History Recap / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E26S6E1TimesArrow

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: The young Jack London does not display the racist attitudes that he would be known for later in life.

* ApologeticAttacker: Riker tells the suspicious policeman he has the utmost respect for the law, then lays him out with a haymaker.

* CriticalResearchFailure: Clemens says he suspects even time travelers are susceptible to a .45 caliber bullet, but Data's withstood an SMG being emptied into him.

** The writers also seem to be thinking of cholera as a respiratory disease. When Jack the bellboy clears his throat because Data hasn't given him a tip yet, Data advises him to watch his cough because of the epidemic. However, coughing isn't a symptom of cholera, which is an intestinal disease and more likely to cause diarrhea and vomiting. Data is probably aware of this and is just trying to get Jack to scram. Website/SFDebris speculates that the disease was originally tuberculosis, since the [=49er=] had the symptoms of it (shivering, coughing, and so on), but for some reason it was changed to cholera.

** The writers also seem to be thinking of cholera as a respiratory disease. When Jack the bellboy clears his throat because Data hasn't given him a tip yet, Data advises him to watch his cough because of the epidemic. However, coughing isn't a symptom of cholera, which is an intestinal disease and more likely to cause diarrhea and vomiting. Data is probably aware of this and is just trying to get Jack to scram.

* ChangeTheUncomfortableSubject: {{Lampshaded}} by Data, who says people have a habit of changing their conversations when he enters a room after finding about his "death" -- just as Riker and Troi just did. If he had his emotion chip installed, one would get the impression he was getting ''annoyed'' at it.

** The writers also seem to be thinking of cholera as a respiratory disease. When Jack the bellboy clears his throat because Data hasn't given him a tip yet, Data advises him to watch his cough because of the epidemic. However, coughing isn't a symptom of cholera, which is an intestinal disease and more likely to cause diarrhea and vomiting.

* RagnarokProofing: Data's head is found to still be in working condition after about half a ''millennium'' underground, with a postmortem-programmed message still recorded and intact inside. Which was programmed using a steel file. Not only was the head still working, it was returned to service and seems none the worse for its advanced age, throughout the remainder of the series and movies!

** The crew also leave Data's head behind. Data now wears his original head, a couple of centuries older than the rest of him.

** Data's head stays hidden in the mine for a few hundred years.

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Guinan (a HumanAlien who is played by Creator/WhoopiGoldberg and thus is indistinguishable from a human of African descent) is depicted as a wealthy and popular socialite in 1893 who goes to parties with white people who don't seem to have a single problem with her. Her fond interactions with Creator/MarkTwain make more sense, as he was a huge backer of Civil Rights for women and African-Americans. In addition, San Francisco was more tolerant than the rest of the United States... of everyone except Asians.

* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Data and the rest of the crew acclimates pretty quickly to the 19th century. Data uses his poker earnings to establish a headquarters and begin building advanced technology. The rest of the crew manage to pass themselves off as locals, though they're reduced to some chicanery to make up for their lack of cash.

The ''Enterprise'' is called back to Earth to investigate an unusual artifact in San Francisco, which turns out to be Data's head, apparently left untouched for five centuries. While examining it, Geordi notes that it has a microscopic life form on it native only to the planet of Devidia II. Picard sets a course to investigate. On the way there, the crew grapple with the apparent revelation that Data will at some point travel back in time to the 19th century and die. Data, however, is comforted that his life will have a conclusion, like any other life form.

At Devidia II, Picard orders an away team down to investigate some temporal disturbances. Troi detects invisible life forms in the caverns: humans that seem to be trapped. In spite of Picard's best efforts to exclude him, Data is needed to complete the survey. Data uses some AppliedPhlebotinum to phase himself to where the humans are. He describes reptilian aliens feeding on the humans' energy near a trapped "ophidian" (a snake). But then Data gets caught in a temporal distortion opened by the aliens and stops communicating.

At the beginning of part 2, we have Clemens trying spread word about time travelers in their midst as Data and Guinan go about their temporal business. Meanwhile, two Devidians are lurking in the neighborhood sucking the life force from the vulnerable population. The ''Enterprise'' away team has established themselves as an acting troupe as they look for signs of Data and the Devidians. They quickly deduce that the Devidians are using the cholera outbreak as a cover for their life-sucking.

