I liked the Bridge, but I do think that if they kept that design for the whole show they'd have to brighten the lights a little. But the black floors and blue/grey coloring were better than the tan and carpeted floors.
I have no complaints about the visuals at all, only about aspects of the plot. I don't think having Guinan aboard a pure military battleship in wartime made any sense at all, and I think the story would have been stronger if Tasha's sacrifice had been through her own bravery, rather than because of some heavy-handed mystical plot exposition from Guinan (who - did I mention? - shouldn't have even been there)..
I liked it all. It was a brilliant episode. I especially liked the director's choice to show the temporal "transition" by focusing on Picard's face -- you notice the subtleties of facial expression, uniform, posture, and darkness.
I pretty much liked everything about this episode, and especially the altered Enterprise! It was a very dark episode, and the redesigned bridge added to a feeling of eeriness throughout the entire episode, which really worked well. Also, if I recall correctly, the redesigned bridge from Yesterday's Enterprise played a big influence in designing the widescreen version of the bridge for Generations.
The Bridge design for YE and GEN was closer to what the set designer wanted the Bridge to always look like, but Roddenberry thought it was too military and that they wouldn't have enough extras to man the stations all the time. As for Guinan, without her there'd be no way for anyone to know to send the ENT-C back, it's something you just have to accept. Maybe Picard kept her on board for her guidance in some situations.
I also liked the way this episode looked. I think the dimmer lights and darker colors on the bridge helped a lot with the visuals of the episode. The uniforms worked well too I thougth. As far as Guinan is concerned, I agree with Anwar that maybe she was there in a guidance type way. Troi wasn't there for that episode, so they needed someone else to fill the quotient of "knowing/feeling" something wasn't quite right about the whole situation.
I remember the first time I saw this episode, I knew something had happened when the face shot of Picard phases in as the E-C emerges but I was really surprised when he turned around yelling for a report to see Tasha. It played well as if thats the way things had always been. I also like the little differences such as the more cold and distant relationship between Riker and Picard without having to show them with open hostility. I would have kept the collars of the revised uniforms but the sleeves and tin foil belt can go. I also really liked the bridge design, I always felt the command seats should have been more raised but id still keep Riker and Trois seat, actually it would have been interesting to have just 2 seats on the rise similar to how in Voyager the 1st officer sits next to the captain.
^ I really don't think the two seats would be effective in the Yesterday's Enterprise setting. When designing Voyager's bridge (according to Star Trek The Magazines article on it) they were trying to make it seem that the Captain and First Officer were equals and that's why they only had two seats in the center. In the military Enterprise of this episode they weren't. There was a novel planned but shelved that delved deeper into the events of this episode and played on the script information. Riker didn't think Picard was deserving of the Enterprise and felt that since it was wartime he should be captain rather than the older and more diplomatic Picard.
I thought the bridge looked awesome. It was very military and very cool. However if they had that bridge throughout the whole series... I don't think I would have liked it as much.
Maybe Guinan was the Morale Officer of the Enterprise-D? It's possible she may have been the counselor even.
I don't see why Troi wouldn't still be the ship's Counselor. Just because she wasn't on the Bridge doesn't mean she doesn't exist anymore. It's just that a Counselor wouldn't have much reason to be on a Battleship's Tactical Center.
I did not like the darkened bridge. I prefer the original uniforms. Picard was good, perhaps he should have remained that bold for the rest of the show, then "maybe" I may have had more respect for him as a captain and a leader. When it comes to boldness, a Kathryn Janeway he will never be.
Ireally liked the character of Castillo,a nice performance too from an actor who too often gets cast as a smoothie.A pity that Castillo was never seen again.
Guinan was there because she is partially out of time in the sense of being partially trapped in the Nexus.
Watching YE now. Always thought this was a fantastic episode and very creative way to bring Yar back (and further use her during the Klingon/Romulan war arc and during Reunification) and I think it nicely shows how Yar would've probably fared during TNG's mood/quality shift between S2 and S3.