star trek tng crew loses memory

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

Upcoming Movies and TV shows
Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

What's the Tomatometer®?
Login/signup

Movies in theaters

Opening this week
Top box office
Coming soon to theaters
Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

Fandango at Home
Prime Video
Most popular streaming movies
What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

83% Alien: Romulus Link to Alien: Romulus
77% Cuckoo Link to Cuckoo
97% Good One Link to Good One

New TV Tonight

96% Industry: Season 3
91% Bad Monkey: Season 1
100% Solar Opposites: Season 5
60% Emily in Paris: Season 4
-- Bel-Air: Season 3
-- Rick and Morty: The Anime: Season 1
-- SEAL Team: Season 7
-- RuPaul's Drag Race Global All Stars: Season 1
-- Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures: Season 2
-- Worst Ex Ever: Season 1

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 7, Episode 16

Thine own self, where to watch, star trek: the next generation — season 7, episode 16.

Watch Star Trek: The Next Generation — Season 7, Episode 16 with a subscription on Paramount+, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

More Like This

Cast & crew.

Patrick Stewart

Capt. Jean-Luc Picard

Jonathan Frakes

Cmdr. William Riker

LeVar Burton

Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge

Michael Dorn

Gates McFadden

Dr. Beverly Crusher

Marina Sirtis

Counselor Deanna Troi

Episode Info

Show Spoilers
Night Vision
Sticky Header
Highlight Links

Follow TV Tropes

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E14Conundrum

Star Trek: The Next Generation S5E14 "Conundrum" » Recap

Original air date: February 10, 1992

It's a typical day on the Enterprise . The ship is en route to an uncharted sector of space to make First Contact with warp-capable civilizations, Doctor Crusher is tending to a patient in Sickbay, Troi and Data are playing chess in Ten Forward, and Ro and Riker are kvetching in the halls. Things take a turn for the not-so-typical when they encounter a small spacecraft of unknown design. The ship releases some sort of strange scan that wipes the memory from everyone aboard the ship.

Our amnesiac heroes try to take stock of their situation. They quickly deduce that they're on a starship with the wreckage of another ship outside, but the ship's computer and many other systems are offline. Logic dictates they're the crew of a ship and they've just suffered some kind of attack. Assuming that he's in command due to his fancy baldric, Worf orders Riker and Ro to assess the rest of the ship while everyone else focuses on getting the ship back into fighting shape in case a new enemy presents itself.

Riker and Ro discover that the problem is shipwide. No one knows anything about who or where they are and have to guess through the circumstances they found themselves in. Crusher quickly figures out that she's a doctor, but Data assumes that he's a bartender because he was behind the bar when the flash hit. Troi realizes that she's empathic and seems to remember some sort of connection with Riker.

Geordi retrieves the ship's personnel files so they can figure out who is who. To his embarrassment, Worf realizes that he's just the security officer. However, the computer also says Riker is only second officer, while the random Red Shirt who's been hanging around for some reason is First Officer Kieran MacDuff . Who?

Now that everyone is in their proper place (?), the senior staff receive a presentation of what they've gleaned about their current mission from the restored computer: They are the crew of the Enterprise , flagship of the United Federation of Planets, which is at war with the Lysian Alliance. They're on a secret mission to destroy the Lysian command center. The memory loss they've experienced is a new Lysian weapon that's been disabling Federation vessels. The Enterprise 's mission is a crucial one for ending the war, and they are under strict comm silence orders, so they can't verify any of this data. Despite some obvious misgivings, Picard orders the Enterprise to move forward.

Meanwhile, crew members are trying to get to some point of normalcy. Riker escorts Troi back to her quarters, where she expresses her unease: something about this whole situation doesn't feel right at all. Riker shares her unease, but he thinks it's just because they're at war; war never feels right. Bidding Troi a good night, Riker returns to his quarters... to find a provocatively-dressed Ro waiting for him. Well now...

The next day, the Enterprise reaches Lysian space. They are immediately accosted by a Lysian warship. Surprisingly, the ship doesn't immediately attack; in fact, they open a hailing frequency. Picard is about to answer, but MacDuff advises against it: this might have been what they did the first time. The Lysian ship gets tired of waiting for a response and opens fire, but its weapons are wholly ineffective, and a single phaser blast from the Enterprise destroys it.

Now that the Enterprise is killing people, Picard is even more insistent to get his memories back so he knows what he's doing. Crusher proposes some Techno Babble as a way of recovering the memories, and MacDuff volunteers to be a guinea pig, but he suffers some kind of seizure in the middle of the procedure (how convenient), so Crusher scraps the idea.

After MacDuff has recovered, he continues to beat the war drums. Picard has moral issues with blindly following orders to kill people he doesn't know, particularly against such seemingly weak foes, but MacDuff insists that everyone is counting on them to end the war and save lives. He then goes behind Picard's back to Worf, noting that they're alike and asking his support to override the captain should he fail to do his duty.

Meanwhile, Troi visits Riker to explore her feelings of familiarity with him. There's obvious attraction between them, and Riker discovers a loving note from Troi in a book he owns. They are about to share a tender moment, but then Ro comes in and breaks up the party, declaring that she thinks she's the jealous type.

The Enterprise steamrollers its way through Lysian space, and Riker notes that this seems far too easy. They reach the Lysian command center, with a crew of thousands and weapons that are a hundred years behind the Federation's. MacDuff urges Picard to destroy the station, but the captain has had enough. There is no way the Lysian Alliance could possibly be the mortal enemy of the Federation if this is how advanced they are. MacDuff , on the verge of Villainous Breakdown , tries to stage a mutiny, but he's quickly shot dead by Worf and Riker. In the process, his disguise is damaged: he's not even human.

In the aftermath, the truth comes out: " MacDuff " was a member of the Satarran race, the actual mortal enemies of the Lysians. He was using the Enterprise to bring a swift and decisive end to the decades-long war between them. And he very nearly succeeded: Picard muses grimly on the Lysians they killed while under the influence of this evil plan.

Tropes featured in "Conundrum" include:

Amnesia Danger : The Enterprise and her crew becoming a pawn in a war between two alien civilizations? Selective amnesia and radio silence are really the only ways to make that happen.
Amnesia Episode : One of several proposed in the fourth season, this one finally got made in the fifth.
Anti-Mutiny : Attempted by " MacDuff ." Fails miserably.
Arc Number : There are 47 sentry pods defending the Lysian Central Command.
Aside Glance : MacDuff manages a few of these. You know, just in case we didn't think he was in on the plot.
Backstory Invader : MacDuff tries to pull this off. Interestingly, the direction for the episode doesn't go out of its way to present him as a "new guy"; there's no closeup shot with ominous music or anything when we first see him. If you had never seen TNG before, you might not know there was anything special about him at all. Even regular fans might think he's just some random helmsman or other officer if they didn't notice his three pips prior to him being introduced as the first officer.
Beam Spam : One of the rare instances of the Enterprise firing more than one phaser beam in one second against the Lysian sentry pods.
Belligerent Sexual Tension : This episode confirms its existence between Riker and Ro. They act on it during their memory loss, after Ro points out their obvious mutual attraction, and promptly suggests that they should have a little fun before they get their memory back and realize that they actually hate each other.
Bittersweet Ending : The imposter is uncovered and the crew's memories are restored, but it won't bring back the Lysians they mistakenly killed.
Bling of War : Invoked—this is the reason why Worf thinks he's the captain, given his shiny sash.
Complexity Addiction : MacDuff 's plan suffers from this upon reflection. He's got the technology to selectively erase both computer and organic memory as well as implant his own information. You'd think he would have found a simpler way to use that technology to end the war than hijacking a shipload of total strangers, insinuating himself into the crew, and railroading them into fighting the war for him.
Picard's file notes his artificial heart and previous service as the Klingon Arbiter of Succession.
Data's file notes his daughter, Lal.
Troi's file notes her son, Ian.
While speculating about his purpose, Data suggests that androids like him may be standard-issue on starships. Isn't that what Bruce Maddox wanted?
Riker plays "The Nearness of You" by Hoagie Carmichael on his trombone. He'd previously played it in " 11001001 ".
Data's chess match with Troi calls back to a similar match between Kirk and Spock in the second original series pilot .
Riker examines his horga'hn from Risa, which he got from Picard in " Captain's Holiday ."
Cringe Comedy : The awkwardness in Riker's conversation at the end with Ro and Troi... oh, it's palpable.
Curb-Stomp Battle : The Enterprise quickly destroys the meager defenses of the Lysians without any real effort. This serves as a major clue that something is very fishy about that story of the lengthy war the Federation is supposedly fighting against them.
Dizzy Cam : Briefly used right after the crew's memories are erased, to better illustrate their disorientation.
Dramatic Irony : The audience knows the crew's real occupations and relations to each other while the crew themselves struggle to figure it out. We also know that the Federation's war with the Lysians is false and that MacDuff is an imposter long before the crew does.
Easily Forgiven : The Enterprise crew wiped out a Lysian destroyer with few dozen hands aboard and crippled the defenses of their central command, which you would think would cause some sort of repercussions. However, when it is revealed that they were manipulated by Satarrans, expressing their solemn apologies for what happened is all it takes for Lysians to forgive them. Then again, it's not like they had the means to make any demands from the Federation (of course, all Picard really says is that an apology was extended to the Lysians; that doesn't necessarily mean that they're just saying "no worries, not your fault", and they could be lodging formal protests. The Federation could be putting a whole lot of pressure on the Satarrans such as economic sanctions to make up for the situation).
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good : This is ultimately MacDuff 's downfall — he fails to take the Enterprise crew's pacifistic nature into account, assuming they will simply follow the orders they think they have been given. Instead, they start to question the morality of their supposed mission, especially when it becomes clear that the Lysians aren't even remotely a match for the Federation . When MacDuff realizes they're having doubts, he attempts to manipulate Worf , dropping hints about the possible need for a mutiny if Picard won't go through with it. At this point, MacDuff has made his second mistake: that he doesn't realize that Klingons do not like beating down on enemies that cannot fight back. All of this gets undone when MacDuff starts yelling for him to fire all weapons at a station which, it was already established, could be destroyed with a single photon torpedo.
Gut Feeling : One of the main reasons MacDuff 's plan falls apart is that this whole situation feels wrong to the crew.
Just Following Orders : Picard does his utmost to defy this. Picard: I feel as though I've been handed a weapon, sent into a room, and told to shoot a stranger. Well, I need some moral context to justify that action, and I don't have it. I'm not content simply to obey orders. I need to know that what I am doing is right.
Laser-Guided Amnesia : Exactly how the Satarran weapon works.
Love Triangle : A minor one between an amnesiac Riker, Ro and Troi . This leads to an awkward moment for him at the end, when he learns the two women have been talking about what happened.
Made of Iron : MacDuff is able to absorb a surprising amount of phaser energy before he finally goes down. It's not clear if the Satarrans are just super-tough or if he's been augmented somehow.
Meaningful Name : MacDuff is not of woman born.
Moment Killer : At least as far as Troi is concerned, when Ro interrupts a tender moment between her and Riker. As for Riker—he just proceeds to have a tender moment with Ro instead.
Mundane Utility : Watching Data demonstrate his speed and dexterity in Engineering, La Forge remarks, "You must have been one hell of a bartender." Considering that Troi's wager in their chess game was that Data make her a specific cocktail "as only you can make it," this is probably very true.
Ontological Mystery : IN SPACE!
Patrick Stewart Speech : Even suffering from amnesia, Picard manages one of these when refusing to eradicate a defenseless enemy.
Reverse Whodunnit : While we don't know the exact circumstances, we do know that this MacDuff guy isn't part of the crew, and this war with the Lysians is a fabrication. We just don't know what's really going on or how he figures into it.
She Cleans Up Nicely : Ro looks pretty good in a dress. Riker certainly thinks so.
Shout-Out : The brief glimpse of MacDuff 's true physical form shows that the Satarrans closely resemble the aliens from They Live! , another race who make use of illusion and subterfuge to get humans to do their dirty work for them.
Smart People Play Chess : Data and Troi play chess at the beginning of the episode, and Troi actually beats Data by playing intuitively. This comes after it being established that defeating Data in a strategy game is a virtually unthinkable feat.
Spotting the Thread : The fact that the Lysians are so technologically inferior to the Enterprise undoes the assertion that they are the Federation's mortal enemy.
Status Quo Is God : A First Contact situation goes horribly wrong, leading to the Enterprise becoming an Unwitting Pawn in an interstellar war, singlehandedly wiping out a huge chunk of one side's defense forces and most likely severely altering the balance of power in that sector of space. You'd think there'd be some kind of diplomatic fallout from this. But no; neither the Lysians nor the Satarrans are ever mentioned again.
Stock Footage : The Lysian Central Command is the Edo "God" from " Justice ".
Technician Versus Performer : Data versus Troi in their chess game. Troi is the Performer, playing by intuition, whereas Data, as an android, is incapable of being anything other than the Technician. Surprisingly, Troi wins.
This Index Touches Itself : Implied. Riker is impressed by the functions of the Holodeck and claims he could create some "fun programs" with them, while saying this next to Ro .
The Unfair Sex : Troi and Ro really give Riker the business after everything is resolved, even though Ro was the one who made a pass at him.
Villainous Breakdown : MacDuff has one when his plan starts to unravel.
The Worf Effect : Just to demonstrate that MacDuff is more dangerous than anyone thought, guess who gets tossed halfway across the bridge? At least Worf gets to return the favour .
Would Hurt a Child : One of the major inconsistencies of MacDuff 's scheme is that there are children on board the Enterprise. In other words, why would you bring children on board a warship against what is supposedly the Federation's mortal enemy? This isn't even discussed by the Enterprise crew, but you would expect that this inconsistency is one of the reasons why the crew is beginning to question the "orders" to destroy the Lysian Central Command.
Writers Have No Sense of Scale : OK, so the Lysian defence system is really puny. But 4.3 kilojoules? Let's leave aside the fact that you would surely be more interested in power (watts) than energy (joules)—a domestic wood-burning stove puts out more than 4.3 kilojoules every second. Apparently the aliens have built base defences with something that wouldn't boil a kettle.

