“A Matter Of Time” (5×09)
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This is an unconventional sort of time travel episode, because only the guest star is doing the time traveling. And because he’s coming from the past, the writers are able to break Gene Roddenberry’s rules about the evolved state of humanity to tell a story about a guy who mugged somebody and stole his shit.
And while all of that is being dealt with, there’s also a crisis with the fate of a planet at stake to contend with. Penthara IV is home to a Federation colony that dates back to at least Kirk’s era, if not earlier, and is now 20 million people strong. After an asteroid collision filled the atmosphere with dust and ash that blocked most of the sunlight from getting through, the planet was facing the prospect of an Ice Age. The locals responded by developing a plan to trigger immediately and profound global warming by filling the atmosphere with carbon dioxide to trap the heat from the little sunlight that does get through at the surface. Soon the Enterprise-D and the locals are grappling with a series of man-made calamities that make the natural one feel like child’s play.
Matt Frewer is in his sweet spot here, playing someone who is playful and gregarious but also subtly menacing.
A separate observation about HD-remastered TNG:
I really love the CG-rendered planets that have replaced the standard definition originals; combined with the first rate model photography for the ships, and the final product looks like a million bucks.
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