star trek yesterday's enterprise

Yesterday's Enterprise (episode)

• View history
• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 1.6 Act Five
• 2 Memorable quotes
• 3.1 Production history
• 3.2 Story development
• 3.3 Production
• 3.4.2 Costumes
• 3.6 Continuity
• 3.7 Reception
• 3.8 Awards and honors
• 3.9 Apocrypha
• 3.10 Video and DVD releases
• 4.1 Starring
• 4.2 Also starring
• 4.3 Guest Stars
• 4.4 And Special Guest Star
• 4.5 Uncredited Co-Stars
• 4.6 Stunt doubles
• 4.7 Stand-ins
• 4.8.1 Library computer references
• 4.8.2 Unreferenced material
• 4.9 External links

Summary [ ]

Worf is sitting alone in Ten Forward when Guinan comes over to his table and hands him a glass and asks him to try the drink. Worf tries it and is extremely surprised to find that he loves the drink. Guinan tells Worf it's an Earth drink, prune juice , which Worf refers to as "a warrior's drink" after taking a sip. Guinan notes that Worf always drinks alone and suggests that he seek out some companionship. However, Worf says he would need a Klingon woman for companionship as he considers Earth females to be too fragile. He then laughs loudly when Guinan tells him there are women aboard who might find him tame, a thought he considers impossible. When Guinan playfully calls him a coward for saying he'll never know when she says he should find out, Worf says he was merely concerned for the safety of his fellow crewmates. Just then, a strange phenomenon appears outside Ten Forward's windows and Worf is called to the bridge . Guinan stands up and looks toward the phenomenon and simply utters " No ."

The timeline changes

Arriving on the bridge, Worf is told that the USS Enterprise -D has encountered what appears to be a strange temporal rift in space. Investigating, the crew are unable to confirm exactly what and precisely where the phenomenon is.

Worf reports a change in sensor readings. Captain Picard turns his back on Worf and asks Data for more information, who begins to check the sensors. As a starship emerges from the rift, the bridge of the Enterprise changes. It now appears much darker and the crew's uniforms have more of a militaristic flair to them. No one present seems aware of the changes. Picard turns to the tactical station and asks if the ship that emerged is an enemy vessel. However Worf is gone, and Natasha Yar stands in his place. Troi has also disappeared.

Down in a much more brightly lit Ten Forward, as Guinan clears a table, everyone is in uniform and all are armed. She straightens up and senses something isn't right, that everything has changed.

As the starship clears the rift, Yar confirms it as a Federation starship and tries to access the ship's registry. Commander Riker notes the crew must have had a rough ride. Yar reads the ship's registry as NCC-1701-C, which causes Picard and Riker to turn toward her in astonishment as Yar finishes reading the name of the ship… USS Enterprise -C .

Act One [ ]

Two Enterprise s meet

On the altered bridge of the Enterprise , Data reports that the sensors confirm that the other ship's hull and engine components are of the Enterprise -C's time period. When Wesley Crusher mentions that the Enterprise -C was destroyed with all hands more than twenty years previous, Data corrects him, saying that the ship was presumed destroyed near Narendra III , a Klingon outpost. Captain Picard wonders if the ship was adrift for all the years it's been missing or perhaps traveled through time . Data says that if time travel does turn out to be the proper theory then the phenomenon they have encountered is a temporal rift, such as a Kerr loop in space which is most certainly unstable and capable of collapsing at any time. Yar then reports that she is able to scan the interior of the ship and she reports heavy damage but she does detect sporadic life signs . Riker calls sickbay to prepare emergency teams and orders the transporter rooms to standby, but Picard belays Riker's orders, reminding him that if the other ship has indeed traveled through time then they could be dealing with variables that might alter the flow of their history. At that moment, Yar tells Picard that the Enterprise -C is sending out an audio distress call , and Picard orders it put on speakers.

Riker mentions that there was no record of Romulans ever attacking the Enterprise -C and then Yar reports the voice message has terminated and they are now receiving only an automated signal from the vessel. Picard then orders a channel opened and tells the Enterprise -C that he is " Captain Picard of the Federation… of a Federation starship " and tells Garrett to stand by for emergency teams. He then tells Riker to assess the situation and attend to their wounded and above all, avoid all discussions of where and when they are. Riker says he will and takes Yar with him for the away team . Just then, Crusher tells Picard that Starfleet monitor stations are detecting Klingon ships in the area and on their way, and Picard orders Wesley Crusher to put the ship on battle alert , condition yellow .

Meanwhile, the Enterprise -C is in bad shape. The away team beams aboard the bridge and Dr. Crusher reports the rest of the bridge crew are dead and that the captain is seriously injured. Finding the captain nearly unconscious in her command chair , Crusher and Riker tell Garrett they are from a Federation ship and that they are here to assist. When Dr. Crusher tells Riker she must take Garrett back to Enterprise , Garrett demands an explanation, but Riker simply tells her they are from a Federation ship that answered their distress signal and that they will answer all questions, but for now they must get her to sickbay . With that, Garrett relents and allows Crusher to transport themselves back directly to sickbay.

At the same time, chief engineer Geordi La Forge tells Riker the ship is in pretty bad shape. Riker tells him if they can't stabilize life support they will have to evacuate the ship; La Forge says he can do it, but he'll have to go to engineering , so he calls a damage control party to engineering. Then Yar and Riker notice some rustling underneath some debris. They pull the debris off and discover another survivor, Lt. Richard Castillo , the ship's helmsman .

Picard arrives back on the bridge in time for a report from the away team. Riker reports back that they've stabilized life support and that La Forge is working on repairing the main power couplings . He also tells Picard that there are 125 survivors aboard the Enterprise -C. When Picard asks for recommendations, Riker says that he'd hate to have to lose the ship, as Starfleet could certainly use another vessel, even if it is old. While Picard agrees, he also cautions Riker that they can't stay in the area too long. Picard allows Riker nine hours to get the Enterprise -C underway to Starbase 105 . If they are unable to do so, then the survivors will be evacuated and the ship will be destroyed.

At that moment, Guinan enters the bridge. Seemingly disoriented, she walks up to Picard. When Picard notices her, she says she needs to speak to Picard, claiming: " This is not the way it's supposed to be. "

Act Two [ ]

In the observation lounge , Picard questions Guinan's perceptions. She tells him that things don't feel "right" to her, such as the bridge, the crew's uniforms , their attitudes. Picard counters that the bridge is just as it has always been, and asks what else has changed. Families, Guinan says. There should be children on the Enterprise . Astounded, Picard reminds her that the Federation is at war . Guinan responds that it is not, or at least is not supposed to be. She tells Picard that Enterprise isn't a ship of war, but of peace. And the only way to restore things is to send the displaced Enterprise -C back to its own time.

Picard arrives in sickbay to meet Captain Garrett, who has just undergone surgery. Garrett asks where they came from, but Picard deflects her question with wanting to know how her ship ended up here. Garrett tells Picard that they were responding to a distress signal from the Klingon outpost on Narendra III and asks if Picard heard it, but he says they didn't. Garrett comments she's never seen a sickbay like the one she's in, not even on a starbase, nor has she ever seen their uniforms before. She asks what ship she's on. Crusher urges Garrett to be still and relax, but she insists on finding out what ship she is on. Picard tells her that she is aboard the Enterprise 1701-D, a revelation that stuns Garrett. Picard tells her they have traveled twenty-two years into the future . Garrett wants to know if the crew has been informed and Picard says they haven't. Garrett says she should inform them and Picard hesitantly offers to do so. When Garrett inquires as to why, Picard explains his concern that if they return with future knowledge, it could upset the timeline even more than their current position has done. Garrett says that they barely escaped with their lives. Picard tells Garrett that history never recorded their last stand against the Romulans. Garrett says they responded to a distress call from Narendra III and engaged the Romulan forces attacking the outpost, but that there were four Romulan warbirds against the lone Enterprise . Picard tells her that the outpost was destroyed, and laments that if a Federation starship could have rescued a Klingon outpost, it just might have averted twenty years of war.

Back aboard the Enterprise -C, Castillo struggles with the news that he is twenty-two years out of time, as Lt. Yar works to bring the weapons systems up to spec, and attempts to rationalize the situation. Castillo wonders about his family and laments that they're probably dead, but Tasha tells him that that's not necessarily true. She then tells Castillo that he might not like the future as the war has been very long. She tells him that the Federation has lost more than half of Starfleet to the Klingons. Castillo remarks that negotiations for a peace treaty were well underway when the Enterprise left on her mission. Yar says there have been a lot of changes. Castillo suggests she fill him in on them.

Picard and Data confer

Back on the Enterprise -D, Data tells Picard that the anomaly is likely symmetrical. Picard asks Data about what would happen if the Enterprise -C were to return through the rift. Data tells him that she would emerge in the midst of battle, at almost the exact instant she left. Picard asks if there's any chance of the ship surviving and Data says there isn't. Picard realizes then that sending the Enterprise -C and her crew back would be a death sentence.

Act Three [ ]

Having returned to the Enterprise , Yar tells Castillo that it was the first Galaxy -class battleship built by the Federation and that Enterprise can transport as many as six thousand troops at once. Yar says she was lucky to get the Enterprise and Castillo says he was too, referring of course, to the Enterprise -C. They arrive at sickbay and brief Captain Garrett on the Enterprise -C's current tactical state. When Garrett tells Castillo to concentrate on the ship's weapon systems, Yar tells her that there are Klingon battleships in the area. With that news, Garrett sits up, asks Castillo why she wasn't informed, and then tells an intervening Beverly Crusher that she must resume her duties; when Crusher protests that Garrett needs another 24 hours of rest, Garrett tells Crusher that twenty-four hours might as well be twenty-four years.

Guinan once again comes to Picard in the conference lounge, now transformed into a strategic operations center. Picard asks if she has any more information, but Guinan doesn't. Without more information, without proof, Picard can't let them return. Guinan states he must. With barely restrained anger and slamming his fist on the table, Picard tells her the Enterprise -C crew would die moments after returning. Guinan tells Picard that she wishes she had more information but she doesn't. She only has a very strong feeling that this is wrong. Picard then asks who decides which timeline is the right one? Guinan says she does. That isn't good enough for Picard. He will not allow one hundred and twenty-five people to sacrifice their lives on her "feeling." Forty billion people have already been lost in this war, Guinan snaps back, a war that isn't and shouldn't be happening. She repeats that the only way to save those billions is to sacrifice that small group of people. But there is no guarantee of success, and everything Picard is tells him that the idea is wrong, dangerous, and futile. Guinan tells Picard that in all the years he's known her, she's never forced herself on anyone, or to take a stand based on whimsical triviality. Guinan tells Picard that she's told him what he must do and Picard only has his trust in her to base his decision on.

Guinan then returns to Ten Forward, where she runs into Yar and Castillo, discussing improvements to the deflector system, how her Enterprise could now probably last twice as long in a firefight than the Enterprise -C. Guinan feels extreme uneasiness at Yar's very presence as she moves towards the bar . There is a brief, awkward conversation between the two in regards to Yar ordering their food rations for the meal. Yar tells Castillo that is the first time she's ever seen Guinan like that. While Guinan goes to prepare their food, Yar and Castillo's conversation continues, with Castillo's head spinning a little due to the tactics that Tasha explained, which were more than what he learned at the Academy . Yar tells him he'll need it. Then the conversation heads toward more personal territory. Tasha asks what she should call him, now that they've decided they're probably past referring to each other by rank. Yar tells Castillo to call her Tasha and Castillo says everyone except his mother, who calls him Richard, calls him Castillo. But when Yar tries calling him Castillo, he decides he'd rather she call him Richard. Just then, their conversation is interrupted by a call from Picard, ordering all senior officers to his ready room . Heading out, Yar and Guinan share another uncomfortable glance.

Picard briefs the senior officers on his decision. Crusher is astounded that Picard is going to send them back based solely on Guinan's intuition. Riker says there's no way the Enterprise -C can save Narendra III. Yar then tells Picard that Captain Garrett reported four Romulan warbirds, leaving the Enterprise -C severely outmanned and outgunned. La Forge then presents the possibility of re-arming the Enterprise -C with modern weapons, but Picard vetoes it, saying if they do that they'll alter the past. Riker asks if that isn't what they're talking about but Picard says they're talking about restoring the past. La Forge wonders how Guinan would know history has been altered if she's been altered along with everyone else. Data suspects that possibly her species has a perception which goes beyond linear time.

Picard's senior officers are skeptical of his decision to return the Enterprise -C to the past

Picard says there's much about her people they don't understand but fundamentally she is correct as a ship from the past has traveled through time and there is no way for them to know what effect that might have on the present and that they may never know but Picard has decided the consequences are too great to ignore. When Picard dismisses them, Riker begins to offer his opinion, although Picard anticipates him, telling Riker that he's not seeking their consent and that this was merely a briefing. Riker respectfully tells Picard he's asking 125 people to die a meaningless death. Data disagrees that it would absolutely be meaningless, pointing out that since the Klingons regard honor above all else, that if the crew of Enterprise -C died fighting for the survival of a Klingon outpost, it would be considered a meaningful act of honor by the Klingon Empire . Picard notes that their deaths might prevent the entire war, noting if Enterprise -C returns to the battle and its mission is a success, it will irrevocably change history, creating a new future for all of them. Having considered all the alternatives, Picard decides to go with Guinan's recommendation and this time, rather emphatically dismisses everyone.

" If I interpret your facial expressions correctly, you are preoccupied with something… unpleasant. "

Preoccupied by a comment made by La Forge and Crusher about whether they'll even be alive in an alternate timeline as they depart the ready room, Yar joins Data in the bridge's fore turbolift . Yar comments that she's worried about what will happen to Castillo; Data points out that if history is restored, they will have no memory of these events, which disturbs Yar even more.

As the crew of the Enterprise -C continue repairs, Garrett and Picard discuss possibilities for the ship either staying or returning, and the probability of Guinan's accuracy. Garrett gently asks if Picard trusts Guinan's judgement. Picard answers that he learned long ago to trust his old friend's wisdom. He offers to arrange for Guinan and Captain Garrett to speak in person, an offer she declines. Garrett knows there is no chance for survival, and suggests the Enterprise -D return with them, and Picard says he can't. Garrett accepts this, saying Picard doesn't belong in her time any more than she belongs in Picard's. She then tells Picard how many of the Enterprise -C's crew want to return, some for not wanting to be without their loved ones and some because they don't like the idea of sneaking out in the middle of a fight. But Garrett has told her crew that the Federation needs another ship against the Klingons and they need to get used to the idea. Picard then tells her if she goes back it could be much more helpful. He then lowers his voice and reveals a disturbing fact to Garrett: the war is going very badly for the Federation, much worse than is generally known. According to Picard, Starfleet Command believes that defeat is inevitable and within six months, they may have no choice but to surrender. Garrett asks if this was caused by their presence. Picard says that one starship can make no impact in the present… but twenty-two years ago, one ship could have stopped the war before it even started.

Garrett tells Castillo to inform the crew they will return to their own time. She promises Picard that the Romulans will get a good fight, and that history will remember their actions. Picard tells Garrett he knows they will. As Picard beams back to the Enterprise -D, Yar and Castillo say their goodbyes but they are interrupted by an attack from a Klingon Bird-of-Prey , on a scouting mission. Yar mans the tactical station quickly and prepares to fight the Klingons. Garrett contacts the Enterprise -D and asks if Picard made it safely back and Riker acknowledges that he did. Despite fire from the Enterprise -D, the Bird-of-Prey scores some crucial hits on the Enterprise -C, causing a panel near Garrett to explode in sparks, sending her to the ground. As the Bird-of-Prey disappears under cloak , Picard hails Garrett and asks for a damage report but there is no response. After a second hail, Yar contacts Picard and reports that Captain Garrett is dead (having been killed by a piece of shrapnel embedding itself in her head).

Act Four [ ]

In the Strategic Operations Center, Castillo enters and tells Picard he is prepared to lead the Enterprise back himself. Riker, though, is skeptical, as Castillo is the last surviving senior officer, having limited support from ops , no tactical, and reduced staff in engineering. Castillo interrupts Riker and tells Picard he has good people who wish to do their jobs. Riker believes history didn't mean for the Enterprise -C to enter this battle without Captain Garrett and while Castillo can't speak to that extent, he knows he can get the job done. Just then, Data contacts Picard and informs him that likely due to the battle with the Klingons, the temporal rift is destabilizing. Tasha says they can't remain there as their coordinates have likely been transmitted to the Klingon Command . Castillo says then that he intends to return unless Picard orders him otherwise. He then tells Picard that he can have his ship ready in a few hours, that they sustained only moderate damage. With that information, Picard gives his assent and tells Castillo that they will provide cover.

A farewell kiss

Yar takes Castillo to the transporter room where they bid each other farewell again and then after joking about how they seem to have all the time one can afford to have, share a tender kiss, and then Castillo beams back to the Enterprise -C. From there, Yar goes to Ten Forward to confront Guinan about her fate in the other timeline. Guinan says she doesn't have alternate biographies of the crew, but Yar says there's something to the way Guinan looks at her recently and that they've known each other too long for these secrets. Guinan finally reveals that she feels like they weren't meant to know each other at all. Guinan then tells Yar that she's supposed to be dead and while she doesn't know how she died, she does know it was an empty death, that Yar was killed without reason or purpose.

Yar meets Picard in his ready room and asks for a transfer to the Enterprise -C, which is in need of a tactical officer . Picard asks why and she says they need one, but Picard says they need her here. Yar then tells him she's not supposed to be there and that she's supposed to be dead. Picard allows Tasha to sit and is also disturbed that Guinan felt it necessary to give Yar that information, but Yar responds that she wanted to know. Picard tells Yar she doesn't belong on Enterprise -C. Tasha agrees, she says that Captain Garrett belongs there but she's dead. She then says there may be some logic in her request, which Picard angrily disagrees with, saying that, after he calms his voice, " There's no logic in this at all! Whether they succeed or not, the Enterprise -C will be destroyed. " Yar says that with someone skilled at tactical they might be able to make the difference in the conflict. It may only be seconds or minutes, but that could be the time it takes to change history. Yar says she didn't like the thought of dying for no real reason and that, knowing the risks that come with being a Starfleet officer, if she is to die being one, she wants that death to count for something.

Picard considers for a moment, and then simply and quietly, grants Yar permission to go. She stands, thanks Picard, and leaves the Enterprise -D for the last time.

Aboard the Enterprise -C, Castillo is making final preparations for departure, placing crewmembers at ops and conn , just as Tasha reports for duty at tactical. Incredulous, Castillo wants to know what she's doing and she tells Castillo about how Captain Picard approved her transfer request. Castillo tells Yar they're going back through the rift, into battle and not coming back. Yar says that's why she came. Quietly, Castillo then tells her he doesn't want her aboard, but Yar dares him to find someone in his crew better suited than her to do the job. Castillo knows she is right and welcomes Yar aboard the Enterprise -C. Starting to step away from her, he orders her to take her station. Yar does so as Castillo moves over and sits in the captain's chair…

Yar's history-changing moment

Act Five [ ]

Wesley reports three K'Vort -class battle cruisers are en route to intercept the two Enterprise s. Picard notes how the Klingons don't even bother to cloak themselves. Riker is surprised at their audacity, after the pasting they apparently gave the Klingons during a recent battle at Archer IV .

Picard nods, and then addresses the crew through the ship's intercom :

The battle is joined

The battle begins as the Klingon ships focus all of their firepower on the Enterprise -D, whose shields hold. Riker, manning the tactical station, reports photon torpedoes ready and Picard orders them fired using dispersal pattern Sierra. Data reports one enemy ship was hit with moderate shield damage. Another volley from the Klingons causes minor damage to the Enterprise 's secondary hull . As Picard orders a course change, Wesley reports one of the enemy ships is breaking off to attack the Enterprise -C. Picard tells Wesley to keep them within two hundred kilometers of the Enterprise -C, and Wesley turns course to intercept that Klingon ship, with Riker returning fire after the Klingons attack the Enterprise -C. La Forge reports from engineering that a starboard power coupling is down and antimatter containment fields suffered damage. Wesley reports the Klingon warships are flanking the ship in an attempt to draw them away from the Enterprise -C. Picard then orders continuous fire of all phaser banks.

The Enterprise fires its forward phasers…

… with deadly results

As the Enterprise begins to fire continuous phaser blasts against the Klingons, a focused attack breaks through the shields of one of the ships, destroying it in seconds; however, the remaining ships knock out the main sensor array and cause critical damage to the warp core . The shields collapse, and the containment field is failing. As La Forge works to shut down the warp core, plasma coolant leaks out of the core manifold and the warp core builds to overload, with La Forge unable to stop it; there are two minutes until a warp core breach .