Video Example(s):

"take us straight through.".

"Conundrum". The Enterprise approaches the Lysian defense perimeter and is attacked by sentry ships, and promptly blows them out of space with a rapid-fire spread of phaser blasts.

Example of: Beam Spam

Star Trek: The Next Generation S5E13 "The Masterpiece Society"
Recap/Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation S5E15 "Power Play"

Important Links

Action Adventure
Commercials
Crime & Punishment
Professional Wrestling
Speculative Fiction
Sports Story
Animation (Western)
Music And Sound Effects
Print Media
Sequential Art
Tabletop Games
Applied Phlebotinum
Characterization
Characters As Device
Narrative Devices
British Telly
The Contributors
Creator Speak
Derivative Works
Laws And Formulas
Show Business
Split Personality
Truth And Lies
Truth In Television
Fate And Prophecy
Image Fixer
New Articles
Edit Reasons
Isolated Pages
Images List
Recent Videos
Crowner Activity
Un-typed Pages
Recent Page Type Changes
Trope Entry
Character Sheet
Playing With
Creating New Redirects
Cross Wicking
Tips for Editing
Text Formatting Rules
Handling Spoilers
Administrivia
Trope Repair Shop
Image Pickin'

How well does it match the trope?

Example of:

Media sources:

11,241--> Report

Clues (episode)

1.2 Act One
1.3 Act Two
1.4 Act Three
1.5 Act Four
1.6 Act Five
1.7 Log entries
2 Memorable quotes
3.1 Production history
3.2 Story and production
3.3 Continuity
3.4 Reception
3.5 Video and DVD releases
4.1 Starring
4.2 Also starring
4.3 Guest stars
4.4 Special guest star
4.5 Co-stars
4.6 Uncredited co-stars
4.7 Stunt double
4.8 Stand-ins
4.9.1 Unused production references
4.10 External links

Summary [ ]

After completing a mission early at Harrakis V , the crew of the USS Enterprise is granted extra personal time to pursue their interests, with Worf instructing a mok'bara class and Dr. Crusher conducting an experiment with Diomedian scarlet moss . Captain Jean-Luc Picard decides to show Guinan his Dixon Hill holodeck program . After a gangster character named Johnny is killed by gunfire outside the windows in Dixon Hill's office while holding up Picard and Guinan at gunpoint, Picard attempts to explain to her why Humans find mysteries so fascinating. Just then, Data informs him of the discovery of a T-Tauri type star near the Ngame Nebula . The sensors have detected that the system has one M-class planet , and a small, unstable wormhole , which disappears. Data notes such phenomena are not uncommon in T-Tauri systems – thirty-nine had been observed since 2267 . Suddenly the wormhole reappears, and flings the vessel 0.54 parsecs from the system, and causes the entire crew, with the exception of Lieutenant Commander Data , to fall unconscious.

Act One [ ]

As the crew slowly awakens, Data informs Picard that the crew was knocked out for only thirty seconds. Picard orders Worf to launch a probe to study the M-class planet that they were going to investigate before they went through the wormhole, and they continue on their regular course. However, while treating Chief O'Brien for twisted ligaments on his elbow , Dr. Crusher discovers that her Diomedian scarlet moss has shown a full day's growth.

Meanwhile, as the probe approaches the mysterious planet, it detects that the planet has a hydrogen-helium composition with a frozen helium core, clearly not an M-class planet. This confuses some of the crew, but they conclude that the wormhole may have been interfering with the sensors. Data speculates that the sensors may have picked up the afterimage of a planet on the other side of the wormhole. He suggests they survey nearby stars and that it would take six days. Picard dismisses this, noting that they do not have time for such a survey. Picard tells Riker they have only a minor mystery, one that has been solved to Picard's satisfaction. He asks Riker if he has no objections, they should proceed to Evadne IV . Riker agrees and Ensign McKnight lays in a course to the planet. Later, when Picard is in his ready room , Dr. Crusher comes in with her moss, and explains that they have experienced a full day's growth. Picard cannot come up with an explanation.

Act Two [ ]

At the staff briefing in the observation lounge , Data tries to explain away these contradictions, quoting an obscure theory by Pell Underhill , a 22nd century physicist . After Data leaves, Geordi La Forge informs the captain that he does not buy Data's explanation for a minute. In fact, he is surprised Data even brought up Underhill's theory. La Forge suggests to Picard that he examine the ship's chronometer to see if it has been tampered with and Dr. Crusher offers to analyze the transporter traces to see how much time had actually passed while the crew was unconscious. " Doctor, commander, make it so ", Picard orders.

Dr. Crusher heads to the transporter room and asks Chief O'Brien who had used the transporter before the crew had been knocked unconscious. O'Brien discovers it was one of his technicians, Ensign Locklin . Dr. Crusher and Nurse Ogawa conduct a scan and discover Locklin's electrolyte concentration had deviated, confirming Crusher's suspicions. Later on, while informing Picard that the crew had been knocked out for a lot longer than thirty seconds, they go to engineering and speak to La Forge. He informs them that he has both good news and bad news. The good news is that he discovered the chronometer had indeed been tampered with and a new security program had been inserted in its place. La Forge says the bad news is that only he and Data would be capable of performing the task. Later on, in Picard's ready room, after Data evades several of Picard's questions about what really happened, he asks Data if he would consent to being examined by La Forge. Data agrees and is escorted to engineering by Ensign Kellogg .

Act Three [ ]

" Now, this won't hurt a bit. " " Have you forgotten Geordi, that my sensory inputs are not programmed to experience pain? "

Evidence continues to mount that suggests the time of collective unconsciousness was much longer than thirty seconds – indeed, it now appears an entire day had passed. La Forge examines but cannot find anything wrong with Data, yet Dr. Crusher learns Lieutenant Worf's wrist had been broken and repaired, without either's knowledge, implying that the crew was not only "missing" a day but was also not even unconscious during the entire time.

La Forge next attempts to discover whether Data rigged the probe they launched. He finds Data made it appear as though the observed planet was essentially identical to Tethys III . Picard orders La Forge to launch a second probe to the system, and this time they find there is in fact a much different, class-M planet. It now is clear Data had at least tampered with the first probe and makes it seem doubtless that he has been concealing information and fabricating data to keep the rest of the crew from discovering the truth about what really happened during their alleged thirty second collective loss of consciousness. Picard implores Data to tell him the truth, but Data refuses; not even the threat of a court martial or having him stripped down to his wires to find out what is wrong with him can compel Data to end his by-now obvious mendacity.

During these events, Picard and the staff are in a meeting discussing recent events. Counselor Troi says that she feels unwell and requests to be allowed to return to her quarters to rest. The captain agrees to her request. Worf escorts her and the two walk arm and arm down the corridor. Worf inquires as to her health and asks if she is well. She assures him she is, and the two part ways as she enters her quarters. As Worf walks away, Troi is heard to scream in terror. Worf calls her name and gets no response. He uses his security code to override the locked door and enters. In the bedroom, Worf finds Troi terrified of her reflection, she says that it wasn't her in the mirror. Dr. Crusher is called and examines Troi. This turn of events makes the captain realize that they need to go back to where their troubles began.

Act Four [ ]

Picard decides to set a course back to the T-Tauri system. As soon as they arrive, an energy pulse passes through the shields and possesses Counselor Troi and informs Data that "the plan has failed." Data asks the entity for more time and argues that the destruction of the Enterprise at this time would serve no purpose. Just then, La Forge enters and tells Data that the captain has asked him to come to the bridge. Data asks for a moment, and after La Forge has gone he asks the possessed Troi to do nothing, as it may yet be possible to salvage the situation. She seems frustrated, and Data leaves for the bridge.

Upon entering the bridge, Data implores Picard to immediately leave the T-Tauri system. Picard refuses and demands to know why Data will not tell him the truth. Just as the possessed Troi enters the bridge, the android finally informs him that he, Picard, had ordered Data to lie.

Act Five [ ]

The crew finds that the system in reality contains a class M planet inhabited by the Paxans , a violently xenophobic and highly advanced race. They terraformed their planet in the T-Tauri system in order to conceal it from intruders. When an intruder comes within their space, the "wormhole" (actually an energy field) renders the ship's crew unconscious in biochemical stasis , and the ship is transported out of their space to just over half a parsec away. The idea is that when the crew awakens, they believe they were knocked unconscious by a freak wormhole and proceed on their way. However, the Paxans had never had to deal with an android before: their bioagents have no effect on Data, and Data had promptly taken action to revive the crew, foiling the Paxans' plan. A representative of the Paxans possessed Deanna Troi and threatened to destroy the ship to protect their secret. Picard then created his plan to have the Paxans wipe their short-term memory and force Data into a pledge of secrecy. In this way, the first contact incident could be "undone" and the Paxans left alone.

The body of Troi is possessed by the same Paxan representative to communicate with the crew and warns that their prior attempt to "undo" the contact has failed. Picard explains that the previous attempt had been imperfect; too many clues were left behind that piqued their natural curiosity and led to the unraveling of the plan. In order to prevent the Paxans from destroying the ship and killing all aboard, Captain Picard and the Enterprise crew again work to alter or erase all records concerning the true nature of the planet, this time taking into account the problematic inconsistencies previously discovered. Only Data is allowed to retain any knowledge of what happened to the ship and crew during the missing day, and he is again instructed to conceal that knowledge.

Once the crew is brought back from stasis again, the conversation goes approximately the same as the first time. Data suggests launching a probe, to which Picard assents. He also orders Data to dispatch a hazard advisory about the phenomenon to Starfleet, preventing any other Federation ships from coming in contact with the Paxans. The Enterprise then departs for Evadne IV, with Data keeping the events of what actually occurred to himself.

Log entries [ ]

Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), 2367

Memorable quotes [ ]

" The doll's my cousin! " " Yeah! Gloria from Cleveland. "

" I have something of a minor mystery on my hands. " " A "minor mystery"? That seems to be a recurring phrase these days. "

" Will you escort Commander Data to engineering? " " I know the way, sir. "

" Now, this won't hurt a bit. " " Have you forgotten, Geordi, that my sensory inputs are not programmed to experience pain? "

" Then, Mister Data, I'm going to ask you again, and I order you to directly answer me. What really happened to us? " " I cannot answer that. " " What would you have me do, Data? How would you handle this if our positions were reversed? " " I am apparently guilty of falsifying the Enterprise 's records, of interfering with an investigation, of disobeying a direct order from my commanding officer. Your duty seems clear, sir. " " Do you know what a court martial would mean? Your career in Starfleet would be finished. " " I realize that, sir. " " Do you also realize that you would most likely be stripped down to your wires to find out what the hell has gone wrong? " " Yes, sir. I do. "

" We must leave, sir. " " This ship isn't going anywhere; not until I get an answer. Now, who gave you that order? " "You did, sir. "

" I am ordering you never to reveal what has happened here today. Not to Starfleet, not to myself even. You will conceal your knowledge of the Paxans for as long as you exist. Do you fully understand, Data? " " Completely, sir. "

" The second time will succeed if we leave no clues. " " You are a most unusual species. Worthy of a second chance. Proceed. "

" Geordi, Data, reconfigure the computer and the records. Number One, I want you to oversee the rest of the ship. And this time… let's get it right. "

Background information [ ]

Production history [ ].

