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Should Yesterday's Enterprise have been a multi episode arc?

ConRefit79

Captain
Captain
Should Yesterday's Enterprise have been a multi episode arc? I was thinking as good as it was, that a few episodes in the parallel world where Picard and crew are at war with the Klingons may have been better. Maybe they would meet Worf in battle.
 
Didn't Berman or Braga say that if they had known they were going to have TNG movies, they would've saved Yesterday's Enterprise until then?
 
No. Take a look at how TNG dealt with two-part episodes: they would write and produce the first episode with a big cliffhanger and not bother writing (or outlining) the second episode until much later.

They had an inability to do any long-term planning, so, no, I don't want them to destroy a great episode by making it an aimless multi-story arc.
 
Of course the episode is fine as it is, but I wouldn't mind some expansion of certain scenes, some breathing room to see what life was like on the Enterprise in this particular timeline or the Federation in general. It might've been interesting to have done an episode per year in this alternate timeline, like DS9 did with the Mirror Universe and "Enterprise" apparently wanted to do. Of course, that would mean changing the end of this episode - it seems heavily implied that the Enterprise doesn't survive its encounter with the Klingons at the anomaly. I suppose it could have, somehow, but that doesn't seem the way it was going.

But I agree that the way TNG handled most of its two-parters, it probably wouldn't have worked as well as we'd hope it would have in hindsight.
 
While more certainly would have been interesting, I think think the episode works almost perfectly as-is. About the only thing that seems rushed is the "romance" between Yar and whats-his-name. But aside from that, the episode skillfully portrays very subtle-yet-poignant elements about the nature of the alternate reality. Anything more would have run the risk of redundancy.
 
I wonder what might have happened if the cast of TNG took turns reading the log entries of the E-C and they did flashback episodes?
Eh, it probably wouldn't work, doubt if anybody gets what I'm suggesting.

James
 
I think I might one of the very few who think this episode is highly over-rated. So, no, I don't think it would make a good two-parter.
 
How would a multi-season arc have worked?

Alternate Picard (well the Picard in the war reality) said that the Federation had about six months until there was no choice to surrender. Six months is about half a season, since one season is supposed to be one calendar year in the Trek universe.

I guess one good way is that the war reality crew know they will lose the war, and somehow jump universes and try and enlist the normal reality Enterprise to help them.
 
Well if you follow the logic used in Trek XI and the episode Worf hops or "slides" from parallel universe to universe, that one did not cease to exist.

It was just a thought. You're right, their two parters fell flat in follow up episodes. Primarily because they built up major risks, losing Picard or Data, then pressed the reset button. And we kind of got to see a war between Feds and Klingons in DS9.
 
I felt the episode was good enough as a stand-alone. When I watch it I don't find myself wishing there was more content. So, I guess I'm somewhat... neutral on the subject.
 
I love the episode, but think it did fine in 42 minutes. I really couldn't taken much more of Enterprise Cs crew anyway, they left me flat.

I WOULD like to have seen the Wesley decapitation scene from the script though.
 
I think a multi episode arc would cause the episode to drag and make it less effective. Although it would have been great if it was five to ten more minutes longer. Sorta like how the Doctor Who season finales tend to be slightly longer than an average episode.
 
I love the episode, but think it did fine in 42 minutes. I really couldn't taken much more of Enterprise Cs crew anyway, they left me flat.

See, the only reason I could see for extending the episode would be to focus on the Enterpise C crew. I get that they left you flat, and I think that's the problem. If they had more time to flesh out the crew, then their sacrifice would have had more meaning. As it is, we only got a little on Captain Garrett and Lt. Castillo and neither one really made me feel for them as the Enterprise C went off to meet its fate.
 
If TNG was Lost then the E-D (or familiar crew) would have ended up going back with Yar and the season would have been about restoring the timeline. :)
 
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