Data reports on Picard's request that Enterprise -C is now fifty-two seconds from the rift.

The death of Will Riker

With his ship facing destruction, Picard orders all remaining power to defensive systems. Data reports power couplings have been severed in the main phaser banks and he cannot bypass. The Enterprise is hit again and Riker is killed when part of the tactical console explodes. The Klingons signal, demanding that the Enterprise surrender to them.

" That will be the day… "

" That will be the day " Picard sneers and leaps over the tactical rail, trying to fire the phasers himself. After several tries, the phasers fire on one of the Klingon ships, who respond by continuously firing on the Enterprise . Picard continues trying to fire as the bridge becomes engulfed in flames.

The Klingon ships relentlessly batter away at the Enterprise -D. As the ship is mere seconds away from being destroyed, the Enterprise -C makes it back through the rift.

The timeline is restored and Picard is standing on the bridge just as he was before the divergence, asking for a report. Worf reports that his sensor readings fluctuated and what appeared to be a ship has now vanished. Data reports the anomaly is closing in on itself. Picard then orders a class 1 probe left behind to monitor the rift's final closure. He then orders Wesley to set course for Archer IV . Just then, Guinan calls up and asks if everything is all right. Picard and Riker are surprised to hear her on the intercom. He then tells Guinan everything is fine and asks if there's anything wrong. In Ten Forward, Guinan says no, that nothing's wrong and she's sorry to have bothered them. She then smiles, and goes to a table and sits opposite from La Forge and asks…

Memorable quotes [ ]

" A warrior's drink! "

" Are you saying it is and yet it isn't there? "

" NCC-1701… C. USS… Enterprise. "

" Families. There should be children on this ship. " " What? Children on the Enterprise ? Guinan, we're at war! " " No we're not! At least we're not… supposed to be. This is not a ship of war. This is a ship of peace. "

" Is there any possibility she could survive? " " None, sir. " " Then sending them back… would be a death sentence. "

" Who is to say that this history is any less proper than the other? " " I suppose I am. " " Not good enough, damn it! Not good enough! I will not ask them to die! " " Forty billion people have already died! This war's not supposed to be happening! You've got to send those people back to correct this! " " And what is to guarantee that if they go back they will succeed? Every instinct is telling me this is wrong, it is dangerous, it is futile! " " We've known each other a long time. You have never known me to impose myself on anyone or take a stance based on trivial or whimsical perceptions. This timeline must not be allowed to continue. Now, I've told you what you must do. You have only your trust in me to help you decide to do it. "

" To be honest with you, Picard, a significant number of my crew members have expressed a desire to return even knowing the odds. Some because they can't bear to live without their loved ones, some because they don't like the idea of slipping out in the middle of a fight ."

" The war is going very badly for the Federation, far worse than is generally known. Starfleet Command believes that defeat is inevitable. Within six months, we may have no choice but to surrender. " " Are you saying all this may be a result of our arrival here? " " One more ship will make no difference in the here and now, but twenty-two years ago, one ship could have stopped this war before it started. "

" Mr. Castillo. " " Yes, Captain? " " Inform the crew we're going back. " " Yes, Captain. " " The Romulans will get a good fight. We'll make it one for the history books. " " I know you will, Captain. "

" But there's something more when you look at me, isn't there? I can see it in your eyes, Guinan. We've known each other too long. " " We weren't meant to know each other at all. At least, that's what I sense when I look at you. Tasha, you're not supposed to be here. "

" […] at least with someone at tactical, they will have a chance to defend themselves well. It may be a matter of seconds or minutes, but those could be the minutes that change history. Guinan says I died a senseless death in the other timeline. I didn't like the sound of that, Captain. I've always known the risks that come with a Starfleet uniform. If I'm to die in one, I'd like my death to count for something. "

" Attention all hands. As you know, we could outrun the Klingon vessels. But we must protect the Enterprise -C until she enters the temporal rift. And we must succeed! Let's make sure that history never forgets… the name… Enterprise . Picard out. "

" Federation ship Enterprise , surrender and prepare to be boarded. " " That will be the day. "

" Geordi, tell me about… Tasha Yar. "

Background information [ ]

Production history [ ].

• Writer's third draft spec script by Trent Christopher Ganino (to be named either "Yesterday's Enterprise" or " NCC-1701-C "): 15 April 1989 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 18)
• Spec script received and logged in: 2 May 1989 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , pp. 19 & 26)
• Spec script read by Co-Producer Richard Manning : 24 May 1989 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 19)
• Script submission analysis by Andrew Davis : 21 August 1989 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 26)
• Spec script recommended in memo from Michael Piller : 18 September 1989 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 33)
• Piller requests deal memo to purchase story from "Yesterday's Enterprise" spec script: 26 September 1989 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 34)
• One-page pitch memo from Michael Piller (referring to story as "Old Enterprise"): 3 October 1989 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 35; [1] )
• Plot details suggested in one-page memo from David Livingston (referring to story as "Old Enterprise"): 9 October 1989 [2]
• First draft story outline by Trent Christopher Ganino and Eric A. Stillwell : 10 October 1989 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , pp. 39 & 45)
• Treatment distributed to TNG writing staff: 13 October 1989 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 45)
• Second draft story outline by Trent Christopher Ganino and Eric A. Stillwell: 29 October 1989 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , pp. 47 & 53)
• Trent Christopher Ganino and Eric A. Stillwell receive payment, in checks, for their story: 2 November 1989 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 59)
• Third draft story outline by Ronald D. Moore : 9 November 1989 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , pp. 54-55)
• Start of work on first draft script, by TNG writing staff, with each participant assigned a separate act: 23 November 1989 – 26 November 1989 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 65)
• Beat sheet, by Ron Moore, and combining of acts of first draft script: 27 November 1989 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , pp. 61 & 65)
• Partial first draft script, enabling preproduction to start: 30 November 1989 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 65)
• Memo of script notes from Eric A. Stillwell, and "Technical Commentary" memo from Michael Okuda and Rick Sternbach : 1 December 1989 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 66)
• Completion of first draft script, and preproduction meeting: 4 December 1989 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 71)
• Piller recommends this episode, amongst others, in a memo to John Wentworth, president of Paramount's Network Television Publicity department: 7 December 1989 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 91)
• Final draft script: 8 December 1989 [3]
• Principal photography: 11 December 1989 to 19 December 1989 (7 days) ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , pp. 71, 73, 77)
• Notice of Tentative Writing Credits memo from Eric A. Stillwell to Helen Phillips in Paramount's Business Affairs department: 21 December 1989 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 79)
• Notice of Tentative Writing Credits officially issued by Paramount: 3 January 1990 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 80)
• Writers Guild of America objects to Trent Christopher Ganino and Eric A. Stillwell receiving "Story by" credit: 8 January 1990 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 80)
• Stillwell calls WGA about repercussions: 9 January 1990 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 81)
• Numerous phone calls, including between Piller and Business Affairs, as well as between Stillwell and WGA: 10 January 1990 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 81)
• Paramount arranges for Stillwell and Ganino to receive "From a Story by" credit, but refuses to issue them a revised contract: 11 January 1990 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 81)
• Stillwell receives phone call from Business Affairs about Paramount's decision: 12 January 1990 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 81)
• Premiere airdate: 19 February 1990
• Piller recommends this episode but favors " The Offspring " in a memo to Rick Berman and Gene Roddenberry : 18 April 1990 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , pp. 91-92)
• This episode is mentioned approvingly by David Livingston in one-page memo to Berman: 23 April 1990 [4]
• Replying to Piller in a memo of his own, Rick Berman favors this episode over "The Offspring": 8 May 1990 ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , p. 92)
• First UK airdate: 29 January 1992

Story development [ ]

• The original idea for "Yesterday's Enterprise" was generated by Trent Christopher Ganino and submitted to Paramount on 15 April 1989 , as a spec script submitted through the open submissions policy introduced by Michael Piller in that year. The document was logged in on 2 May 1989 , and was read by Richard Manning on 24 May 1989. ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , pp. 18 & 19) This original version featured the appearance of an Enterprise from the past in the TNG time period, and Picard having to face the resultant dilemma of whether to return the ship and its crew to their indigenous time period. In this version, the ship did not cause any changes in the future. Picard was forced to decide whether or not to reveal the crew's fate before sending them back. At this point, the captain of the past Enterprise was Richard Garrett, whose last name derived from a pizzeria in Ganino's hometown, San Jose. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (3rd ed., p. 116); The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , pp. 26-27)
• At the same time, following a conversation with Denise Crosby at a convention, Eric Stillwell developed a story (along with Ganino) that would allow Tasha Yar to return to the series after a two-year absence. In this pitch, drawing from classic Star Trek episodes " The City on the Edge of Forever ", " The Savage Curtain " and " Mirror, Mirror " – among others – a Vulcan science team would inadvertently cause the death of Surak , the founder of Vulcan philosophy , when a trip through the Guardian of Forever into Vulcan 's ancient past goes wrong. As a result, the Vulcan people would never become the logical race that is known in the Star Trek universe. Instead, a Vulcan race more akin to the Romulan Star Empire would be engaged in war against the other powers of the galaxy , including the remnants of the Federation. As part of this alteration, Tasha Yar would be present among the crew of the Enterprise -D. Ultimately, Ambassador Sarek , who was on board the Enterprise to greet the returning science team, would sacrifice himself by returning to the past and taking the place of Surak, thus restoring the correct timeline. ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , pp. 23, 29-32) Stillwell commented, " We thought it would be really cool that someone from the future would replace someone in the past, and I always thought it was funny that their names were so similar anyway. " ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (3rd ed., p. 117)) Although not used here, a similar theme went on to feature in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine third season episodes " Past Tense, Part I " and " Past Tense, Part II ", wherein Benjamin Sisko replaces historical figure Gabriel Bell .
• When Stillwell pitched this idea to Michael Piller, Piller suggested combining it with Ganino's "Yesterday's Enterprise " story – which had also developed a Tasha Yar element by this point, largely on the suggestion of Piller, who had also wanted to find a way of bringing the character back – with Ganino and Stillwell retaining joint story credit. The Vulcans were replaced by the Klingons, and the Sarek/Surak plotline replaced with the idea that Yar would fill an absence on board Enterprise -C after the death of a female Captain Garrett. The finished storyline treatment was largely as broadcast, with the exception of Guinan's presence in the episode (in the completed pitch, an alien probe provided the crucial information about the timeline alteration). Some other minor plot points were lost between story and teleplay, including a Yar/Data subplot that was dropped, as Piller felt it was not the right arc for Yar's character. ( The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , pp. 34-46)
• Production on the episode was originally scheduled for January 1990 following the Christmas hiatus; however, with the introduction of Guinan into the episode, the filming schedule needed to be moved up in order to accommodate both Crosby and Whoopi Goldberg . As a result, the pitched storyline needed to be turned into a teleplay over the Thanksgiving weekend of 1989, prior to filming commencing on December 11. Four members of the writing staff – Ira Steven Behr , Ronald D. Moore , Hans Beimler and Richard Manning – divided the episode amongst themselves in order to get it completed on time. In particular, Moore was responsible for the Yar-Castillo romance. Behr noted that although the writers were unhappy about the timescale pressure and having to work over a holiday, they enjoyed the chance to write an episode far darker than had been done in the past, with a great deal more tension – something many of the staff had felt was lacking in the series. Michael Piller added a final polish to the script, but agreed to be omitted from the credit to meet Writer's Guild rules which allowed only four names. (" Flashback: Yesterday's Enterprise ", Star Trek Magazine issue 122 ; The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise , pp. 53-54, 65)
• Given the unusually rushed nature of the script, the writing staff were skeptical that the episode would work. Stillwell recalled, " Most of the writers were not very happy with the script. They thought it was going to be horrible, because they don't like having to write [something] and make it work in three days. " ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., pp. 116-117); Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission hardcover ed., p. 116)
• Eric Stillwell later released a book detailing the creation and production of the episode – The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise .

Production [ ]

Denise Crosby and Whoopi Goldberg between takes

• Ron Moore noted, " We brought Denise back to kill off Tasha Yar a second time. It was a great opportunity to send the character off in a big heroic sacrifice because nobody was really happy with the way she left the series in the first season . Nobody on the show really liked it, the fans didn't like it, I'm not sure even she really liked it. So 'Yesterday's Enterprise' was a chance to kill her right. " ( Chronicles from the Final Frontier , TNG Season 4 DVD special features)
• Time and budgetary constraints put an end to the much more gruesome climactic battle sequence that was originally envisaged in the script. The only death to survive to the broadcast episode is Riker's – others that were written but unfilmed included the decapitation of Wesley Crusher and the electrocution of Data . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 117))
• The transition effect seen as the timeline changed in the beginning of the episode was unscripted and only added in post-production. Originally, the change was accomplished merely by a cut, but it was felt that this was too confusing. However, due to the late nature of the change, the post-production staff neglected to add a corresponding transition effect as the timeline was reset at the end of the episode. ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 192)
• According to art department illustrator Rick Sternbach , the fatal shrapnel embedded into Captain Garrett's head was a wing from a VF-1 Valkyrie model kit from the Japanese animated series The Super Dimension Fortress Macross . [5] This was not the first time this particular model kit provided services for a Star Trek production; The same kit, in two different scales, provided parts for the production of both (the desktop model as well as the full-fledged filming model) studio models of the Constellation -class .
• Both Christopher McDonald and Tricia O'Neil were Star Trek fans before appearing in this episode. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 117))
• This was the second episode directed by David Carson . The first was " The Enemy ". Carson would later direct Star Trek Generations , which, coincidentally also introduced a past starship Enterprise (in that case the USS Enterprise -B ), featured the Enterprise -D battling and destroying a Klingon Bird-of-Prey , but suffering a coolant leak and a warp core breach in the process, and also featured the death of James T. Kirk .
• This is the last episode of the series to feature all nine of its original regular cast members. Denise Crosby and Wil Wheaton both appeared in subsequent Star Trek episodes and films, but never the same ones.
• Denise Crosby cited this as her favorite TNG episode, commenting, " It was a fantastic script and it really took me by surprise and I didn't see it coming! " ( SFX , issue 136, p. 028)
• The shooting script indicated that the voice heard over the com demanding the crew's surrender could be "possibly Worf" however in the episode the demand ended up being made by an unknown Klingon.
• This episode is the only on-screen depiction of an encounter between two different starships named Enterprise while both are active. Star Trek: Picard " The Bounty " would later show the USS Enterprise NX-01 and USS Enterprise -A on display together at the Fleet Museum , and " Võx " would show a restored USS Enterprise -D flying past the former, while all three would been seen docked together as museum ships in " The Last Generation ".

Alterations [ ]

• The sets and atmosphere of the Enterprise -D were given significant alterations to reflect the more warlike nature of the starship:

The alternate bridge

• The mid-level, covering the command deck and the ramp access to Tactical, was raised up to the same level as the "horseshoe" console – access to Conn and Ops was by a series of steps directly in front of the command position.
• The chairs at the command deck were removed, and replaced with a single command chair for Picard (to give his alter ego a sense of authority) and is mounted on a larger strut. As a result, Will Riker joined Tasha Yar at Tactical. The command deck would be raised again, albeit with all three command chairs intact (and not quite to the level of the horseshoe), for Star Trek Generations .
• The equipment lockers at either side of the set were replaced with additional displays, with two freestanding consoles located at the forward edges of the raised mid-level. Two similar consoles (as well as side stations) were introduced for Generations as well.
• A mesh grille was added to the underside of the tactical console.
• The set's ambient lighting was significantly reduced; the overhead lighting changed from a bright white to a dull blue.
• Ten Forward's back wall, usually adorned by a stylized sculpture, was replaced by a functional gray bulkhead, with the Enterprise registry details prominently displayed. Here, the ambient lighting was reversed from the change made to the bridge, being made significantly brighter.
• Picard's ready room received similar lighting treatment to the bridge. In addition, the accoutrements that were normally present – the Enterprise painting, the couch, the works of Shakespeare , the NCC-7100 model, and Livingston – were all removed, and replaced with status displays and tactical maps.
• The conference room set was cut in two to serve as two apparently different rooms – where Guinan confronts Picard for a second time, and where Castillo meets Picard, Riker, and Yar at the top of Act Four. Smaller versions of the conference room table were created, the Enterprise models removed, and a large tactical display added – in the first instance, at the "front" end of the set; in the second, along the back wall opposite the conference room windows.
• Main Engineering was also significantly darkened for its brief appearance towards the end of the episode, the lighting dominated by the warp core.
• The ambient noise aboard the ship was increased; consoles and displays were made much more audible, the usually unheard engines were made into a dull roar, intraship communications were general announcements, rather than direct hails person-to-person, and the door "swoosh" was made more audible and more reminiscent of the sound effect used in Star Trek: The Original Series .
• The darker atmosphere and metallic phaser belts are reminiscent of " Mirror, Mirror ".
• In contrast to captain's logs and stardates , the alternate timeline Picard records a military log using "combat dates." However, an okudagram on Picard's desk, seen shortly before Yar enters to ask for a transfer to the Enterprise -C, shows "Captain's log: Captain J-L Picard." No text of the log is visible, however, instead, simply several long strings of numbers are displayed.
• Red and yellow alert were not used, instead "battle alert" was used, followed by a "condition" which was either yellow or red.
• As opposed to the leisurely state of the Enterprise 's corridors in the normal timeline, those in the alternate timeline were consistently crowded and full of jostling personnel, many running from place to place.

Costumes [ ]

• The standard Starfleet uniform was also made more functional and military in design: the officers' uniform was changed to a band collar, instead of the usual wishbone collar of the ordinary design, and a black "cuff" was added to the end of the sleeves. The junior officers' uniform was largely unchanged. All personnel wore a stylized Sam Browne belt , with the Starfleet delta at the clasp, designed to carry a type 2 phaser prominently on the left hip. The officers' version omitted the double strap across the right shoulder and around the left flank.
• The uniforms used by the crew of the Enterprise -C were those employed by the original series movies , sans the collared undershirts and the Starfleet insignia belts. This version of the uniform would be reused with Jack R. Crusher in " Family ". The insignia pins now doubled as combadges , and the type 2 phaser from Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was used as the standard sidearm.
• One of the silver belt harnesses was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. [6]
• Composer Dennis McCarthy cited the score for this episode as his favorite score. Much of the score was performed by a contemporary orchestra with electronics sparingly used to speak for the time vortex. ("Dennis McCarthy – Music for the Stars", The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 14 , p. 6)

Continuity [ ]

LeVar Burton wears the incorrect uniform costume in the closing scene

• "Yesterday's Enterprise" marks the return of Denise Crosby as Tasha Yar to TNG after Yar's death in " Skin Of Evil " (Crosby's last episode filmed was " Symbiosis ", which aired before "Skin Of Evil"). The events of the episode allowed her to return as Sela , in the " Redemption " and " Redemption II " episodes (as well as later in " Unification II ").
• Tricia O'Neil returned to TNG as the Klingon Kurak in " Suspicions ". She also guest-starred in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as the Cardassian Obsidian Order operative Korinas in " Defiant ". That episode was also written by Ronald D. Moore.
• Picard addresses Riker as "commander" in the alternate timeline, instead of the usual "Number One", revealing Picard and Riker to be on less friendly terms with one another than in the main timeline. Ronald D. Moore remarked, " This was just another nuance we threw in to show the differences between "our" reality and the darker alternate reality. " ( AOL chat , 1997 ) Elsewhere, Moore commented, " [I]t was a lot of fun to… see Picard biting Riker's head off. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 192)
• Yar tells Castillo that she has been serving on the Enterprise for four years, implying that in the alternate universe the Enterprise -D has been in service longer than its counterpart by at least a year. She also tells him that the Enterprise was the first Galaxy -class warship.
• Castillo mentions that Federation had been negotiating a peace treaty with the Klingon Empire at the time of the Narendra III attack, though Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country later established that a peace treaty had been established over fifty years earlier .
• When Yar is telling Castillo the specifications of the Galaxy -class starships, the loudspeaker in the background is calling for a "Lieutenant Barrett". This is a reference to Majel Barrett , voice of the computer and the actress who portrayed Lwaxana Troi . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 117)) Also, in the scene where Picard and Garrett meet in sickbay, a call for Dr. Selar can be heard.
• The beginning of the episode, during the normal timeline, saw the introduction of Worf to prune juice , which became his drink of choice. The German synchronization mistakenly translated it to Johannisbeersaft – currant juice. Later on in the series and on Deep Space Nine the correct word Pflaumensaft is used.
• This episode is one of only a very few where Guinan is seen on the bridge.
• At the end of the episode when Geordi La Forge is talking to Guinan, La Forge is still in the alternate uniform.
• The Enterprise -C personnel wear a late variant of the Starfleet uniforms introduced in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan with the belt and the undershirt removed and the Starfleet Insignia badge modified into a combadge .
• A computer display in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode " In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II " established that the planet Archer IV referenced in this episode was named for Jonathan Archer . Archer and his crew surveyed this planet in ENT : " Strange New World ".

