Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current

rfd@po.CWRU.Edu (Richard F. Drushel) writes:

>	(1)  Where did the away team get its period clothing?  They

Since we are not shown the actual arrival of the team in San Francisco,
we must give them some license to get on with the story.  We can assume
that they either stole the clothes or played some poker just as Data
did to get money to buy clothes.  It is really not important, and
would have detracted from the story had they wasted time showing us.
Of course, had they skipped this in TOS, we would never have had the 
immortal line "Sir, there is a multi-legged creature crawling on your
shoulder."

>for certain.  And Beverly's remark in the morge, "It's not virulent"
>is just untrue, unless she was thinking in terms of 24th century

The aliens were using a disease-ridden time as a cover.  Beverly clearly
says that the people didn't die of cholera.  The aliens were draining
their life energy, and the people of San Francisco in 1893 *thought*
it was cholera.

	>(3)  All the talk of "electrochemical energy is being drained
>from their nervous systems" was pseudo-biological babble of the worst
>kind.  What does that statement mean?  The sum of all the action

Agreed. But this *is* science fiction.

	>(4)  Picard poking an S.O.S. into Data's static RAM is the
>worst deus ex machina device I can think of in ST:TNG.  Only 2 Soong

I had a problem with this too.  But, Picard had all the time in the
world to figure it out (but see a later comment).

	>(5)  Data's 500-year-old head was yellowed, dishevelled and
>beaten up.  So why does it suddenly look brand-new when reattached
>to Data's body?  I thought this would be the opportunity to use the
>"deterioration" to let Brent Spiner show his age :)

The wonders of 24th century medicine.  I hope they take advantage of
the aged head to give Data some strange nuances.

	>(6)  Sam Clemens saves this episode.  The actor who played
>him did a great job.

I wonder if Clemens sounded like that.  I found his voice grating.

	>(7)  The "mystery" between Picard and Guinan is another one
>of those "ho-hum did they or didn't they?" tidbits that the writers
>have lamely tried to tempt us with.  Wil 'n' Deanna, Bev 'n' Jean-
>Luc, Geordi 'n' the holodeck.  If all they can do is tease, then
>they should just forget it.

Well, teasing is a time-honored tradition on TV.  Whenever the sexual
tension is relieved by having the characters "do it", the show usually
loses its appeal and is soon cancelled.

	>(8)  How did Data's body end up back in the cavern on
>Davidia II?  Nobody picked it up and carried it through the
>gateway that I saw...

It was blown back into the gateway.

	>(9)  How come Picard defended the Crystalline Entity's
>right to feed off of the terror of dying humans as simple hunger,
>while the Soul Ghouls must be immediately destroyed for doing
>essentially the same thing?

True, inconsistency.  You could also argue that since what they did
was a part of past history, it didn't matter what the Enterprise crew
did.  On the other hand, they were clearly part of *making* that history.
Time warps melt your brain.

	>Oh well, *another* failed cliffhanger episode...Now I can
>catch up on all the other SpoilerReviews here to see what the rest
>of you in NetLand think...

One other thing (see previous reference).  Although Picard had 'all the
time in the world' to key in the message, the gateway between the two
times seemed to be linking the times, causing passage of time to track.
You normally think of time machines as being more random access than that.
For example, Twain seemed to be in a hurry to get to Picard and Picard 
seemed to need to get back quickly.

I don't think it failed.  You do have to suspend disbelief in time travel.
I personally believe it will eventually come to pass.  That means maybe
future visitors are observing us now!  Why don't they make contact?
Fear of changing history?  Sound like UFOs?  Might explain why UFOs are
never tracked in outer space.  Hmmm...

Brian
................phasers on stun (wide field)...beam me up outta here.....