TNG Rewatch: 4x14 "Clues"

[Makarov]

True but their first thought after the problem occurs is killing them. So your survival is a roll of a dice if you run into these guys.

 

[Tiberius]

And now you have an incredibly more elaborate story and set of conditions to pass off than they already had. Faking a distress call in the ship's records, faking medical tricorder readings to indicate a reason to believe they'd be safe for a day unconscious. faking computer records to indicate that the vitals of every crew member had been monitored for a whole day, a very suspicious story about Data taking over 1000 people to their beds by himself, not to mention the scattered reports of minor injuries, which either Data would have to claim he treated, or fake that they never happened, and no one aboard got even the slightest sprain when they all fell unconscious

That's a monumental stretch of imagination if you want people to just move on without invoking the curiosity to investigate. The best lies are the simplest lies. The more elaborate a lie is, the more likely the house of cards will collapse

But that's exactly what happened anyway. In this case the simplest lie is too simple to withstand scrutiny.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

I do love Data doing "The Riker" on the OPS console. I have to believe Spiner was just mocking Frakes on set and the director loved it enough to actually shoot him doing that. Even then, it does add to how Data adopts certain mannerisms from Picard and Riker when he has to take command as seen in later episodes.

 

[Trekker4747]

I don't think we've ever seen Data do the "Picard Maneuver", though.

 

[Kevman7987]

I do love Data doing "The Riker" on the OPS console. I have to believe Spiner was just mocking Frakes on set and the director loved it enough to actually shoot him doing that. Even then, it does add to how Data adopts certain mannerisms from Picard and Riker when he has to take command as seen in later episodes.

Thankfully Data isn't doing the Riker Maneuver with the "correct" left leg and shoving his android crotch right in his ensign's ear.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

I don't think we've ever seen Data do the "Picard Maneuver", though.

He does in "Gambit, Part II".

 

[Kaelef]

The fact that the crew thinks it's "Monday" when the rest of Starfleet thinks it's "Tuesday" (or "Thursday" if you take into account all the extra time the second attempt took up) is a core flaw in this episode that really isn't addressed by the single line Data throws out about "adjusting chronometers". Even if every other clue were eliminated, this would be enough of an issue to unravel the case every time.

Also, Crusher's "transporter trace" clue didn't really make sense. She says it was based on our 24 hour bio cycle, but if they lost somewhere near 24 hours, then the cycle would be "reset", and she shouldn't have noticed a big difference when making her comparison. (Her explanation would've made sense if they'd lost 12 hours instead.)

Picard giving up essentially immediately was also weird. What proof was there that the aliens had the ability to destroy the Enterprise? What attempt at other solutions did Picard make?

It was an interesting premise and entertaining episode for many reasons. Putting Data in a situation where he had to lie to the crew is a great idea and a good old sci-fi trope (I was immediately reminded of HAL-9000). I only wish they'd spent a little more time working out the logic holes.

 

[Nakita Akita]

You all sure do think a lot.
I just figured it's all okay due to the cross flux of the bussard collector, with the inhibition of a tachyon emission because of the relative proximity of the worm hole.

 

[Timo]

The fact that the crew thinks it's "Monday" when the rest of Starfleet thinks it's "Tuesday" (or "Thursday" if you take into account all the extra time the second attempt took up) is a core flaw in this episode that really isn't addressed by the single line Data throws out about "adjusting chronometers". Even if every other clue were eliminated, this would be enough of an issue to unravel the case every time.

Wasn't this discussed back in, umm, 2014 or so...?

It doesn't appear likely that there'd be much of a universal Tuesday in Starfleet. Starships zip back and forth through spatiotemporal anomalies, Einsteinian accelerations and other weirdness. They then connect to this common timebase when they get the chance - and sometimes this may happen just once a year or so, as we hear in "Contagion" and the like that Starfleet is perfectly happy with not hearing as much as a whisper about its big ships for half a year. Synching isn't in great demand, then, and only happens when convenient.

Before next synching with the timebase, Data could no doubt easily fudge the numbers so that innocuous time anomalies (real or fake) would perfectly account for the grand total.

Also, Crusher's "transporter trace" clue didn't really make sense. She says it was based on our 24 hour bio cycle, but if they lost somewhere near 24 hours, then the cycle would be "reset", and she shouldn't have noticed a big difference when making her comparison. (Her explanation would've made sense if they'd lost 12 hours instead.)

Isn't Crusher actually saying that she can measure the stage in the sleep/awake cycle of the patient? She would then be able to tell that the heroes have slept for a very long time. This would not reset even when the hands of the clock again coincided with the moment everybody started their nap.

Of course, that shouldn't work, because the crew weren't accumulating sleeping hours - they were in stasis, doing exactly nothing, no breathing, no heartbeat.

