4. Yesterday's Enterprise (Star Trek The Next Generation, Season 3)
The Next Generation finally hit its stride in season 3 and this episode served as a blaring trumpet that the series had arrived. The Enterprise-C passes through a temporal anomaly, altering reality. Now Picard and the Enterprise-D crew are at war with the Klingons, with no memory of what their true lives are supposed to be. It is up to Guinan to determine that in order to set things right the Enterprise from the past must go back in time, an action that will result in its destruction. This episode never sits on contrivance. The ethical quandary of asking the crew of the previous Enterprise to sacrifice themselves for the greater good is mirrored by the knowledge that Tasha Yar, now alive due to the shift in history, will die as well. Its another example of Star Trek taking a larger sci-fi premise and an action packed hour and grounding both in the palpable sense of emotional loss, proof that Yesterday's Enterprise has earned its place as one of the best episodes of the series.
I've been a huge sci-fi fan ever since going to see "Star Wars" at the tender age of 3 (and yes I actually do remember it! I love pretty much any intelligent and entertaining film and television series (some of my all time favorites are 2001, Lawrence of Arabia, Battlestar Galactica [SyFy], and The West Wing). Must thank the stars above for such things as HBOGO and Netflix (Am thoroughly enjoying Ripper Street btw). I've also been an avid comic book collector since childhood. I earned a bachelor's degree in creative writing with a second emphasis in film studies from Florida State University (Go Noles!) and definitely enjoy sitting back and watching pretty much any sports. I wish I had a joke to end with, but I don't so I'll simply say "The End."
The Next Generation finally hit its stride in season 3 and this episode served as a blaring trumpet that the series had arrived. The Enterprise-C passes through a temporal anomaly, altering reality. Now Picard and the Enterprise-D crew are at war with the Klingons, with no memory of what their true lives are supposed to be. It is up to Guinan to determine that in order to set things right the Enterprise from the past must go back in time, an action that will result in its destruction. This episode never sits on contrivance. The ethical quandary of asking the crew of the previous Enterprise to sacrifice themselves for the greater good is mirrored by the knowledge that Tasha Yar, now alive due to the shift in history, will die as well. Its another example of Star Trek taking a larger sci-fi premise and an action packed hour and grounding both in the palpable sense of emotional loss, proof that Yesterday's Enterprise has earned its place as one of the best episodes of the series.