CLUES Ahh, a quality episode at last! THIS is an episode which kept me guessing, probably more so than even "Remember Me". It may be the best sheer "mystery" episode Star Trek has turned out. It did, however, have its bad points. Three to be precise. The first I'll cover early and quickly, and leave the other two for last: I didn't care for the Dixon Hill intro. Very slow, very tedious, and I don't really need to have the theme of "clues" introduced in such a manner. Some BRIEF exposition from Picard, perhaps to Guinan, about the nature of mysteries would have sufficed. Even better would have been a more innocuous sequence of events: A display of reasoning during a bridge game (though that might have been a bit esoteric for those who don't play bridge), or maybe a critical discussion about a Sherlock Holmes story ("Well, *I* thought it was a good mystery." "I thought it was rather obvious." That sort of thing - you know, the stuff r.a.s people can appreciate it, since we devote part of our lives to it right here! :-) Oh, well. From there, the show picked up steam as we swung into the mystery. At first I figured some energy form had mutated Dr. Crusher's plants, but I was delighted at what had ACTUALLY happened. Almost every step was followed nice and logically. Almost. There was one fatal flaw in the mystery: The Enterprise is not an island. Beyond its walls exists a great organization called Starfleet, and beyond that, the Klingons. And Romulans. And Ferengi, Tholians, Gorns, Cardassians, First Federation, and so on. All of them have their own clocks, and surely SOMEONE on the Enterprise can remember what day it was when they were knocked unconscious. Once Picard was convinced that something was up, time-wise, why not just call Starfleet and get a time-check? Correlate the information with the whole crew, forget the ship's computer and Data, and figure out if there is or is not something fishy going on. And that, ultimately, is the downfall of the episode. They "try again" to cover the problem up from themselves, but I simply cannot believe they could catch everything. A brief list of things that need to be caught: - How to patch up Worf's wrist PERFECTLY. - How to account for the disappearance of some more spores to replace those used in Dr. Crusher's experiment. The Enterprise keeps precise records, and no doubt Starfleet also keeps them. Are these Vulcans on the ship who routinely memorize information such as what is in the ship's stores? Problem. And how to account for any food eaten between the first encounter and the second? And engine fuel spent? - How to account for the damnable difference between the Enterprise's clock and Starfleet's, if they were only out for 30 seconds? Remember, they have now lost more than TWO DAYS of their lives. This would have been more credible if Data had actually said that they'd been out for two days, and attributed it to some strange effect, or some such thing. - And what about the women's menstrual cycles? Especially those on something like the birth control pill? In my experience, the pill can make at least some women get their periods every four weeks, to the DAY. - Any newborns aboard the ship, whose aging in 48 hours might be more noticible? Or people with the 48 hour flu, or some such thing? Were they sure to reinfect them? It was all left too abstract for me to be able to believe it fully. I have the feeling that they originally had some throwaway line filmed about a post-hypnotic suggestion planted by the xenophobes, but it was cut out. Bad move. That could have cleared up just about everything. The third and final disappointment in the episode is that they didn't even touch on the moral ramifications of the decision to wipe the memories of the crew. This is a complex issue. Would Picard be willing to wipe someone's mind even if they objected, despite the threat to the ship as a whole? Good question. Ultimately, I think this 'problem' falls under the same category that many TNG episode do: The story was too ambitious for its own good, and it simply wasn't possible to hit on everything that a fully fleshed-out story demanded. (Minor nit-pick: Recalling "Brothers" from earlier this season, I was disappointed that Picard didn't take steps to prevent Data from pulling another hijack, just in case. He certainly seemed to be warranted in doing so. Oh, well.) But, in the end, I did enjoy the mystery, if I ignored the flaws. A nice bit of reasoning, carefully handled. The acting seemed to be of remarkably high calibre this time around as well. Data's "lean" while looking at the viewscreen early in the episode was especially striking. He is indeed getting more human, or at least less stiff in his visual appearance. Overall, flawed, but fun. Grade: B SEASON FOUR TO DATE: The Best Of Both Worlds Part Two: C- Family: A- Brothers: B Suddenly Human: C Remember Me: A+ Legacy: D+ Reunion: B Future Imperfect: D- Final Mission: B The Loss: D- Data's Day: B- The Wounded: C- Devil's Due: C- Clues: B --- Total Points: 32 1/3 Average: 2.310 = C+ (Rise of 0.053 from previous episode) Reality check: About as good as "Final Mission" and "Reunion", check (now that I've finally gotten around to adjusting my grade for "Reunion", since I feel guilty leaving it with a grade I no longer agree with :-) Perhaps a little better than "Brothers", but not much.