The Enterprise is called back to Earth following a shocking discovery in a cavern under San Francisco. The artefact, which has been there since the 1890's is Data's head! Data is unperturbed by this; in fact quite the opposite; he sees the fact that he will die one day as a comfort as it means he is more 'human'. Some evidence in the cavern suggests that there is a link to the planet Devidia II; they head there and find that there is a temporal distortion there. Picard wants to keep Data safe on the ship but evidence suggesting the presence of phase-shifted aliens necessitates his visit to the site. He moves out of phase and follows 'two aliens carrying a snake' then vanishes
when he reappears he is in 1890s San Francisco. Here he sets about building a device to detect the aliens but is distracted when he sees a newspaper featuring a familiar face: Guinan. Meanwhile back on the Enterprise the crew work to build a phase shifting device so they can investigate what happened to Data and Guinan informs Picard that this is one away mission he must take part in; if he doesn't they may never meet.
This, the first episode of a two part story, gets off to a great start with the discovery of Data's head. This immediately sets up a mystery; how did it end up in the cavern and just as importantly how much time does Data have before he meets his unavoidable fate? Unsurprisingly the answer to the latter question is not that long as that is what this story is about. When we learn what the aliens Data followed are doing it is clear that they are suitably creepy yet not too much is given away. As well as the drama we have some great characters; Whoopi Goldberg is great as Guinan; I must say I prefer the restrained performance she gives here to her more comic performances although there is a hint of that when she meets Data in the 1890s. We also learn more about her character; most notably that she is very old. Guest characters are also fun; most notably Jerry Hardin portrayal of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) and Michael Aron's Jack London. As this is the first part of two there is little in the way of resolution but the finale sets things up nicely for part two.
This, the first episode of a two part story, gets off to a great start with the discovery of Data's head. This immediately sets up a mystery; how did it end up in the cavern and just as importantly how much time does Data have before he meets his unavoidable fate? Unsurprisingly the answer to the latter question is not that long as that is what this story is about. When we learn what the aliens Data followed are doing it is clear that they are suitably creepy yet not too much is given away. As well as the drama we have some great characters; Whoopi Goldberg is great as Guinan; I must say I prefer the restrained performance she gives here to her more comic performances although there is a hint of that when she meets Data in the 1890s. We also learn more about her character; most notably that she is very old. Guest characters are also fun; most notably Jerry Hardin portrayal of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) and Michael Aron's Jack London. As this is the first part of two there is little in the way of resolution but the finale sets things up nicely for part two.