Final draft script: 14 November 1990 [1]
Principal photography filmed: 22 November 1990 – 30 November 1990
Second unit and insert shots filmed: 22 January 1991
Premiere airdate: 11 February 1991
First UK airdate: 21 September 1994

Story and production [ ]

The story for this episode came from fan Bruce D. Arthurs , who had submitted a spec script to the producers. Michael Piller recalled that the story was very good, but the script needed a rewrite. Piller gave the job to Joe Menosky during the hiatus. He noted that the changes were " mostly restructuring caused by the departure of Wil Wheaton and a major dialogue polish. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 215) Piller was so impressed with Menosky's efforts that he gave him a staff job on the show. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion , 2nd ed., p. 154)
The book The Red Dwarf Programme Guide notes that the story had an "uncanny" resemblance to an earlier Red Dwarf episode, " Thanks for the Memory ".
To differentiate the flashbacks from scenes set in the "present", director Les Landau used longer and more fluid camera takes. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion , 2nd ed., p. 155)
This episode is considered a bottle show . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion , 2nd ed., p. 154)
The episode was filmed between Thursday 22 November 1990 and Friday 30 November 1990 on Paramount Stage 8 , 9 , and 16 . Additional second unit and insert shots in Data's quarters were filmed on Tuesday 22 January 1991 on Paramount Stage 13 .

Continuity [ ]

Worf's mok'bara classes are first seen in this episode.
Alyssa Ogawa is given her first name in this episode. Her last name was not mentioned until TNG : " Cause And Effect ".
Data references the USS Trieste , a ship he stated he was familiar with in TNG : " 11001001 ".
When first giving the order, Picard tells Data not to reveal the Paxans' existence, even though their name was not then known by Picard.
Midway into the episode when Data replies to Picard - "Which would you place first? The welfare of a single individual or that of the entire crew? ... I merely state a possible alternate explanation." - a captain with Picard's experience and knowledge would have stopped all investigation knowing that there are things out in space which do not always need answered.
After the first time the Enterprise encountered the Paxans' "wormhole" Data suggested that they realign the ship's clock to Starbase 410's subspace signal to adjust for the time distortion. Although this was not shown onscreen after the second time they encountered the "wormhole" it stands to reason Data made the same suggestion. This would explain why the Enterprise's clock was not out of sync with the rest of Starfleet with two days missing, as the discrepancy in time would be blamed on the time distortion of the wormhole

Reception [ ]

Michael Piller remarked, " I really loved that show. It's one of my favorites of the year . It was a perfectly realized classic mystery put together in a Star Trek format, which came together into a very satisfying episode. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 215)
A mission report for this episode by Patrick Daniel O'Neill was published in The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine issue 16 , pp. 15-18.

Video and DVD releases [ ]

Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 44, 6 April 1992
UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment ): Volume 4.5, 16 July 2001
As part of the TNG Season 4 DVD collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

Patrick Stewart as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes as Cmdr. William Riker

Also starring [ ]

LeVar Burton as Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf
Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi
Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data

Guest stars [ ]

Colm Meaney as Miles O'Brien
Pamela Winslow as McKnight
Rhonda Aldrich as Madeline

Special guest star [ ]

Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan

Co-stars [ ]

Patti Yasutake as Nurse
Thomas Knickerbocker as Gunman

Stunt double [ ]

Chris Doyle as stunt double for Thomas Knickerbocker

Stand-ins [ ]

Brett – stand-in for LeVar Burton
Candace Crump – stand-in for Whoopi Goldberg
D. Kai – stand-in for Patti Yasutake
Nora Leonhardt – stand-in for Marina Sirtis and Rhonda Aldrich
Tim McCormack – stand-in for Brent Spiner and Thomas Knickerbocker
Lorine Mendell – stand-in for Gates McFadden and Pamela Winslow
Randy Pflug – stand-in for Colm Meaney
Richard Sarstedt – stand-in for Jonathan Frakes
Dennis Tracy – stand-in for Patrick Stewart
James Washington – stand-in for Michael Dorn

References [ ]

1948 ; 22nd century ; 23rd century ; 24th century ; " a little "; " a lot "; " a tempest in a test tube "; ability ; ADTH ; adrenaline ; " after all "; airflow system ; " all right "; alternative ; amount ; amplitude ; answer ; appointment ; " as you wish "; " at once "; atmosphere ; automatic defense procedure ; baseline ; beard ; bearing ; bedside manner ; behavior ; biochemical stasis ; body ; boss ; brain function ; bridge crew ; brown ; " by chance "; byproduct ; career ; " carry on "; cell ; cellular membrane ; Chamberlin virus ; choice ; chronometer ; cigarette ; cigarette holder ; civilization ; class M ; Cleveland ; clue ; colleague ; commanding officer ; composition ; compromise ; computer ; computer program ; concentration ; concern ; conjecture ; core ; " count their blessings "; course ; court martial ; cousin ; crime scene ; crop ; cultivation ; daily cycle ; damage ; " damn it "; day ; destruction ; diagnostic ; Diomedian scarlet moss ; Diomedian system ; disorientation ; Dixon Hill series ; dizziness ; dock ; door ; dozen ; dress ; effect ; elbow ; electrolyte ; emergency plan ZZA ; emergency procedure ; energy ; energy distortion ; energy field ; energy fluctuation ; energy pulse ; environment ; ethno-botanist ; Evadne IV ; event ; evidence ; examination ; existence ; explanation ; explorer ; eye ; face ; feedback loop ; feeling ; figure of speech ; flight path ; " for the moment "; fracture ; free will ; friend ; fright ; fun ; Galaxy class decks ; garter ; Gloria ; " go ahead "; " green thumb "; guilty ; hallucination ; Harrakis V ; hazard advisory ; heavy particle detector ; helium ; " hello "; heuristic function ; higher functions ; Hill, Dixon ; hobby ; holodeck number 4 ; holodeck program ; hour ; house call ; hydrogen ; hypothesis ; " I see "; idea ; " if you like "; image ; impulse engine ; " in advance "; " in order to "; incubation container ; incubation experiment ; incubator ; infrared sensor ; injury ; internal clock ; invader ; investigation ; iron ; isolationist ; " it's all right "; journey ; " just a moment "; knowledge ; lab ; license plate ; lie ( lying ); life ; lifeform ; ligament ; light year ; listener ; location ; lock ; long range sensor ; mask ; memory ; Midsummer Night's Dream, A ; Milky Way Galaxy ; mirror ; mission ; mok'bara ; molecular level ; money ; Moon ; mystery ; name ; neutrino detector ; " never mind "; Ngame Nebula ; nickel ; nitrogen ; " not for a second "; " not to worry "; " not too bad ": number one ; O'Brien, Keiko ; objection ; " of course not "; " on board "; " on my hands "; " one moment ": order ; oxygen ; pain ; Packard ; parsec ; parts per million ; pattern recognition ; Paxans ; Paxan homeworld ; Paxan system ; percent ; period ; person ( individual ); phaser ; phenomenon ; photon torpedo ; phrase ; physical discomfort ; physicist ; plan ; plant ; positronic brain ; positronic system ; privacy ; probe ; problem ; promise ; protoplanet ; question ; range ; record ; report ; role ; rhythm ; risk ; ruse ; safe passage ; second ; security ; security override ; security program ; sensor range ; sensory input ; setting (medicine) ; shield ; shield frequency ; shield modulation ; ship ; ship's clock ; ship's library ; short-term memory ; silence ; size ; slang ; speed ; spore ; stalemate ; Starbase 410 ; Starfleet ; starship duty ; status ; status report ; stranger ; strength ; stress ; stole (fashion) ; subcutaneous bone fusion unit ; subspace signal ; survival ; suspicion ; " sweetheart "; synaptic function ; syntactic algorithm ; T-Tauri systems ; T-Tauri type ; tampering ; technician ; telephone ; terraforming ; territory ; test tube ; Tethys III ; Tethys III primary ; " that's it "; " that's right "; thousand ; threat ; " throw us off the track "; time continuity ; time distortion ; time period ; tractor beam ; transporter ; transporter trace ; transporter trace analysis ; trap ; tricorder ; Trieste , USS ; trillion ; truth ; turgor pressure ; unconsciousness ; " under the circumstances "; Underhill, Pell ; visit ; visual range ; " wait a minute "; warp drive ; warrior ; weapon system ; week ; welfare ; " what on earth "; " what the hell ": " where the hell "; whitewall tire ; white ; wormhole ; wrist ; xenophobe

Unused production references [ ]

Evadne system

External links [ ]

" Clues " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
" Clues " at Wikipedia
" Clues " at MissionLogPodcast.com
"Clues" script at Star Trek Minutiae
" Clues " at the Internet Movie Database
2 Daniels (Crewman)
3 Bell Riots

Search this site

Star Trek: The Next Generation

“Clues”

Air date: 2/11/1991 Teleplay by Bruce D. Arthurs and Joe Menosky Story by Bruce D. Arthurs Directed by Les Landau

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan

Review Text

"Clues" is one of those bottle shows that works better the first time you see it. It's intriguing when you don't know what's going to happen. But it loses something the next time through. As mysteries go, "Clues" holds the attention reasonably for an hour. The questions are: What happened, and do we dare try to repeat history when we have no memory of the consequences?

As they approach a planet, the Enterprise crew is unexpectedly rendered unconscious. Upon awakening, Data, unaffected, says the crew has been out for 30 seconds. Gradually, however, clues are discovered that Data is probably lying, that the crew was unconscious for much longer, and that something serious happened that no one can remember.

What works best about this story is its pace. It's a slow burn that gradually reveals peculiar clues hinting at an inevitable truth: Data is covering something up. The evidence — from Crusher's botany experiment to Worf's broken wrist to Troi's freak-out in the mirror — all paints an odd picture surrounding the original mystery of the planet the crew never reached before blacking out. My favorite dialog scene is between Picard and Data, where a frustrated Picard grills Data on the facts and Data simply says that he cannot answer. (When Data stonewalls, he's never anything but calm, polite, and matter-of-fact; he can't answer simply because ... well, he can't .)

What doesn't quite work is the explanation for this whole charade. A group of isolationist aliens wiped the crew's memory because they didn't want to be found. Except Data's memory could not be wiped, so Picard swore Data to secrecy rather than allowing the aliens to destroy the Enterprise . But it didn't work and now we need a second chance, this time leaving no clues. I'm not sure how you leave no clues on a ship with 1,000 people.

The episode, which opened with Picard on the holodeck trying to solve a Dixon Hill murder, does not take the subtle road regarding its message, which is that we cannot resist a good mystery. One wonders if Picard's holodeck games and his speech at the end are both necessary. Show, don't tell.

Previous episode: Devil's Due Next episode: First Contact

Like this site? Support it by buying Jammer a coffee .

◄ Season Index

Comment Section

83 comments on this post, david forrest.

I agree with most of your reviews here and the were great to read. You had some pretty good one-liners, especially the one for "Devil's Due" in that you don't mess with the Enterprise. Two episodes that I enjoyed much more than you did are "Final Mission" and "Clues". The former I thought would easily garner three stars, maybe 3.5 as it was a nice conclusion to the arc of Wesley in that he truly respects Picard, and almost looks at him as a father-figure. As for "Clues"---I love that episode. It's one of my favorite episodes and I would easily give it four stars. I thought it was wonderfully acted and written in the way they constructed the story. They were isolationist aliens and I thought it was a reasonable solution to their problem in that they didn't want anyone to know of their existence.

Yay! TNG reviews! I'm a long-time lurker on your site, Jammer. All the way back to when Voyager was still airing, and I've always very much enjoyed your commentary. I also really enjoyed "Clues." It may not have the same impact on second viewing but it remains an engaging episode. The fourth season overall is first-rate TV. I never noticed the running theme of family in it until I read your reviews. I look forward to more.

Toph In Blacksburg

Good to see the first batch of 4th season reviews! Just a few personal thoughts. I agreed strongly with many of the reviews (I'll never forget reading BSG's Crossroads Part II review and saying repeatedly "That's what I was thinking!") though there were a couple I'd give differing ratings on: Devil's Due: 2 1/2 stars. Not a classic by any stretch, slapstick in nature, but I actually enjoyed that episode and still do when I catch it on re-runs. It simply had a lighthearted feel that was almost refreshing. My feeling is that it's season placement had an effect: Had this episode been in season one or even season two I am betting your star rating would have been higher. It's a matter of the quality it is matched up against this season. Clues: Though predictable after the first watching I always felt this was more of a 3 1/2 star entry. The idea of Data being caught in a catch-22 was fascinating. The final scene, where Data is at the controls, looking as if nothing had happened at all, knowing that the secret of the xenophobes would be kept with him forever, was great. Legacy: Blah. 1 1/2 stars at best. Must agree on one point: Tasha Yar's sister was definitely the pride of the family (body-wise). Aside from that.....blah. Just a few random thoughts. Keep on trucking! :)

Ah, good to see some brand spanking new Jammer reviews. You were a little hard on "Devil's Due." Yeah, it's pretty corny, but it's certainly watchable, especially compared to the snooze-fest "Suddenly Human." I thought "Clues" was a good example of the Trek crew-member-acting-inexplicably-weird genre. It would be 3 or 3-1/2 for me, but hey, I don't have a Trek reviews website. By the way, your rave reviews of The Wire finally got me to watch Season One. It really is incredible. Keep those TNG reviews coming!

