Star Trek episode reviews: Time’s Arrow, Part II and Realm of Fear

July 4, 2019 by jasonite75 Leave a comment

Time’s Arrow, Part II

I know I know, it’s been weeks and weeks since my last post. I just keep myself in the habit of apologizing I suppose. Good news though, the first two episodes of season six have been reviewed!

Time’s Arrow, Part II is a fairly solid episode, much like part one, and is real ensemble episode. Like part one, it’s pretty good but not great. Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) is convinced Data is bringing infernal technology to ruin the past, but changes his tune after a trip to the future on the Enterprise. After a sort of time-shell-game with Data’s head, the old one gets put on his body, and the poorly explained hole-in-the-head aliens get wiped out.

You may not know that the week this episode was shot was the same week the DS9 folks were shooting their pilot. This episode won two Emmys: one for Costume Design and another for Sound Editing. As I’ve said repeatedly, this episode is not how Picard and Guinan formed their special bond. It’s certainly how they first met, but the meeting in Picard’s lifetime is where they drew together. We will likely never have that story. Check out more info in my full review.

Realm of Fear

Realm of Fear is a Barclay episode, the third of his five total appearances on the show. The Enterprise crew are trying to solve the mystery of the USS Yosemite, caught in the plasma stream from a red giant to a white dwarf star. Barclay has a big transporter phobia, and this works in everyone’s favor because he becomes obsessed with this worm-like creature he sees while he’s being transported. Things get a bit over-explained toward the end, but otherwise a decent episode.

This is one of only two episodes where we see a first-person view of being transported. You’re curious to know what the other one is, aren’t you? You’ll have to check out my full review to find out! I also talk about how they got that big worm to move, and a particular scene that was shot four times in a row to give us the illusion of greater room on the starship sets.

That’s it for now, thanks for hanging with me at my recent snail’s pace. Next up will the next two episodes in season six, Man of the People and Relics!