Time's Arrow (TNG episode)

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Star Trek: TNG episode
"Time’s Arrow, Part 1 Time’s Arrow, Part 2"

Episode no.	126 (Part 1) #127 (Part 2)
Prod. code	226 (Part 1) #227 (Part 2)
Airdate	June 15, 1992 (Part 1) September 21, 1992 (Part 2)
Writer(s)	Joe Menosky Michael Piller (Part 1) Jeri Taylor (Part 2)
Director	Les Landau
Guest star(s)	Jerry Hardin Michael Aron Barry Kivel (Part 1) Ken Thorley (Part 1) Sheldon Peters Wolfchild (Part 1) John M. Murdock (Part 1) Marc Alaimo (Part 1) Milt Tarver (Part 1) Michael Hungerford (Part 1) Bill Cho Lee (Part 2) William Boyett (Part 2) Mary Stein (Part 2) James Gleason (Part 2) Alexander Enberg (Part 2) Van Epperson (Part 2) Pamela Kosh (Part 2)
Year	2368 & 1893
Stardate	45959.1 (Part 1) 46001.3 (Part 2)
Episode chronology
Previous	"The Inner Light"
Next	"Realm of Fear"

Time’s Arrow is a two-part episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The first episode served as a cliffhanger season finale for the fifth season and the second episode as a premiere for the sixth.

1 Plot
2 Quotes
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Data’s head is found in a cavern in San Francisco and determined to have been there since the 19th century. While the crew of the USS Enterprise-D investigates time-traveling aliens, Data is inadvertently transported back in time to the year 1893. There he meets Guinan, who is indigenous to that time period and has not yet met Data (Guinan is a member of the extremely long-lived El-Aurian species). Unfortunately, Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) is also there; he overhears Data tell Guinan that he is from the future and suspects Data of trying to tamper with the past. Meanwhile, two of the time-traveling aliens are there too and feeding on the “neural energy” of humans, killing them in the process.

On the Enterprise, the crew decides to attempt to retrieve Data. Guinan enigmatically convinces Picard that he must take part in the mission. In the 19th century, the crew is reunited with Data. In a struggle with the time-traveling aliens, Data’s head is quite literally blown off, and one of the aliens escapes back into the 24th century, followed by the Enterprise crew—and by Twain. Having brought the headless Data back with them, the crew decides to attach the 500-year-old head from the cavern.

Back in the past, Picard is tending to Guinan, who was injured during the struggle. In a conversation with the alien who remained behind, Picard learns that if the Enterprise tries to destroy the aliens’ base of operations in the 24th century, the aliens’ power will be amplified. With no other way to warn them, Picard uses an iron filing to insert a binary message into Data’s head. In the future, the crew successfully attaches the 500-year-old head, is made aware of the message, and avoids destroying the aliens’ base in a way that will be counterproductive. Commander Riker decides to use the aliens’ time-traveling device to retrieve Captain Picard from the 19th century but discovers that only one person will be able to return.

Upon learning this, Twain states that he is the logical choice to travel back in time, stay there, and give the device to Picard so that he can return to the future. When Picard says that he wish he had the time to get to know Twain better, Twain tells him to read his books, that who he was is in these books. Picard returns to the future, and the Enterprise destroys the aliens’ base of operations.

Back in the 19th century, Twain is having the injured Guinan taken out of the cave. He decides to leave his watch behind in the cave. The show ends with a shot of Data’s severed head, lying on the floor of the cave.

[edit] Quotes

"Remember the first time we met? Don't be so sure. If you don't go on this mission...we'll never meet."--Guinan, to Picard.

Guinan: "I'll see you in 500 years, Picard." Picard: "And I'll see you in a few minutes."

[edit] Trivia

Marc Alaimo played the role of Frederick LaRouque. This was Alaimo's first appearance on a Star Trek related television series as a human.
The character of Mark Twain asked Deanna Troi if the Enterprise encountered Halley's Comet, which not only appeared the year of Twain's birth, but the year of his death as well.
The hotel bellhop, the character of Jack London, is a reference to the American author of the same name who later wrote The Call of the Wild among other works.
Data uses slang (Gonna) "What do you think it is gonna be?"
When Picard claims to be earthquake-proofing lanterns to cover his real actions, a local scoffs at the idea, suggesting that earthquakes are no concern. This foreshadows the catastrophic 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, the worst in US history.
Some of the events in Time's Arrow are similar to those in the TOS episode The City on the Edge of Forever. For example, both Spock and Data time travel to the past, and both build machines which locate other members of the Enterprise crew.