This two part cliffhanger introduces a nit into "The Best of Both Worlds part I and II".

The Borg have transwarp. Why do they head for Earth at warp speed, giving the Federation time to amass at Wolf 357, and later giving the Enterprise time to catch up and snatch Locutus? If they have transwarp, why not go there in about 5 seconds and completely surprise Earth?

This is listed here instead of on BOBW because it was not a nit in BOBW until "Descent" established Borg transwarp capabilities.

Data brings the holograms of three hotshot scientists to play, of all things, poker. I'm not really sure why poker would be considered particularly cerebral. If the game is to be poker, why not summon up some legendary Wild West personalities, which at least would be somewhat appropriate.

Poker, not cerebral? Tell any card sharp that, and listen to him (or her) laugh hysterically. Good poker players can memorize which cards have already been used, and calculate the odds on any particular card showing up. Data probably thought it would be interesting to see those scientists' views of poker. I suppose if you were playing a friendly, bet-free game, you wouldn't need to think much about it, but if you're gambling seriously...grab your chips, and sharpen your wits!

Prof. Steven Hawking got a tour of the sets of the Enterprise when he did this episode. When they took him to engeneering and showed him the warp core Hawking told them, "I'm working on something like that"

The episode title and credits for "Descent, Part I" are displayed before the main title runs, the only "Trek" episode (so far) to do that.

Why does the title of this episode appear in the opening sequence?

Why does Data just stand there like a target when everyone else is diving for cover?

If Data wasn't sure he had had an emotion, then why didn't he just access Lal's memories? Supposedly he downloaded them into his own memory and she had emotions. (Hmmm, if Data has Lal's memories does that mean he knows what it is like to kiss Riker?)

I wonder if the buildings on Ohniaka III, Arkaria and Gagarin IV were all designed by the same architect?

ScottN, maybe the transwarp conduits weren't in place during TBOBW?

Gordon, playwright Neal Simon apparently gets inspiration for new plays while playing poker with friends and listening to what they say.

What opening sequence? You mean the teaser, or the opening title sequence?

The teaser. It is the sequence that opens the show.

The credits role in this episode in the teaser because the fight scene would have been obstructed by them Easy as that.

In Classic Trek's "A Private Little War," the credits were displayed over a particularly intense scene of Spock being beamed up and placed on a gurney after being shot by a flintlock. (The credits were in much larger typeface there, too, but there were many less credits to display in TOS.)

Although they could have done what was done in Silicon Avatar and have the credits roll after the exciting opening sequence.

A suggestion as to why the episode credits appear in the teaser: I think what the creators might have wanted was to have the holodeck poker game as THE teaser then stop it there, cut to opening titles, then start the episode there. However, IMHO, I think it was much more impressive, and important for the episode, to have the teaser establish that the Borg were back... but not as we know them, as the rest of the show proved.

But I agree with Darth Sarcasm that the opening credits should have occurred later, perhaps in the debriefing scene on the Enterprise. For one thing, it would make people stay and watch the rest of the episode. [Not that I'm implying anything... I liked this episode.]

And seeing this episode sparked my interest in pseudohistorical b.s.
The creators correctly have Data point out in the teaser that the story of Isaac Newton understanding gravity when an apple fell on his head is apocraphyl, but then the holographic Newton takes offense. But the holographic Newton is programmed using all known facts about Newton, and the computer’s information should be as accurate as Data’s, shouldn’t it? So why does the computer have the Newton character assert that the story is true? Perhaps the computer think thats Newton was an exaggerator, or that he concocted the story, but that’s not true either. Newton never said that an apple fell on him, only that seeing an apple fall sparked his interest in gravity.
I guess the Akaria Base recycles
The matte painting of the outpost at Ohniaka III was originally used for the Arkaria Base in the episode Starship Mine.
No, but it would make the episode suckk just like that episode
Geordi tells Riker and Picard that one travels 20 times the fastest speed of the Enterprise when using the transwarp conduits. But then that would be way past warp 10, so wouldn’t they occupy all points in the universe, as established in the episode Threshold(VOY)?
Or maybe the director?
When two Borg beam onto the Enterprise to create a diversion so that the Borg ship can escape, the first Franklin fires at one of the drones. That drone ducks, and fires on Franklin, killing him. Worf then kills the drone, and then fires on Crosis. What was Crosis doing all this time? Why didn’t he fire on anyone? Wouldn’t the diversion created have been greater if he fired too, perhaps on Worf or Picard?
"I’m dying….dying…dying…(sees red carpet and crawls farther away from it)…dying…dead."
After being hit, Crosis falls toward where the gray and red portions of the carpet meet near the wall, and his position on the carpet when still on all fours would indicate that his head would either line up or cross the point where the gray and red portions of the carpet meet. But in the second shot of him coming to a stop, his head is considerably far away from the meeting of those two sections.
Well, I saw one of the Borg drones with breast implants, and another asked me to read his script…
The "distant planet" that the Borg and Data are traced to must be California! The cylindrical buildings with the relief sculpture designs on the exterior look suspiciously like the Brandeis Bardin institute in Simi Valley, which is the exact same location used in in ST VI as Camp Khitomer, and was also used in The Lawnmower Man, and as a futuristic prison in the HBO movie Deadlock.