Great new reviews :) I agree with Toph, Devil's Due was hardly a classic, but it was refreshing and fun, I enjoy it when it comes around, I'd probably give it 2 and 1/2 Clues I only watched a few days ago and I quite liked it too, it was kind of pointless but interesting, and the ending was nice, sort of optomistically simple ^^ "you deserve a second chance" - "ok everyone lets do it right this time!" I would probably have given Remember me 1/2 a star less, and The Wounded 1/2 a star more, but either way you covered everything in the review :) Looking foward to the next set :D

I think you were too harsh on Devil's Due and Clues. The former is a fun episode - I particularly enjoyed Picard replicating all of Ardra's powers at the end. It's not going to win any awards, certainly, but it's one of those light TNG episodes that I can stick on if I'm not in the mood for something too heavy. Clues, meanwhile, was a lovely slow-burn episode, with the extent of Data's deception and the mystery of the black-out growing over the course of the episode. I don't think it loses that much on a repeat viewing - I still get a thrill out of "The Mind's Eye" even though I know that Geordi is going to be stopped in the nick of time. I think Data and co's access to the Borg's command systems was acceptable, given that they had made a connection with such an important Borg (Locutus). Voyager started to strain credulity, when they became experts on Borg technology, with their "neural suppressors" and whatnot. It's strange to see how the Borg have changed over the years - in Voyager, Borg Cubes suddenly had a "Central Plexus" which could be used to send a virus throughout the Collective. Meanwhile, in "Q Who", Data couldn't detect any identifiable bridge, engineering, etc, and the Enterprise barely survived its confrontations with a Cube.

I didn't realize how long that first post was so I thought for the sake of not creating one big long post that I divide the rest of ny thoughts on thee episodes into a second separate post. Hope that is alright. As for the other episodes: I pretty much agree about "Family" but would give it a 3.5 star rating. Agreed about "Brothers". I'd also point out that I thought the Soong/Data conversation about continuity was a highlight and the scene as Soong is dying and Data tells him he can't grieve broke my heart. I related to this episode a lot because I've got a brother. "Suddenly Human" is one of only about four episodes I really didn't care for this season and that is saying a lot about how strong season four was in my opinion. "Remember Me" would get 4 stars. In addition to what Jammer said I would also add Gates did a fantastic job as Dr. Crusher trying to solve the mystery in these extraordinary circumstances. And this episode also showcased exceptionally well the qualities I like best about her. She is a formidable woman with such a steely resolve that once she has her mind made up not even someone like Picard can say no to her. And even when others might cave in and succumb to the overwhelming situation she finds herself in, she remains steadfast keeping her wits about her never letting herself fall to pieces. She got in some good lines—“ Was he invisible? Did I carry on a conversation with thin air?”, “Will, I didn't conjure up one of my best friends from a test tube.”, “I'm sorry I lost my temper. You do remember that?” and Picard’s “vividly” in reply, “If there isn't anything wrong with me... maybe there's something wrong with the universe...” or her clicking her heels line. And I loved the moment when she sits in the captain’s chair. No Trek series excelled at these high-concept sci-fi mysteries the way TNG did. "Legacy" I'd give 3 stars to. It is the crew’s reactions to Ishara Yar that elevate this episode in my eyes. Beth Touissant did a good job of portraying a hardened yet wounded individual who never could break totally free of the society she grew up in feeling a misplaced allegiance to Hayne & the rebels. It was a nice contrast to how Tasha turned her life around and didn’t let her environment consume her. The continued display of Ishara's disgust & resentment with her sister was cutting. I especially liked the Picard/Ishara exchange in sickbay where Picard talks of the woman Yar became. I liked that the encounter with Ishara ended up leaving everyone pretty much empty & stung by the events. They were all ready to leave Turkana IV behind. The only good thing to come of it was the safe return of the hostages. And the cold android way Data dismissed Ishara in the transporter room was great. Overall, one of TNG’s more depressing endings. As for the rescue plot I did like the action sequences and the idea of the myographic scanner. Plus Data's technical description of familiarity that he experiences was great and of course would be mentioned again in "Times Arrow I" also written by Joe Menosky. "Future Imperfect" I'd give 3.5 stars. It is one of my favorites and unlike Jammer I was able to buy into the emotional arc of the story. It probably helped that when I first saw this episode I was 13 and bought into the jeopardy or situations each week. Like Jammer I liked the touches in the alternate future including the communicator but I also would add that the Riker/Troi interplay both in the teaser and in the illusion were quite good. One of the nice human aspects that came out of this situation was seeing Riker’s concerns of not ending up being the kind of father Kyle was to him in his childhood especially after the loss of his mother. One can easily imagine the greatest fear for someone like Riker would be to fail their own child. It is clear Riker hopes he has been a better father to Jean-Luc than Kyle was to him especially in the wake of his mother’s death. He consciously wants to not fail his son which comes through wonderfully in the brief scene in the turbolift well played by Frakes. I thought the final scene between Barash and Riker was touching. It is interesting to note the illusion Barash ended up creating was based on scans of Riker’s mind. It is interesting insight into Riker and consistent with the way a child deprived of closeness to another person would behave and think. Barash provided a pretty ideal “future” that he believed would make Riker happy. Here he is captain of the Enterprise, the place he has been most comfortable, surrounded by all of his friends. Barash also created a situation that would resonate strongly with Riker reminiscent of his childhod-a single father, a young boy whose mother has died. And given Barash was a lonely child desperate for attention it would makes sense he would exploit this as well as to remove someone like Troi from Riker's life that might have interfered with "Jean-Luc" receiving all of his attention. "Final Mission" I'd give 3 stars. I've always saw a lot of myself in Wesley especially when I was younger. I was an overachiever and more comfortable around adults than my peers so may be that's why I'm not so hard on him. There were plenty of scenes that I enjoyed. Just some really great emotional stuff that TNG excels at. Picard is clearly a person that any one would love to spend some one-on-one time with just to learn about him and to see that beyond this confident, seemingly super-human captain is a man who isn’t perfect and has his share of flaws. Beverly and Troi got a nice scene in sickbay. I also enjoyed the Garbage Scow subplot well enough and was an interesting idea that generated a nice jeopardy to keep the Enterprise crew occupied. Nothing particularly ground-breaking but pretty good. The fountain ended up being a plot device without any real insight into who set it up or why. The location shooting was a welcome change and the filming captured really well the harsh conditions they were facing on the desert world. There were some great shots of the Enterprise throughout the episode like when it first enters orbit. I was sorry to see Wes leave but in a way it was a good thing given that the cast was already pretty large. But unlike some characters Wes had about as near perfect a sendoff as one could ask with Picard’s ”Wesley, know this…you will be missed” as they exit the cave. "The Loss" seems to be an episode no one cares for. The commopn complaint being Troi's behavior was like nails on a chalkboard. I actually thought this was a fairly effective disability story headlining Troi. I enjoyed seeing the vulnerable and frightened side of her. I know many seem to view her as a pathetic/whiney and there is some of that but that is part of the point. I think anyone who loses a sense would be angry and wallowing in self-pity. So how Troi behaves in this context works. Troi is usually the one helping others the way she is now placed in the unenviable role of facing her own personal crisis directly is quite interesting. Troi’s anger at Beverly seemed like a realistic reaction even though misdirected. And then of course Riker/Troi had their tribulations in some rather nice scenes that further cemented what great chemistry both the actors & characters have. And of course Guinan is always a pleasure. I really liked that scene with Troi in Ten-Forward. I think both are counselors in their own right but have completely different ways of dispensing advice. I'd easily give it 3 stars. Nothing really to add to "Data's Day" or "The Wounded". I strongly disagree with "Clues" receiving only 2.5 stars. This has always been a favorite of mine. I wouldn't hesitate given it 3.5 stars. I mentioned earlier TNG excelled at high concpt sci-fi mysteries and this is one of its best in my opinion I love a good mystery but they are hard to do. It is easy enough to generate the build-up and intrigue but the reveal needs to be as satisfying. The teaser was alright although it felt more like Whoopi in dress-up than Guinan although I did appreciate the touch of Data piping the call to Picard through the telephone. I loved the twist that it was Picard that ordered Data's silence. I thought the idea of a stalemate was an interesting and fresh approach for the story. I liked the ominous tone the episode took. I liked how the crew and the audience only got tantalizing pieces of the puzzle as to what happened that day before finally filling us in with the flashback. I liked that the writers remembered the little details that I didn't even consider like the beard growth or Beverly using the transporter trace although I was a little confused regarding the 24 hour cycle. I would rank it up there with The Survivors, Remember Me, Future Imperfect, Night Terrors, Cause and Effect, Parallels as far as bizarre Twilight Zone sorts of tales.

I just want to quickly thank everyone for leaving comments and offering their thoughts on the episodes. Keep the comments coming. I won't reply to every point as I've made enough points in the reviews, but I will say that "Clues" (which seems to be generally favored here) came close to 3 stars. In the end it didn't quite get there, but it was close and I definitely understand why many people enjoyed it.

ya, I also liked clues! 4 stars there as well. Reading some of the comments, it seems alot of ppl agree

Just saw "Clues" and I have to say it really makes me wonder if they ever figured out they were a couple of days behind the rest of the galaxy.

Generally agree with your reviews. I used to think I loved "Clues" but, as you said, the more I see it, the worse it gets. Not only did I think the whole plot was excessive (the cover-up could never work with over 1,000 people on board), it annoys me on subsequent views that Picard cannot simply trust that Data is doing what's best, accept and let it go. Also, I grow bored with "The Nth Degree" every time I see it, and in my opinion, doesn't warrant a full four-star rating! Star-ratings should for Nth and "Future Imperfect" should be switched, lol.

Im reading through all these comments and I have to say you are way off on clues. its one of my favorites and appears to be underrated. please consider giving it another star

@P "Not only did I think the whole plot was excessive (the cover-up could never work with over 1,000 people on board), it annoys me on subsequent views that Picard cannot simply trust that Data is doing what's best, accept and let it go." Now that you mention it (re: Clues), I suppose one could blame Data's programing not being flexible enough to allow him to break Picard's Order (although he does so once Troi-alien gives him the a-ok), but I look at it like this: It's one thing to hide the truth upon the crew waking up, but as soon as the coverup starts to unravel the truth, and ESPECIALLY once Picard turns the ship around and heads back to enemy space, I feel like Data's logic circuits ought to have pulled Picard into his ready room and told him "listen, you can't tell any of the others, but here's what happened" and warn him not to go naer that space ever again. I admit, I haven't seen it in a while so I forget whether Data has an opportunity to speak to Picard between when Picard decides to return and when they actually get there, but I feel like Picard can keep his mouth shut, and if he orders the crew to stop investigating, it'll all go away - a lot better than if they go back, anyway. Frankly, I don't imagine the aliens would ever find out that the Federation has set up a "no fly" policy around their space.

Just have to say, I really like clues. And yes, I like it even on a repeated viewing! It's different to see Data in a cover-up, and Data and Picard have some good dialog. 3/4 stars here I would give it.

Are there any Red Dwarf fans here? This episode is very reminiscent of the RD episode, "Thanks For the Memory". Though, it's very doubtful that "Clues" is a direct rip-off, the similarities in the plot are striking. I half expected Worf to come on to the bridge with his leg in a cast, saying, "All right which one of you humans did this?"

