(Some moreso than others.
) Nit:In the cave Data identifies the gun as a Double Action Army revolver. This is incorrect, the gun is a Single Action Army revolver.
Continuing my thread from "City on the Edge of Forever"... TIME TRAVEL AND HYGEINE.
Crusher correctly identifies the aliens' strategy as time travel back to a disease-ridden era. Why do we not see the five officers in the landing party getting their shots before they go? And why aren't they taking pasteurized micro-sealed ration bars with them in case this disease-ridden era has high instances of food poisoning?
I would imagine that when new officers sign up in Starfleet they get an overall inoculation for most types of known biohazards and harmful organisms. After all, the crew visits new planets every other week.
I concur with you on the food issue, Shira. A lot of deadly diseases prevalent in the 1800's spread through bad food and water. Plus it never looks like they can carry anything in those uniforms. It would have been satisfactory to see the Away Teams every so often carry a big rucksack for supplies.
Why didn't they try to activate the 500 year old head and ask it what happened?
When they are shown the head, that the officer found in the cave, Picard and Data look at each other. Neither one then, nor anyone else later, asks where the body is, or even looks for it. Why?
About the sicknesses, a majority of sicknesses take days to manifest. They probably just go to sick bay and have the diseases purged (when they return). We do not know how long they were there, although it had to be at least 3 days. It may have not been enough for the diseases to manifest.
Not that it might be a big deal, but now isn't Data's head 500 years older than his body?
Yes, it is. And your point would be?
I'm guessing that Endora's point is that the delicate machinery and electronic whatevers are now 500 years old, and should have experienced some decay, or (gonna get gross here) bugs and parasites entering via Data's nose, and openings in the connections sticking out of his neck to nest. There'd have to be little openings to allow it to be connected to his body. Frankly, I'm amazed that Dr.Soong created something that could last that long, albeit in an inert state.
The head should also have been covered in alot more dirt, if not partially broken down by natural erosion, as it was subjected to all of the earthquakes in the San Francisco area for 500 years, and not once did a rock hit the head, and tear the skin, and break an eyeball.
I was disappointed when this was first shown, as a cliff-hanger. It didn't grab me too much.
And I'll never understand why they had to slap the time travel element into the alien's need for energy. There's plenty of primitive planets out there, even in the 24th century, so why not drain those people? Time travel AND space travel combined is too much of a waste of energy.
Diseases would be purged by the biofilters in the transporter when they return to the ship.
How much energy to you get by draining neural energy from a brain? Does anybody know how much power it takes to run a brain? I'm guessing not much.
Well, the human brain does produce an electromagnetic field, but it's a very weak one.
(Some moreso than others. )
I resemble that remark!
Your creating somekinda temporal rift of the subliminible type!
Would an African-American woman of that time period be allowed to debate so freely with Samuel Clemens, a caucasian male?
Strange that no one asked about Data's pure white skin and accepted his uniform without too much explanation on his part.
Well, San Francisco is a very liberal town. Was it always? Would such a thing have been plausible in Frisco back then?
Oh, sure. California has a long history as a haven for the weird and wonderful, beginning in the Gold Rush days.
Besides which - thanks to lack of mass communication - the credulity factor was WAY higher for this sort of thing at the turn of the century (see: P.T. Barnum). This hunger for novelty could also answer Q's question about Guinan, actually.
Actually, San Francisco was a "Wild West" style town well into the 20th century. It wasn't until the '60s that it became very liberal.
Data says, "It is standard procedure for the Second Officer to accompany the Away Team." So the Away Teams are led by the First Officer and it is standard procedure for the Second Officer to accompany it?
How is it a good idea to allow the Second and Third in commands of a ship to go on these potentially dangerous missions?
The aliens are out of phase in the 24th century and the crew can not see them, so why are the aliens in phase when they go back to 19th century Earth? It would probably be a lot easier for them to steal neural energy if they didn't have to disguise themselves as Humans.
Geordi is worried about not having a phase discriminator like Data's. But they do have one, inside Data's 500 year old head.
Worf says that if they die their remains will have long ago turned to dust. Isn't Worf forgetting about their badges and phasers, or are they made of an environmentally friendly substance that will eventually decompose?
Data repeats Jack's word "gonna." If he can do that, why can't he use contractions?
Wouldn't a technician be a better choice to help Geordi set up the equipment, rather than Counselor Troi?
I liked Picard's line to Worf, "The security of the Enterprise is of paramount importance." Of course it is, Paramount owns Star Trek and the Enterprise. ;-)
Phil was surprised that none of the other gamblers pointed out that the ante was only 50 cents when Data threw in a dollar. The dialogue indicated to me that they thought Data was some rube and they had no problem swindling him out of his money.
On page 341 of the NextGen Guide II, Phil listed Geordi's explanation that the aliens exist slightly ahead in time and even a millisecond would make them disappear, then he agreed that a person wouldn't be able to see someone if they are not there when they look at them. The problem is most of the aliens just sit there. If the aliens were moving around, his statement would make sense, but if the aliens sit there longer than the amount of time they are out of sync a person should be able to see them. Actually, I wonder if the problem is just time. When we finally see the aliens in their 'realm' it kind of looks like it was filmed under a black light but if the creature's were only visible in ultraviolet light then Geordi should be able to see them.
You know, if I just discovered that I'm about to die on Devidia II, my first inclination would not be to go to Devidia II. Sure, I'd like to find out about it, but by proxy, please. Couldn't they have sent another ship?
We wanted to, but the Enterprise was the only ship in the quadrant.
I would have left Data on Earth before investigating.
As I recall, they did not know when Data would die, just that he would. Of course, that doesn't explain sending him to that planet EVER.
Shira Karp: And why aren't they taking pasteurized micro-sealed ration bars with them in case this disease-ridden era has high instances of food poisoning?
This is one of my "top ten" gripes with Star Trek. There's no reason why the away team shouldn't be fully outfitted, each and every time, with coats, food, portable shelters, etc. After all, what if something goes wrong and the team is stranded on the planet for a time?
You mean like in the third episode aired, The Enemy Within (TOS), when Sulu and company nearly froze to death?
Everyone is concerned about the Devidians disguised as humans to invade the Earth but nobody seems to care about the CARDASSIANS disguised as humans to invade the Earth!
Gul Dukat is clearly disguised as the card shark and nobody notices him! 
GREAT LINE: "I am from France." Data
Was this a salute to the Coneheads?
I didn't see any Datas or Coneheads when I was in France last April. 
They were out of phase Adam. probably only by a mili second....but as we well know, that is all it would take *wink*
Will said, a decade ago, The head should also have been covered in a lot more dirt...
quote:
Watch the episode on Sy-Fy HD. Although the episode was probably not converted to HD for broadcast on Sy-Fy's HD channel, it appears dirtier than in the SD broadcasts. It still should have been dirtier than it was, however.
I found it amusing that one of the items found in the cave (besides Data's head) was a pair if bifocals. Something I've needed since 1998.
Isn't it possible that whoever found it brushed it off when they did so, in order to identify what type of object it was?
Another amusing item was - When Data first arrives in Old San Francisco and starts walking around, he passes by an old barber shop. The sign outside has "Haircut 25¢" on it. My most recent haircut cost me $21. Plus a five dollar tip. Inflation to the extremis. 