Reception [ ]

• The original airing of "Yesterday's Enterprise" earned ratings of 13.1 million viewers – the third highest of the series. ( "Flashback: Yesterday's Enterprise ", Star Trek Magazine issue 122 )
• Rick Berman cites this episode along with " The Measure Of A Man " as one of his favorites. ( TNG Season 3 DVD )
• Michael Piller remarked, " That was a classic episode. I never met Denise Crosby in person, but I am sure an admirer. She did a great job for us. That's just about as neat a show as we could do. It was as entertaining and unique a time travel show as you'll ever see. I don't know that there was a better episode third season . Hell, Picard sends 500 [sic] people back to their death on the word of the bartender. Come on, that's hard. I was very happy with it and, frankly, I give the credit to the director and the cast and the people who post-produced it. The script was not one of the best scripts we wrote that season. Conceptually, it was marvelous, coming out of the heads of some people here… There are little holes in the episode that we couldn't fix. It was such a complicated and fascinating premise, but it was ultimately the character material that really made everybody proud. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 192)
• Jonathan Frakes admitted, " To this day I do not understand 'Yesterday's Enterprise'. I do not know what the fuck happened in that episode. I'm still trying to understand it – but I liked the look. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 192)
• Roberto Orci cited this episode as a primary inspiration for the screenplay of Star Trek . [7]
• Director David Carson cites this episode as one of his favorite episodes. Due to time pressure he also took part in the concept meetings for this episode. ( The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 19 , pp. 32-33)
• A mission report for this episode by Will Murray was published in The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 13 , pp. 15-18.
• TV Guide ranked this as the seventh best Star Trek episode for their celebration of the franchise's 30th anniversary. ( TV Guide August 24, 1996 issue)

Awards and honors [ ]

• This episode won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series and was also nominated for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) ( Dennis McCarthy ).
• The episode was voted the most popular episode of the series on six separate occasions – by Starlog readers in 1993 and by a viewer poll in 1994, and was voted as the most popular episode of all-time by UK Trek fans in 1996. The US publication TV Guide listed it as one of its top five all-time Trek classics in 1996 and again in 2002. Entertainment Weekly also ranked it as the #1 episode on their list of "The Top 10 Episodes" to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation . [8]
• The episode was featured in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Viewers Choice Marathon in May 1994 , at #3 in the countdown.
• The book Star Trek 101 (p. 72), by Terry J. Erdmann and Paula M. Block , lists this episode as one of the "Ten Essential Episodes" from Star Trek: The Next Generation .

Apocrypha [ ]

• Diane Duane used this episode, along with The Mirror Universe Saga , as a guide in describing the ISS Enterprise -D in her novel Dark Mirror .
• The novel Q-Squared establishes that in the military timeline from this episode, Deanna Troi's absence from the Enterprise was due to the Betazoids being wiped out by the Klingons. The novel also features another variation of the military universe where the Enterprise only discovered the Enterprise -C after the entire crew had already perished – life support having failed and the crew dying over a day before the Enterprise -D arrived in the area – and so Picard simply orders the ship's destruction. This timeline subsequently becomes caught up in the latest scheme of Trelane to merge three timelines together, the final temporal amalgamation resulting in Trelane manipulating the minds of Picard and Riker in the military timeline to escalate their desire for violence to attack other versions of the crew. As the crisis concludes, Picard and Riker are dead and an alternate version of Data has become trapped in this timeline (the other Data being a "human-oid" of a positronic brain in an organic body).
• The novel Engines of Destiny establishes that, because Guinan left an echo of herself inside the Nexus , she has a perception into various timelines and universes giving an explanation as to how she knew the timeline had been altered in this episode and the repercussions of the events in this episode seen later in TNG : " Redemption II ".
• A very similar, if not almost identical, timeline appeared in the novel Q&A , in which the Enterprise -E had still been built, but where the Klingons had completely destroyed the Federation. Picard was the only known Human left after his entire crew had been killed, and he was chained to the bottom of his command chair as a sort of trophy of war for General Worf, the commander of this ship.
• During the third anniversary of Star Trek Online , a new mission, "Temporal Ambassador", saw the Enterprise -C emerge (with Tasha Yar on board) in the year 2409 instead of 2344. The alternate timeline had continued, with the Federation losing the war but the Klingons in turn being conquered by the Dominion and the Tholian Assembly . The Enterprise was captured by the Tholians and its crew brought to a mining facility as slave laborers. With the player's help and the assistance of a future timeship , they managed to break captivity and return to 2344.

Video and DVD releases [ ]

• Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 32 , catalog number VHR 2552, 6 December 1991
• As part of the UK video collection Star Trek: The Next Generation - 10th Anniversary Collector's Edition under the "Ensemble Cast" section, 29 September 1997
• As part of the UK video collection Star Trek - Greatest Battles : 16 November 1998
• UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment ): Volume 3.5 , catalog number VHR 4748, 3 July 2000
• As part of the TNG Season 3 DVD collection
• As part of the Star Trek: Fan Collective - Time Travel and Star Trek: Fan Collective - Alternate Realities DVD collections
• As part of The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation DVD collection
• As part of the TNG Season 3 Blu-ray collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Patrick Stewart as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
• Jonathan Frakes as Commander William Riker

Also starring [ ]

• LeVar Burton as Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
• Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf
• Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher
• Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi
• Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data
• Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher

Guest Stars [ ]

• Denise Crosby as Natasha Yar
• Christopher McDonald as Richard Castillo
• Tricia O'Neil as Rachel Garrett

And Special Guest Star [ ]

• Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan

Uncredited Co-Stars [ ]

• Arratia as Alfonse Pacelli
• Rachen Assapiomonwait as Nelson
• Majel Barrett as Computer Voice
• Joe Baumann as Garvey
• Karin Baxter as Enterprise -D operations ensign
• James G. Becker as Youngblood
• Michael Braveheart as Martinez
• Kelly Burris as Fredericks
• Debbie David as Russell
• Carrie Crain as Ten Forward waitress
• B.J. Davis as Enterprise -D operations officer
• Jeremy Doyle as operations ensign
• Michele Gerren as Enterprise -D science officer
• Eben Ham as Enterprise -D operations ensign
• Casey Kono as operations ensign
• Mark Lentry as Enterprise -D science officer
• Debbie Marsh as Enterprise -D command officer
• James McElroy as Enterprise -D command officer
• Lorine Mendell as Diana Giddings
• Keith Rayve as Enterprise -D command officer
• John Rice as Enterprise -D science officer
• Richard Sarstedt as Enterprise -D command officer
• Guy Vardaman as Darien Wallace
• Command division officer
• Enterprise -C crewmember (voice)
• Female command division officer
• Female com officer (voice)
• Female operations division officer
• Female science division officer
• Klingon officer (voice)
• Male com officer (voice)
• Operations division officer
• Science division officer
• Security officer
• Six command division officers
• Three dead Enterprise -C bridge crew
• Four Enterprise -C bridge crew
• Three wounded Enterprise -C crew
• Ten Forward waiter
• Transporter officer (voice)
• Vulcan command division officer

Stunt doubles [ ]

• Donna Garrett as stunt double for Tricia O'Neil
• Dan Koko as stunt double for Jonathan Frakes

Stand-ins [ ]

• James G. Becker – stand-in for Jonathan Frakes
• Jeffrey Deacon – stand-in for Patrick Stewart
• Nora Leonhardt – stand-in for Marina Sirtis
• Tim McCormack – stand-in for Brent Spiner
• Lorine Mendell – stand-in for Gates McFadden
• Guy Vardaman – stand-in for Wil Wheaton

References [ ]

2344 ; 2346 ; 2362 ; " a rough ride "; aft ; " all hands "; alternate timeline ; Ambassador -class ; analysis ; antimatter containment ; antimatter containment field ; Archer IV ; area ; arrival ; assault ; attack ; audio ; automated distress signal ; auxiliary fusion generator ; away team ; Barrett ; battle alert ; Battle of Narendra III ; battleship ; billion ; biography ; bow ; bridge crew ; briefing ; bypass ; Captain's ready room ; Castillo's family ; Castillo's mother ; catalyst ; casualty ; Cetacean Ops ; children ; choice ; class one sensor probe ; choice ; cloak; combat information center ; communications ; companionship ; condition yellow ; containment field generator three ; coolant leak ; coordinates ; course ; coward ; crew ; cruiser ; damage ; damage control team ; damage report ; day ; death ; death sentence ; deck ; defensive system ; deflector shield technology ; destination ; design ; discussion ; " dismissed "; dispersal pattern ; distress call ; distress signal ; Earth ; efficiency ; effect ; engineering ; El-Aurian ; electrolyte ; electrolyte report ; emergency shutdown ; emergency team ; emitter ; engine core ; era ; evacuation ; evasive maneuvers ; event ; event horizon ; eye ; facial expression ; family ; Federation ; Federation-Klingon War (alternate timeline) ; feeling ; firefight ; fleet formation briefing ; food replicator ; fracture ; Galaxy -class ; ghost ; gravimetric fluctuation ; hailing frequency ; heat dissipation rate ; here and now ; history ; history book ; home ; honor ; hour ; hull ; hull bearing strut ; hundred ; hypothesis ; idea ; information ; instinct ; intention ; intercept course ; internal injuries ; intuition ; job ; joke ; K'Vort -class ; Kim, Joshua ; Kerr loop ; kilometer ; kiss ; Klingons ; Klingon Bird-of-Prey ( Klingon battle cruisers , Klingon scout ); Klingon Empire ; knowledge ; liaison ; life sign ; light ; linear time ; logic ; long range scanner ; lunch ; main phaser bank ; main power coupling ; main shuttlebay ; main war room ; mission ; mister ; monitor station ; month ; name ; Narendra III ; navigational sensor array ; navigational subsystem ; NCC ; " now hear this "; Null-G ward ; object ; odds ; opinion ; Ops ; order ; outpost ; pathology ; patient ; peace treaty ; percent ; perception ; permission ; phaser bank ; phenomenon ; photon bank ; photon launcher ; photon torpedo ; power system ; probability ; prune juice ; radiation anomaly ; radiation pattern ; ration ; reactor core ; reason ; record ; red alert ; registry ; repairs ; result ; risk ; Romulans ; Romulan warbird (2340s) ; Romulan warbirds, Unnamed ; room ; salute ; secondary hull ; sector containing Narendra III ; Selar ; senior officer ; sensor ; shields ; ship of peace ; ship of war ; space ; space frame ; specification ; staff ; starbase ; Starbase 105 ; starboard ; starboard power coupling ; Starfleet ; Starfleet Academy ; Starfleet Command ; Starfleet uniform ; " stat "; statistics ; success ; superstring material ; surrender ; survival ; survivor ; symmetrical ; Tactical ; temporal rift ; " that will be the day "; thing ; Thomas ; thousand ; time ; time displacement ; time period ; timeline ; TKL rations ; torpedo bay ; torpedo launcher ; transfer ; transporter room ; triage team 2 ; tricordrazine ; troop ; trust ; variable ; voice message ; warp core breach ; warp drive ; warp field nacelle ; warbird, Romulan ; warrior ; warship ; warship, Romulan ; weapon system ; wisdom ; " with all due respect "; wormhole ; year

Library computer references [ ]

• Tactical situation monitor : Alfin-Bernado ; Alpha Ataru ; Alpha Carinae ; Alpha Shiro ; Altair III ; Andor ; Antares ; Babel ; Beta Reilley ; Beta Simmons ; Carson ; Chess-Wilson ; Delta Vega ; Denkia ; Denkir ; Eminiar ; Foster-D'Angelo ; Gamma Hydra ; Ganino ; Genovese's Star ; Iczerone Stimson ; Janus VI ; McKnight's Planet ; Memory Delta ; Memory Gamma ; Murasaki 312 ; Omicron Ceti ; Rigel ; Sigma Nesterowitz ; Stillwell ; Theta Bowles ; Theta Mees ; Tsugh Khaidnn

Unreferenced material [ ]

accelerator coil ; Archduke Ferdinand ; Bel-Zon ; engine control processor ; Sarajevo ; Station Salem Four

External links [ ]

• " Yesterday's Enterprise " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " Yesterday's Enterprise " at Wikipedia
• "Yesterday's Enterprise" at StarTrek.com
• " Yesterday's Enterprise " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
• "Yesterday's Enterprise" script  at Star Trek Minutiae
• 1 Rachel Garrett
• 3 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-G)

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Recap / Star Trek: The Next Generation S3E15 "Yesterday's Enterprise"

Edit locked.

"Military log, combat date 43625.2. While investigating an unusual radiation anomaly, the Enterprise has encountered what could almost be called a ghost from its own past – the Enterprise-C, the immediate predecessor to this battleship..." — Captain Picard ... but not the one we know.

Original air date: February 19, 1990

Guinan is introducing Worf to the wonders of prune juice when the Enterprise comes upon some sort of space-time disturbance. Suddenly, a ship emerges—the damaged USS Enterprise (NCC-1701- C ), displaced 22 years in time. And it has survivors.

Panning back to the bridge of the Enterprise -D, things are... different. The lighting is darker, the design a bit more sinister, the uniforms are more militaristic, everyone is armed, Wesley is a full member of Starfleet, and Tasha Yar is standing at the tactical station! Deanna is nowhere to be found, but Worf's absence is easily explained: the Federation has been at war with the Klingons for over 20 years, a war which they are now on the brink of losing. They desperately need any ship they can get, and the Enterprise -C, though badly damaged, looks repairable.

They bring the survivors on board, including the moderately injured Captain Garrett. She tells Picard and Dr. Crusher that they had been responding to a distress call from a Klingon outpost at Narendra III when they were set upon by four Romulan Warbirds and were moments from destruction when they fell into the rift. Picard laments that a Federation rescue of a Klingon base might have tipped Federation-Klingon relations toward peace and averted some 20 years of war.

Alone of the crew of the Enterprise , Guinan's Bizarre Alien Senses lead her to pick up on the shift in the timeline, though she cannot fully comprehend it; she just knows that something is off . She talks to Picard about it, but isn't able to give him anything more definite than that this isn't what's supposed to be happening, and she implores him to send the Enterprise -C back through the rift to where it belongs. Picard balks at sending 125 people into certain death based only on a few cryptic remarks. Guinan begs him to think of the stakes: saving the lives of 40 billion casualties of war.

Meanwhile, Tasha has been liaising with the acting second in command of the Enterprise -C, Lieutenant Junior Grade Richard Castillo, trying to get the older vessel combat-ready once more. The pair quickly develop some chemistry, but the disconcerting looks that Guinan keeps throwing at Tasha distract them a bit from their budding romance.

Picard commits to sending the Enterprise -C back to the past based on Guinan's intuition. Crusher and Geordi are incredulous that Guinan could know what she claims, but Data suspects that her species has a perception that goes beyond linear time. Riker, meanwhile, questions the logic of such the act, arguing that the Enterprise -C has no possible way of saving Narendra III and the only thing it would really accomplish is sending the crew to their deaths, but Data points out that the Klingons have an awful lot of respect for people who die in battle, and dying in the defense of the Klingon outpost would likely be seen as a very honorable act.

Picard speaks to Captain Garrett about his decision. Garrett would rather fight in the "here and now" than return to a lost cause, but Picard confesses that she'd be facing a losing battle either way: the Federation is mere months from surrender. Just one starship is not going make any impact in the present, but 22 years ago, one ship could stop the war before it starts.

Garrett agrees to return to her own time and begins preparations for a suicidal last stand. But before they can leave, the two ships are suddenly attacked by a passing Klingon Bird-of-Prey on a scouting mission. The Enterprise -C sustains some damage in the fight, resulting in Garrett getting killed by a piece of shrapnel, leaving Castillo in command. Castillo makes preparations to carry out the mission in her stead, and he and Tasha share a tender goodbye. Before the ship can depart, however, Tasha confronts Guinan about the looks, having apparently surmised that her fate in the alternate timeline is a dark one. Guinan admits that in the "correct" timeline, she died horribly and pointlessly . With this news, Tasha decides to transfer to the Enterprise -C and take her chances with the Romulans, where at least her death might make a difference. This couldn't possibly have any consequences down the road at all.

These alternate-timeline Klingons aren't going away, though, and as the Enterprise -C limps back towards the rift, three Birds-of-Prey attack. The Enterprise -D devotes itself wholly to defending its doomed predecessor, suffering major damage. Riker is killed in an explosion, and the Klingons demand the surrender of the ship. "That'll be the day," scoffs Picard, and he leaps into the tactical station to continues fighting to the very last. The Klingon ships batter away at the now-helpless Enterprise -D, and with a warp core breach imminent, it looks like the end for both ships. Just as the Enterprise -D is about to be destroyed, the Enterprise -C makes it into the rift...

Tropes in this episode include:

• Ambadassador : The Enterprise -C is Ambassador -class, and she and her crew are willing to give four Romulan warbirds a serious fight, even with it being a Heroic Sacrifice to strengthen the peace between The Federation and the Klingon Empire.
• Anyone Can Die : The best thing about an Alternate Timeline episode. Captain Garrett and Riker are both killed by Exploding Instrumentation , and planned deaths of more of the bridge crew were cut for time.
• As You Know : Somewhat averted when Riker says to Picard "If we lose antimatter containment—" and Picard cuts him off. Picard is well aware of what that means. Possibly justified in the heat of the moment, and Riker's Executive Officer role may well technically require him to interpret for the Captain statements from the Chief Engineer no matter how obvious to the Captain, considering the seriousness of the statement.
• Backstory Invader : Lampshaded—all the other crew remember Tasha as having been with them all along, but Guinan, who joined the ship after Tasha died, can't remember her previously existing.
• Bad Present : From the perspective of the main characters. As usual, it's a Bad Future from the POV of the Enterprise -C crew.
• Badass Boast : "Let's make sure history never forgets... the name... Enterprise ."
• Call-Back : Worf's spiel about human females being too fragile for "companionship" is a call back to a nearly identical conversation he had back in season one's " Justice ", there with Commander Riker, but here with Guinan. It would be playfully revisited again later on in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .
• Canned Orders over Loudspeaker : Heard when Guinan turns to find that Ten Forward has turned into a soldiers mess. Now hear this. Fleet formation briefing in main war room at fifteen hundred hours. Doctor Joshua Kim, report to Cetacean Ops. Ensign Thomas, please report to the Combat Information Center. Ensign Thomas to the CIC.
• Captain's Log : Picard gives his usual voiceover, but in the alternate timeline he's recording a "military log" and using "combat dates" rather than Stardates.
• Continuity Nod : In the alternate timeline, there's an intercom call for "Dr. Selar," the tall Vulcan last seen in " The Schizoid Man ."
• Costume Evolution : As one of many signs something is wrong, the Starfleet uniforms have a higher black collar, black cuffs on the sleeves and a white belt with the Starfleet insignia on it.
• The Ambassador -class Enterprise -C. Notable in that the Ambassador only made three other appearances in the franchise and it remains an extremely popular ship in the fandom.
• The K'vort -class battlecruiser. Basically a classic Bird-of-Prey on steroids, and powerful enough to give two Enterprises some serious trouble.
• The Chains of Commanding : It's subtle, but alternate timeline Picard has just a few deeper wrinkles than he does normally, showing the stress of being a warship captain in such a long war.
• Critical Staffing Shortage : Riker points out that if the Enterprise -C goes back, Lt. Castillo will have "limited support from Ops, no Tactical support, reduced staff in Engineering..." before Castillo cuts him off.
• Defiant to the End : Picard, given the order to surrender to the Klingons, spits out a "Facing the Bullets" One-Liner , vaults over the Tactical rail to man Riker's empty station, and continues attempting to fire the phasers as the bridge catches fire around him.
• Dramatic Irony : In the alternate timeline, Geordi talks to Crusher, after the briefing to send the Enterprise -C back, about how they have no way of knowing whether any of them are even alive in the original timeline. Tasha is behind them as they walk. The audience knows that Tasha is not alive in the original timeline. Geordi's words obviously stick with Tasha and spur her to ask Guinan about her fate.
• Dying Moment of Awesome : The Enterprise -C is destroyed in defense of a Klingon colony, despite the Federation and the Klingon Empire being hostile to one another at the time. In doing so they prove to the Klingons that valor and integrity are core parts of The Federation 's ideals, leading the two governments to reconcile and become True Companions , preventing a war that would have lasted 22 years and saving 40 billion lives . Never forget the name Enterprise indeed.
• Dynamic Akimbo : Picard puts his hands on his hips on the Bridge. Perhaps he got the habit from Captain Janeway in this timeline?
• Expendable Alternate Universe : Discussed. Guinan: I can't explain it to myself so I can't explain it to you. I only know that I'm right. Picard: Who is to say that this history is any less proper than the other? Guinan: I suppose I am. Picard: Not good enough, dammit! Not good enough! I will not ask them to die! Guinan: Forty billion people have already died! This war is not supposed to be happening ! You've got to send those people back to correct this!
• "Facing the Bullets" One-Liner : The Enterprise -D is crippled, with no chance of winning the battle. The Klingons order the Enterprise surrender. Captain Picard: That'll be the day.
• Fix Fic : Denise Crosby left the series unexpectedly while the first season was being filmed, which meant Tasha Yar had to be written out. Yar's demise in " Skin of Evil " was intentionally written as abrupt and pointless to highlight life's cruel realities, but it didn't sit well with fans. When Crosby returned for this episode, the writers got a chance to give her a more heroic death.
• For Want Of A Nail : The whole premise of the episode; the Enterprise -C turns out to be a very important nail indeed. Without a Heroic Sacrifice on the part of a Federation ship in defense of a Klingon outpost and instead the apparent cowardice of the Enterprise -C in vanishing after approaching the outpost, negotiations between the two sides break down into a 22-year war.
• The original fate of the Enterprise -C, fighting four Romulan warbirds in defense of a Klingon colony before the Klingons and Federation were allies. Giving their lives in a doomed attempt to answer the colony's distress call was (as Data pointed out) an act of courage and honor so impressive that it made the Klingon Empire reconsider their decades of hostility towards the Federation.
• The fate of the bad future 's Enterprise -D. To help the Enterprise -C reach the time portal, she and her crew stand between them and three Klingon battle cruisers.
• Hold the Line : The Enterprise -D has to hold off three Klingon Birds of Prey long enough for the Enterprise -C to re-enter the temporal rift and reset history. Similarly, the Enterprise -C has to last long enough in the Battle of Narendra III to prove to the Klingons that the Federation can become True Companions .
• With the storyline of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country coming out a year later, the Klingon Empire should have been crippled at this point and in no way able to fight a sustained conflict against the United Federation of Planets, and certainly not one where the Klingons are winning so much that Starfleet is considering surrendering.
• Given that the premise involves the prior 20 years of history to be drastically different, with the Federation entangled in a decades-long war, it's highly improbable that any of the original crew would have ended up on the Enterprise -D, and especially unlikely that more than one or at most two would have. Instead, with the exception of Worf's swap with Yar (due to the Klingon war), and Troi, everyone else is not only stationed on the same exact ship, but also in their exact same positions.
• It also seems very unlikely the overall design of the Enterprise D's exterior would look the same, with all the very large windows, etc. The D really was like a luxury ship. Contrast with the Defiant and Enterprise E, both designed as battleships.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall : When Tasha decides that she wants a death that will count for something, it's easy to see it as acknowledging the Fix Fic nature of the scene in giving the character a more heroic exit than the "senseless" death the writers originally gave her.
• Little "No" : Guinan says this when the Negative Space Wedgie appears, a few minutes before the timeline is altered.
• Mars Wants Chocolate : Klingons want prune juice. After all, it is a warrior's drink.
• Mildly Military : The fact that this trope is averted is one of the earliest indicators to the audience that something is off. All of the crew carry phasers aboard the ship, the lighting is dimmed for a darker mood, the ramp leading to the back of the bridge has been replaced with steps, there are fewer chairs on the Bridge for officers to lounge in ( Riker now stands behind the railing instead of sitting at the Captain's side), the replicators produce standardized military rations, the ship doesn't have a counselor on the bridge—Troi doesn't appear in the Bad Future at all—and the Enterprise is even repeatedly referred to as a "battleship" instead of a "starship". The Enterprise -C, meanwhile, is referred to as a cruiser. Even the uniforms are slightly different, now having a closed collar to make the final frontier just that little bit less friendly .
• Mundane Made Awesome : Worf is quite taken by prune juice and proclaims it "a warrior's drink!"
• My Significance Sense Is Tingling : Guinan senses that something's wrong when the Negative Space Wedgie first appears, and it gets worse when the timeline changes. It also flares up whenever she's near Tasha, since the latter's supposed to be dead.
• Mythology Gag : According to Ronald D. Moore, Worf's fondness for prune juice was inspired by John M. Ford's The Final Reflection . Ford's pre-TNG take on the Klingons, among other things, had established that they loved fruit juices. Moore adored that little world-building detail and decided to incorporate it into the script and formally canonize it.
• The Needs of the Many : The Enterprise -C must return to prevent a war which kills billions . Though they know they will likely die, their deaths will prevent a long and costly war.
• There Are No Therapists : Since the alternate-reality Enterprise-D is a warship above all else, Troi is nowhere to be seen. If she is on the ship, she's apparently not seen as necessary on the bridge and consigned to a less prominent role.
• Negative Space Wedgie : Apparently caused or exacerbated by all the weapons discharges during the Battle of Narendra III.
• No Time to Explain : Riker resorts to this because he doesn't want to mess with the timeline by explaining to Captain Garrett they're from the future. Garrett orders him to explain now .
• Oh, Crap! : La Forge delivers a well-warranted one. Doubly warranted if you consider that the Enterprise 's plasma coolant is horrifically corrosive to organic matter. La Forge: Coolant leak! Bridge, we've got a coolant leak in the engine core! I can't shut it down; I estimate two minutes until a warp core breach!
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business : The stress of a twenty-year war is shown in Picard's abrupt manner and his terse interaction with Riker.
• One-Way Trip : After discussing things with Picard, Garret and then Castillo agree to take Enterprise -C back into a confrontation they would likely die in if it means averting a war today.
• Out of Focus : Given that there's not much use for a ship's counselor on the bridge of a war ship, Troi is completely absent from the bulk of the episode, She's only appears in the two short bridge scenes on the "regular" Enterprise —one before and one after the main plot of the episode—and has no dialogue. Worf makes up for his general absence by getting focus in the first and final scenes.
• Red Alert : Picard orders a "Battle Alert — Condition Yellow" when told there are Klingons in the area, though the trope is played straight when the Klingons arrive.
• Reset-Button Suicide Mission : The Enterprise -D sacrifices itself to cover the return of the Enterprise -C back to its original time in order to prevent the alternate timeline it emerged into from occurring.
• Ripple Effect Indicator : Worf arrives on the bridge, and announces something strange on sensors. Time Ripple ensues, and we cut to Tasha Yar (having died previously on the show) on the bridge in Worf's place. Once the timeline is restored, Worf is back where he should be.
• Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory : Guinan only, and downplayed at that: she doesn't seem to know exactly what's wrong with the timeline ("I know it's the same bridge; I also know it's wrong !"), but she has a good idea of how to fix it. It also seems to apply to Guinan just being there in general, as she quickly notices she doesn't really logically belong on the ship now or have a real purpose working on it (The entire civilian staff is gone except for her, and her job at Ten Forward just seems to be replicating generic ration packs and handing them out something everyone could easily do for themself) yet is still on board regardless.
• Sacrificial Lion : One for each space battle shown: Captain Garrett and Commander Riker.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong : The Enterprise -C's mission. The crew of the Enterprise -D set forth to help them and protect them until they can go back.
• Shout-Out : When the Klingons order the Enterprise to surrender & prepare to be boarded: Picard: "That'll be the day"
• Subterfuge Judo : A small instance: When she is rescued from the Enterprise-C , Captain Garrett is taken to sickbay to be treated. She notices how advanced it is, even for a starbase. Dr. Crusher tries to calm her down with her bedside manner, but Garrett insists on an explanation, forcing Picard to reveal that the Enterprise-C crew have traveled 22 years into the future.
• Trademark Favorite Food : This episode is the origin of Worf's passion for prune juice, which he describes as "a warrior's drink." The trope continues into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .
• Yar reading off the registry data in the final line of the cold open: Yar: It's clearing now, Captain. Definitely a Federation starship. Accessing registry. [...] NCC-1701-C. [ Picard and Riker turn to stare at Yar, who looks up to stare at the main viewscreen ] Yar: ... USS Enterprise .
• Picard's summation of the ongoing war: Picard: The war is going very badly for the Federation; far worse than is generally known. Starfleet Command believes defeat is inevitable. Within six months we may have no choice but to surrender.
• Wham Shot : Tasha Yar? Alive? Okay, something weird is going on here.
• What You Are in the Dark : Inverted. If the Enterprise -D is successful in helping the Enterprise -C return to their time, the crew of the Enterprise -D will have no idea what they did and what it meant for the Federation. They still do it, because it's the right thing to do. Although, back in the fixed timeline, Guinan knows and later tells Picard.
• With All Due Respect : Riker to Picard in regards to sending the Enterprise -C back through time to correct the past that altered the present. Riker: With all due respect, sir, you'd be asking 125 people to die a meaningless death.
• You Are in Command Now : Lt. Castillo, the only remaining bridge officer, takes command of the Enterprise -C after Captain Garrett is killed.
• You Have to Believe Me! : Picard's relationship with Guinan is strong enough for him to listen to what she's saying, but it doesn't help that Guinan only has her Gut Feeling that things are wrong.
• The Enterprise -D's Heroic Sacrifice to allow the Enterprise -C to get back to her own time. Captain Picard: Attention all hands. As You Know , we could outrun the Klingon vessels. But we must protect the Enterprise -C until she enters the temporal rift. And we must succeed. Let's make sure history never forgets... the name... Enterprise . Picard out.
• And of course, once the timeline is restored, the final fate of the Enterprise -C, destroyed after taking on four Romulan warbirds in defense of a Klingon colony. Never forget the name Enterprise indeed.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation S3E14 "A Matter of Perspective"
• Recap/Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Star Trek: The Next Generation S3E16 "The Offspring"

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Den of Geek

The New Star Trek Movie Will Finally Explore a Missing Part of Enterprise Lore

The upcoming Star Trek movie Section 31 adds a surprising new character: Captain Rachel Garrett of the USS Enterprise-C.

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The Enterprise-C has returned! Again!

According to a Variety report about the future of the Star Trek franchise, the upcoming Section 31 movie will feature Kacey Rohl as a “young” Rachel Garrett, presumably before she became the captain of the Enterprise-C. It’s a surprising but exciting turn of events, to be sure, since Garrett has only appeared in a single episode of Star Trek , leaving much of her history yet to be explored. In fact, digging into more of Garrett’s story would be a way to unlock a piece of Star Trek captain lore that’s long been missing despite the Enterprise-C’s introduction over 30 years ago.

Fans first met an older Garrett (Tricia O’Neil) and the Enterprise-C in the season three Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise.” When that episode aired in February 1990, the arrival of the Enterprise-C addressed a question that had lingered since the show’s premiere three years earlier. Obviously, The Original Series took place on the USS Enterprise, which was destroyed in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock and replaced by the Enterprise-A at the end of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home .

The TNG premiere “ Encounter at Farpoint ,” which is set almost a century after The Original Series , introduced the Enterprise-D. But what about the Enterprise-B and -C? The answer for the former came in Generations , which begins with the Enterprise-B’s troubled maiden voyage, and would go on to live in non-canonical stories outside of movies and television.

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But “Yesterday’s Enterprise” tells a much richer onscreen story about the Enterprise-C. Destroyed 20 years before the episode’s setting, the Enterprise-C goes through a time distillation and arrives in a changed future. In the original timeline, the -C was destroyed while attempting to rescue a Klingon outpost. When the time shift prevents the -C from completing its mission in the past, the future changes and the Federation is suddenly in the midst of a protracted war against the Klingons. In this reality, the Enterprise-D is a battleship, led by an embittered Picard and his military-focused crew, including Denise Crosby’s Tasha Yar.

Directed by David Carson and based on a story by Trent Christopher Ganino & Eric A. Stillwell, “Yesterday’s Enterprise” serves as a proper send-off for Tasha Yar, an original crew member who died an ignoble death at the “hands” of a blob monster in the season one episode “Skin of Evil.” Yar, and the crew of the Enterprise-C, choose to send the time-displaced ship back into the past and complete its deadly mission, sacrificing themselves to prevent the Federation/Klingon war from ever happening.

It’s a glorious episode, one of the best in the series, and a fitting end for Yar. However, Garrett puts in a great showing as a model Starfleet Captain too, embodying the courage and selflessness that marks the best captains. Even though she suffers a surprisingly gnarly death before her ship can go back to the past and complete its mission, Garrett remains a compelling figure from Star Trek lore.

Garrett later got a nod in Star Trek: Picard , which revealed her statue stood on M’talas Prime. But that’s all we currently know about Garrett, unless you count the non-canonical Lost Era novels The Art of the Impossible and Well of Souls , which flesh out her character. In canon, though, Garrett remains a compelling mystery.

As she demonstrated on the series Hannibal , Rohl knows a thing or two about portraying under-explored fan-favorites. On that Bryan Fuller -created adaptation of Thomas Harris’ novels, Rohl played Abigail Hobbes, the daughter of Garret Jacob Hobbs aka the Minnesota Shrike, a serial killer only mentioned in passing in Harris’ books.

Coincidentally, in Section 31 , Rohl’s Rachel Garrett will appear alongside another Fuller creation: Philippa Georgiou, played by Michelle Yeoh . As the original creator of Discovery , Fuller introduced Georgiou as Michael Burnham’s commanding officer, who dies in the Battle of the Binary Stars, only for her Mirror Universe equivalent to arrive and take her place.

The Mirror version of Yeoh’s Georgiou will be the main character of the upcoming Section 31 movie, which focuses on the secret ( and, frankly, overused ) intelligence wing of Starfleet. While she traveled to the 32nd Century with the USS Discovery at the end of that show’s third season, Georgiou’s body began to suffer from traveling across dimensions and timelines. She was forced to return to her previous time, presumably to resume work with Section 31.

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Georgiou’s experience moving across timelines and dimensions might explain Garrett’s role in Section 31 . After all, Garrett did also cross timelines and dimensions in “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” and while she died before the effects of the journey could set in, that information would be of interest to Section 31.

However Section 31 plans to handle Garrett, her inclusion will finally shed some more light on the most mysterious of Enterprise eras. Where even the Enterprise-B lived on in non-canonical novels, comics, and video games, the Enterprise-C exists only to die. Perhaps, Section 31 and Rohl’s Rachel Garrett will give fans more to love about this doomed ship, and make sure that history never forgets the name Enterprise.

Star Trek: Section 31 is slated to release in 2025.

Joe George | @jageorgeii

Joe George’s writing has appeared at Slate, Polygon, Tor.com, and elsewhere!

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Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch: “Yesterday’s Enterprise”

Season 3, Episode 15 Original air date: February 19, 1990 Star date: 43625.2

Mission summary

The Enterprise -D runs across an anomaly that may or may not be there. While they try to sort through their confusing, contradictory sensor readings, something emerges… As another ship crosses the threshold, everything and everyone shifts on the Enterprise -D: Their uniforms now have high collars, belts with phasers, and black cuffs. Nothing gets by Guinan; in the suddenly bustling Ten Forward, the wise and cryptic bartender notes, “This isn’t right. It’s changed.” The mystery deepens: On the now thematically darker Bridge, Worf has been replaced at tactical by an old face, Lt. Tasha Yar, who reports that the other vessel is a Federation starship, registry NCC-1701… C : U.S.S. Enterprise .

Picard’s “military log” for “combat date” 43625.2, in which he refers to the Enterprise -D as a battleship, helps paint an even bleaker picture of the situation. Their records indicate that their predecessor disappeared–presumed destroyed–22 years earlier near a Klingon outpost, Narendra III, which suggests the Enterprise -C has traveled through a temporal rift to its future. A distress signal fills in some of the details: They were attacked by Romulans. Riker leads an away team to the crippled ship to recover its crew, render assistance, and get it battle ready.

Guinan makes a rare appearance on the Bridge and tells the captain that things aren’t “right.” She remembers things differently; there should be children on the ship, and its mission is meant to be peaceful, not waging a war against the Klingons. “That ship from the past is not supposed to be here,” she says. “It’s got to go back.” Picard is incredulous; if this information had come from anyone but Guinan, he would have discounted it entirely.

Dr. Crusher patches up Captain Rachel Garrett and her crew from the Enterprise -C. Picard finally admits to Garrett that she’s now in the future, and she explains that they were attempting to help the Klingon outpost, which was under attack by four Romulan warbirds. Picard gives her some bad news:

The Narendra Three outpost was destroyed. It is regrettable that you did not succeed. A Federation starship rescuing a Klingon outpost might have averted twenty years of war.

Why, things might have turned out so differently! While Yar liaisons with a senior officer from the  Enterprise -C (nudge nudge, wink wink), Lt. Richard Castillo, Picard begins entertaining the notion that they should send them back to put right what once went wrong. Data confirms that it is possible–and that it would be a suicide mission. The captain tries to get more information from Guinan.

GUINAN: There is no more. I wish there were. I wish I could prove it. But I can’t. PICARD: Then I can’t ask them to go back. GUINAN: You’ve got to. PICARD: Guinan, they will die moments after they return. How can I ask them to sacrifice themselves based solely on your intuition? GUINAN: I don’t know. But I do know that this is a mistake. Every fiber in my being says this is a mistake. I can’t explain it to myself so I can’t explain it to you. I only know that I’m right. PICARD: Who is to say that this history is any less proper than the other? GUINAN: I suppose I am. PICARD: Not good enough, damn it. Not good enough. I will not ask them to die. GUINAN: Forty billion people have already died. This war’s not supposed to be happening. You’ve got to send those people back to correct this. PICARD: And what is to guarantee that if they go back they will succeed? Every instinct tells me this is wrong, it is dangerous, it is futile. GUINAN: We’ve known each other a long time. You have never known me to impose myself on anyone or take a stance based on trivial or whimsical perceptions. This time line must not be allowed to continue. Now, I’ve told you what you must do. You have only your trust in me to help you decide to do it.

Picard calls a meeting, but he’s already made up his mind: He’s listening to Guinan. It turns out the Federation is on the verge of losing the war, and this is their last, best hope for peace–by preventing the war from happening in the first place.

Garrett’s game, but she’s soon killed in a surprise attack by the Klingons, leaving Castillo in command to carry out their final mission. Yar sends him off with a passionate kiss, then seeks out Guinan to question her about the odd looks she’s been giving her. Yar pressures her to share her fate in the alternate timeline; all Guinan knows is that she was killed stupidly.

To avoid this unappealing fate, Yar convinces Picard to let her transfer to the Enterprise -C, helping to even the balance of Garrett’s loss and give herself a meaningful death she can, uh, live with.

Klingon ships attack as the Enterprise -C limps back toward the temporal rift. Enterprise -D takes a heavy beating while holding them off. The Galaxy-class battleship begins falling apart under the superior assault: shields are failing, a warp core breach is imminent, and the Bridge is burning. Commander Riker is killed in an explosion. Picard leaps into action to take down as many Klingons as he can before the ship is lost, and Enterprise -C crosses back into the rift…

And things change back to normal. In the restored timeline, the anomalous sensor reading vanish as abruptly as they appeared. The Enterprise  crew prepares to resume a course to Archer IV, none the wiser that anything strange ever happened. Guinan calls the Bridge to check up on stuff, and reassured that reality is as it should be, she asks Geordi to tell her about Tasha Yar.

I’m sure no one is surprised to learn that this is one of my favorite episodes of TNG, and that hasn’t changed in the slightest. This is simply among the best episodes ever done, and it seems that many other fans and production staff agree with me; it’s made a number of “best of” lists, and most notably was featured in the viewer’s choice marathon that coincided with the final episode in 1994.