The Devidians arrive at the hospital where Crusher is staking out, and she summons the crew back for a big brawl, during which they steal the Devidians' unusual snake-topped cane and drive them off. The brawl attracts the police, and they're chased away, but the temporal disturbances have alerted Data, and he arrives just in time to spirit them to safety. Guinan meets Picard for the first time, and he assures her that they will become "more than friends." The united group studies the cane and realizes that it can return them to their time if they get back to the temporally anomalous cave. They all depart, not realizing that Clemens is in hot pursuit.

In the caverns, Clemens tries to arrest the group for interfering with the timeline, but the Devidians arrive and attack. Data and a Devidian fight over the cane, which emits a blast of energy that blows Data's head off. A temporal gate opens back to Devidia II, through which one of the Devidian escapes. The crew follows, along with Clemens, leaving Picard behind with the unconscious Guinan, one injured Devidian, Data's head and Clemens's watch. Picard questions the Devidian and learns that if the crew attacks their cavern in the 24th century, it will destroy the Earth through the temporal connection. Picard uses an iron filing to adjust Data's positronic brain to send a message into the future.

Clemens reacts to his new surroundings on the ''Enterprise'' in the 24th century. He's amazed but horrified, assuming that militarism and the enslavement of other species now reign, while simple pleasures like cigars and chivalry are forgotten. Troi explains how the 24th century is actually pretty amazing, which eases Clemens's concerns. Meanwhile, Geordi tries to reattach Data's 500-year-old head to his body but has trouble. Eventually he finds and removed the iron filing from Data's head. When Data comes back online, he relates Picard's message to ''not'' attack the Devidians. Geordi has Riker call off their impending attack just in time.

Due to TechnoBabble, the ship will need to adjust their photon torpedoes to attack the Devidians safely. Meanwhile, they need to send someone back to get Picard. Only one person can go back this time, and Clemens volunteers. He arrives in the cavern with the snake cane and explains how to use it. Guinan bids farewell to Picard for 500 years, but for him it will only be a few minutes. Picard jumps back to his own time and gets beamed away just before the ''Enterprise'''s torpedoes annihilate the Devidians. The day is saved. In the 19th century, Guinan is carried away in a stretcher, and Clemens remembers to leave his watch behind so that he will find it again in the past.

** Dr. Crusher figures this out because she finds a large-scale cholera outbreak unlikely on the grounds that the disease "just isn't that virulent." While person-to-person transmission is rare, cholera has historically been transmitted by contaminated drinking water caused by inadequate, unsanitary water infrastructure; large-scale but fairly-localized outbreaks were common (including in late nineteenth-century San Francisco). Perhaps they were ''all'' caused by the aliens?
** The writers also seem to be thinking of cholera as a respiratory disease; when Jack the bellboy clears his throat because Data hasn't given him a tip yet, Data advises him to watch his cough because of the epidemic. However, coughing isn't a symptom of cholera, which is an intestinal disease and more likely to cause diarrhea and vomiting.

* BadBadActing: The landlady stumbles through a line as Titania, which the crew hail as acting genius to get into her good graces.

* BadBackActing: The landlady stumbles through a line as Titania, which the crew hail as acting genius to get into her good graces.

** Funny-looking guy from space mistaken for French? Where have we [[{{Film/Coneheads}} heard that before]]?

In the caverns, Clemens tries to arrest the group for interfering with the timeline, but the Devidians arrive and attack. Data and a Devidian fight over the cane, which emits a blast of energy that blows Data's head off. A temporal gate opens back to Devidia II, through which one of the Devidian escapes. The crew follows, along with Clemens, leaving Picard behind with the unconscious Guinan, one injured Devidian, Data's head and Clemens's watch. Picard questions the Devidian and learns that if the crew attacks their cavern in the 24th century, it will destroy the ship. Picard uses an iron filing to adjust Data's positronic brain to send a message into the future.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Mark Twain's [[http://smcgrat.blogspot.com/2007/12/mark-twains-was-world-made-for-man.html response]] to [[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-Russel-Wallace Alfred Russell Wallace]] is a little misplayed here. Wallace only made the mistake of thinking man was the pinnacle of evolution, as if evolution had a goal. He never thought man was the center of the universe. Additionally, Twain's real response was a more scientific reaction than the spiritual one given in the episode.