As with the other commenters, I think "Clues" is very good. I agree with Jammer's two major criticisms -- that it's not really a satisfying ending to "leave no clues" (what even?), and that the opening and closing speeches from Picard about the thrill of finding clues are over-the-top and not really necessary. However, while definitely problems, neither bothers me all that much when measured against what works in this episode. In particular, the resolution to the mystery *is* very satisfying to me, especially details like Worf's wrist having been broken by the alien possessing Troi rather than by Data as had been suspected. The Picard/Data scene Jammer singles out gets to the heart of why this episode is so compelling. Picard (and the rest of the crew) simply cannot let go the mystery that has been presented to them. Data simply cannot let go of his imperative to follow Picard's orders -- to protect both the ship and, indeed, the isolationist species. They both have too much strength of will and too much integrity -- albeit in different ways -- to compromise; not only is there a stalemate with the aliens, but there is a stalemate on the ship with Data and Picard. And the end result leads, almost inexorably, to the Enterprise returning to the Paxans' system and to its near-destruction. If Picard were able to let things be and trust that Data has his reasons, they could simply continue on their way. If Data were able to divulge the secret about the Paxans, even to Picard, the mystery could be resolved. But neither can do so. It would run counter to Picard's spirit as an explorer; and, indeed, as he points out, the fact that they can never trust Data again makes it impossible to stop. And while any other crew member would likely simply tell Picard about the Paxans, Data's programming, devotion to *Picard's* orders, and respect for other life forms (I do think the recognition that if he lets Picard know about the Paxans, he will be violating the agreement by which the Enterprise would be allowed to survive and that this would run explicitly counter to the Paxans' wishes and would thus be wrong, is even more a motivating factor for Data than Picard's orders), stop him from doing so. This is an episode cleverly constructed around character, so that the very traits that make these two both extraordinary individuals of high integrity bring them into conflict which cannot really be resolved. The ending does resolve it, to a degree -- the Enterprise leaves intact -- but there is something unsettling about the ending, seeing the mystery go "unresolved" in that Picard et al. have lost the memory again, and that, following Picard's lines, not everything is quite tidy when we know that over a thousand people are missing a crucial couple of days and the knowledge of their near-destruction twice. The last shot of Data is a bit hard to parse, but I interpret it on some level as a signal of his isolation -- Data has a secret that could destroy the whole ship and no one knows about it. On that level, the episode also follows up from (e.g.) "Brothers" on exactly how frightening Data is, if for a moment one stops having full faith in Data's commitment to the chain of command. He is stronger than Worf, as skilled a scientist as Crusher and an engineer as La Forge, has a better poker face than Riker and has the iron will of Picard. (I omit Troi, I suppose, not because her skills aren't worthwhile, but because she's the person whose skill set is furthest from Data's.) The idea that Data might be hiding something is all the more frightening because Data could take over the whole ship at any time and the crew *knows* this. Which, ironically, makes it all the more essential that Data follow Picard's orders, even if it leads to disaster. On that level, Picard stating that not only will Data lose his Starfleet commission but most likely be stripped down to his constituent parts to be examined to see what happened with him is chilling; one wonders whether this contradicts "The Measure of a Man," and I'm not entirely sure that Picard is not bluffing on some level when he suggests this, trying to do anything he can think of to convince Data that it's in his best interests to tell him what is happening. But it hints at both ways in which Data is still not really considered a person, and why. Data's rights to self-determination in "The Measure of a Man" on some level still are provisional, where the provision that Data is not a threat: once he becomes one, even provisionally, it becomes difficult or even impossible to regard him as a peer sentient being.

Anyway with a few mostly minor plot holes I think the plot holds together and the execution is generally great, though some of the exposition at the end is a bit off. I'd say that it's a low 3.5 star show for me.

Some comments on this episode: - I agree with most that this is a better episode than Jammer gives it credit for. And I think it does hold up for a second viewing, namely due to the strength of Data's character. It's fun watching the android brain working, trying to keep his ship safe despite knowing that he is betraying all of his friends. It's like the first act of Brothers, only with Data fully conscious of what he's doing. Even with the mystery known, Data's part (and everyone responding to him) still holds up. - One nice subtle touch: on one scene in the bridge, Worf is rubbing his arm in the background. This was before he went to sickbay. - The holodeck intros sure haven't been very subtle lately. First there was Scrooge denying the reality of Jacob Marley's existence in Devil's Due, and now we have a Dixon Hill startup in an episode called Clues. Sheesh... - I've heard people say that Nth Degree reminds them of 2001: A Space Odyssey. But I get some of that here, when Picard calmly asked Data to go run an errand and then starts plotting against him. I half expected Data to be watching from a distance and reading their lips. Enh, I got nothing else. It's a good episode, but kinda nondescript. No brilliant insights, just good clean fun.

I didn't really like this episode. Yes, the story was clever, but I didn't really enjoy watching it that much.

It's funny that the possessed Deanna changed out of her pajamas before visiting Data. It's hard to buy that the entity inside her would give a damn.

I also find it absurd that Deanna "isn't capable" of breaking a Klingon's wrist (by the episode's own reckoning), but somehow Deanna's possessed body is.

I didn't see how or why the aliens didn't anticipate the discrepancy in the condition of the plants or why Troi perceived someone else in the mirror or why those things wouldn't happen again. I would have also liked explicit mention of the events of "Brothers." I was kind of expecting/hoping that in the end Data would admit they had lost a day but instead it feels too much like chance.

I'm with Jammer on this one, except I would have rated it lower. It's just too much that there's a mystery that they're "not allowed" to solve. Rubs me the wrong way. Also, wouldn't it have been easier for Data to just admit that they were out for a whole day? Or have Picard record for himself some kind of message telling him not to go back? The point is, Picard is too curious, and simply by including some sensor readings/chart records on computer logs, he or Starfleet are likely to return to that place to investigate further. In other words, by being so aggressively xenophobic, the aliens are making it more likely that people go after them.

I really liked this episode the first time, but upon a second viewing there are just too many things you have to ignore to make it plausible. The biggest of those to me is how they plan on dealing with what was, by the end of the 2nd ship-wide memory wipe, a 2+ day time discrepancy. That would fly to assuage any curiosity at the time, but surely they'd discover fairly easily later on that their super-advanced starship's computers are a couple days behind actual time.

IIRC, the "official story" is that the crew went through some kind of crazy temporal warp that shifted them out of regular time by a few days, as well as moving them through space. This is the type of thing that happens all the time in TNG, so I buy it.

Maybe, but none of the actual dialogue at the end indicated that. When they wake up the second time, it's mentioned that they were only out for 30 seconds and the only real change from the first time they tried to cover it up is that they don't go back to the planet. Nothing further is said about any sort of time shift. I dunno, minor complaint I suppose. It's just hard to believe they managed to account for every possible clue the second time around, especially given that one of them was a fairly noticeable time difference.

"'Clues' is one of those bottle shows that works better the first time you see it. It's intriguing when you don't know what's going to happen. But it loses something the next time through." That could be said about all mystery stories. The whole point of a mystery is that you don't know what's going to happen/has happened. The second time you visit any mystery it's naturally going to lose something - that's just the nature of the beast. A good mystery is one which can still offer entertainment on repeat viewings/readings. "Clues" is one of those mysteries. Even knowing what's going on from the get-go, it's still a very dramatic and enthralling episode. And that's because the mystery itself isn't the only thing the episode has in its favor. The main, number one, element "Clues" has going for it are the performances. Nothing shows that better than in the scenes where non-verbal communication is employed. This episode is a masterwork of using what is not said to great effect. For example, the scene where Picard grills Data in his quarters over the fabricated evidence from the probe. When Picard says "strange, that an obscure planet several hundred light years from here should be picked up by the probe," Data just stares at him without saying a word. Brent Spiner manages to convey such a sense of atmosphere and tension in that one, cold stare than most people could do with an ten page soliloquy. Another example - later when Picard confronts Data for the final time on the bridge. When Picard gets the thought in his head that Starfleet might have contacted Data during the missing day and ordered him to conceal the truth, you can almost see the wheels turning in Patrick Stewart's head without him saying a word. That isn't to say that "Clues" is flawless. There are major problems with the story. First, the solution is nonsensical when you stop and examine it. The whole house of cards is going to come crashing down the moment the Enterprise meets up with any other Federation personnel and they realize that they are two days off from the rest of the galaxy. Second, and I'm sorry but.... I have to dock points for what is quite possibly the most obvious plothole in all of TNG. How did Picard know the name of the Paxons during the flashback sequence? Come on, guys! That's a basic screenwriting 101 mistake right there! 8/10

I enjoy this episode and just rewatched it ok BBC America after a good decade since my last viewing of it. The biggest problem however is what happens when they get to the nexr starbase or the Capt's log does not match up with the correct stardate? They spent approximately 3 days dealing with this incident (2 getting memories wiped, 1 solving the mystery) so... To set it up to say they were only out for 30 seconds... Basically they set themselves up to eventually have to ask what happened to the missing 2 days 23 hrs 59 mins and 30 secs. This is one of those uncharacteristic times the writers didn't pay attention to an Enterprise sized plot hole and dismissed the viewer's intelligence.

One of the first things Data says at the episode's beginning after the crew apparently goes through the wormhole is, "Sir, I should re-align the ship's clock with Starbase four ten's subspace signal to adjust for the time distortion." That wormholes can create time distortions if pretty well accepted by Picard et al. So any time difference when they get out to contact with others will be attributed to the wormhole warping time, so that the internal "30 seconds" on the ship corresponds to 1 or 2 days external to the wormhole. The wormhole is also later referred to by La Forge as a space-time disturbance (well, he comments that there IS no space-time disturbance, to confirm that Data's story is wrong. I suppose the episode should have had Data repeat this comment at the episode's end to clarify what the "official story" is, but I find it clear enough.

Sorry but I agree with others that Jammer was way off base here; this is an example of single- episode TNG at its finest and is a classic. TNG does mysteries very well, and I also love Data episodes, so it has much going for it from the start. Also Jammer since when do you rate episodes based so much on their value for repeated viewings? I could see how to some degree in reviewing such a classic, widely shown series like TNG a little of that would be inevitable but it seems like you let go of the necessary critic's discipline and rated it on impulse. That and this review along with some of you other TNG reviews that either rate good-great episodes with mediocre scores stars or decent, watchable episodes (that beat most Voyagers) with very low scores make me think that to some degree you just didn't quite "get" TNG. I love DS9 as much as you but TNG has a special place in my heart and a unique sense of magic for me as well.

Diamond Dave

Yes, we get a heavy handed opening that rams home that mysteries are appealing, and the mystery element is repeatedly talked up. But what we then get is a very cleverly handled... well... mystery with some nice... well... clues. Possibly the best element to it is the reveal that it is the crew's own curiosity and ingenuity that unravel a scheme put in place to protect themselves - that it was Picard who ordered Data to keep quiet is an effective act closer. And the final hint that we might be playing Groundhog Day for just a second is amusing enough. It doesn't add up to very much at the end of the day, but as a self-contained, tightly written piece, it comes recommended. 3 stars.

Did this episode remind anyone of something else... maybe a Voyager episode? It seemed so familiar...

Like Future Imperfect, I like the mystery, but feel like the ending is really a letdown. In any other episode (with more than 5 minutes of screen time to work with), the Enterprise crew would try *a lot* harder to escape the situation without forcing 1000+ people to submit to a memory wipe. I just don't buy Picard making that order so lightly: for the wiped Starfleet officers, it's a significant personal intrusion (the kind of order Picard wouldn't give to Warf in The Enemy, despite the risk of war); for the non-Starfleet personnel, it's probably illegal; for Troi, it leads to significant psychological trauma; for Data, it leads to a long-term moral dilemma. And we're willing to accept all this because... it seems like the aliens will be hard to beat? I guess I can imagine a scenario in which that is the case, but the few glimpses we get of the conflict don't do a very convincing job of making it feel like all other options have been exhausted.

"I just don't buy Picard making that order so lightly" He didn't , but I think it was either that or be destroyed IIRC. That makes it an easy choice when you have 1000+ lives counting on you.

Geordi is sure fixated on beard growth on this episode.

Scott from Detroit

I enjoyed the episode but I have one burning, glaring issue with the plot... So they manipulated the computer's time by 24 hours to cover for the "missing day" - but what the hell happens when they pull up to the next Starbase and start arguing over whether it's Tuesday or Wednesday?

Startrekwatcher

It’s a 3.5 Star episode only thing holding it back from 4 stars was the reveal of missing day. In hindsight I think a better alternative to Paxans being isolationists and needing memories of their existence wiped would be that they are so paranoid about the Borg learning of their species existence and coming for them to be assimilated that that was the reason for them so determined no one knows of them

Guinan not knowing what to do with stockings seems odd considering the events of Time's Arrow...

Sean Hagins

I did like this episode, but it kind of bothers me that no one but Data knows the truth about this new alien race. I guess I feel it makes the good guys "lose" somehow. Either way, it really was an exciting and fun episode

Surprised to see Jammer's low rating; I found this to be an exciting, original and excellent episode. Yes, the ending is a bit heavyhanded - TNG had a problem with some of its overly-talky endings - but the premise was just so much fun, I think we can let that slide.

I'm with Scott-who is much more succinct than I am . So here is a starship that is part of a very large fleet run on quasi military tenets. It regularly reports in to star bases-drops in for maintenance and crew assignment ...and so on. Yet here we are expected to believe that nobody in the whole of starfleet are going to notice the ship's own record of elapsed time-timestamps on communications and all the other forged records on the ship which will be evident once the Enterprise contacts anyone else. Their ship and everyone on it are two stardates behind where they should be. That planet they are headed for is a good example. They are going to ask why the ship is two days late. Picard will immediately be alerted to the lost two days , the whole daft premise unravels. I am sorry but for me Jammer's rating is way too generous.