Okay, I’ll admit that there’s a lot of hand-holding in the script, as they painstakingly connect the dots so viewers would know what the heck was going on. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve seen it so many times before, or because I’m such a nerd about parallel universes, but I had no trouble following along–almost to the point of impatience. But hey, this was a pretty bold story, one that was quite literally darker than most we’d seen up to that point. I should be annoyed that Guinan’s strange intuition is never really explained in the series continuity, ever, or that we never find out what past she and Picard share. And to be honest, when I first saw TNG, I had never heard of the whole “ magical negro ” trope…

But I tell you, this episode is exciting , not least because it fills in some of the time between Kirk’s era and the TNG years, with the introduction of the Enterprise -C. (It hits some of the same buttons for me that “Babylon Squared” on Babylon 5 does, my favorite episode of the first season in which the Babylon 4 station reappears due to a temporal anomaly…)  And I love this vessel, a beautiful melding of the best features of the Constitution-class and Galaxy-class designs. “Yesterday’s Enterprise” also has high stakes, gruesome deaths, and it looks and sounds more cinematic than anything on the show previously. I’m also a sucker for stories in which one ship or one person makes a huge impact for others–even in failure; we always root for the Enterprise to survive, but the idea that one crew’s sacrifice could still be a victory of sorts is gratifying.

The episode title even hearkens back to some of the original series-style episode titles, and this was the closest TNG ever got to giving us a “mirror universe” episode. There is so much attention to detail, with many subtle and not-so-subtle changes to the sets, costumes, sounds, even makeup to illustrate the differences in the timeline; it’s easy to miss some of them. (In fact, even the production crew missed one. The Nitpicker’s Guide by Phil Farrand first made me aware that Geordi’s uniform in the last scene still has black cuffs from the alternate timeline, and now I can’t unsee it!) It feels like a lot of work and money went into redesigning the Bridge for a one-off appearance, but I think it pays off.

If anything, all this loving attention might highlight the fact that perhaps more things should be different. Picard scoffs at the idea of children on Enterprise , but there’s one sitting right there on his bridge: Wesley Crusher, in uniform for the first time with the full rank of Ensign. I guess they promote people young during the war, or they made an exception for Dr. Crusher. But part of the charm is extrapolating what else might be different in this timeline. I was at first surprised that Picard would still be as just and moral as the captain we know, weighing the lives of the Enterprise -C’s crew. But then I realized the timeline had changed only 22 years before, when he was already an adult with his values in place. So really, Wesley should have been different, since he grew up knowing only war.

This episode also gives us our first woman captain, of the Starfleet flagship no less, though she isn’t long for the world. And it was unexpectedly great to see Tasha again, Denise Crosby’s best acting to date. And it’s pretty amazing that Guinan basically preserves the timeline, right?

Eugene’s Rating: Warp 6 (on a scale of 1-6)

Best Line: Picard: “Let’s make sure that history never forgets… the name… Enterprise .”

Trivia/Other Notes:  The origin of this episode lies in two separate scripts, one from Ganino in which a past Enterprise returns with no alteration to the timeline, and one where a Vulcan science team messing with Harlan Ellison’s™ Guardian of Forever accidentally kills their philosophical leader Surak, and Ambassador Sarek must travel back in time to replace him. (Now that sounds a bit like “Babylon Squared” and “War Without End,” doesn’t it?) Either way, Tasha Yar would have returned to face a better death.

The episode was rushed into production to meet Denise Crosby’s and Whoopi Goldberg’s schedules, requiring the script to be written in a few days over the Thanksgiving holiday by four writers. Michael Piller did a final polish, but went uncredited because of Writer’s Guild regulations.

If the budget and time had allowed, Wesley would have been decapitated onscreen and Data would have been electrocuted. Now there’s an alternate timeline I’d like to visit.

Christopher McDonald (Castillo) had auditioned for the role of Commander Riker. He was also raised in Romulus, New York.

Tricia O’Neil (Garrett) returned to Star Trek as a Klingon in the sixth season of TNG and a Cardassian on DS9.

The consequences of this episode are seen in the two-part episode “Redemption,” in which Denise Crosby returns to play Yar’s daughter, Sela.

The discovery of planet Archer IV is seen on Enterprise  (“Strange New World”). The planet is named after Captain Jonathan Archer, the first captain of a starship named Enterprise .

Roberto Orci cites this episode as the main inspiration for J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek , though that film abandons the concept of a single alterable timeline.

Previous episode: Season 3, Episode 14 – “ A Matter of Perspective .”

Next episode: Season 3, Episode 16 – “The Offspring.”

About Eugene Myers

27 comments.

Absolutely one of the best episodes from the entire series. It’s astonishing that they cobbled it together from two separate stories over a long weekend. And the leftovers obviously gave them more ideas. Simply bringing back Sarek resulted in another excellent episode and the business with Sarek becoming Surak may have influenced the whole Spock becomes the apostle to the Romulans thing.

The weakest point is the business with Guinan. The whole “Ooh, she’s so mysterious” thing never quite gelled, no matter how hard they tried, and they went to the well of Guinan senses something is wrong too often. There’s also the problem of how Guinan first met Picard (though not necessarily the other way around; which of them is River Song?) if Picard doesn’t wind up in 19th century San Francisco. But then even the best time travel stories start to get shaky if you poke at them too closely.

Decapitating Wesley sounds like a bit of gruesomely unnecessary fan-service for the Wesley haters. The character had finally started to turn around this season and was by no means as awful as he had been. Plus, they decided he looked good in a real uniform and gave him one a few weeks down the line.

They must have found a source for those collars at some point. Kelsey Grammer has one in “Cause and Effect” in season five, and I think the future uniforms from the various Time Patrol stories on Voyager feature something similar.

Single. Best Star Trek Episode. Ever.

I’ve always been a sucker for alternative histories and timelines, but this episode just shines. Among its great qualities:

* An immaculate script, with hardly a line out of place or a flicker to spare. Clearly establishes a distinct world and world history in mere moments, but still has time to imbue the characters with additional depth. Though he’s only on the screen a few seconds, the script even has time to yield some humorous dimension to Worf.

* The Federation is at WAR. With a familiar enemy. And losing.

* Dark, dark. Battlestar Galactica dark.

* The captain is never more incisive and commanding than here. There’s a grim, no-nonsense fatalism to this war captain, yet he is still capable of compassion for his crew.

* Related to above, I get the sense it is the more the utter hopelessness of the current situation more than Guinan’s persuasion or Picard’s confidence in her gifts that girds the captain’s decision: Ultimately, this is not a reality worth preserving.

* Does anyone else on board know what the captain knows, that the Federation has only a few months of life remaining? He confides it in whispers to Garrett, as if the truth revealed would be unbearable to the crew.

* Do we ever see another woman on TNG in actual command of a Federation starship? I’m wracking my brains to think of one. There was a woman starship captain in Season One, but we see her only in isolation, and she barely speaks a word. At any rate, Garrett gives a believable, commanding tough-as-brass-nails performance. She strikes a tone of command Janeway would have to work at.

* Enterprise Captain Garrett brushes off the doctor, and the doctor snipes back. Some things transcend all realities.

* All the little details that tell us this is another reality. Hardest to accept among them is that the Enterprise D, lavishly configured as it is, could be a Federation battleship.

* The ONLY time Yar is portrayed in a flattering light. Subsequent yarns, where we learn she was taken alive and subjected to a life of daily rape and captivity, diminish this.

* Deanna Troi does not give advice, nor is she asked for advice. She does not appear at all in the alternate timeline. This is also her finest appearance in the series.

* Wesley never looks or acts better than here. If this kid was on our familiar Enterprise-D, no fanboy would’ve wanted him gone.

* This is not our Enterprise, and never was! This crew and their histories disappear forever never to be seen again, like the ‘Mirror Mirror’ Kirk and crew. No one from “our” Enterprise interacts in anyway with this crew. That makes it really unique among alt-timeline stories.

* Piller: “Hell, Picard sends 500 people back to their death on the word of the bartender. Come on, that’s hard.”

I loved this episode- but is 22 years really long enough for such drastic changes in uniform and ship design? Remember 22 years ago for us is 1991. While there are obvious technological changes, a member of our military from 1991 would still see the same aircraft carriers, most of the same aircraft, tanks, etc. Even uniform design hasn’t changed that much- watch videos from the first Gulf War.

Memory Alpha reminded me how this episode influenced Diane Duane’s Dark Mirror and Peter David’s Q-Squared –two TNG novels I loved. At some point I’ll have to reread them and post some thoughts, but I like this non-canonical explanation for Troi’s absence:

“The novel Q-Squared establishes that in the military timeline from this episode, Deanna Troi’s absence from the Enterprise was due to the Betazoids being wiped out by the Klingons. The novel also indicates that in this version of the military universe, when the Enterprise encountered the Enterprise -C, the entire crew had already perished- life support having failed and the crew dying over a day before the Enterprise -D arrived in the area-, and so Picard simply orders the ship’s destruction.”

I think the distinction here is that the timeline changed before the TNG-era uniforms were designed or the Galaxy-class starship was on anyone’s drafting board. In wartime, I believe there might be differences in aesthetics and ship construction. The uniforms are not too different; I mean, they even changed over the course of three seasons, when you think about it, and the addition of phasers and belts makes sense. But the Enterprise possibly should be more different. As Lemnoc points out, aside from some cosmetic changes, the ship seems to have about the same military capabilities in either timeline. Maybe it needs an extra phaser cannon or something, as in “All Good Things…”

You make some valid points, and in wartime technology (at least for the military) tends to advance at a more rapid rate than in peacetime out of necessity. I do agree that the Enterprise-D should have had some more advanced weaponry and a cloaking device in the changed military timeline.

@3 Scott Those are good points. Starfleet apparently has a history of rapid uniform changes, though. The jumpsuits of TMP are nothing like the TOS uniforms and it’s only been 10 or 12 years. Then immediately following that came the red uniforms with turtleneck/dickey, which did away with the old color coding scheme. TNG changed uniforms 3 times in the first 3 years. The original unitards could be seen as a callback to TOS, but red and gold were switched. Later on, they kept changing uniforms as a way to give the various series their own.

As for ship design, there really should have been a lot of old designs still around, but we didn’t see other Starfleet ships all that often. It was OK for Enterprise to be different, since it was meant to be a new ship with new technologies, but yeah we should have seen more ships like the C from time to time.

the Enterprise-D should have had some more advanced weaponry and a cloaking device in the changed military timeline.

You’re right that war would likely dispense with any pretense for the Federation not to employ cloaking technology. But the technology wouldn’t be applied herein any case; the D is pretty clearly (and appropriately) providing cover to the C. Maybe the D does have the capacity, wouldn’t use it here.

One other gem in this episode is when Guinan tells the captain he can either take her word or forget it. Leaves. In the following close up, Stewart is practically exploding, trembling with exasperation and no retort. Beautiful.

A fabulous episode. One of my favorites. One downside was that I found myself wishing the way the Enterprise D and her crew looked and acted in this episode was far more appealing ( and believable on a ship with hierarchal command structure ) than much of the series so far. Call me old school but it almost hearkened back to the TOS era.

Another interesting difference was that in this timeline, there was apparently less of a cozy nature to Picard and Riker’s relationship ( “I believe I’m aware of your opinion, Number One” ).

A final note; I find the score to this episode heartbreaking at times…one of the few TNG scores that I find memorable. The cue when Guinan reveals Tasha’s fate to her and when Picard let’s her go to NCC-1701-C make me well up each time.

The one thing I would have changed; During the final battle, when NCC-1701-D is taking so much damage and destruction is imminent, it would have been cool ( and perhaps shocking ) to see the Enterprise-D beginning to blow-up as the Enterprise-C enters the rift. Then have the jump cut to the original timeline. I think that would have added even more impact… knowing that in the altered history, the “D” and our familiar crew was destroyed.

Sorry, that sentence should have read: “One downside was that I found myself THINKING..” not “wishing”.

One thing we’ve forgotten in our gushing over this episode is that this is where Guinan introduced Worf to prune juice. It gave us a running gag that went across two series.

@11 DemetriosX

Am I mistaken that this is also the first time someone makes Worf laugh?

Can anyone not love this episode?

This hits all the right notes for me in all the right ways.

1. One person can make a difference. Tasha Yar gets a better send-off than she ever deserved (soon to be diminished, as Lemnoc mentions). I appreciate that she does this for her own reasons, and not for Picard’s or Guinan’s or anyone else’s. Sure she does it for Castillo, and to a lesser extent for the promise of a better history, but mostly she does it for herself–for honor. It’s basically the only personality trait the show ever gave her and they let it feel genuine for the first time. It’s… dare I say it?… empowered. I also like the sweet awkwardness of her and Castillo’s budding relationship, awkward goodbyes, and sad but resolute final decision. They both take joy in the same things and even in the end, Castillo has some hope, however small, that they would meet again (but of course he knows not then how soon).

2. One event can change history. #1 is perhaps tied to #2 here, but the show beautifully conveys the paradoxes and surprises and collateral effects of seemingly minor events. I love historical catalysts like this, ways in which one little thing changed everything. I was thinking about this recently with the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, and how there were so many things that would have avoided or mitigated the disaster that took place. If there had been enough life boats, if they had turned into the iceberg instead of away from it, if they hadn’t been going at max speed, if only four compartments had flooded instead of five, etc. It’s not so incredible to believe that the Federation, in a single desperate act of human kindness, showed just the Klingon sense of honor that proved a friendship was possible.I love this idea.

3. Experiences shape people, but there’s also an unalterable innateness. Everyone here is different yet very much the same, Picard most of all. This Picard is shaped by war, and I agree with Lemnoc that he’s persuaded more by the sorry state of this universe than by a strong conviction in Guinan. And Dep1701’s comment makes me want to re-re-watch the episode just to track Picard again, because the final scene implies that the decision Picard was making–the real decision beneath the surface, all along–wasn’t whether to send Garrett’s crew to their deaths, but his own. I think he knew that it would be a suicide mission for the both of them, either at this moment or in the next six months or in the decades of submission to follow, and this is a last, desperate hope for a better future.

And like Dep1701, I also really like the moment where Picard shuts down Riker, showing the change in their relationship.

4. All successes have a cost. I like the zero-sum aspect of all this, which I think is critical to any kind of mirror universe story. They can’t both be saved. They can’t send an empty ship through the portal, they can’t preserve both the past and the future. There’s a point at which you have to weigh the bad choices and pick the one that helps the most. Picard sacrifices two ships to save tends of billions of lives. It’s very Star Trek II in that way, and again I admire it a great deal for taking that plunge.

5. Lighting is more effective than a good script. Okay so this isn’t a theme but even if this were a Tasha Yar/Data boink story I would love it anyway just because it’s a BRILLIANT primer on what lighting can do. As a (I suppose at this point, former?) lighting designer, I squee over the effective use of toplight to minimize atmospheric light and create eerie shadows, and the blasts of sidelight to add depth to the action scenes. The “good” times are frontlight, flat and consistent and neutral. But the side and toplight create a dynamism that works very well here, and most importantly, feels like a different place and a different space.

Sadly, my complaints: 1. Magical negro. This is just awful and looks awful and feels awful and no part of it works. The idea of Guinan as an embodiment of space woo is a depressing waste of talent and opportunity. We hates it, precious. It wouldn’t be so bad if it happened once, but the show winds up going to this well over and over again and it’s an embarrassment.

2. The rest of Garrett’s crew. Okay, so there’s a perfunctory “some of the crew want to go back” line, but I am having a SERIOUSLY difficult time imagining that all 125 people who narrowly escaped death would be eager to go back and finish the job. My guess is some would feel they had been given a second chance. And given that Picard is being hush-hush over the real reasons, I just don’t see a mass movement to die for a seemingly pointless cause. I wish the show had had the time and interest to find out what the non-Castillos felt about this, and the tension that must have created, and if there were any defectors, and if it mattered. Because if the only people who NEED to be there are in engineering and on the bridge, then can’t the other 100 stay on the D with a slightly better chance of survival?

3. Starfleet. Where are they in all this?! Don’t you think they’d be involved in this kind of thing?

Still, this is hands-down one of the best of the series. Warp 6.

—many of us–throughout our relationship with star trek–have come to our own conclusions about the best example of the canon—some are still ‘city on the edge of forever’ fans–or perhaps they hold up ‘wrath of khan’ as the best product—to me–this episode and ‘all good things’–are the two best trek episodes ever–the scenes in this, are relentless–from guinan and worf–(yes, i think this is the only time he laughs on tng)—two aliens having a conversation about prune juice?–that is roddenberry through and through—the darkness in the shots weighs on the mood—especially on the bridge–guinan’s scenes with the captain, at first worried then resolute—this is the point in the series where ms.goldberg starts to become that mysterious woman from that scattered race we all remember, i’m glad she’s around as a guide—the briefing in the ready room when the dots are connected–‘who knows if we’re even dead or alive’?—tasha and the captain—amazing job ms. crosby–your character is far more approachable and organic this time, this was your episode—pathos, and tragedy—you say this was written in rapid fashion?–it has the feeling of urgency– another reason to admire this work—

@12 Lemnoc I think this is the first time Worf laughs. I’m not sure he’s ever even smirked up to this point. Not that he ever laughed much in his entire run through 2 shows and all the movies, but he does seem to start to loosen up right here. (OK, I realized “loosen up” may have been a bit too apposite for the prune juice moment, but I decided to leave it.)

Something I keep forgetting to mention: Apparently, they’ve tried to retcon Guinan’s perception of time gone wrong in the later books as the result of her experiences with the Nexus. That’s a bit hard to buy really and certainly doesn’t give them any excuses here.

I wanted to mention the prune juice, but I figure we can’t mention everything — we need all of you to help! And look, it worked :)

Good point on Garrett’s crew, but on the other hand, would they want to live in such a bleak future, particularly if they knew their presence on the C might have helped prevent it? They made such a big deal about Garrett’s death, and how the ship wasn’t meant to go back without her… I was struck later by the fact that they essentially traded one woman for another, even if Yar didn’t take command. Not sure how I feel about that.

And yeah, good call about Starfleet. Maybe they were too far away to bother? Or it’s possible that they knew Starfleet would say, “Oh, another ship! Excellent. Get it back into service and forget this nonsense about an alternate timeline. Who do you think you are, James Kirk? The man was a menace.”

@15 DemetriosX

I keep waffling on whether to comment on the non-canonical Trek trivia, but I found that one interesting. I think episodes like this certainly suggested they put Guinan in the Nexus in Generations, but I just have to assume at this point in the series, they were just using her because she was conveniently mysterious.

Was it just the different lighting or my imagination, or were Data’s eyes different in the alternate timeline?

Starfleet. Where are they in all this?! Don’t you think they’d be involved in this kind of thing?

Does raise the question, if one wants to get picky, about why it is the Federation flagship is operating alone without an armada. I mean, that’s kinda what being a flagship is all about, leading a fleet.

OTOH, I’m glad the Higher Ups weren’t consulted; made the decision all Picard’s and he handled the duty well. in fact, most of the episode was him going from place to place gathering pieces of information that allowed him to make the decision. Most of the time in ST, the admirals are effete ignoramuses and busybodies; and the whole notion of consulting them vitiates the feeling of a remote and isolated cosmos.

As for why the admiralty was not consulted, the reasons could be many. One being a general order to maintain radio silence while operating in enemy space.

I’ve been hesitant to comment and mark myself as the odd man out but the truth is, I’m not particularly fond of this episode.

Generally, I agree that it was extremely well written and beautifully put together. Production value alone was better than almost anything else we’ve seen, even with the mistakes that were made due to the particularly tight production timeline. But the story itself doesn’t really do anything for me. Then again, Star Trek is generally responsible for my distaste regarding time travel stories in the first place, and by the time this episode showed up in my own personal chronology, I was outright disdainful of them.

Aside from that, I don’t like Denise Crosby or Yar and I can’t help but blame this episode for every annoying instance in which the actress crops back up again like a bad rash. I agree that it was a great opportunity for her character to get a decent death, but the thing is, I liked that her death was so casual the first time around because that’s so contrary to popular storytelling. I never wanted her to get a do-over death. To say nothing of the notion that she doesn’t actually die when she goes back and suffers who knows what sort of torture and torment at the hands of the Romulans.

Finally, I just don’t like dark warlike Trek. I’m not surprised at all that this episode inspired Abrams in his making of the reboot, and frankly that alone makes me like this episode even less. Abrams is all about the dark warlike Trek and I hate it so much I can’t even stand to watch the previews for Into Darkness . If going back in time and dropping this episode from the line-up somehow prevented Abrams from making Star Trek and Into Darkness (to say nothing of Denise Crosby in that crazy Romulan hairdo) then I’d consider it a noble cause.