* ChekhovsSkill: Data put all of his late night ship games of poker to good use.

* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Averted, [[Recap/StarTrekS1E28TheCityOnTheEdgeOfForever unlike the last time]]. When Data is sent to the past he immediately figures out when and where he is, establishes a cover story and a temporary headquarters, gets enough money together to cover his expenses, and gets to work on the problem. He even avoids the problem of having only "caveman tools" to work with by sending out Jack to buy the materials. Later on when the rest of the cast travels back they also establish a believable cover story and a base.

* InThePastEveryoneWillBeFamous: Samuel Clemens (aka Creator/MarkTwain) gets involved in the plot for no good reason at all (you could replace him with a non-famous 19th century person, and the story would still be pretty much the same), and the hotel bellboy turns out to be Creator/JackLondon. There's no evidence that the two writers ever met in real life, [[ArtisticLicenseHistory and Clemens wasn't even in San Francisco when this episode takes place-he was touring Europe at the time. London didn't work as a bellhop either-he signed on with a ship and went to sea the year this takes place]].

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory:
** Guinan (a HumanAlien who is played by Creator/WhoopiGoldberg and thus is indistinguishable from a human of African descent) is depicted as a wealthy socialite in 1893 who goes to parties with white people who don't seem to have a single problem with her. In fact in the episode she's extremely well-liked and respected by pretty much the entire town. Probably helps that Guinan is a highly-empathetic, centuries-old alien with experience to match, so she might just be that good at making friends. It doesn't hurt that she's best buddies with Creator/MarkTwain, who was a huge backer of Civil Rights for women and African-Americans. In addition, San Francisco was more tolerant than the rest of the United States... of everyone except Asians.
** Doctor Crusher bows to the realities of the time period and goes undercover as a nurse rather than a doctor.
** Geordi mostly plays the trope straight, with one subtle aversion: When the crew is confronted by the cop, he gets more suspicious because Geordi's holding the cane. In the 19th-century cop's mind, thievery is the only possible way a black man could come into possession of a "gentleman's" cane.

** Data's head is now this.

* TalkToTheFist: "I just want you to know that I have the utmost respect for the law."

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: The people of 19th century San Francisco seem rather blasé about "a man with gold skin in his pajamas appearing out of nowhere", as Phil Farrand put it. Then again, we ARE talking about UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco...
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: The Devidians.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Mark Twain thinks Data and Guinan are up to no good. He's [[Literature/AConnecticutYankeeInKingArthursCourt written downbeat stories of time travelers]] in the past, and thinks Data, an inventor, will corrupt the 19th Century as the fictional inventor corrupted the 6th.

* YoungFutureFamousPeople: The bellhop who turns out to be Creator/JackLondon. Samuel Clemens (Creator/MarkTwain), however, is already famous at the time.

The ''Enterprise'' is called back to the capital of the Federation in San Francisco to investigate an unusual artifact in San Francisco, which turns out to be Data's head, apparently left untouched for five centuries. While examining Data's head, they note that it has a microscopic life form on it native only to the planet of Devidia II. Picard sets a course. On the way there, the crew grapple with the apparent revelation that Data will at some point travel back in time to the 19th century and die. Data, however, is comforted that his life will at some point conclude, like any other live form.

At Devidia II, Picard orders an away team down to investigate some temporal disturbances. Troi detects invisible life forms in the caverns, humans that seem to be trapped. In spite of Picard's best efforts to exclude him, Data is needed to complete the survey. Data uses some AppliedPhlebotinum phase himself to where the life forms are. He describes reptilian aliens feeding on the life force of prisoners near a trapped "ophidian." But then Data gets caught in a temporal distortion opened by the aliens and stops communicating.

Data awakens in 19th century San Francisco, which is in the midst of a cholera outbreak. Convincing the locals that he is a Frenchman to excuse his strange outfit and mannerisms, he quickly sets about building a temporal device using the money he earns from playing poker. He spots Guinan's picture in the paper and rushes to meet her at an event she's attending with Samuel Clemens. Data assumes that she's traveled back to meet him, but she's actually just her 500-year younger self. As they discuss the future, they realize that Clemens has been listening to their entire conversation, blowing Data's cover. Meanwhile, on the ''Enterprise'', the crew prepare to use their own phlebotinum to jump back in time to rescue Data. Guinan tells Picard in no uncertain terms that he must go back in time as well, or less he and she will never meet.

