A Matter of Time (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Star Trek: TNG episode | |
| "A Matter of Time" | |
 Rasmussen and Data in "A Matter of Time" |
|
| Episode no. | 109 |
|---|---|
| Prod. code | 209 |
| Airdate | November 18, 1991 |
| Writer(s) | Rick Berman |
| Director | Paul Lynch |
| Guest star(s) | Stefan Gierasch Matt Frewer |
| Year | 2368 |
| Stardate | 45349.1 |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous | "Unification" |
| Next | "New Ground" |
"A Matter of Time" is an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation from the series' fifth season. The episode has an average rating of 3.8/5 on the official Star Trek website (as of January 19, 2008).[1]
[edit] Plot summary
On the way to Penthara Four, the Enterprise encounters a temporal distortion, and discovers a small pod containing a single human. Once aboard, the pilot identifies himself as Professor Berlingoff Rasmussen (played by Matt Frewer), who has come back from the 26th century to study history. Rasmussen sets about examining the ship and interviewing the crew, but reveals little about himself. This is necessary, he insists, because he does not wish to alter history.
The Enterprise heads to Penthara Four, which is suffering a planetwide drop in temperature due to dust kicked up by an asteroid impact. The crew prepares to use the Enterprise phasers to drill into the crust and release carbon dioxide, thus increasing the greenhouse effect. The plan works, and Rasmussen, claiming this is a very important historical event is overjoyed. Rasmussen continues his interviews, in a somewhat irritating manner, and even makes a failed pass at Dr. Crusher.
Suddenly, a series of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions begin rocking Penthara Four, an unanticipated result of the drilling. The volcanic ash being thrown into the air is dense and threatens to block out the sun and cause an ice age. Geordi and Data come up with a plan to sweep the dust away with an ionizing phaser blast into the planet's upper atmosphere. However, there is no margin for error and if done wrong the blast will burn off Penthara Four's atmosphere, killing all inhabitants.
Picard is prepared to forego his principles to save thousands of lives, and asks Rasmussen reveal the course of history. The Professor refuses, pointing out that in his time the planet's current population are already dead regardless, and he dare not risk altering the outcome of events. Ultimately, Picard agrees to Geordi and Data's plan, and fortunately it is completely successful.
Having finished his study, Rasmussen heads to the shuttlebay to leave but is surprised to find the Enterprise crew there blocking his way. Picard mentions that several small items (a tricorder, for example) have gone missing from around the ship, and his believes Rasmussen is the culprit. Rasmussen refuses to allow his ship to be searched, but eventually agrees to let Data come in and have a look, Picard's reasoning being that Data can be trusted not to mention his discoveries about the future to the rest of the crew.
Data discovers all the stolen items inside, and Rasmussen aims a phaser at him. The Professor reveals that he is not a historian from the future, but rather a disgruntled inventor from the past - in particular 22nd century New Jersey. Rasmussen had killed the time pod's real owner, a 26th-century historian, and planned to take 24th century items back to his own time where he would reverse engineer them and release them as his own inventions at a rate of one per year. He now intends to take Data along as a further invention, but Rasmussen's phaser has been deactivated by the ship's computer and he is easily subdued.
Data hauls Rasmussen out into the shuttlebay along with the stolen items, and the now empty time pod automatically jumps back to the time where it originated. Stranded in time, Rasmussen is left to the mercy of 24th-century justice.
[edit] Awards
This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Special Visual Effects.
[edit] External links
- A Matter of Time article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
- A Matter of Time (Star Trek: The Next Generation) at StarTrek.com
|
||||||||||||||||||||