Yes. This is a strong episode. So good that it almost seems out of place with the preceding episodes.

Others have commented on Wesley being in uniform, but I don’t think anyone has touched on this point. Seeing Wesley in uniform could be taken as a visual clue to the nature of the information Picard is guarding. When Picard finally shares that information with the viewers, Wesley being in the uniform confirms this. Star Fleet is desperate enough to do what Germany did during the declining months of WWII. They put uniforms on children and old men then placed them in combat situations. How many other teenagers might we see if given a chance to wander through the ship in this timeline?

For me, the most thought provoking line is Picard’s “Who is to say that this history is any less proper than the other?” What I find interesting is that that line can be used with equal resolve by beings in any timeline.

I just don’t like dark warlike Trek.

This is a great observation in general about the substitution over time of combat and violence versus exploration and human adventure in ST. I suppose what redeems this episode is that it ultimately is about avoiding a future of combat and violence.

The Enterprise-C perhaps makes the most noble sacrifice among all our Enterprises in this regard, another captain’s solution to the no-win scenario.

No one should ever hesitate to disagree with us! Of course these things are a matter of taste, and we all have certain things that we love in fiction (time travel and alternate universes for me) and things that we hate (for me, it’s wiping people’s memories).

Personally I do like an edgier Trek, which feels more dramatic and more real to me than an idyllic future. But you’re right that Tasha’s original death, as empty as it was, is more realistic. It wasn’t her death that bothered me so much as how little impact it had on her crewmates, and ultimately the series. She was just a redshirt who got to hang out with the rest of the crew and maybe lasted longer than most. Granted, no one will notice her sacrifice this time around, except for us and Guinan, though her crew will find out about it later.

And it seems to me that war (primarily, averting it) was always a big part of the original series, and it had some very dark moments, and this is especially true of the films. I guess dark time travel stories are what many other fans want too because if you look at the best films, they revisit these themes: Star Trek II (dark), IV (time travel), VI (war), First Contact (dark/time travel/war). I don’t blame you for being tired of time travel stories, but fortunately Star Trek found lots of interesting ways to do it differently.

@ 16 Eugene Garrett’s crew: I’m sure some of them would have preferred to go back, no question. But ALL 125? I just don’t buy that, and in any case I would have liked to see that as a struggle rather than just have it dismissed with one line from the captain that this plan is universally accepted.

@ 17 Lemnoc Maybe they’re alone because the war is really going that badly? It just seems weird to me. The command structure should be stronger, not weaker, during war.

@ 18 Toryx All completely fair criticisms. I don’t like WarTrek either, but I think this episode works because it doesn’t endorse WarTrek. In fact, every one there agrees that this alternative sucks compared to even a HOPE of non-WarTrek. It’s fun world to imagine–briefly–before we go back to the real ST.

And yeaaaah Trek Into Dimness or whatever is going to be a thing that happens that I guess I have to see.

@ 19 Ludon I wouldn’t go that far… Wesley would be in uniform right now if he had made it into the Academy that first round two years ago in Season 1. Maybe in this version the Benzites were wiped out by the Klingons so he got in? But he’s not a child soldier.

I like that line, too. It’s all a matter of perspective…

Just a heads-up that this week’s post will be delayed until next week. I’m entering finals and we’ll be on a less regular schedule for the next few weeks.

Best of luck in the exams.

I have to wonder if Gene Roddenberry couldn’t do the dark, warlike Trek a heck of a lot better than someone like J.J. Abrams because he knew what a god-awful tragedy it was. Roddenberry was in the army in New Guinea in 1942-43. This isn’t someone who learned what violence was from Hollywood – and probably explains why the older Trek is so committed to peace.

Chillingly enough, maybe that explains why they could have the whole crew of the Enterprise C head back? Roddenberry had the experience of being in a awful and brutal place at a awful and brutal time when people were knowingly ordered to their deaths, and went.

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Star Trek: The Next Generation : "Yesterday's Enterprise"/"The Offspring"

"Yesterday's Enterprise"

Or  The One Where Tasha Gets What She Deserves

What if something was wrong? I don't mean a broken heart or a lost shoelace. I mean something major, something so big that it's impossible to step back and look at the big picture because anywhere you step, you're still buried inside the mess. So you just feel it, the way a great conductor can tell if a single instrument in the orchestra is off-key. You can't eat, because you can't get the oily sick taste of wrongness off your tongue, and it's impossible to form lasting emotional connections because everyone you talk to is as wrong as everything else; misplaced, out of step, on loan from the Island of Misfit Realities. Then one day, you figure it out—you realize what's been causing all the problems. Once you fix the cause, you can right all the wrongness, and the universe will be set back on its proper course. Everyone can go home .

Everyone except you. Because as it turns out, you're supposed to be dead.

I had high hopes for "Yesterday's Enterprise." I've heard it praised often enough, and, given the title and the few facts I knew about the episode, I knew I was in for some alternate reality fun. I live for that stuff. There's time travel here, paradoxes, anomalies, great action sequences, sterling performances. And Tasha Yar. I was expecting all kinds of goodness from this, but what I wasn't expecting is for the series to somehow find a way to absolve itself of its most ignoble sin: the pointless death of a main character from the first season. "Skin of Evil" is an awful hour of television no matter how you slice it, and Yar's death scene in it is an insulting end for someone who was just beginning to come into her own. That happens sometimes. Shows, especially long running ones, can hit rough patches, and, unlike with the rough draft of a novel, they can't go back and edit out a bit because they realize it doesn't work. And yet, that's basically what "Yesterday's Enterprise" does. It works beautifully. Even at her best, Tasha was a problematic character, but by the end of this episode, it's impossible not to feel her loss.

Emotional aspects aside (and, of course, I'll get back to those in a second, because I am a soppy son of a bitch), "Yesterday's" is a wonderfully efficient piece of science fiction storytelling. The teleplay (written by what looks like half the show's writing staff) wastes no time at all in getting down to business. The  Enterprise  comes across a time displacement floating in space. While Data struggles to get a reading on it, and Picard debates the best course of action, a ship comes through the rift. Before anyone can figure out what's happening, the universe— shifts . I'll admit, I misread this when it happened; I was assuming that the ship coming out of the rift, which looked like the  Enterprise , had the alternate reality versions of Picard and everyone else aboard. I thought the rift wasn't a break in time but a gateway to another dimension, sort of a "Mirror, Mirror" deal.

The situation a good deal more clever than that, though, as the episode soon makes clear. The rift  is  a time warp, and the ship that comes through it is actually the  Enterprise-C , the previous model of our  Enterprise  that was destroyed over twenty years ago. The shift on our  Enterprise , the shift that changes the bridge design, uniforms, and puts Tasha back in command of security, is actually a result of the  Enterprise-C  leaving its own time period, changing the past, and creating a new present. It's a complicated concept. While time travel stories have been playing this kind of spin since Ray Bradbury's "A Sound Of Thunder," this is a lot of information that needs to be unpacked quickly, in order to set up the conflict that will drive the rest of the episode.

What's impressive, then, is how much "Yesterday's" manages to convey without ever becoming belabored.  The episode does a terrific job of laying down its basic concepts in an efficient, easy to follow way. In addition to the dialog (which is often expository but never tediously so), there are all kinds of brilliant touches to show just how screwed up this world is. This Other  Enterprise  is severely over-crowded, and you hear a steady stream of announcements playing over the ships intercom about combat training. The Captain's Log is now the "Military Log." Guinan's outfit changes color. (Okay, that last one probably doesn't count for much.) Even some of the performances have changed. Stewart's Other Picard is harsher, angrier, honed to a furious point by years of ceaseless conflict, and he and Riker don't have the comfortable camaraderie that their regular counterparts share. And there's no Troi on the bridge or, indeed, anywhere that we ever see. It isn't mentioned, but her absence tells as all we need to know about the change in the  Enterprise 's on-going mission; nobody gives a damn about feelings anymore.

Another point in the episode's favor is how quickly it comes to its main crisis—what to do with the  Enterprise-C  and her crew. As soon as the shift between potentialities occurs, Guinan knows something is wrong. She tells Picard that the  Enterprise-C  will have to return to its own time, that it's their presence in the future (and absence in the past) that caused the twenty year war with the Klingon Empire that's already cost millions upon millions of lives. Picard objects to this, but he doesn't waste too much time on these objections. It's very easy to imagine "Yesterday's" spent with Guinan struggling to sway the minds of an increasingly irritated crew, of her having to sneak around and find others who also somehow sense what she senses, of their brave efforts to set right what once went wrong. But that's not what this episode is about. Sure, Riker isn't happy; the idea of sacrificing a whole crew on someone's hunch doesn't go down easy, so somebody has to speak up. Riker's unhappiness doesn't stand in the way of what needs to get done, however.

All the clever writing here is much appreciated, and there's an elegance to it that you don't always see on genre shows. For example: note how Other Data explains how the death of the  Enterprise-C  in the past could've prevented the Klingon War. We know the ship isn't going to survive in the past for long, so we need a clear reason why its sacrifice will be enough to right history back on course. By having Other Data present a possible theory, we're saved the wasting time at the end of the episode—without his explanation, one of the "real" members of the  Enterprise  crew would've had to say something like, "Gosh, remember how the deaths of everyone aboard the previous model of this ship twenty years ago stopped a war?" It would've been a clunky piece of housekeeping that distracted from the episode's emotional denouement. Even if all "Yesterday's" had was smart, risky plotting, it would stand as a series highpoint. But we go one step further here, with Yar's brief return to the bridge.

Denise Crosby isn't an amazing actress, but she's better directed here than she ever was in the first season, and she's given far, far better dialog. Her relationship with Lt. Richard Castillo (Christopher McDonald), a crew-member aboard the  Enterprise-C , is one of the stronger romances we've seen on the show, without any of the smarmy aggression that's bogged down similar plotlines in the past. Really, though, it comes down to Yar's conversation with Guinan in Ten-Forward, and her final exchange with Picard. It's not enough that Guinan tells Yar she's supposed to be dead—Guinan goes so far as to tell Tasha that her death was "empty" and "without purpose." It's a terrific acknowledgement of one of the series' worst moments, and provides the episode with its strongest emotional beats. Tasha's determination to die with meaning by the end of "Yesterday's" transforms her from a misstep into something more noble and sad. Characters die all the time in stories, and sometimes we care, and sometimes we don't, but here's one who knows that she's doomed, who knows that in order for the story to be told properly, she has to leave. It's not really a sacrifice, since whatever happens, she's dead. But at least this way gives her back her dignity.

So yeah, this is brilliant. The space battle at the end is appropriately thrilling (alternate timelines are a great excuse to kill off leading character consequence free; in that spirit, please enjoy Riker's gaping neck wound), and the story flows from beginning to end with an amazing amount of confidence and grace. The best testament to quality I can give here is that, when Guinan sits down with Geordi in the final scene and says, "Tell me about Tasha Yar," I wanted to hear more.

Stray Observations:

• Given that the Federation is getting its ass kicked by the Klingon Empire in the alternate timeline, it's understandable that Worf wouldn't be on the Other  Enterprise . But at least we get that opening scene between him and Guinan. "It's an Earth drink. Prune juice." "A warrior's drink." Followed by an in-depth discussion of why Worf doesn't date.
• Is Garrett the first female captain we've seen? I can't remember.

"The Offspring"

Or  The One Where It's A Girl

What a horrid title. It sounds like the name of some miserable, grimy  Omen  knock-off from the late '70s: "Terror is heir apparent in  The Offspring !" ("The Child" might've fit better, but we already had an episode with that name, and it sucked.) It's easy enough to imagine "The Offspring" as a horror flick without changing that many of the plot details, and if this were a different kind of show, this episode might've been played for scares. A sentient robot builds a child. The government wants to take that child away from the robot, possibly for military purposes. The sentient robot objects. The child refuses to leave, and then it suffers a psychotic break. The third act would've been the killing spree, plus maybe a lightning storm. And lasers!

Since we're talking about an episode of  TNG , though and not something from  The Outer Limits , it should come as no surprise that "Offspring" goes in a different direction. Data builds himself a kid, but instead of terrifying the audience with the dark implications of android self-replication, the ep focuses instead on what it's like to be a parent, and the difficulties in raising a child who perform millions of complex mental calculations in an instant, but can't tell the difference between kissing and biting. (Admittedly, some relationships make this more challenging than others.) And yeah, a representative from Starfleet shows up and starts acting like a creep, and yeah, the child is caught in the middle, and malfunctions. But the malfunction doesn't turn her into a murder machine. Someone ends up dead at the end, but it's far from horrific.

In many ways, "Offspring" is as a sequel or companion piece to season 2's "The Measure Of A Man." Once again, we have Data's status as a full citizen of the Federation called into question, and once again we're faced with bureaucratic unwillingness to see Data as anything but a potentially invaluable machine. Once again, all this oppression is represented by a single guy: here, it's Admiral Haftel, played by character actor and Santa Barbara staple, Nicolas Coster. Coster manages to make the role, if not sympathetic, at least believable, and Picard gets his usual good shots in defending Data from the mean people who want to steal his kid. I don't think I'll ever get tired of watching Data calmly standing up for himself, either. It makes a terrific contrast against Stewart's intensity—neither overplay their hands, but both represent different approaches to aggression, and watching Spiner even-handedly making his point after Stewart speechifies strengthens both performances.

Yet there's a certain ring of familiarity to all this. The implacability of government machinations, the way institutions can grind the individual to dust by the sheer inertia of their assumptions—okay, that's always going to be an important theme in fiction, so long as we have people who get together in big groups and do stupid things. More to the point is that we've seen this specific conflict before. In "Man," Maddox argued that Data was the property of Starfleet; he wasn't alive, which meant he didn't have rights, and it was for the good of everyone if he was simply viewed as a very powerful tool. Picard defeated this argument handily, so it's loses some of its impact when it's used again here. Oh, no one is saying Data is property anymore, but Haftel argues that Lal, Data's daughter, should be placed in other hands because of her singularity and her potential. Boil away the pretty words, and the theme is the same: Lal is a machine, and machines don't the same rights as a biological child.

These scenes remain dramatically effective, but they aren't as interesting as Data and Lal's interactions, and Lal's attempts to follow in her father's footsteps by becoming more human. "Offspring" starts on the right note by opening with Data introducing his daughter to Geordi, Wesley, and Troi. The episode could've spent the first scenes exploring what inspired Data to procreate, and then going through the difficulties of acting on that inspiration, but this is a much more interesting approach. The nuts-and-bolts of how Lal came to be are largely unimportant, and what we need to know about them, and about what's driving Data, can all be conveyed after the fact. Lal's initial form is alien, unsettling in appearance despite Data's pride. Data explains that he made the child initially sexless because he wished to give it the opportunity to select its own gender, but that strange, not-really-anything body doesn't shy away with how odd all this is. Picard's utter shock when he learns what has happened is logically unmotivated (as Data and Troi both point out), but it also comes from some deep, irrational part of the brain that isn't comfortable with new species popping up out of nowhere.

Once Lal chooses to be a young woman, Data sets to work showing her around the ship, and trying to satisfy her endless curiosity. This can get a little corny. Lal starts working in Ten-Forward to study human interaction more closely, and her and Guinan's conversation about flirting is on the twee side, although the pay-off, with Lal grabbing a just-returned Riker and kissing him, is funny enough. (I don't buy Guinan dodging the sex question, though. It plays more like a sitcom joke than a character decision.) Besides, these sequences mostly work because they deal thoughtfully with all the potential problems that could arise from trying to integrate a new android into even such a welcoming small society as the Enterprise. Troi convinces Data that he should enroll Lal in school, but when he tries, she's incapable of fitting in; she doesn't understand human interaction enough to function with teenagers, and young children are terrified of her because she's different. While Data's request that he be treated like any other parent is justified, that doesn't mean that his child can be treated like any other child.

Given the nature of TNG —light continuity, but generally avoiding significant changes that would require cast changes or additions for more than an episode or two—it's no surprise that Lal doesn't last on the Enterprise forever. I suppose it's possible that Data and Haftel could've arrived at some kind of compromise, though, so it is a surprise when Lal dies. Her death is softened when Data downloads all her programs into his own brain, but that still doesn't eliminate the loss, especially considering how she dies. Haftel's refusal to acknowledge her wishes leads to Lal experiencing an actual emotional response; and since she doesn't have the equipment to process such an experience, she shuts down. Data's progeny had achieved in a few days what he'd spent his entire lifetime reaching for, and it kills her.

TNG has never been afraid of melodrama, and "Offspring" does go overboard on a few occasions. Most problematic is Hallie Todd's performance as Lal. The actress tries, but can't convincingly match Brent Spiner's ethereal calm. It made me appreciate Spiner's work more (he's able to get a surprising amount of drama without ever changing his vocal tone), but it also diminishes Todd's arc from clumsy toddler to tormented heroine. The episode works, though, because it doesn't exploit Data's latest attempt to become more human either for horror or easy jokes. (We get a few gags at the expense of Lal's naiveté, but they're never mean spirited.) Lal lives just long enough to surpass her father, and in doing so, enriches his life forever. Positronic brains or not, I'm sure there are human parents who could relate.

• Riker's absence for most of the episode has an easy enough explanation; "The Offspring" is Jonathan Frakes' directorial debut.
• Gah, the score! Never have I have been forced to endure so many sobbing violins.
• Troi is really well-used in this episode. See? I can say nice things.
• "Commander, what are your intentions to my daughter?"
• "I love you, Father." "I wish I could it feel it with you." "I will feel it for both of us. Thank you for my life." See, "The Child"? That's how you do a damn death scene.
• Next week, it's "Sins of the Father" and "Allegiance."

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Star Trek: The Next Generation – Yesterday’s Enterprise (Review)

This January and February, we’ll be finishing up our look at the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation and moving on to the third year of the show, both recently and lovingly remastered for high definition. Check back daily for the latest review.

Yesterday’s Enterprise is one of the best-loved pieces of Star Trek ever produced. Its inclusion is a given in absolutely any “best of” poll being run for Star Trek: The Next Generation or even the franchise as a whole. A rather thoughtful piece of high-concept science-fiction exploring the importance of the right people in the right time, Yesterday’s Enterprise is proof that The Next Generation has truly come of age. After two years of wandering in the wilderness, the show has finally found its feet.

Of course, the production of Yesterday’s Enterprise was quite traumatic. The story and script went through multiple iterations between the original pitch and the version presented on the screen. The episode was written by pretty much the entire writing staff over the Thanksgiving weekend, racing against the clock to get it finished. Due to scheduling issues with Denise Crosby and Whoopi Goldberg, it was filmed in late December instead of early January.

As with so much of the third season, there’s a sense that the episode was held together by chewing gum and rubber bands. However, also like most of the third season, that sense only comes from those delving into the behind-the-scenes stories. Looking at the episode itself, this was a show on the top of its game.

The battle bridge…

One the audio commentary, Ronald D. Moore provides a necessary sense of context for the production of Yesterday’s Enterprise :

The context of when this thing was done is important. We were behind. All the episodes were behind. We were completing things pretty much just seconds before they were shot. … So we were right up against the wall on this one. We’d just broken the story and we all jointly wrote it together.

Rather than the zenith of the season, there was a clear sense that the writing staff were fighting against time in order to get the episode finished, just trying to churn the script out.

A Yar(d) stick for the show’s development?

Director David Carson, who was responsible for The Enemy and would go on to direct the pilot of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ( Emissary ) and Star Trek: Generations , explains that nobody really had any idea that they were working on anything special, while giving a sense of the working conditions :

Yesterday’s Enterprise is widely regarded as one of the single best episodes of TNG, if not the best of them all. How much of a clue, going into it, did you have that it could turn out to be something special? I had none, really. I think when you come in as a visitor, as a guest to direct a series like Star Trek, which has a vast universe that you’re trying to plug yourself into, you don’t have the opportunity to compare what you’re doing to what other people have done. You have to be guided by Rick and David and the people who are actually there all the time working on it. In my case, they encouraged me to work with the material in the way that I used to in Europe and give them that thing I was supposedly bringing to them. But I did know that Yesterday’s Enterprise started off under extraordinarily unusual circumstance. Having done The Enemy, they asked me to come back and do the next show, which wasn’t Yesterday’s Enterprise. It was a different script altogether. But when I arrived for the first day of eight days of prep, they told me that they’d just discovered that Whoopi Goldberg was available and they wanted to use one of the stories that she featured in. But there was no script… So, with eight days to go, we all gathered around this big conference table in the Star Trek offices and looked at an outline, and this outline was Yesterday’s Enterprise. But it was incredibly complicated, this outline, because it involved having two bridges of the Enterprise, turning everything around and making it a completely different parallel universe, and building up ships and things like that. So we had this extraordinary situation where we on the production side went ahead with our plans. The set builders and everybody else went ahead and built these sets whilst the writers were writing. And the two, luckily, matched together completely. But we had no way of knowing that we weren’t going to go off in completely divergent paths. Fortunately, the story we were going to tell was so interesting and I think it was the first time the TNG actors were stepping into a completely different universe to their own. And they, as actors, really loved doing it. Patrick Stewart loved playing that war-like captain in a war situation after 20 years of war. So it was nerve-wracking at times. We built all these sets, and the scenes and the dialogue just fell perfectly into that.

