The Old Ship's Old Ship
Star Trek: Picard gave us starship Enterprise lovers a good nostalgia trip this year but last night I felt like admiring Star Trek on its true merits. So I watched the third season Next Generation episode "Yesterday's Enterprise". Boy, it sure holds up.
It's such a lean, smooth hour of television. Every scene flows smoothly into the next. From the moment the Enterprise-C comes through the time rift, an effective cloud of doom hangs over everything.
Most Next Generation episodes introduced a problem the crew slowly solves over the course of the episode. Yesterday's Enterprise does that, too, but right from the beginning the audience knows a lot more than the crew. Guinan is almost on the same page as the audience but even she only has a feeling that something is wrong, that they're now in an alternate timeline.
Patrick Stewart is so good in the episode, so subtle. I love how his voice changes when he tells Captain Garrett the war with the Klingons in this alternate timeline is going very badly for the Federation. The menace is so well established, implicitly and explicitly, it sets up the worth of Picard, Yar, and Castillo's sacrifices. It's just a brilliant piece of storytelling.
Star Trek: The Next Generation is available on Netflix and Paramount+.
Twitter Sonnet #1701
A silent void awaits a sign of life.
Appearing fast, the ship pursues a course.
Intruding minds refer a glowing knife.
The pretty frame advanced a stellar horse.
As matter flows it meets at crystal points.
Combined with anti-matter warp's achieved.
For five initial years the fleet appoints.
On distant worlds, the Enterprise received.
Advancing past the dock, she journeys forth.
Beyond excelling foes, the ship embarks.
Deflector shields sustain a blow of worth.
Enough was told to buttress engine works.
To boldly go, the vessel plots a path.
To final distant space, to love and wrath.