Picard giving up essentially immediately was also weird. What proof was there that the aliens had the ability to destroy the Enterprise? What attempt at other solutions did Picard make?

Considering the manner in which the first attempt failed, Picard seems to be going for a winning tactic. Sooner or later, the amnesia will fail this second time around as well, and this time Data will know to come clean immediately and tell Picard everything - his promise to remain mum now comes with a decisive "wink wink, nudge nudge" element as he knows silence will do them no real good.

Picard thus is essentially leaving the planet to be on the safe side, but fully reserving the option of coming back later, possibly with a superior armada if need be.

It was an interesting premise and entertaining episode for many reasons. Putting Data in a situation where he had to lie to the crew is a great idea and a good old sci-fi trope (I was immediately reminded of HAL-9000). I only wish they'd spent a little more time working out the logic holes.

Lots of nodding.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Kaelef]

Wasn't this discussed back in, umm, 2014 or so...?

THIS HAS ALL HAPPENED BEFORE AND IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN
We need to discuss this again due to the cross flux of the bussard collector, with the inhibition of a tachyon emission because of the relative proximity of the worm hole.

It doesn't appear likely that there'd be much of a universal Tuesday in Starfleet. Starships zip back and forth through spatiotemporal anomalies, Einsteinian accelerations and other weirdness. They then connect to this common timebase when they get the chance - and sometimes this may happen just once a year or so, as we hear in "Contagion" and the like that Starfleet is perfectly happy with not hearing as much as a whisper about its big ships for half a year. Synching isn't in great demand, then, and only happens when convenient.

Not an unreasonable theory, although it would be pretty fundamental to the workings of the Trek universe if correct, and I've never seen any attempt to convey that this is the way things work to the audience. If time were dealt with in a realistic sense in the series, we should see people age at wildly different rates depending what they're doing relative to each other. (e.g. Enterprise comes back from a long mission and their families are all long dead...)

Isn't Crusher actually saying that she can measure the stage in the sleep/awake cycle of the patient? She would then be able to tell that the heroes have slept for a very long time.

The explanation was necessarily fuzzy, but the key words were "24 hour cycle", implying that whatever she was measuring resets every 24 hours.

Picard thus is essentially leaving the planet to be on the safe side, but fully reserving the option of coming back later, possibly with a superior armada if need be.

I hadn't considered that, but it would help explain Data's unusual expression as the last shot of the episode!

 

[Timo]

Not an unreasonable theory, although it would be pretty fundamental to the workings of the Trek universe if correct, and I've never seen any attempt to convey that this is the way things work to the audience.

However, time loops do happen, and there are multiple references to our heroes only finding out after they make contact with home base. And then multiple references to our heroes making contact with home base relatively seldom.

Discovering that time travel has taken place is typically done by means other than consulting the timebase ("Judging by pollution levels" etc), but admittedly chiefly because time travel removes one from the reach of the timebase.

If time were dealt with in a realistic sense in the series, we should see people age at wildly different rates depending what they're doing relative to each other. (e.g. Enterprise comes back from a long mission and their families are all long dead...)

OTOH, avoiding that ought to be fairly simple, given how many time travel methods Starfleet has mastered. But constant preemptive care should work in most cases, without the need for major interventions.

The explanation was necessarily fuzzy, but the key words were "24 hour cycle", implying that whatever she was measuring resets every 24 hours.

But she then goes on to say that sleep/unconsciousness alters the stage of the cycle, and that there's alteration in excess of 30 minutes. She should be able to tell if the cycle has missed one full reset, due to the people doing things vastly different from their usual cycle activities (i.e. slept for the whole day).

I hadn't considered that, but it would help explain Data's unusual expression as the last shot of the episode!

The thing is, Data is not an automaton, but a complex personality well capable of lying, scheming and calculating. The consequences of Picard's decision to flee should be particularly obvious to him, and the events of the episode already established he can just fart in the general direction of Picard when the CO gives direct orders (such as "Tell me what you know" or "Never tell me what you know").

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Nightdiamond]

Another thing that is really wrong with is Picard tells Data if he still refuses to tell exactly what happened, Starfleet would probably strip him down to his wires to find out what went wrong with him.

This one originally slipped by me when I first saw it, assumed it was just normal talk, but later I realized, they're talking about seizing him (A Federation citizen with rights) and taking him apart.

What happened to his rights and status as a sentient citizen?

 

[Timo]

He did sign in for Starfleet, an organization with the authority to order him to his death (and, traditionally for organizations like that, to kill him if he fails to obey, although whether the tradition really survives depends on our interpretation of "Turnabout Intruder").

Were it Riker doing the stonewalling, Picard would probably be saying pretty much the same things, only it would be Crusher tasked with tearing him apart, not Maddox.

Timo Saloniemi