It’s phenomenal that Yesterday’s Enterprise worked as well as it did.

Purple haze…

In hindsight, it’s very easy to point to Yesterday’s Enterprise as the point at which the tide had turned on the show. The third season had been pretty strong up to this point, but Yesterday’s Enterprise opens a stretch of the season including The Offspring and Sins of the Father . Putting Yesterday’s Enterprise in that context, it would seem to be the moment at which absolutely everything changed on the show, as if everybody working on the series realised the full potential of the spin-off.

And it’s clear that somebody at Paramount believed in Yesterday’s Enterprise . The episode’s production values are through the roof. Although it’s clear corners have been cut to save costs (the old Enterprise crew wear movie-era uniforms, the old Enterprise bridge is a re-dressed battle bridge set), the episode features a whole host of re-designed sets, adjusted costumes, special effects and model work. Although David Carson’s direction and Marvin Rush’s cinematography contribute to the episode’s cinematic feel, along with sterling work from the production design team, there’s a sense that somebody knew the episode was a winner.

“Okay! Who has been filling the consoles with rock again?”

That said, that somebody wasn’t necessarily working in the trenches. On the episode’s audio commentary, Ira Steven Behr and Mike Okuda remark that Yesterday’s Enterprise didn’t seem like a big deal in the early phases of production:

That’s the part that always drives to me to distraction, this idea that it was the renaissance. I wish we could have enjoyed it. I wish we knew it at the time. It was so not the renaissance within the Hart Building. It was literally “I gotta get through the day.” I don’t know what anyone else was thinking but for me… Even in the art department, as you said, it was just another script. And it was a huge amount of work. This episode killed us. And I didn’t think that there was anything special to it until a few weeks after principle photography. Ron Moore, the effects supervisor, came up and he showed me the rough cut of the episode. I had no idea.

On that commentary, Behr and Moore talk about the stress of corralling the writing staff into working over Thanksgiving to get the script done on time. (And Behr fondly remembering Moore’s eagerness to write not only the teaser, but the final act. “Put me in coach!” )

Apparently, the teaser was pruned quite a bit…

Of course, Yesterday’s Enterprise has a very mixed-up and convoluted production history. Eric Stillwell was able to write an entire book about the production of the episode, and his initial pitch and the initial pitch from Trent Ganino were both quite different to what ended up on screen :

Trent had submitted a speculative script called Yesterday’s Enterprise, about an Enterprise from the past coming through a time anomaly into the TNG present day. There was no altered universe scenario, just Picard confronted with the dilemma of sending these people back to their own time to fulfil their own destiny and avoid any possibility of altering time. Problem was, we knew from the history books that their fate ended in death and destruction. But do we tell them this and give them a fighting chance for survival, or do we avoid telling them to prevent any possible alteration of history and send them back to a certain death? This is the ethical dilemma that confronts the crew throughout the story. Simultaneously, I’d been working on my own story for a pitch about bringing Sarek on the show. Gene Roddenberry had circulated a memo saying it was unlikely they could ever afford to bring Leonard Nimoy on the show, but that Mark Lenard might be interested in making a guest appearance. I’d been working on a story that would’ve involved the Guardian of Forever and a Vulcan archeology team doing historical research on ancient Vulcan in the days of Surak, the founder of modern Vulcan philosophy. The Enterprise takes Ambassador Sarek to the Guardian planet to retrieve the archaeological team, but an accident occurs and Surak is killed. Suddenly all of history is changed when the Vulcans fail to follow the peaceful, logical path, and the present-day Federation finds itself at war with the Vulcan-Romulan Empire. Sarek, who was on the planet at the time, realizes what has happened and must convince Picard to send him back in time to repair the damage caused by Surak’s death. In effect, Sarek becomes Surak.

Some of the core elements are there (altered time line, old Enterprise), but they still needed to be fused into one cohesive story.

Somebody hasn’t been taking proper care of their ship…

It’s worth pausing here to note that Yesterday’s Enterprise could also be seen as something of a companion piece to Harlan Ellison’s acclaimed The City on the Edge of Forever . Ellisan’s original draft for the episode included several elements trimmed from subsequent drafts for various reasons. Some were cut for budget, some were cut for time, some were cut in order to make the script run a bit smoother.

One of those elements removed from Ellison’s original story was the idea of time travel altering the present. In a way, it remains in the finished episode – McCoy allowing Hitler to win the second world war effectively destroys the universe. The Enterprise crew can’t pick up any sign of civilisation in the cosmos. However, Ellison’s original idea was that the Enterprise would be morphed into the Condor, a pirate ship that had led a much harsher life. It’s not too difficult to imagine the alternate Enterprise from Yesterday’s Enterprise as a spiritual successor to the Condor.

You’d imagine the Enterprise could really use some proper fuses…

As if the writing team didn’t have enough to contend with inside the episode’s running time, it also brought back Denise Crosby, who had departed the show in the first season’s Skin of Evil . In The Making of Yesterday’s Enterprise , writer Eric Stillwell recounts how he came to incorporate her in later drafts:

As we were talking later, Denise – who never admitted that it had been a mistake to leave the series – did admit that she missed being a part of the show and suggested, “Why don’t you write a script to bring me back.” I hadn’t really given much thought to the idea before that, but suddenly the famous words of Leonard Nimoy filled my mind: “Nobody ever dies in science fiction.”

This added quite a lot to Yesterday’s Enterprise , on top of the time travel story, the changing history story and the old Enterprise story. Ronald D. Moore added the extra element of the Federation being at war with the Klingons in this alternate time line.

Again with the Klingons!

The script for Yesterday’s Enterprise is just this incredibly collection of different elements added at different points by different people for different reasons; it’s a wonder the script works at all, let alone that it turned out to be one of the best episodes of the franchise. Stillwell compared the writing process to  “a jigsaw puzzle” , and it doesn’t sound too much like an exaggeration of what was going on behind the scenes.

By all accounts, the script should have been an unholy mess, but Yesterday’s Enterprise turns out to be something of a perfect storm. It was the right combination of the the right people at the right time. In a way, it almost mirrors the tragic story of the Enterprise-C, given a doomed mission that actually makes all the difference in the world. It’s an episode that genuinely deserves its place among the mostly highly regarded episodes of Star Trek ever produced.

Into the void…

In Star Trek FAQ 2.0 (Unofficial and Unauthorized) , Mark Clark makes a compelling case for the episode’s high profile:

Many fans and critics now consider it the single greatest episode of The Next Generation. It was selected as such in six different fan polls taken over the years and was named one of the series’ best instalments by both TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly. Rick Berman lists it and The Measure of a Man as his personal favourite Next Gen episodes. Yesterday’s Enterprise also earned three Emmy nominations, winning for Outstanding Sound Editing and losing in the categories of Sound Mixing and Music (score). By any yardstick, it stands among the greatest works in the history of not only The Next Generation, but the entire franchise.

While any concept like “the best” or “best of” will inevitably be subjective, it’s hard to argue with that much evidence.

“That’ll be the day…”

There are a lot of reasons why Yesterday’s Enterprise works. The most obvious is the sheer weight of the world crafted in forty-five minutes. Thanks to the writers, the actors, and the wonderful production design team, it’s immediately clear that we’ve shifted over to a dystopia. Picard is frequently reviewing tactical data charting Klingon fleet movements; everybody carries phasers all the time; Picard keeps a “military log” and refers to the Enterprise as a “battleship” ; the lighting is darker; the camera work is a bit more claustrophobic.

The script for Yesterday’s Enterprise is very good at suggesting things without stating them outright. There’s a lot to unpack about the interpersonal dynamics on the alt! Enterprise, but not a lot of time in which to do it. So the script hints and prods in particular directions, trusting the viewer to reach their own conclusions about interpersonal dynamics on board this ship that looks so familiar and yet feels so strangely alien.

Getting Picard on board with this idea…

Where is Troi? The obvious implication is that there’s no room for that sort of glad-handing on the alt! Enterprise. Worf’s absence reinforces the idea that this is dystopia. The teaser gave us our first glimpse of Worf laughing, reminding us of how the Klingon had integrated so completely with the crew that he could drink prune juice and talk candidly about sex. So his absence from this most brutal of timelines demonstrates that the very real cost of the war between the Federation and the Klingons.

What is up between Riker and Picard, for example? The nickname “Number One” isn’t uttered in the script. The two seem to be at odds. When the Enterprise-C arrives, Riker has no time for Picard’s caution. “Respectfully, if I may suggest regardless of where they came from, they are here now and they need our help.” Picard, on the other hand, is decidedly more cautious, “Commander, we will handle this one step at a time.”

Shedding some light on the matter…

It becomes even more obvious in later scenes. In Piacrd’s briefing (held in his ready room), Riker sits at the back of the room, as far from his superior as possible. When Picard outlines his plan, Riker responds, “Sir, if you’d like my opinion…” Picard coldly and matter-of-factly cuts across him, “I think I’m aware of your opinion, Commander. This is a briefing. I’m not seeking your consent.” We never find out what’s at the root of this personality clash, and it’s much better that way – it’s up to the viewer to try to piece it all together.

Indeed, this ambiguity permeates the episode, which makes sense when Picard is asked to sacrifice his universe on Guinan’s gut instinct. The relationship between Guinan and Picard would remain ambiguous throughout the show’s run (even after Time’s Arrow ), but it’s most potent here. We already know that Guinan would follow Picard around the galaxy, but here we discover that Guinan would follow Picard to war; and also that he would allow her to join him on the frontier.

Ghost ship…

The script for Yesterday’s Enterprise is deliberately ambiguous about the relationship between Picard and Guinan. Their friendship and trust is treated as absoluter. When Garrett asks Picard about Guinan, he avoids specifics, “I discovered long ago that she has a special wisdom. I’ve learned to trust it.” The script doesn’t give us too much to go on, but it’s shrewd enough to trust Whoopi Goldberg and Patrick Stewart to carry the material, and they do so.

(The casting on Yesterday’s Enterprise is also top notch. Supporting characters like Rachel Garrett and Richard Castillo barely exist on the page. However, veteran supporting performers Tricia O’Neill and Christopher McDonald breath a tremendous amount of life into the only two staff members of the doomed Enterprise-C that we get to know. It’s a demonstration of just how perfectly attuned every aspect of Yesterday’s Enterprise actually is.)

A kiss at the end of the world…

The script for Yesterday’s Enterprise is extraordinarily structured. It’s a story involving concepts like alternate universes and temporal causality. Although these had been staples of science-fiction for decades, they weren’t really part of the mainstream vernacular in the early nineties. So the fact that Yesterday’s Enterprise is able to unfold across two timelines with a minimum of exposition is quite remarkable.

The script is surprisingly lean. The episode never confirms through dialogue that alt! Data’s supposition was correct and that the Enterprise-C led to peace with the Klingons. The episode trusts the audience to be able to keep up with that internal logic, without too much hand-holding. That’s an extraordinary amount of confidence in the audience, and a sign of how The Next Generation was growing in confidence and charm.

Stuck in a time Worf…

In Living with Star Trek: American Culture and the Star Trek Universe , Lincoln Geraghty argues that Yesterday’s Enterprise is an example of how The Next Generation helped to popularise multi-form narratives in popular culture:

With Star Trek the multiform story works because it has a narrative history which serves as a basis for many of its episodes; there is already a narrative framework in place for multiple plots to expand upon and characters to harmonise with. For fans, its ‘alternate versions of reality’ are part of the way they experience their own world and, as a result, part of how they identify themselves and want to imagine the future. As ever, science fiction succeeds in extrapolating ideas about the future by using contemporary methods of storytelling very much grounded in literary tradition. Rather than being a twenty-fourth-century tale about the future, Star Trek can, and may well always, be considered a story about contemporary society and how we deal with our own past and present.

In Captains’ Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , actor Jonathan Frakes joked about the complexity of the show’s narrative. “To this day I do not understand Yesterday’s Enterprise. I do not know what the f%$@ happened in that episode. I’m still trying to understand it – but I liked the look.”

Picard’s attempts to save on the Enterprise’s electricity bill were a constant source of frustration to Riker…

While Frakes may well be joking, it’s easy to understand how the show could be confusing. It’s a testament to the writers involved that Yesterday’s Enterprise is structured so clearly and that it’s all easy enough to follow for most of the viewers at home. (At least, based on the episode’s reputation and popularity.) Yesterday’s Enterprise is an ambitious piece of storytelling. The fact that it has become a fan favourite means that it has been discussed and watched and re-watched and picked apart time and time again, but it still holds up, despite all the potential complexities in the script.

That said, the episode is assisted by the willingness of the writers to delve into the franchise’s history. A lot of Yesterday’s Enterprise relies on a casual understanding of how Star Trek works. There’s no real in-depth or insider knowledge required, but it trades off the franchise’s iconography. The show casually mentions the Romulans and the Klingons, without having any (save Worf) appear on screen. It plays off the idea that even the most casual viewers will accept the possibility of the Klingon Empire and the Federation being at war with one another.

The empty chair…

As an aside, it’s interesting that the Klingons are winning the war. Most portrayals of the Klingon Empire in the nineties tend to portray the Empire as a spent force, a political entity rotting away from the inside. Sins of the Father will reveal that the Empire is inherently corrupt and decayed, suggesting that the Romulans have managed to reach the highest levels of influence and that the Empire is just going through the pantomime of honour and strength. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country reveals that the Klingons sued for peace after an economic disaster in the late twenty-second century.

Of course, neither had aired when Yesterday’s Enterprise was written. Although Star Trek tends to suggest the Klingon Empire stagnates in times in peace, with decay setting in quite quickly, the implication is that the Klingon Empire thrives in war. That is part of the reason why Gowran is so keen to invade Cardassia in The Way of the Warrior , with a Changeling influencing him. In contrast, the Federation is a political entity ill-suited to long and protracted warfare. Quite simply, Yesterday’s Enterprise suggests that Picard and his crew simply cannot exist in a warlike universe.

Core values…

In terms of the wider context of Star Trek , it’s worth noting that Yesterday’s Enterprise is an episode that revolves around the Enterprise-C, a missing link between the Enterprise-A appearing in the big-screen adventures of Captain Kirk and the Enterprise-D featured in The Next Generation . So far, The Next Generation has been somewhat reluctant to explore the big gap that exists between the classic Star Trek and The Next Generation .

The show has been unwilling to commit to any concrete facts about lifespan of the Enterprise-B and the Enterprise-C. In fact, up until Yesterday’s Enterprise , we could only infer their existence from the registry number on this Enterprise. That ambiguity extended outwards to the wider fictional universe. We were told (in The Neutral Zone ) that the Romulans effectively entered hibernation between the two eras. Episodes like Heart of Glory and Samaritan Snare can’t seem to decide whether the Klingons have joined the Federation.

Everything is in flames…

So Yesterday’s Enterprise features an attempt to fill that lacuna in continuity. It demonstrates a growing sense of comfort with the history of Star Trek , as if The Next Generation is comes to terms with its place in the larger franchise. This is an idea that is inevitably building towards the broadcast of  Sarek near the end of the season and the guest appearance of Spock in Reunification ; it’s a process that will be far from painless, but is a necessary part of  The Next Generation growing up and coming into its own.

The script even manages to touch upon all the necessary big ideas in the time allotted. At one point, Picard even questions the assumption that his timeline is somehow inherently “wrong.” It’s something that alternate universe stories tend to take for granted, assuming that the universe we are most familiar with in inherently correct. “Who is to say that this history is any less proper than the other?” Picard challenges. While Yesterday’s Enterprise never really delves into that barrel of worms, it is great to see the topic broached, even fleetingly.

Ships named Enterprise…

Of course, despite the literal and metaphorical darkness on board the alt! Enterprise, it’s worth noting that Yesterday’s Enterprise remains inherently optimistic. Despite the fact that it’s set in a universe where the crew of the Enterprise is brutally gunned down by marauding Klingons, and the Federation itself will soon be overrun by the enemy at the gates, Yesterday’s Enterprise is built on the idea that the right person at the right time can change the flow of history. It’s not even about winning; the Enterprise-C is almost definitely going to be destroyed in the fight. Making the attempt is enough. Trying to help is what matters.

“One more ship will make no difference in the here and now,” Picard tells Garrett as he attempts to convince her to journey back into the fray. “But twenty two years ago, one ship could have stopped this war before it started.” There’s an incredible nobility to that sentiment, and a charming optimism to the idea that even an ill-fated rescue mission is important enough to change the course of history so profoundly. It’s small acts of decency, even those doomed to failure, that make the world a better place. That’s a very Star Trek idea.

All the cool kids sit in the back…

Which brings us to Yar. Yar is a bit of a problem character, although less so here than she has been or will be again. Yesterday’s Enterprise is quite brutal in calling out the first season death of the Enterprise’s Chief of Security. When she presses Guinan for details of her death in the original timeline, Guinan insists that she doesn’t have the details, “But I do know it was an empty death. A death without purpose.” That’s a pretty cold thing to tell a work colleague, and also a bit of scathing self-criticism from the show itself.

Skin of Evil was a pretty terrible episode, for any number of reasons. However, the decision to kill of Yar so suddenly wasn’t inherently a poor choice. It could have been executed better, and it was arguably a little overly ambitious. It wasn’t a decision that the show was mature enough to carry off at the time, certainly. However, this idea that space could carry dangers real enough to kill the Chief of Security at any time over something relatively trivial is not completely without merit.

Garrett, we hardly knew ye…

After all, the moral of Yesterday’s Enterprise is that even doomed acts of bravery and compassion are worth something. Given that Yar was killed while trying to save Troi, surely the same logic applies. Yar died randomly and senselessly, but while doing her duty and trying to help somebody in need. The only difference is that Yar’s death didn’t bring galactic peace or anything like that, but the moral of Yesterday’s Enterprise would seem downright cynical if it were to become results-orientated.

The problem with Skin of Evil was the execution, rather than the core idea. It feels a little gratuitous to bring Yar back and offer her a more “meaningful” death. Of course, this becomes an even bigger problem in retrospect. Upgrading Yar from “random senseless death” to “meaningful television death” might be a little ham-fisted and might serve to undermine the one interesting aspect of Skin of Evil , but at least the episode’s heart is in the right place.

Taking it home…

However, Redemption, Part II later clarifies that Yar survived the ambush and was taken captive by the Romulans, where she gave birth to a child. So, in effect, what we’ve actually shifted from is “random senseless death” to “rape victim murdered off-screen.” And all in service of a soap-opera-esque “identical relative” plotline that doesn’t ever seem to go anywhere. Again, this might not be particularly problematic on its own terms, but in the wider context of how The Next Generation tended to treat its female leads, that revelation can’t help but sting.

Still, all of this is over a season away. As far as anybody was aware at the time, Yesterday’s Enterprise had given Tasha Yar a much more “important” death than the one depicted in the first season. It is really the only point where Yesterday’s Enterprise veers towards cliché, but it’s not necessarily a poor decision. It’s a piece of self-criticism that stings, because it feels like criticism misses the point of the earlier episode. Skin of Evil was an absolutely dire piece of television, but not because Yar’s death was too random or senseless; but because the show hadn’t yet figured out how do “random or senseless.”

Back to normal…

That’s a very minor complaint in the grand scheme of things, and it’s a criticism that can be easily dismissed. Regardless of how “random or senseless” Yar’s death was in Skin of Evil , it didn’t serve Denise Crosby well as an actress, and it didn’t serve the viewers particularly well either. So it’s perfectly reasonable to argue that this revision is fair game. And it is nice to see The Next Generation willing to engage in self-criticism and self-analysis. Much like the attempts to undermine the show’s over-confidence in the second season, this sort of self-reflection is undoubtedly a good thing.

