‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Retro Recap – ‘Yesterday’s Enterprise’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

There is a prevailing belief in television and film, that darker stories have to be reined in before the final product reaches the masses and there is some logic to that line of thinking. Simply because we are tuning in or heading to the theater in order to be entertained, not to sit through an absolute emotional and visual beat down. So, it makes sense that a carefully curated experience is assembled when the subject matter is bleak, so the audience doesn’t feel as though they need a hug or therapy once the story has come to an end. But while that kind of process is commonplace in the industry, every once and a while, a shockingly dark story, one that clearly has no filters or editing present within its framework; finds its way to the silver or small screen… for all the right reasons.

Because sometimes, a supremely bleak and devastating story can in fact offer up a healthy message. The kind that leaves the audience in a good place, when all is said and done, and for proof that this is possible, then look no further than the next episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. For ‘Yesterday’s Enterprise’ is about as bleak as tale as it gets. Since it features an alternate timeline where the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D encounters the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-C, and the arrival of the former Enterprise is what has given life to this new timeline. Because their ‘disappearance’ from a fight that the Klingons would have found to be quite honorable, has helped to plunge the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets into twenty years of war, and while that plot line alone is pretty damn dark in its own right, it merely scratches the surface in regard to how dark this episode gets.

For everything in this timeline looks and feels hopeless, and much of that comes courtesy of the crew of the 1701-D. Because they aren’t a family in this tale, just shipmates who want to survive to see another day and they’re constantly frosty with one another and that’s just unsettling for certain, since we’ve spent the last three years learning how dynamic they are as a team. As for the rest of the hopelessness in this tale, well that comes about by way of Picard’s admission to Captain Rachel Garrett that the Federation is losing the war and will likely have to surrender soon. Something that is downright impossible in the mind of a fan when we consider the odds that Starfleet has faced before and well, that horror of that notion is brought full circle, when we start to watch this intrepid crew die right before our eyes when they work to protect the crew of the 1701-C as they begin their doomed voyage home.

But it is the ending and the push to get the 1701-C back to its proper timeline that brings light to the darkness in this tale. Because in many ways, the sacrifice present in the final act speaks volumes to the fact that Picard and his senior officers are still the incredible people we’ve come to know, and love and they are in essence; ready to give their lives up for the greater good. Because they understand that protecting the 1701-C at all costs could provide them and billions of other lives with a future that isn’t murky and filled with fear. And watching them come together in order to secure that future is moving and inspiring to say the least and for their efforts, they are in fact able to save the day as only they can, and really in the end, there’s a reason that this particular tale is regarded as one of the finest episodes to ever come out of this series.

Because it challenges this crew like never before, since they truly face impossible and horrific odds when it comes to their mission and on top of that, the writing here is simply sublime. Because we are able to plunge into an alternate universe and learn everything about it in under forty-five minutes and that is just an incredible feat for certain. But what matters most, is that this dark storyline is ironically as Star Trek as it gets, since it features wonderful minds and dynamic people, that put their differences aside to work toward a common goal and that is really quite powerful to watch play out on screen. And as an added bonus, you can’t go wrong with the return of Lieutenant Tasha Yar, since this particular tale allows for her to finally have a better sendoff than the one, she was given in ‘Skin of Evil’ and well, make no mistake about it… this really is the moment that TNG ‘arrived’. Because this story really is top notch through and through and it released the proverbial floodgates storytelling wise for this show. For bold storytelling became a staple of this series after this one hit the airwaves, and the powerful episodes followed this one, still has fans buzzing about this series; twenty-six years after it left the airwaves.

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