Hullo again and here we are with another auld blog. Nothing much has changed in my opinion about this sublime bit o gorgeousness, Yesterday's Enterprise, not only outstanding Trek but outstanding telly. I think as I am aging I am even more nostalgic for 80's and 90's telly. I mean I didn't watch Seinfeld first time round but I am caning about 4 eps a night of that at the moment. It isn't like we haven't got a plethora of awesome geek telly at the moment, and the list of things I want to watch is longer than reasonable. But these things, they hold such a place in my heart. Such a big place. Is it because this is the telly that shaped me, this is where my geekdom developed? Maybe, but it really is just good telly too.
The only update really which is also very old news is that at time of writing I did not realise that the sexy bit stuff who plays Castillo (still waiting for his spin off show) was one of the T-Birds in Grease 2. I mean, who knew?
You're welcome!
Yesterday’s Enterprise – Again by Stacey Whittle
I know I’ve written blogs about older shows before but forgive me, I’m in my mid
thirties (HA says future me, now 41 years old!) now and I get nostalgic. Which is why I want to talk today about Star
Trek The Next Generation.
I used to watch this programme with my whole family, it was
unmissable television for all of us, and I have very fond memories of sitting
in the dark (that’s how my parents like to watch television) glued to the
screen. ST:TNG is my Star Trek, the way Peter Davidson will always deep down be
my doctor and though rewatching episodes now – as I have been thanks to one of
the Sky channels showing reruns – sometimes shows it up a little or dates it
quite a lot or is somewhat embarrassing in its OTT and technobabbly ways there
is so much still to love and be in awe of. And while the Borg episodes are up
there with innovation and terror and the final episodes can still reduce me to
a weeping mass on the floor. This episode; Yesterday’s Enterprise is a shining
pinnacle of what Next Gen could achieve.
It probably doesn’t need yet another brilliant review 21 years after its
release date, and I am aware that I am not alone in my reverence of this
episode so please humour me and wallow in the nostalgia too!
The premise of the episode is that our Enterprise (the
Enterprise D) comes across a time rift in space from which a ship emerges and
instantaneously everything changes. The
Federation have now been involved in a long and bloody war with the Klingons
and the ship itself changes, the Bridge is completely different, darker, busier
and most shocking of all, Worf is gone and in his place is Tasha Yar his dead
predecessor! Guinan is the only one who notices the change and understands the
only way to correct the timeline is to send the new ship back. The new ship is
the Enterprise C, a ship which was destroyed 20 years earlier defending a
Klingon outpost from a Romulan attack. This ship is run by Captain Garrett,
when she is apprised of the circumstances she tells Captain Picard they will
stay and fight, he explains to her how bad the situation is and that the
Federation is only months away from defeat, but that if her ship went back – on
a recognised suicide mission – it could save them all. The decision is made,
but while preparations are made Klingon Warbirds attack, killing Captain
Garrett and Tasha having been told of her previous fate by Guinan asks for and
receives a transfer to the Enterprise C. The ship returns to its proper
timeline and normality instantly resumes.
Everything about this episode is sublime and perfect. The
changes in the Enterprise D are many and appropriate; the darkness, the
busyness, the lack of Troi – who needs a counsellor in time of war? The slight
differences in character are subtle and beautifully portrayed - gone is Picard
the diplomat, the assessor, the man who will take ideas and leads from his
staff, instead here is Picard the general who is completely in charge, gone is
his easy relationship with Riker – and his portrayal is far less confident than
the Riker we know. 10 Forward has a more canteen like look where rations are
served, replicators take up too much weapon power, and uniforms are different
and darker too. The whole effect gives us a very good insight into this awful
timeline. It’s lovely also to see the
red uniforms from the movies used for the Enterprise C staff and the adding to
the brilliance of this episode are the characters Captain Garrett, a strong
female captain I wish I could see more of and Lt Richard Castillo, who helps
Yar provide exposition in a nice way and goes on to save the day.
So, the sets are great, the actors are great but above all
it’s a perfect premise, I like very much that no explanation is forthcoming to
the nature of the anomaly – it’s beside the point and would have spoiled
something for me. The simple fact is history has been altered; its
ramifications are enormous so history and therefore present time are restored.
That simple premise gives scope for some brilliant emotional storytelling and
most of all a noble and better death for Tasha Yar, a character who was
initially bumped off in a less than dignified manner. It gives nice resolution
for her and a very satisfying watch for the viewer. This episode is also
somewhat of a stripped down episode – there’s not much technobabble – something
the series was in the habit of doing – there is nothing extraneous, everything
that needs to be there is there and nothing more and that helps so much with
the believability of the second timeline and this episode is one of the shining
jewels over the entire Star Trek franchise as far as I am concerned – we will
not speak of any Romulan Yar descendants as that may well give me physical
pain!
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