Sarjenka's Little Brother

I agree with Jammer on this one. It was a good outing the first time out. But it doesn't hold up well on repeat viewing or if you stop and start to think about things -- never a good idea for sci-fi. One of the things that bothered me was how fast Picard just accepted their extreme isolationist needs. I like the idea from Startrekwatcher about the Borg. Throw that in -- just a few lines -- and it ties back to an epic change in the Alpha Quadrant and gives us a better explanation of why they want to go to such lengths to keep themselves hidden. I'm not sure how to fix the very real problem of the Enterprise never reporting anything to Starfleet even at first. Bottom line: I liked it better in my memories than I did in a 2018 viewing. Still, it's by no means a stinker.

I enjoyed this one -- the Picard/Data interactions were great and the resolution of what happened is ticks all the boxes -- the Enterprise was under threat of destruction and Data was trying to prevent this; however the ending is a bit hokey (to try the suspended animation again and not leave clues this time). Still, it's a pretty good hour of Trek and an interesting one. The mystery slowly builds, the clues are intriguing, and Data's strange behavior gets justified. I think humans should admire the qualities Spiner gives Data -- the calm unflappability in the face of human emotion. Picard threatens Data with a court martial but it's great (albeit frustrating) to see how Data dodges these questions. I also enjoyed Data bullshitting everybody about his theory in the senior staff meeting -- of course, nobody fell for it (it was plenty obvious) -- but it set the wheels in motion for unraveling the mystery. Maybe the xenophobic aliens and the lengths they go to defend their world are a bit farfetched as the resolution to the mystery but I won't complain about it. The way it worked through Troi and having to deal with the challenge Data presented made for a fairly creative episode. Whether humans love a mystery or not -- maybe the Enterprise crew does. Certainly Picard does as evidenced by his "fun" playing Dixon Hill. Thought that opener went on for way too long if only to hint at Picard's love for a mystery. But TNG has plenty of episodes trying to solve mysteries methodically and this is a decent example of one. 3 stars for "Clues" -- liked how all the unknowns were tied together (Worf's broken wrist, and how Picard gave an order to erase the memories etc. that Data tried his best to follow). Many times the resolution of an episode just isn't satisfying, is lame etc. but here it was decent -- if only the end result wasn't to have to get a 2nd chance at erasing the memories of the encounter. Great episode for Picard and Data, decent sci-fi and plays to the strengths of TNG.

Great episide but I think the reveal of what happened during missing day could have been a bit more intriguing. At the very least give some understanding to the Paxans as isolationists other than just wanting to be isolationists for the sake of it. Maybe they go to such lengths to ensure others have no memory, no knowledge and no computer records of them because they fear that if those that encounter them were to be assimilated by the Borg they’d learn of their existence and come for them. Something like that to spice it up.

I feel for poor Geordi in this one. He's made to seem obsessed with facial hair growth just so that nerds on a BBS won't get snarky about a minor plot hole. I rolled my eyes the first time he *randomly* brought it up, and had to laugh when he brought it up again once the mystery was solved. Yes, Geordi, thanks for clearing that up!

7/10 As soon as this one started I remembered what was coming. I don't know how I remember it or when I saw it last. this has happened with a number of these episodes and speaks to their impact on me I guess. I liked the mystery structure of this one. The wrap up was a little too pat. I wanted to see what they did to solve all of the clues...but I am like that.

4 of 4 stars until the reveal, 1,5 of 4 stars after the reveal. the first half was so good that i felt the need to give two ratings, but the reveal did not really work and was somewhat disappointing... and the solution had some logic holes.

I enjoyed the mystery. However, Picard's is quick to agree to the memory wipes. It also seems that the missing days will eventually be discovered.

Jeffrey Jakucyk

I agree the ending is pretty bad. As a kid I always thought, why didn't Data just say they were out for 24 hours? Or by the end, 72 hours or however long this whole thing took. Sure that wouldn't solve everything, but it should be enough to prevent the mystery from escalating. Also, biochemical stasis doesn't explain anything since they were never in stasis for more than a minute or so (the impression I got from the flashback with the Paxan/Troi was that it would take "one of your days" to prepare for the memory wipe, not that they'd need to be in stasis that long, since the crew needed the day to prepare everything else). So the whole beard growing thing is bunk; their beards didn't grow because they were awake and they shaved just like any other day. Otherwise, the stasis field would have stopped Dr. Crusher's moss from growing too. I find Picard's arguments to the Paxan/Troi to be pretty weak. He should've hit much harder on the "if you destroy us everyone will come searching," but that was just brushed aside. Picard could say their coordinates have already been relayed to Starfleet, so they know where they are. Plus, while there are over 1,000 people on the ship, only the bridge crew and perhaps a few in engineering have any idea what happened. I also agree that Data should've been given an out (either through his programming or Picard's orders) that would let him tell Picard and only Picard something if he got too close to the truth. Data's intransigence, on top of some shockingly incompetent sensor manipulation and off-the-cuff explanations, is what tipped everyone off that something was amiss. The relative time difference to the rest of space is a non-issue as William B pointed out. Wormholes can distort time in-universe, and Data even suggested re-synchronizing their clocks with a nearby starbase, so them losing a day or three is completely plausible.

I like this one. It's a nice mystery and a clever, unusual idea. My only real complaint is that Picard comes up with a solution to the problem in about 30 seconds, on his feet. None of the usual careful deliberation, or discussions around a table with the senior personnel. In one of the other fourth series (that's 'season' in LeftPond) episodes, it's claimed that Data is incapable of lying. Actually I've just checked, and it's literally the previous episode. That's not a proposition that holds up too well in this one. I enjoyed the scene in Dixon Hill's office, but how is it that Guinan - an alien - can be so culturally American, not just human, in every mannerism? But the stockings are a lovely touch. I could have done without the old 'taking over one of the crew's bodies' plot device. It's overdone in the whole franchise and I think unnecessary in this particular story.

Is Ardra's description of Data: "he's an android. He is incapable of deceit or bias. He has no feelings to get in the way of his judgment" necessarily to be taken as an indication that he's flat out incapable of lying? In context she's saying that he'd do his job as an arbiter impartially. Furthermore, how would Ardra know one way or the other? She seems to be extrapolating from the "he's an android" point.

Tannhaueser

I enjoyed this episode precisely because I enjoy a mystery. Yeah, there would be too many clues to remove in a ship of over a thousand. The best solution seems to be to leave Picard (or maybe the entire senior staff) in the know and wipe out everyone else's memory.

James G -"how is it that Guinan - an alien - can be so culturally American, not just human, in every mannerism?" In the episode Time's Arrow we see Guinan living in San Francisco in the 19th century. I don't know if there is any more information regarding this in the canon but it is feasible that she remained in the US for a few more decades.

Hotel bastardos

Awfully reminiscent off the boys from the dwarf.....

The only thing I dislike about this episode is the Casual Way, Picard suggests data would be stripped down to his wires, after passionately defending his right to be an individual in Measure of a Man.” If Data still has rights, then he could be drummed out of Starfleet, even imprisoned. But not destroyed. It’s disappointing for the writers to put those words in a friend’s mouth.

The way I read it is that Picard believes that Starfleet's treatment of Data is contingent on Data's good behaviour, under it all, and that Picard will not be able to protect Data if Data continues to stonewall them. I don't think Picard is deliberately threatening Data on his own behalf, or that he thinks it would be correct if Starfleet does disassemble him. It's one of several moments suggesting that Data's rights are more fragile than is usually let on.

Nice idea, William. I guess we could also suggest that despite having nominal rights at this point, or perhaps only de facto right since Starfleet will not expressly claim Data *does not* have rights, there is still the issue of proper functionality. Unlike biological organisms where we tend to think of their proper functioning as being 'medical', in Data's case it's mechanical *and* an issue of programming. So for instance in Brothers where Data is effectively taken over by Soong, I don't think it would be outrageous for Starfleet to have, in process of stopping him (which in that episode they failed to do), take him apart looking for the mechanical or programming failure. It's not quite the same as a biological being in this sense. And likewise, if it appeared that Data was usurping Starfleet's prerogatives in Clues, perhaps a legitimate and even moral argument could leave room to have his disassembled under the assumption that he is broken or his programming compromised in some way. I'm not sure this would be a violation like 'taking apart' Picard would be if he disobeyed an order, because as far as our understanding of Picard goes, he can't just randomly 'break' in such a way as to cause him to violate Starfleet's commands. But maybe Data could? It's a tough area, even if Starfleet is being completely moral.

@Peter, yeah, that makes sense too. I will add that while the biological crew members can themselves be compromised in many ways (possession, brainwashing), it's unlikely that taking their body apart is going to solve anything. If Data is having a hardware malfunction then disassembly could well find it.

A very enjoyable episode, despite obvious caveats that fail to stand up to much scrutiny (most of which have been listed in detail by other commenters above). While I understand the 'thirty seconds of unconsciousness' ploy on which the plot hinges was intended as a dramatic tool upon which to build an accumulation of further clues, it is strikingly unnecessary and fundamentally undermines the episode. Data simply informing the crew that they had been unconscious for the entire missing day (or two days) would have headed off a slew of later problems, not least with Starfleet. When one considers that Data's freedom is ultimately at stake in choosing this deception, it is a irrationally high risk decision on Data's part. Also, what is stopping Picard and the crew simply repeating their mistake and finding clues the second time round? It is hard to believe a second round of tidying up eliminated absolutely everything when the first round failed to do so and their memories have been wiped. Again, a very high risk approach when the crew's lives are hanging in the balance. That said, the revelation of the clues is very much an intriguing and unsettling mystery, played very well with some memorable performances by Spiner, Stewart and the rest of the crew. Troi's piercing scream and her panic about the mirror (which is never actually explicitly explained) always disturbs me as a true horror moment. Watching this again, I'd also forgotten about the overly lengthy return to Picard's Dixon Hill holodeck fantasy from S1. The inclusion of Guinan (great fun performance by Goldberg as always) makes this more worthwhile than in S1, but Dixon Hill still does not fit with Picard's personality in my opinion.

Oh, and one other puzzling aspect: unless I have misunderstood, we actually see (in the flashback) Picard ordering, in extremely strict, final, and absolute terms, that Data is never to under any circumstances reveal what has transpired. So (again, I cannot help but feel I have missed something here), why does Data ultimately divulge the entire course of events in full detail? I realise it is for the benefit of us the viewers but it has no logical internal justification in the episode. When Paxan-possessed Troi appears on the bridge, and the crew demand an explanation, Data should have continued to say nothing and leave the crew to their confusion. Or did Data reason that, as the Enterprise-D was about to be destroyed by the Paxans, the basis for the original order (avoiding the destruction of the ship) no longer applied? And was Data, during the second round of tidying up the clues, disciplined by Picard for disobeying his original very absolute order? I am being a little facetious on that last point, but it is yet another example of how this (very good) episode unravels if you pull at its fraying edges.

So for the rest of their lives, did everyone on the Enterprise think that they were one day younger than they actually were? Would be kind of funny if that was the case. But wait, there's more. What about the *first* missing day? Did the computer get unwiped? Or now will they be two days behind where they were supposed to be? Or even three days, considering the day that they were conscious again and solved the mystery. Right--better not to think too much about it... but it was a good mystery, and the reveal of "You gave the order, sir" was pretty cool if you hadn't seen it before. Somehow reminds me of that old anti-drug commercial with the kid and his dad -- "You! I learned it from watching you!" They don't make 'em like that anymore, do they? The opening scene was one of Guinan's few good moments in the show. I'll never know why they put a comic actress in a role where she was so drearily serious 99% of the time.

"Clues" seems to be an example of he writers' reach exceeding their grasp. As many have mentioned, the most glaring problem is what happens when they find out they're two days behind everyone else. The 30-second conceit sort of works the first time around, because there has to be a mystery, or there is no episode. But a cleverer team of writers could have kept the time frame accurate, and still left behind enough clues to spur the mystery, while leaving them room to "fix" things on a second attempt without the glaringly obvious problem of 48 missing hours. I credit the writers with a clever, fun episode, but I have to knock them for biting off more than they could chew. I'm surprised the plot holes escaped a team of professional writers. Another issue is why, when it was clear the attempt had failed, Data let them proceed. They were safely away from the Paxans; why not tell Picard what he wants to know? Picard could be trusted to do the right thing, and never mention the Paxans, and between him and Data, they had the resourcefulness and authority to put the mystery to bed, loose ends and all. Speaking of loose ends, more could have been done to tie up the ones dealt with in the show, like what to do with Troi when she starts seeing Candyman or whoever in her own reflection. Anyway, "B+" for ambition, "B" for effort, "C" for execution. I give it 2.75 stars out of 4.

