‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Retro Recap – ‘Time’s Arrow’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Normally, when we settle in to discuss an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, we talk at length about some supremely philosophical concepts, and it is understandable as to why. After all, TNG made the human condition and modern society a focus of its storytelling, to the point where a great deal of its episodes focused heavily on notions that stayed with us long after the story came to an end. But while that is part of this show’s charm, what’s truly impressive about TNG is that it knew how to be versatile in its storytelling and break up the potential monotony that could accompany commentary and observation, by either offering up a fun episode or in the case of today’s retro recap, one that was heavily grounded in general science fiction concepts.

Which in this instance, involves time travel and the discovery of a mysterious alien species and that made the season five finale, ‘Time’s Arrow’, quite the entertaining tale. One that opted to offer up a different kind of cliffhanger than we are used to seeing in this series as well and it accomplished all of this… by way of a surprise twist involving Data. For the U.S.S. Enterprise was recalled from active duty to Earth in order to get the crew to focus its attention on how the positronic skull of Lieutenant Commander Data ended up in with a pile of archeological finds from the 19th Century. And a deep examination of that silent and beat up android head, and the dig site, reveals evidence that aliens from a planet known as Devidia II were likely on earth back in the 1800s and well, trying to figure out why they were on our world, is what leads to the time travel in question.

For while Data is working on a bold plan to see the aliens firsthand since they are phased out of our time… he finds himself pulled through a temporal portal, one that deposits him in 19th century San Francisco. Giving life to some wonderful ‘fish out of water’ moments, since Data is ill equipped to handle himself in the 1800s initially. But once he settles in, he is able to get his hands on a bevy of funds to conduct a scientific investigation as to why the aliens are interested in this time period and it also allows for him to meet Guinan long before she ever boarded the Enterprise, and he even gets a chance to hang with author Samuel ‘Mark Twain’ Clemens. But while it is nice to see to see Data encounter a wildly popular historical figure and encounter a pre-1701-D Guinan, this is all setup stuff for 'Part II' and there’s more of that to be found in this story.

Because back in the 24th Century, the crew is working hard to figure out how to find their friend and bring him home so that their concerns about Data being caught in a temporal loop that will lead to his death, can be assuaged, and this in turn leads to some supremely sentimental moments. The kind that speaks to how much Data means to this crew and his friends and how far each and every one of them are willing to go in order to keep him safe and well, their worries helped to formulate a bold plan. One where a phase inverter would allow an away team to see what Data saw, in the hopes of giving them an idea of where he’s gone and this is so important and critical to both the crew’s emotional being and the timeline, that Captain Picard joins this away-team. For if he doesn’t, history might play out in a funny manner (according to Guinan), and his decision to join his senior officer’s planet side… is what leads to the cliffhanger in question. 

For the away team does indeed see what Data saw before he disappeared, and what they are privy to, is quite unsettling. For the aliens in question, are clearly bringing the energy equivalent of a soul back to their world and time to feed their own and that means this intrepid crew must travel through the time portal as well to save lives and well… that’s a solid way to leave us hanging for season six. But while we wait to revisit the details on the fate of Data’s positronic skull and the true intentions of the aliens, we can bask in one solid finale. One that didn’t require all that much thinking on the audience’s part since this one is all about adventure and it will be quite interesting to see how well the finale of this story arc holds up when we revisit the wonder of season six of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Until next time.

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