At the beginning of part 2, we have Clemens trying spread word about time travelers in their midst as Data and Guinan go about their temporal business. Meanwhile, two Devidians are lurking in the neighborhood sucking the life force from the vulnerable population. The ''Enterprise'' have established themselves as an acting troupe as they look for signs of Data and the Devidians. They quickly deducing that the Devidians are using the cholera outbreak as a cover for their life-sucking.

The Devidians arrive at the hospital where Crusher is camping out, and she summons the crew back for a big brawl, during which they steal the Devidians' unusual snake-topped cane and drive them off. The brawl attracts the police, and they're chased away, but Data arrives just in time to spirit them to safety. Guinan meets Picard for the first time, and he assures her that they will become "more than friends." The united group studies the cane and realize that it can return them to their time if they get back to the temporally anomalous cave. They all depart, not realizing that Clemens is in hot pursuit.

In the caverns, Clemens tries to arrest the group for interfering with the timeline, but the Devidians arrive and attack. Data and a Devidian fight over the cane, which emits a blast of energy that blows Data's head off. A temporal gate opens back to Devidia II, through which the Devidian runs. The crew follows, along with Clemens, leaving Picard behind with the unconscious Guinan, one injured Devidian, Data's head and Clemens's watch. Picard questions the Devidian and learns that if the crew attacks their cavern in the 24th century, it will kill everyone. He uses a smile iron filing to adjust Data's positronic brain.

Clemens reacts to his new surroundings on the ''Enterprise'' in the 24th century. He's amazed but horrified, assuming that militarism and the enslavement of other species now reigns, while simple pleasures like cigars and chivalry are forgotten. Troi assures him that the Federation is actually a pretty great place, which eases Clemens' concerns. Meanwhile, Geordi tries to reattach Data's 500-year-old head to his body but has trouble. Eventually he finds and removed the iron filing from Data's head. When Data awakens, he realizes that Picard has left a message to ''not'' attack the Devidians. Geordi has Riker call off their impending attack just in time.

Due to TechnoBabble, the ship will need to adjust their photon torpedoes to attack the Devidians safely, Meanhwile, they need to send someone back to get Picard. Only one person can go back this time, and Clemens volunteers. He arrives in the cavern with the snake cane and explains how to use it. Guinan bids farewell to Picard for 500 years, but for him it will only be a few minutes. Picard jumps back to his own time and gets beamed away just before the ''Enterprise'''s torpedoes annihilate the Devidians. The day is saved. In the 19th century, Guinan is carried away in a stretcher, and Clemens remembers to leave his watch behind so that he will find it again in the past.

The ''Enterprise'' is called back to Earth to investigate an unusual artifact - which turns out to be Data's head, apparently left untouched for five centuries. While investigating the cause behind this, Data enters a portal which leads him into 19th Century America. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew discovers that shape-shifting aliens are kidnapping human life energy from that time period and feeding on it.

* ShoutOut: Funny-looking guy from space mistaken for French? Where have we [[{{Film/Coneheads}} heard that before]]?

* TheSlowPath: Data's head. Also, Guinan.

* CantFightFate: Data says this of his impending doom. Both Picard and Riker think they'll give it a try anyway.

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Guinan (a HumanAlien who is played by Creator/WhoopiGoldberg and thus is indistinguishable from a human of African descent) is depicted as a wealthy socialite in 1893 who goes to parties with white people who don't seem to have a single problem with her. In fact in the episode she's extremely well-liked and respected by pretty much the entire town. Probably helps that Guinan is a highly-empathetic, centuries-old alien with experience to match, so she might just be that good at making friends. It doesn't hurt that she's best buddies with Creator/MarkTwain, who was a huge backer of Civil Rights for women and African-Americans. In addition, San Francisco was more tolerant than the rest of the United States... of everyone except Asians.
** Playing it straight, Geordi has no race-related trouble either, and there are a few other black people at Clemens' party. However, Crusher's nineteenth century cover identity is a nurse, rather than a doctor.

** Guinan instructs Picard to go on the away mission before of this. She even smiles and murmurs, "Full circle" when finding out about the mission.