"...the glaringly obvious problem of 48 missing hours." The writers accounted for that by noting that wormholes have time distortion effects. "We're lucky we didn't end up half way across the galaxy in the middle of next week." "Another issue is why, when it was clear the attempt had failed, Data let them proceed. They were safely away from the Paxans; why not tell Picard what he wants to know?" Because Data was following Picard's order to the letter, never to reveal the existence of the Paxans. He was incapable of disobeying that order due to his programming. Once the Paxans revealed themselves through Troi then he was free of that burden. Had Picard worded his order differently, or given Data an out of some sort (which maybe he did do in the second try) then it could've played out differently.

Really Picard should have had a contingency plan such as a video recorded message corroborating the order without the need to reveal anything about the Paxons.

The problem is the Paxans would not have tolerated any plan involving a record or proof that the orders even existed. Even if Picard never learned *why* he gave those orders, he would know he did, and that therefore there was a reason for it. That alone would probably cause the Paxans to kill them all. I think that was going to be their default anyhow, and although this wasn't exactly stated explicitly, the plan to erase *all* evidence of their existence was probably something they bargained as their only chance of survival. I expect anything short of that and the Paxans wouldn't have agreed. So really it had to be a perfectly executed trick.

I knew I was going to enjoy this episode from the moment I saw Riker and Worf practising Tai Chi at the start! I agree largely with Jammer’s review but not with his rating: I’d give this a high 3 stars, maybe even a bit more. The one downside - and it’s quite big - is the cause of it all, especially the takeover of Troi as a mouthpiece. It would have worked better if they had found another way of learning the truth, e.g. by accessing something in Data’s memory and then replaying it. Then they could have avoided the second encounter with the xenophobic aliens, and a completely unnecessary dramatic plot contrivance. This aside, I loved the episode, apart from Picard telling Data “you have free will” - he doesn’t!! He’s an android… Otherwise, Data’s role in this is brilliant and compelling, as always. And the brief Dixon Hill sequence was an added bonus.

DR SOONG: “Relax, Data. I’m going to install a panel of totally unnecessary flashing red, green and yellow lights in your head. That will remind doctors that you are an android. If the colour of your skin and eyes hadn’t already let them know…”

I really did not like Picard in this episode. Data tells you that if you go to this planet you'll put the ship in grave danger. You go to the planet anyway, and waddaya know, the ship is in grave danger. Picard can't show an ounce of trust. And this isn't the first time he's done this either. It's infuriating.

OmicronThetaDeltaPhi

@Areliae To be fair, Data never said anything about danger. He was just acting really weird while also getting caught red-handed lying. Not exactly a situation which garners trust...

I give it three because it's kind of a nifty plot, but there are a large number of flaws. Stewart seemed out of character for much of the episode. It doesn't make any sense that they didn't prepare for the contingency of clues being left behind. There was the weird beard thing which ultimately didn't make sense. Strange they didn't iron that out. Still I think it was good overall. The inexorable accumulation of clues pointing toward Data works very well. I think it works fine on rewatch. I also greatly appreciated that one of the clues was actually wrong-- that Data was one of the few people on board that could injure Worf, but in fact, he didn't do it. That seems extremely rare in Trek. Also Geordi saying Data's technobabble was bs was comical. Though again, characterization seemed off because when do they EVER call bs on technobabble without a lot more navel gazing? Especially with the implication that Picard immediately thought it was bs.

I think there's a plausible explanation for all the oddities in the episode, and that's that we are ultimately seeing Data's recollection of the entire affair, including extrapolation of the events occurring when he wasn't in the room.

@Silly "Also Geordi saying Data's technobabble was bs was comical. Though again, characterization seemed off because when do they EVER call bs on technobabble without a lot more navel gazing." It's indeed funny from the viewer's perspective, but this scene actually makes sense in-universe. Suppose you've been given two paragraphs full of technical jargon in a topic you know absolutely nothing about. Suppose further that you were told one of these pieces is scientifically sound and the other is completely bs. Would you be able to tell which is which? I most certainly wouldn't. To the layman, genuine modern science sounds just as crazy as crackpot science, because the universe is far stranger then what most people can imagine.

I want to see the post credits scene of Data lathering everyone one up at lightning speed! (Except Riker of course).

Oh no, this was at least 3-1/2 for me! It's a great whodunnit, with an excellent combination of technology, science (yes, even Trekkie gobbledy-science), character portrayal, mystery... - the only nitpick might be the explanation, i.e. yet another weird-ass alien species that, yet again, possesses Troi who writhes and swoons around (pretty comically, too, NGL!). I'm also not happy that Picard agreed to bamboozle the Enterprise crew again instead of, somehow, standing his ground and insisting the contact with the species be recorded. These couple points deduct maybe a half a star only though, not more.

It seems very un-Picard like to just give up without a fight and allow some aliens to wipe their memories and computer records. He's made it clear many times that they are all willing to die in the line of duty if necessary, even if he has to blow up the ship himself. Apparently these Paxans are more powerful than the Borg and he decides they'd better just run away though even though we never see what kind of weapons they have other than their sleep cloud which doesn't even affect Data. Why did Guinan seem so clueless about a time period that she actually lived through?

Would it be in character for Picard to insist on staying in the alien's territory even if it would result in violence? When Kevin Uxbridge tells you to skedaddle, well, sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. "Why did Guinan seem so clueless about a time period that she actually lived through?" Well, I was going to say that there isn't any evidence that Guinan stayed on Earth after the Enterprise crew's adventure in San Francisco, but Memory Alpha says that there's an episode of Picard featuring Guinan in 21st century L.A. so so much for that theory.

@OmicronThetaDeltaPhi YES, it actually does make sense in universe. Probably I was more weirded out by Geordi throwing Data under the bus. Technobabble aside, Geordi is both nice and loyal to a fault. To me, this episode is most incongruent in his characterization. He would be bending reality over backwards to make Data sound like he's making sense. Data is his bestie. I think the episode was meant to be bubblegum so it never bothered me.

Probably meant to be bubblegum, but a rather good flavor, so, you know.

Again both enjoyable and, mostly the ending, frustrating ... it felt forced that Data didn't reveal the actual events and order just a bit sooner when it was clear that if he didn't they would be going back and therefore be exposed to the same crisis danger.

BadLieutenant

Anyone else get the sense that Picard still has a residue of memory of these events at the end right before agreeing to the probe. Stewart is a great actor, and there's just a hint of a knowing look in his eye right before agreeing to the probe, almost like "oh yeah, I remember this, but yeah, let's just launch a probe."

Michael Miller

@BadLieutenant Yes! I was thinking the same thing, glad I wasn't the only one who noticed it. Thrilling 4 star episode, but I do have a few problems with it. 1. Picard's almost immediate suggestion of "just wipe everyone's memories with your energy field" was a little impulsive and unreasonable. He should have used the leverage that "if we're destroyed others will find out about your species" to demand a more reasonable compromise. 2. So they trusted Data that he would just blindly obey the captains orders and conceal his knowledge of the Paxons forever? What data should have done is waited until the ship was safely out of their territory, and then reveal everything that happened, inform starfleet and as many other races as possible to avoid that star system. Otherwise any other unfortunate space traveling species could end up in the same predicament they did, with the weirdo Paxons being less patient next time around if they didn't find that species "as worthy". 3. Picard was also a little unreasonable toward the end, he knew Data was trying to act in their best interest, even admitted that he got that feeling early on, yet still insisted on keeping the ship there until Data answered him. Knowing he's a non-biased android yet didnt trust him was weird. He trusted data instantly in that episode where he told him to "drop the shields" before a wavefront hit in that episode with the kid Timothy. He should have agreed to take the ship away and then have Data tell him and starfleet after the fact. 4. The paxons, with the tech they had, it made little sense that they would need to teraform a planet in a remote system just to hide themselves better. They could probably just cloak their own planet, or move it, to begin with. Also, such an advanced species not realizing how destroying their ship would Illicit rescue missions to come and try to find out what happen and how other ships would then be crawling over that system trying to figure out what happened, is dumb. Basically everyone was stupid here, the aliens for thinking destruction was a good idea, Data for possibly not telling star fleet about it once a safe distance away, and Picard putting the ship at risk by not trusting data, but very good episode.

Willy Lovington

I say! What a tricky situation! Ol' Data telling fibs; I'm surprised his nose didn't grow like that wooden chap, with the talking cricket... ah, Pinocchio! That's it. And taking over bodies like that, what scallywags! Who knows what outrages they'd get up to? Why, if I'd have everyone dancing naked around the bridge and singing jolly good songs and broadcast it across subspace. A jolly good prank!

In my 4-star rating scheme, 1/4 means I was actively repelled. 1.5/4 means I was bored and/or found it unconvincing. This episode met both criteria. Their clocks are off by 2 days, and everybody is going to be good with that? Starfleet doesn't track the location of its ships? There are always going to be plot holes, but this one is just to ridiculous to ignore. 1.5/4

Submit a comment

Mobile Site
Staff Directory
Advertise with Ars

Filter by topic

Biz & IT
Gaming & Culture

Front page layout

$$$ —

Boeing’s starliner has cost at least twice as much as spacex’s crew dragon, "risk remains that we may record additional losses in future periods.".

Stephen Clark - Aug 1, 2024 12:27 am UTC

A Starliner spacecraft departs Boeing's spacecraft processing facility before the program's first orbital test flight in 2019.

Boeing announced another financial charge Wednesday for its troubled Starliner commercial crew program, bringing the company's total losses on Starliner to $1.6 billion.

In its quarterly earnings report , Boeing registered a $125 million loss on the Starliner program, blaming delays on the spacecraft's still-ongoing Crew Flight Test, the program's first mission to carry astronauts into orbit. This is not the first time Boeing has reported a financial loss on Starliner. Including the new charge announced Wednesday, Boeing has now suffered an overall loss on the program of nearly $1.6 billion since 2016.

These losses have generally been caused by schedule delays and additional work to solve problems on Starliner. When NASA awarded Boeing a $4.2 billion contract to complete development of the Starliner spacecraft a decade ago, the aerospace contractor projected the capsule would be ready to fly astronauts by the end of 2017.

It turns out the Crew Flight Test didn't launch until June 5, 2024.

In a separate announcement Wednesday, Boeing named Kelly Ortberg as the company’s CEO, effective August 8. He will replace Dave Calhoun, whose tenure as Boeing’s chief executive was marred by scandals with the 737 MAX passenger airplane. Ortberg was previously CEO of Rockwell Collins, now known as Collins Aerospace, a major supplier of avionics and other parts for the aerospace industry.

Boeing is on the hook

When NASA selected Boeing and SpaceX to develop the Starliner and Crew Dragon spacecraft for astronaut missions, the agency signed fixed-price agreements with each contractor. These fixed-price contracts mean the contractors, not the government, are responsible for paying for cost overruns.

So, with each Starliner delay since 2016, Boeing's financial statements registered new losses. It will be Boeing's burden to pay for solutions to problems discovered on Starliner's ongoing crew test flight. That's why Boeing warned investors Wednesday that it could lose more money on the Starliner program in the coming months and years.

"Risk remains that we may record additional losses in future periods," Boeing wrote in an SEC filing.

Taking into account the financial loss revealed Wednesday, NASA and Boeing have committed at least $6.7 billion to the Starliner program since 2010, including expenses for spacecraft development, testing, and the government's payment for six operational crew flights with Starliner.

It's instructive to compare these costs with those of SpaceX's Crew Dragon program, which started flying astronauts in 2020. All of NASA's contracts with SpaceX for a similar scope of work on the Crew Dragon program totaled more than $3.1 billion, but any expenses paid by SpaceX are unknown because it is a privately held company.

SpaceX has completed all six of its original crew flights for NASA, while Boeing is at least a year away from starting operational service with Starliner. In light of Boeing's delays, NASA extended SpaceX's commercial crew contract to cover eight additional round-trip flights to the space station through the end of the 2020s.

Boeing's leaders blame the structure of fixed-price contracts for the losses on the Starliner program. The aerospace giant has similar fixed-price contracts with the Pentagon to develop new two new Air Force One presidential transport aircraft, Air Force refueling tankers, refueling drones, and trainer airplanes. Boeing has reported losses on those programs, too.

SpaceX, meanwhile, has excelled with fixed-price contracts, which NASA uses on several elements of the Artemis program aiming to land astronauts on the Moon. For example, NASA selected SpaceX and Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’s space company, for fixed-price contracts to develop human-rated lunar landers. SpaceX also won a fixed-price contract to provide NASA with a vehicle to deorbit the International Space Station at the end of its life.

Decision time

The first crew mission aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is expected to end sometime in August with the return of NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from the International Space Station. A successful conclusion of the test flight would pave the way for Boeing to start launching its backlog of six operational crew missions to the space station.

But it hasn't been that simple. The Starliner test flight was initially expected to stay at the space station for at least eight days. Before the launch in June, NASA and Boeing officials left open the possibility for a mission extension, but managers didn't anticipate Starliner to still be docked at the space station more than 50 days later.

