friendship (taken from "Legacy").
Other observations:
- Data's cool-as-a-cucumber nature is also a detriment in the scene where his friends listen, helpless, as he investigates the alien cave. It's a cool horror movie type of premise, having Data narrate what could be his own demise, but the fact that he can't express any anxiety or fear (plus, again, the fact that we the audience don't really think he's going to die) undermines the tension of the moment.
- Marc Alaimo makes his last of many appearances on the series, as one of the gamblers Data beats at poker. After this, Alaimo would move over to Deep Space Nine, and the pivotal role of Gul Dukat.
- There's a new prop for Data's head in this episode, a fair bit more convincing than what we saw for Lore's head back in "Datalore." Voyager would later repurpose the prop as a Borg drone's head.
- Typically, when Whoopi Goldberg would film for an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, she'd only be available for one day. For this episode (and its conclusion to open season six), she blocked out more of her schedule so that she could participate more.
- Note that Worf is sent back to the Enterprise right at the end of the episode, to set up for Part II. It's simply getting him out of the way, removing the need for some sort of "mechanical rice picker"-esque explanation of his appearance in the 1890s.
With another season in the bank, it's time to look back on that batch of episodes. Overall, it was a still more polarized year for Star Trek: The Next Generation that the year before. It had some of the best episodes of the entire series... and some of its worst clunkers, including the first F since season two. My picks for the top 5 episodes of season five: "The Inner Light," "Darmok," "Disaster," "I Borg," and "The Next Phase."
On to season six!
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