FilmRoar

One of the most enjoyable episodes in the third season, Yesterday’s Enterprise is a treat for Star Trek fans. The episode is full of action, intrigue, tension, old friends, new enemies and best of all ramifications for the Star Trek Universe.

One of the joys of following an episodic series like Star Trek The Next Generation is that viewers build knowledge of the history and mythos of the universe they develop. The more you watch the more of the history of the universe you get to know and the better you get involved story arcs and inside jokes. Those familiar with the universe will know that the Next Generation Starship Enterprise’s full name is U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D and is a successor to the Enterprise from the original Star Trek series and in turn from the NX-01 featured in the latest series Star Trek: Enterprise. Through bits dropped in the various episodes and movies we have learned about the fate for the NCC-1701, the A, the B and the D models but history had not told what happened to the Enterprise-C… until now. At the beginning of the episode the Enterprise-C time travels into our present from a battle against Romulan Warbirds while helping to protect the Klingon outpost Narendra III. Not only is the fate of the C model revealed but this bit of history is filled with a rather epic story of great battles and epic sacrifice. We also get to see the NCC-1070-C (great job the set designers did with the older-generation bridge!), meet her captain and crew and even get to see her in battle!

As if that bit of mythos were not enough we are also treated with a view of what the Enteprise-D (and Starfleet) would look like if she were a battleship and not a ship of exploration. The lights on the main bridge are harsh and dimmed making it work more like a battle bridge than a command center, the ship is replete with Starfleet Marines ready to go to arms, the leisurely pace we are used to is replaced with the tempo of a ship at war and get to see the Enterprise crew, all the same people with the same personality traits but with a different mission. The Enterprise crew that is including Lt. Tasha Yar who was killed in the show’s first season.

Tasha had been a favorite character of mine when the show first aired and even though she seemed a bit green contrast with the other actors who had the benefit of over two years acting side by side it was still a pleasure to see Denise Crosby back on the bridge of the Enterprise. Her return was eased by two very strong actors for Crosby to play against, Christopher McDonald (Requiem for a Dream (2000)) who plays Lieutenant Castillo (even though I still hold Tasha’s character would have been better served with a female love interest) and the always impressive Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan. Tasha’s brief return to the show sows the seeds for another bit of Star Trek Mythos, the origin for alternate-Tasha’s half Romulan child Sela who will provide the loophole for Crosby to return once more at the end of the fourth season.

The alternate character versions allow Patrick Stewart to emphasize the commanding demeanor that made Picard the sex symbol of his generation (and led to such oddities as the Usenet newsgroup alt.sexy.bald.captains). Picard cutting off senior officers in the middle of a meeting is nothing of particular interest but to see battle-action-Picard take over weapons control in the middle of an assault from 3 Klingon battle cruisers sent chills up my spine. Who can forget the chilling scene near the end where a Klingon captain calls “Federation Ship Enterprise, surrender and prepare to be boarded” which Picard answers with “That will be the day!” and a barrage of torpedoes.