Mission managers ordered Starliner to stay at the station through the rest of June and July while engineers investigated problems in the spacecraft's propulsion system . There are helium leaks in Starliner's service module, and the craft's small maneuvering thrusters overheated during the final approach for docking at the space station.

NASA, which oversees Boeing's commercial crew contract, is getting close to clearing Starliner for return to Earth, perhaps as soon as next week. On Saturday, ground controllers commanded Starliner to test-fire its maneuvering thrusters, and 27 of the 28 jets appeared to function normally despite overheating earlier in the mission. Despite the leaks, the spacecraft also has ample helium to pressurize its propulsion system, NASA officials said.

Before giving final approval for Starliner to undock from the space station and return to Earth, senior NASA leaders will convene a readiness review to go over the results of the investigation into the propulsion issues.

Boeing has some work to do to find a long-term fix for the helium leaks and overheating thrusters on future Starliner missions. NASA officials hoped a flawless Starliner test flight would allow the agency to formally certify the capsule for regular six-month expeditions to the space station by the end of the year, allowing Boeing to launch the first operational Starliner flight, known as Starliner-1, in February 2025.

Last week, NASA announced a six-month delay for the Starliner-1 mission to allow more time to solve the problems the spacecraft experienced on the crew test flight.

reader comments

Channel ars technica.

Cast & crew
User reviews

Peak Performance

Episode aired Jul 8, 1989

Patrick Stewart, Roy Brocksmith, and Glenn Morshower in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

The crew of the Enterprise participates in war games. The crew of the Enterprise participates in war games. The crew of the Enterprise participates in war games.

Robert Scheerer
Gene Roddenberry
David Kemper
Melinda M. Snodgrass
Patrick Stewart
Jonathan Frakes
LeVar Burton
19 User reviews
9 Critic reviews

Armin Shimerman and David L. Lander in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Top cast 17

Captain Jean-Luc Picard

Commander William Thomas 'Will' Riker

Lieutenant Geordi La Forge

Lieutenant Worf

Counselor Deanna Troi

Lieutenant Commander Data

Wesley Crusher

Doctor Katherine Pulaski

Sirna Kolrami

DaiMon Bractor

Ensign Nagel

Ensign Burke
(uncredited)
Enterprise-D Ops Ensign
Ensign Bennett

Command Division Officer
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

Trivia Wax from a blue candle was used to represent the dilithium pieces.
Goofs ST:TNG Technical Manual says that antimatter cannot be beamed through a transporter without making extensive modifications to the circuitry. Yet Wesley took no such precautions, and was still able to beam it safely. On the other hand, Wesley is a total genius and his project could have involved the creation of a means for containing antimatter that can be beamed. For the story to work, that would be exactly what happened.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard : It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.

Connections Features Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Battle (1987)
Soundtracks Star Trek: The Next Generation Main Title Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage

User reviews 19

planktonrules
Nov 14, 2014
July 8, 1989 (United States)
United States
Official site
Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (Studio)
Paramount Television
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

Runtime 45 minutes
Dolby Digital

More to explore

Cisco Security

Master your goals. innovate. we'll tackle threats..

Get powerful security across all your networks, cloud, endpoints, and email to protect everything that matters, from anywhere.

If it's connected, you're protected

Hacker working at multiple computer screens

Cisco Security “The Hacker”

More connected users and devices creates more complexity. Cisco Security Cloud makes security easier for IT and safer for everyone anywhere security meets the network.

Deliver smarter, stronger security

Protect your organization across a multicloud environment, while simplifying security operations, improving scalability, and driving data-informed outcomes, powered by Cisco Talos.

Unlock better user experiences

Create a seamless experience that frustrates attackers, not users, by granting access from any device, anywhere, and adding more proactive security controls.

Deliver cost-effective defenses

Improve ROI by consolidating vendors, reducing complexity and integrating your security.

Strengthen security resilience

Unified, end-to-end protection maximizes value, minimizes risk, and closes security gaps everywhere to defend against evolving threats. Protect access, apps, and innovation across your network to secure your future.

Cisco Secure Firewall

Better visibility and actionable insights across networks, clouds, endpoints, and email allows users to respond confidently to the most sophisticated threats at machine scale.

Featured security products

Cisco hypershield.

A new groundbreaking security architecture that makes hyperscaler technology accessible to enterprises of all sizes and delivers AI-native security for modern data centers and cloud.

Cisco Secure Access (SSE)

A converged cybersecurity solution, grounded in zero trust, that radically reduces risk and delights both end users and IT staff by safely connecting anything to anywhere.

Detect the most sophisticated threats sooner across all vectors and prioritize by impact for faster responses.

Cisco Multicloud Defense

Gain multidirectional protection across clouds to stop inbound attacks, data exfiltration, and lateral movement.

Secure applications and enable frictionless access with strong MFA and more. Establish user and device trust, gain visibility into devices, and enable secure access to all apps.

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Simplify highly secure network access control with software-defined access and automation.

Security Suites delivered by Cisco Security Cloud

Cisco User Protection Suite

Get secure access to any application, on any device, from anywhere. Defend against threats targeting users and deliver seamless access for hybrid work.

Cisco Cloud Protection Suite

Secure your apps and data with a powerful, flexible framework for a hybrid and multicloud world.

Cisco Breach Protection Suite

Secure your business by investigating, prioritizing, and resolving incidents through unified defense and contextual insights from data-backed, AI-powered security.

Customer stories and insights

Global partnerships fight to end child exploitation together.

"Marriott has long championed human rights and human trafficking awareness. Combating CSAM is an important extension of that work. The IWF provided the level of rigor we needed in a URL list, and Cisco's security technology provided the means to easily apply it."

Abbe Horswill, Director, Human Rights and Social Impact

Company: Marriott International

The NFL relies on Cisco

"From securing stadiums, broadcasts, and fans to protecting the largest live sporting event in America, the right tools and the right team are key in making sure things run smoothly, avoiding disruptions to the game, and safeguarding the data and devices that make mission-critical gameday operations possible."

Add value to security solutions

Cisco Security Enterprise Agreement

Instant savings

Experience security software buying flexibility with one easy-to-manage agreement.

Services for security

Let the experts secure your business

Get more from your investments and enable constant vigilance to protect your organization.

Sharpen your security insights

Cisco Cybersecurity Viewpoints

Set your vision to a more secure future with Cisco Cybersecurity Viewpoints. With specialized content from podcasts to industry news, you'll walk away with a deeper understanding of the trends, research, and topics in our rapidly changing world.

IMAGES

Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Thine Own Self aired February 12
Star Trek: Exploring TNG’s Most Traumatizing Moments
Star Trek TNG: Data has a faulty memory.
Die Operation
That's All, Folks: Star Trek: The Next Generation Finale
TNG Copied One Of Star Trek's Best TOS Episodes (& Failed)

COMMENTS

"Star Trek: The Next Generation" Conundrum (TV Episode 1992)
Conundrum: Directed by Les Landau. With Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn. When an approaching alien ship wipes their memory, the crew struggles to put back together what happened.
Conundrum (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
List of episodes. " Conundrum " is the 14th episode of the fifth season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the 114th episode overall. It aired in syndication starting February 10, 1992. In this episode, the entire crew suffers complete memory loss after an unknown alien ship scans the Enterprise.
Conundrum (episode)
After the crew's memories are mysteriously erased, the computer records indicate that the Federation is at war with the Lysians, and that the Enterprise has been ordered to attack their command center. "Captain's log, Stardate 45494.2. We're investigating a series of subspace signals that may indicate intelligent life in the Epsilon Silar system. We are within sensor range." As the crew is ...
Clues (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
The Enterprise investigates a T Tauri class star system with a single Class M planet that was picked up on a long-range sensor scan near the Ngame Nebula. As they approach the planet, the ship encounters a wormhole and everyone except Lt. Commander Data briefly loses consciousness. When the crew regains their senses, some of the ship's sensors suggest it has been nearly a day since the ...
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" Thine Own Self (TV Episode 1994 ...
Thine Own Self: Directed by Winrich Kolbe. With Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn. Data is sent to follow a probe that has drifted off course and crashed on a primitive planet, only to crash on the planet himself, with no memory of any event prior to crashing on the planet's surface.
Thine Own Self
Thine Own Self. " Thine Own Self " is the 168th episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the 16th episode of the seventh season . Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. In this episode, Data, suffering from ...
"Conundrum"
Star Trek: The Next Generation ... More importantly though was the fact that, for all their memory loss, the crew was able to retain its Starfleet training and Federation principle of not firing upon a technologically inferior and practically defenceless species, and of giving a potentially deadly situation the benefit of their doubt rather ...
Star Trek TNG
From Conundrum Season 5, McDuff is an imposter following the crew losing their memory.
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" Conundrum (TV Episode 1992)
ST:TNG:114 - "Conundrum" (Stardate: 45494.2) - this is the 14th episode of the 5th season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. After an unidentified alien ship scans the Enterprise, all aboard lose their memories, only knowing that they can pilot the ship.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Data inexplicably loses his memory while on a mission and wanders into a village carrying radioactive material he was sent to retrieve. Watch Star Trek: The Next Generation — Season 7, Episode ...
The Loss (episode)
Counselor Troi loses her empathic powers; the Enterprise is slowly pulled off course by an unknown force existing in two-dimensional form into a deadly cosmic string. The USS Enterprise-D is heading to T'lli Beta and won't arrive for several days. On the bridge, Lieutenant Worf temporarily sees strange readings. After being unable to pinpoint the source of the strange patterns (initially ...
Star Trek: The Next Generation S5E14 "Conundrum"
The Enterprise approaches the Lysian defense perimeter and is attacked by sentry ships, and promptly blows them out of space with a rapid-fire spread of phaser blasts. A page for describing Recap: Star Trek: The Next Generation S5E14 "Conundrum". Original air date: February 10, 1992 It's a typical day on the Enterprise.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation, often abbreviated to TNG, is the second live-action Star Trek television series, and the first set in the 24th century. Like its predecessors, it was created by Gene Roddenberry. Produced at Paramount Pictures, it aired in first-run syndication, by Paramount Television in the US, from September 1987 to May 1994. The series was set in the 24th century and ...
[Star Trek TNG] In the episode Clues, Picard orders Data to ...
The whole memory wipe/swearing Data to secrecy thing happened twice in the episode, and your question is actually answered during the first time it happens - Picard tries to force Data to tell him what happened, and Data refuses until there is no longer any point to keeping the secret. ... So honestly for a starship crew to lose 30 seconds, or ...
star trek
I remember an episode in Star Trek TNG (probably first season) where Data is describing some of his internal workings. Among them, he lists that he is equipped with "12 quadrillion" bytes for memory storage. If my math is right that is 12 petabytes. It seems to me that is severely short for the amount of data he collects every single day.
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" Thine Own Self (TV Episode 1994 ...
ST:TNG:168 - "Thine Own Self" (Stardate: 47611.2) - this is the 16th episode of the 7th and last season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Data is sent to a preindustrial planet Barkon IV to retrieve radioactive material from a crashed probe but somehow something goes wrong and he loses his memory.
The Loss
The Loss. " The Loss " is the 84th episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the tenth episode of the fourth season. It originally aired on December 31, 1990. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D.
Clues (episode)
The crew of the Enterprise wakes up after apparently passing through a wormhole, finding mysteries surrounding their blackout. Data begins to act suspiciously, prompting the command staff to wonder if he has been compromised. After completing a mission early at Harrakis V, the crew of the USS Enterprise is granted extra personal time to pursue their interests, with Worf instructing a mok'bara ...
"Clues"
Fri, Mar 7, 2008, 12:37am (UTC -5) Ah, good to see some brand spanking new Jammer reviews. You were a little hard on "Devil's Due." Yeah, it's pretty corny, but it's certainly watchable, especially compared to the snooze-fest "Suddenly Human." I thought "Clues" was a good example of the Trek crew-member-acting-inexplicably-weird genre.
Boeing's Starliner has cost at least twice as much as SpaceX's Crew
In its quarterly earnings report, Boeing registered a $125 million loss on the Starliner program, blaming delays on the spacecraft's still-ongoing Crew Flight Test, the program's first mission to ...
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" Peak Performance (TV Episode 1989)
Peak Performance: Directed by Robert Scheerer. With Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn. The crew of the Enterprise participates in war games.
Remember Me (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
List of episodes. " Remember Me " is the 79th episode of the syndicated American science-fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the fifth episode of the fourth season . Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. This episode focuses on the ship's ...
Cisco Security Products and Solutions
"From securing stadiums, broadcasts, and fans to protecting the largest live sporting event in America, the right tools and the right team are key in making sure things run smoothly, avoiding disruptions to the game, and safeguarding the data and devices that make mission-critical gameday operations possible."
Peak Performance (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
List of episodes. " Peak Performance " is the twenty-first and penultimate episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 47th episode overall, first broadcast on July 10, 1989. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation ...