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Star Trek has been on the air for almost forty years with the occasional drop in show production (most notably during the seventies). However this soon all changed in the late eighties in television with the height of the genres success being reached with the second series, Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG). This series features the ultimate captain played by Patrick Stewart and an excellent supporting cast; with the guest stars always reaching a level of acting that is a hard act to follow - even for the successors of TNG. By far the most influential episode of early season three; it was introduced to this pieces author with the line; "A time rift changing the course of history; now it's 'Yesterday's Enterprise'..." (BBC 2 Commentator, circa 1997). Being 11 years old at the time of this episodes airing (the second for the BBC) this episode had a profound impact upon a person who had recently become a Trek fan. The crew are very familiar at the beginning of the episode; Guinan is giving Worf a run for his money by providing an Earth drink - prune juice - that he states is "a warrior's drink." Beyond this point the joviality of the episode is very much placed back on the shelf as some kind of spatial phenomenon is detected by the Enterprise's sensors and they drop out of warp to investigate. Once the Klingon has reported to the bridge Picard et al try to unravel this mystery that this rift offers - at the time the viewer cannot help but think that something is terribly wrong here. Which is why this is one of the best-remembered episodes of TNG, the suspense is kept up throughout without lapsing into an environment that might not satisfy even the most hardcore Star Trek fan. But satisfy is what "Yesterday's Enterprise" does best on every level of drama, special effects and character development - though for the latter this is severely limited due to the very nature of the episodes plotline. Just as the teaser kicks-off, the interweaving of Picard, Riker, Worf and Data's confusion on the sensor readings is brilliant and serves to highlight the imminent change that will certainly alter the Star Trek we know forever. Just as Picard asks Data to elaborate on his hypothesis Worf reports that a ship is on the verge of leaving the soon to be named rift and just as it appears, a shimmering effect occurs leaving us with the face if Picard we had - but something is wrong. The lighting seems to be a little darker, the good captain's collar on his uniform has been raised more than a little and his face is angrier looking than a few moments before. This all comes to a head when he states in the usual commanding tone "Report lieutenant." the next few seconds are more than shocking, it defies death entirely as the lieutenant who is revealed is not Worf... but one Tasha Yar. Without lingering on the moment for a second longer than is necessary, the camera focuses on the vessel leaving the rift and is soon identified by Yar as being the "NCC-1701-C, USS Enterprise...." The rest of the episode follows a very similar pattern: normality, a hint of danger, revelation and finally SHOCK! The chord is struck perfectly and one cannot deny the writers and directors good fortune for sticking to a familiar way of portraying the episode, while at the same time everything that we are used to in the series is turned on it's head. We will not cover the entire episode here, for that the original episode script will be provided for the reader to pore over until their hearts content. Aspects of the episode are chillingly presented to the viewer, for example though the crew are the ones we have always known (though both Worf and Troi have both disappeared) their personalities reflect the darker lives they have led. To put it in a nutshell the Federation has been at war with the Klingon for twenty years, more than half of Starfleet has been lost and they are at the brink of losing the conflict that has cost over forty billion lives. Wesley Crusher is now a full ensign and though appears to be the same, war is all that he has known all of his life and his dedication to duties reflects this new pattern - there are no scientific experiments, just a plain focus on attempting to win the war. Though this is carried forward with the rest of the characters the non-regular cast seems to provide the biggest "punch" within the episode. Tricia O'Neil as Rachel Garrett is a good character that serves to show that a female captain has commanded the starship Enterprise - an issue that had been talked about and would later be fully addressed in Star Trek: Voyager. Christopher McDonald also gives a good performance as Lieutenant Richard Castillo who later go on to develop romantic affections for Tasha Yar, Denise Crosby who returns to bring Yar back from the dead and Whoopi Goldberg providing an unforgettable performance as Guinan. The latter two actresses pull-off what could have otherwise been a wasted episode, to bring a real sense that something has gone terribly wrong with the timeline. One major factor is the Enterprise herself - now referred to as a Federation battleship. When the battle takes place toward the end of the episode you get to see the ship in action fighting until the end - even when Riker is dead, Picard takes over the tactical station milking out every last breath of life from the vessel before the timeline is restored after the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-C travels back through the rift to meet it's destiny. As well as all the action that takes place within the bulk of "Yesterday's Enterprise" in order to involve Yar more - a character that had been "missing" from TNG for almost two years - a romantic arc is setup between her and Castillo. This had mixed reactions, it appealed to some as it provided a glimpse of their favourite character whilst others were less convinced as in their eyes the arc detracted away from the action. But no matter what the view, if they hadn't had feelings for one another it may have been extremely unlikely that Yar would have gone back through the rift with the Enterprise-C and thus pollute the entire Star Trek timeline from 2344 onwards - in fact it has been noted that every single episode beyond this one is a "fake" and even to this day Trek lives in an alternate, third timeline. Enjoy this section and consider it a celebration of the height of Star Trek's success, as rarely has there been so many shocks in one episode as "Yesterday's Enterprise."
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