Yesterday’s Enterprise is a phenomenal piece of television. It is superbly crafted at every level of production. David Carson’s direction, the script, the production design, the performances… everybody knocks it out of the park. A fantastic job from all involved, and a demonstration of just what  The Next Generation was capable of at this point in its  life cycle

Read our reviews of the third season of  Star Trek: The Next Generation :

• Supplemental: (DC Comics, 1989) #1-2 – Return to Raimon/Murder, Most Foul
• Supplemental: The Ensigns of Command by Melinda Snodgrass
• The Survivors
• Who Watches the Watchers?
• Supplemental: Star Trek (DC Comics, 1989) #19 – Once a Hero…
• Supplemental: (DC Comics, 1989) #19 – The Lesson
• Supplemental: The Romulan Way by Diane Duane and Peter Morwood
• The Vengeance Factor
• Supplemental: The Sky’s the Limit – Suicide Note by Geoff Trowbridge
• The High Ground
• Supplemental: (DC Comics) Annual #1 – The Gift
• Supplemental: I, Q by John DeLancie and Peter David
• A Matter of Perspective
• Supplemental: The Lost Era – Well of Souls by Ilsa J. Bick
• Supplemental: The Last Generation
• Supplemental: Q-Squared by Peter David
• The Offspring
• Supplemental: Phase II (1978) – Kitumba, Parts I & II
• Captain’s Holiday
• Hollow Pursuits
• The Most Toys
• Supplemental: Sarek by A.C. Crispin
• Supplemental: Imzadi by Peter David
• Supplemental: Star Trek/X-Men: Star TreX
• Supplemental: (DC Comics, 1989) #47-50 – The Worst of Both Worlds
• Supplemental: Vendetta by Peter David

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Filed under: The Next Generation | Tagged: alternate reality , Denise Crosby , enterprise , Federation , Ira Steven Behr , klingons , natasha yar , romulans , ronald d. moore , star trek , star trek: the next generation , Tasha Yar , war , Yar , Yesterday's Enterprise |

11 Responses

Great review.

This season in general and episodes like this in particular was the first time Picard’s crew felt like human beings – in some ways the Federation humans of the early show felt far more alien than the Cardassians or Klingons, with their cold arrogance and holier than thou hyperrationalism (a trait which was present as late as ‘The Bonding’.)

One aspect that I’ve always had difficulty with is the existance of Guinan on the Enterprise in this altered timeline. What is a civilian bartender even doing on the flagship at such a desperate moment in a long running war?

Yep, that is admittedly a minor problem.

Although I can justify it by arguing that she was somehow Picard’s confidante in this time line as well, and that he insisted she be assigned. (Besides, the bar is easy enough to justify on a war ship assigned to deep space with over 700 people on board. One imagines shore leave is a low priority.) Then again, given it’s unlikely that Time’s Arrow happened in this alternate universe, one wonders how Picard and Guinan became so close. Time travel and alternate universes make my head hurt.

Then again, as you said, the episode really is strong enough to justify such a leap of faith.

My personal favorite episode of all of Trek I admit, though honestly I don’t really know why, to this day I’m not sure. Even after reading this and a bunch of other reviews, just not sure 😛 I just really like it, and it seems to have had a huge impact on the franchise, being the basis for later episode (like ENT’s Twilight and I’m sure a bunch of other episodes I’m sure but can’t remember atm :P) and was cited even by the AbramsTrek writers as a major influence.

(like ENT’s Twilight and I’m sure a bunch of other episodes but can’t remember atm :P)*

So didn’t Star Trek 09’s premise of a portal sending a ship back to time, changing the timeline get ripped off from this episode? I think it’s the producers of the Abrams Trek’s favorite episode. Also apparently Parallels was a favorite of theirs, and the Unification two parter, which it all draws from. Strange that a TOS reboot draws so much from TNG.

And yeah, excellent episode, prob my personal favorite. Though superficial, my favorite part is the bridge. It still stands the test of time and looks 100 times better than the normal bridge. I love the lighting.

Too bad the Wesley decapitation scene never got filmed, that would have made this perhaps the greatest thing to ever be filmed for all of eternity. Oh and Worf I believe was originally going to be the one leading the Klingon attacks. So it would have had Worf murdering all his friends. Fucked up…

I don’t know. I think having Worf murder his friends would be took much of “it’s a small universe” thing, although you’re right that it would convey how “broken” the universe was.

Then again he becomes a weird BDSM stock cartoon villain in the DS9 mirror universe episode….

Wouldn’t the Enterprise C appearing just where the Enterprise D is be too much of “its a small universe” to you?

I don’t remember who said it, but I once read a quote that argued in fiction you get one big “get”, one massive contrivance that starts off the story – maybe it’s the characters being in the right place at the right time, maybe it’s the fact that only they have the ability to help. After that, you’re at the audience’s indulgence.

I’d argue that the Enterprise-D encountering the Enterprise-C is the episode’s big “get”, if that makes sense. It’s the entire plot of the episode, so it’s a contrivance that the script can get away with.

While I do not find this episode as overwhelming as the consensus demands, the style and Picard’s line “The war is going very bad for the Federation” alone gives me the creeps. This whole episode, showing only a glimpse of another universe and the Klingon war, felt A LOT more believable than the whole of ST:Discovery’s attempt at this Klingon war-issue.

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Star Trek: Section 31 Will Bring Back A Famous One-Off Next Gen Character

Since 2017, "Star Trek" has gone through some dramatic ups and downs. The launch of "Star Trek: Discovery" that year was a clarion call for the franchise, announcing that "Star Trek" was back on TV after a 13-year hiatus. "Discovery," however, was notoriously expensive and not widely beloved. It was soon joined on CBS All Access/Paramount+ by an overwhelming glut of "Star Trek" shows, each one set at a different period in Trek history. There was a brief moment when six Trek shows were running simultaneously.

The streaming model, however, proved to be unprofitable, and Paramount has been slowly extracting all its eggs from the Trek basket in recent years. "Discovery" is about to debut its fifth and final season, "Prodigy" will likewise end after its next year, "Short Treks" is seemingly no more, and "Picard" recently drew to a close. A planned spinoff of "Discovery," called "Section 31" mutated from a full TV series into a single TV movie, set to debut likely within the year . "Section 31" will star Michelle Yeoh as Empress Philippa Georgiou, an evil dictator kidnapped from Trek's notorious Mirror Universe where everyone is wicked. She will be placed in charge of Section 31, a super-secret "Star Trek" version of the CIA. At last report, no story or characters had been revealed, although the cast was announced to include Omari Hardwick, Kacey Rohl, Sam Richardson, Sven Ruygrok, Robert Kazinsky, Humberly Gonzalez, and James Hiroyuki Liao. 

It also hadn't been announced if "Section 31" would include any "legacy" characters culled from other "Star Trek" shows, although Variety has revealed in a recent report that at least one recognizable figure will appear. "Section 31" will evidently include Rachel Garrett, a character not seen since the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Yesterday's Enterprise" (February 9, 1990).

Yesterday's Enterprise

"Yesterday's Enterprise" is one of the better episodes of "Next Generation." In it, a time hole opens up in front of the Enterprise-D, and the Enterprise-C — thought to have been destroyed decades ago — flies through. Instantly, however, the timeline shifts, and the Enterprise-D is suddenly a warship embroiled in a conflict that has been raging for years. It seems that the Enterprise-C, when it disappeared from its own time, left in the middle of a crucial battle, altering history and prolonging a war. The world of "Next Generation" is now altered. The moral dilemma: send the Enterprise-C back through the time hole to its certain doom and restore a peaceful timeline, or let the Enterprise-C remain, saving its crew but leaving it in a war-torn future? 

The captain of the Enterprise-C was Rachel Garrett , played by actress Tricia O'Neil. She wouldn't be seen again until Starfleet erected a statue in her honor in an episode of "Star Trek: Picard," a series set over 60 years after her death. 

For Variety, a reporter visited the set of "Section 31," and noted that Michelle Yeoh was talking to co-star Kacey Rohl and that Rohl was definitely playing a younger version of Rachel Garrett. Screenwriter Craig Sweeney noted that Rachel Garrett's presence was a mere nod to Trekkies, and not a deep-cut piece of lore that will require study. "It was always my goal to deliver an entertaining experience that is true to the universe but appeals to newcomers," he said. "I wanted a low barrier of entry so that anybody could enjoy it."

Garrett's presence, of course, will leave Trekkies' minds reeling, revealing when "Section 31" is to take place in the Trek timeline. 

When does Section 31 take place?

By the timeline of "Next Generation," Garrett was last seen commanding the Enterprise-C in 2344. 

However, by the timeline of "Star Trek: Discovery," Empress Georgiou lived at a completely different time. In the episode "Terra Firma, Part 2" (December 17, 2020), Georgiou encountered the Guardian of Forever , a living time portal that can see alternate timelines and deliver people to any point in history. At this point in "Discovery," Georgiou had become stranded in the 32nd century. The Guardian — after offering her a brief purifying sojourn back to her home dimension — offered to bring her to "a time when the Mirror Universe and the Prime Universe were aligned." 

Ignoring for the moment how strange it was to use fan-invented terms like "Mirror Universe" and "Prime Universe" in actual "Trek" dialogue, it sounded like Georgiou was being taken far back into the past. It was established in "Star Trek: Enterprise" that the Mirror Universe was already evil a century prior to the original "Star Trek." And, indeed, the opening titles for the "Enterprise" episode "In a Mirror Darkly" revealed that the warlike Mirror Universe went back to the earliest days of humanity, showing the original HMS Enterprise (commissioned in 1774) as a war vessel. 

The implication, then, is that Georgiou would be taken back to Earth's 18th century or before. 

But the appearance of a young Rachel Garrett undoes that. Expanded universe lore has her birth in the year 2300. "Section 31," by dint of that character appearing, will take place in the 2320s. That would have the show taking place about 20 years after the events of "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," but still about 40 years before "Star Trek: The Next Generation." 

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Published Feb 18, 2023

Who is Rachel Garrett?

When it comes to the U.S.S. Enterprise-C captain, you'd better get used to being in the here and now.

StarTrek.com

The Romulans will get a good fight. We'll make it one for the history books.

Rachel Garrett, "Yesterday's Enterprise "

In Star Trek: Picard 's third-season premiere episode, " The Next Generation ," Raffi Musiker is given her only lead in the mysterious Starfleet Intelligence case, Operation: Daybreak — "the Red Lady." Musiker soon discovers the Red Lady is actually a red bronze statue of Rachel Garrett. The statue is unveiled at a dedication ceremony ahead of Frontier Day at the Starfleet Recruiting Center.

Unfortunately, Musiker's discovery comes too late and her emergency hails go unanswered as the site is attacked with stolen quantum tech swallowing the Recruitment Center whole right under it. And just as quickly, a portal opens above with the building reappearing as it falls out of the portal towards the ground.

Who is exactly is Rachel Garrett, and where does she belong in Starfleet history?

"The Next Generation"

Introduced in the fan-favorite Star Trek: The Next Generation third-season episode, " Yesterday's Enterprise ," Rachel Garrett is captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise -C in the mid-24th Century.

Garrett and the Enterprise -C vanished in 2344 following a torpedo explosion near Narendra III opened up a temporal rift and pulled the Enterprise -C in.

The ship re-emerged 20 years later in 2366, and with its disappearance and reappearance, created an alternate timeline in which the Klingon Empire was at war with the Federation.

"Yesterday's Enterprise"

Pulled into this altered future, Captain Picard and the Enterprise -D learns that this mysterious ship is its predecessor, the Enterprise -C, under command of Garrett. The Enterprise -C was responding to a distress call on a Klingon outpost when it was attacked by four Romulan Warbirds. Somehow, in the middle of the assault, the ship broke the space rift.

To correct the timeline of this altered future, Picard needs to send the Enterprise -C back through the rift in order to change the course of events, which resulted in the loss of 40 billion lives during the Klingon conflict. In facing the Enterprise -C's tragic destiny, their valiant yet sacrificial attempt to aid the Klingon outpost will have been viewed as an honorable act with the Klingon Empire.

Unfortunately, in the attempt to course correct, a Klingon attempt kills Captain Garrett. Lt. Richard Castillo subsequently assumed command of the Enterprise -C, returning it through the temporal rift back to its proper time so history could be substantially restored.

As the Enterprise -D positions itself between the Enterprise -C and the Klingons, the rift closes returning them to its original time, as they head for a cultural exchange program with a Klingon delegation.

Who's to say how much of history is a result of Garrett's bravery and sacrifice.

Star Trek History: Yesterday's Enterprise

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This Obscure 'Next Generation' Character Will Return in 'Star Trek: Section 31'

Michelle Yeoh's Philippa Georgiou will meet an interesting familiar face.

The Big Picture

• Paramount+ reveals cast member Kacey Rohl will play Rachel Garrett in the upcoming Star Trek: Section 31 movie.
• Originally planned as a series, the film follows Michelle Yeoh's Philippa Georgiou in her work for Section 31.
• Rachel Garrett captained the USS Enterprise-C in the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Yesterday's Enterprise."

Details on Paramount+'s upcoming Star Trek: Section 31 movie have so far been as top-secret as its namesake Starfleet spy agency. But now we know one of the characters who will encounter Michelle Yeoh 's Philippa Georgiou - and she's an important part of Star Trek history. A new feature in Variety goes behind the scenes of the filming of the streaming-original film, which recently wrapped filming , and reveals that previously-announced cast member Kacey Rohl ( Hannibal ) will be playing Rachel Garrett, a character who captained the USS Enterprise-C in the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Yesterday's Enterprise".

Little else is known about the upcoming film; it was originally planned as a series, but with Yeoh's busy schedule following her groundbreaking Best Actress Oscar win for Everything Everywhere All At Once , it was compressed into a single standalone film. It will follow Georgiou's work for the shadowy Starfleet intelligence agency Section 31, following her return to the 23rd century in the third season of Star Trek: Discovery . In addition to Yeoh and Rohl, it will also star Omari Hardwick , Sam Richardson , Sven Ruygrok , Rob Kazinsky , Humberly Gonzalez , James Hiroyuki Liao , Joe Pingue , Miku Martineau , and Augusto Bitter .

Who is Rachel Garrett?

In "Yesterday's Enterprise", which aired in 1990 as part of The Next Generation 's third season, the 24th-century Enterprise-D finds itself confronted with its long-thought-destroyed predecessor, the Enterprise-C , captained by Rachel Garrett ( Tricia O'Neil ). Somehow, the Enterprise-C being thrown into the future has altered the future; instead of the relatively peaceful galaxy familiar to the show's viewers, the Federation is embroiled in a desperate war with the Klingon Empire . The crew soon realizes that the Enterprise-C must respond to a Klingon distress call in its own timeline, even though it means the ship will be destroyed by the Romulans ; Garrett is soon killed in an ambush by the future Klingons, forcing helmsman Richard Castillo ( Christopher McDonald ) to take over the ship with Enterprise-D security officer Tasha Yar ( Denise Crosby ), leading it to its fate in the past. Ultimately, the Enterprise-C 's sacrifice averts war with the Klingons and restores the Enterprise-D 's future to its rightful state, while Garrett and her crew are remembered as heroes. However, the Enterprise-C 's legacy later came back to haunt the Enterprise-D ; Yar survived and bore a half-Romulan daughter, Sela, who would become one of the crew's recurring foes.

"Yesterday's Enterprise" is considered to be one of The Next Generation 's finest episodes. Collider's Liam Gaughan deemed it to be the best episode of season 3 , calling it a "fascinating look at a darker version of the setting we know and love" while also serving as a proper sendoff for Tasha Yar, who had been unceremoniously killed off in the show's first season.

Star Trek: Section 31 is now in post-production, and has not yet set a release date . Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Set almost 100 years after Captain Kirk's 5-year mission, a new generation of Starfleet officers sets off in the U.S.S. Enterprise-D on its own mission to go where no one has gone before.

Star Trek's Next Movie Reveals Shocking TNG Legacy Character In Section 31

• Star Trek: Section 31 connects to The Next Generation through legacy character Rachel Garrett, played by Kacey Rohl in a shocking twist.
• Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi and written by Craig Sweeny, the series uncovers the dark secrets of Starfleet's black ops agency.
• Michelle Yeoh's Georgiou time travels to confront the sins of Section 31, adding depth to her character's journey across the Star Trek universe.

Star Trek: Section 31 reveals a shocking connection to Star Trek: The Next Generation in the form of a legacy character who meets Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh). D irected by Olatunde Osunsanmi and written by Craig Sweeny, Star Trek: Section 31 recently wrapped production in Toronto. Yeoh's Georgiou, who was originally a popular part of Star Trek: Discovery, travels through time as she confronts the sins of Starfleet's secretive black ops agency.

A new Variety cover story about the Star Trek franchise reveals that Star Trek: Section 31 new cast member Kacey Rohl plays a young version of Star Trek: The Next Generation legacy character Rachel Garrett , the doomed future captain of the USS Enterprise-C. Check out the quote below:

Georgiou is standing with a young Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl), a character first introduced on “Next Generation” as the older fearless captain of the USS Enterprise-C.

10 Section 31 Things To Know Before Michelle Yeoh's Star Trek Movie

Who is rachel garrett in star trek: the next generation & section 31, the captain of the enterprise-c has a secret past.

Rachel Garrett only made one appearance in the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3 episode, "Yesterday's Enterprise." The Captain of the USS Enterprise-C is a tragic character as she and her Ambassador Class starship were doomed to die in order to repair the timeline and ensure a dark alternate reality where the United Federation of Planets loses a war with the Klingons. Captain Garrett was played by Tricia O'Neill in TNG , and she has never been forgotten by Star Trek fans.

Star Trek: Section 31 revealing that the young Garrett encounters Emperor Georgiou and may even be recruited into Section 31 in the early 24th century is a compelling and fascinating twist.

Captain Rachel Garrett's sacrifice was referenced at the start of Star Trek: Picard season 3. A statue of Captain Garrett, known as ''The Red Lady' , stood in front of a Starfleet recruitment center on M'Talas Prime that was destroyed by Captain Vadic (Amanda Plummer). However, nothing was known about Rachel's past. Star Trek: Section 31 revealing that the young Garrett encounters Emperor Georgiou and may even be recruited into Section 31 in the early 24th century is a compelling and fascinating twist on this Star Trek legacy character.

Source: Variety

Cast Humberly Gonzlez, Sam Richardson, Omari Hardwick, Robert Kazinsky, Kacey Rohl

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‘Star Trek’: Rachel Garrett, the First Female USS Enterprise Captain, Will Be Part of the ‘Section 31’ Movie

Christian blauvelt.

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“ Star Trek ” fans got a couple fascinating details in a March 27 report by Variety on the future of the franchise on Paramount+. The biggest for sure is that the character of Rachel Garrett, the first female captain of the USS Enterprise, will be appearing in the “Section 31” direct-to-Paramount+ movie that’s going to star Michelle Yeoh .

The actress Kacey Rohl will be playing Garrett, who was the captain of the Enterprise-C in the first half of the 24th century and was the subject of one of the most beloved “Next Generation” episodes ever: “Yesterday’s Enterprise” (she was played by Tricia O’Neal in the original episode).

This is the episode where, once they’ve agreed to face their doom, Picard says, “Let’s make sure history never forgets the name Enterprise.” If Kirk didn’t believe in a “no win” situation, she faced one head-on, making Garrett an especially valiant captain.

In the “Star Trek” timeline, she’s the first female Enterprise captain. In order, the timeline goes: Jonathan Archer of the pre-Federation Enterprise NX-01, James T. Kirk of the Enterprise NCC-1701 and Enterprise-A, Alan Ruck’s Benjamin Harrison of the Enterprise-B (this writer chooses to believe that since the lore does say Harrison came from “a prominent family,” that he is in fact a descendant of Connor Roy, thus winning the ultimate succession: the Enterprise captain’s chair), and then Garrett.

One other interesting detail emerged in that report: That the “Starfleet Academy” show, which IndieWire told you a year ago must logically have a 32nd Century setting as a follow-up series to “Discovery,” is in fact confirmed to be set then, but, surprisingly, is being targeted to a “tween and teen” audience.

Jonathan Frakes, who’s directed episodes of every “Trek” series since “Next Gen” in addition to playing Riker on that series and beyond, is quoted in the Variety piece as saying that he thinks the franchise’s audience is older. Franchise mastermind Alex Kurtzman seems to hope that a show like “Starfleet Academy” may reach a new audience altogether.

Reps for Paramount+ did not respond to IndieWire’s request for comment about confirmation of these details.

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