I would like nothing better than to forget it. I still have visions of George Hill ensnaring Bozeman bridge officers with his tentacles. --Sran
Two women, actually. A straight-haired brunette in a command lieutenant's uniform, supposedly the first officer per the script (whom I named Parvana Whitcomb), and a curly-haired redhead in what appears to be an engineering uniform (whom I named Claudia Alisov).
Interesting names. Are they based on people you know, or did you create them from scratch? I rather enjoyed the scenes featuring Kirk and Spock just before the Bozeman disappeared, especially Bateson's surprise when he realized Kirk was commanding the Enterprise. --Sran
Although it really could have done without Picard watching "Balance of Terror" on the holodeck, I thought Ship of the Line was enjoyable. It was nice to see it referenced in Cold Equations: Silent Weapons
I was going for time-travel in-jokes. Whitcomb was a character from Poul Anderson's first Time Patrol story. I think I just picked Parvana because the actress looked like she could be nonwhite and I wanted to add a bit of diversity. Claudia is in reference to Claudia Wells from Back to the Future, and Alisov is an indirect reference to The Time Tunnel's Lee Meriwether (who also played Catwoman, aka "Miss Kitka" Alisoff, in the 1966 Batman movie). Again, I was looking for a bit more diversity, which is why I didn't call her McGregor (Meriwether's Time Tunnel character name).
I actually enjoyed the reenactment, as it provided fascinating insight into the differences between ship masters of Kirk's time and those of Picard's. The alpha quadrant of The Original Series was a lot like the Old West. Ships were often left to their own devices when attempting to avert a crisis. Kirk was accountable to Starfleet brass, but as far as he was concerned, whether the Federation went to war against Romulus was his decision. Thanks for the explanation, Christopher! I love Back to the Future, so any mention of those films makes me smile. They're probably part of the reason why I enjoy time travel stories so much. --Sran
Thanks to this discussion - I've reserved Watching the Clock from my library, looking forward to reading it
I always shared this interpretation. How could the Bozeman be looping through its impact with the Enterprise decades before the Enterprise shows up? Poor Bozeman, two separate temporal anomalies right at once! Stay out of the Typhon Expanse, I guess.
Well, sure, but it suggests a causal discontinuity that I don't think is otherwise implied by the episode.
When the Bozeman entered the anomaly, it was transported forward in time to 2368, so there was no wait for the Enterprise to show up. Well said. --Sran
Precisely. What I'm suggesting is that the loop existed only in 2368, so the Bozeman would not have encountered the loop- and the Enterprise- until it traveled forward in time by passing through the anomaly. When the Enterprise became caught in the loop, it experienced the Bozeman's arrival several times before finally breaking the cycle, but the Bozeman would only have experienced the scenario once from its crew's perspective. I don't know that any of what I'm suggesting makes sense, but it's an explanation that seems to fit the available facts. --Sran
I always looked at is as the Bozeman jumps forward in time, due to a spacial anomaly and immediately encounters the Enterprise, the destruction of which while in the anomaly begins the causality loop. Both ships are caught for 17 days. So the dejavu effects on the Bozeman wouldn't be any worse than on the Enterprise.
The Bozeman's time in each cycle of the loop would also be brief, as they only appear just before the collision. --Sran
I'm just relived Mr. Bennett didn't forget there was a WOMAN on the bridge of the Bozeman like Miss Carey did.