Luigi: that would be way past warp 10, so wouldn’t they occupy all points in the universe, as established in the episode Threshold?

No, because at this point in the Trek future, warp 10 is defined as infinite speed. You can multiply any finite number by 20 and it will still be less than infinity.

If the fastest speed of the Enterprise is 9.something, then twenty times faster than that would push it past warp 10, wouldn't it? If not, then what is the warp factor of warp. 9.whatever times 20?

A graph of velocity against warp looks something like this. (The diagram will look odd if your text background isn't white, or your font is different to mine!)

As you can see, the is an asymptote at warp 10. You can get faster and faster without limit, and never get to warp 10.

Velocity
1000000C|*****************
1000000C|*****************
1000000C|*****************
1000000C|****************
1000000C|****************
0100000C|***************
1000000C|**************
1000000C|*************
0010000C|***********
1000000C|********
1000000C|****
0001000C|____________________
1000000C9.0 9.2 9.4 9.6 9.8 10 Warp

This is in the TNG tech manual, although their graph is a bit vague so I had to make up some of the numbers.

I wouldn't worry about it; they made up the numbers in the first place rather than think up an actual function.

20 times the Enterprise's speed (which I think is warp 9.6 although Data said at extreme risk they could reach 9.8 in the first episode) would give it a speed somewhere in the upper 9.9 region (Like 9.99943 or something)

I think I get it now. I should be multiplying the SPEED, rather than the warp factor number. So in other words, if say, 9.8 were 1,000 miles an hour, then the speed inside the conduits could be 20,000 mph, which only be say, 9.9. I forgot that the Warp scale, like the Richter scale, is a logarythmic one.

Thanks Sophie. Thanks to you and Meg, I've learned all about both sanitary napkins and warp speed this week!

I'm not sure where to put this but this seems to be the best place. On the 7th DVD of season 6, there is a feature about Data. When it starts a bunch of stardates pop up ad it selects 46001.3. Also, the other stardates run from 46001.0 to about 46099.9. One of the dates that show up is 460044.4, which has one too many 4's

GREAT SCENE: Admiral Nechayev chewing out Picard about how he dealt with Hugh. Yeah, Admiral Nechayev! You tell him! I found myself in complete agreement with her!

I'm surprised the Admiral didn't bust Picard down a rank after hearing about the latest Borg invasion. I would've.

Phil asked the question, "Why didn't Picard recognize the Borg symbol on the floor?" I agree. However, a BETTER question would be, why didn't Picard see all the FLAGS with the BORG SYMBOL on them? I mean, they're right in his field of vision! I appears Picard needs a VISOR too!

Dr. Crusher in command? Okaaay! This has GOT to be a first in Starfleet history. I was kinda waiting for Crusher to say, "I'm a doctor, not a tactician!" (or something like that) I guess "Battle Operations 101" is a required course for CMOs

In this episode, Data notes that it takes two senior officers to overide the safety protocols. Yet, in "First Contact", Picard overides them himself. (Yeah, I know Picard was on the Enterprise-E in that movie, but why the change in protocol?)

Picard is the captain and the most senior officer. Maybe he counts as two people for that purpose or something. Captain's privilige.

We know that the number of officers needed to initiate the self-destruct sequence is different on each class of ship (three for Constitution class, two for Galaxy and Defiant-class, and one for Intrepid-class), so it isn't surprising that the number needed to override the safeties in the holodeck are different. Torres disabled them herself in Extreme Risk(VOY).

Borg Symbol:

Perhaps Picard is not familiar with this symbol. I don't recall ever seeing this symbol on a Borg Cube that is part of the collective.

Maybe it's a symbol that this group of Borg created for themselves in order to set themselves apart from the collective.

TUE

TUE--- The Borg symbol can be briefly seen on one of the walls in BOBW Pt. 1 or Pt. 2. I can't remember which. (It's near one of the corners of the Borg hallways) I remember seeing it.

Luigi Novi -I think the Ohniaka III matte painting was originally the Darwin Reasearch facility in the second season episode Unnatural Selection but it was also Arkaria base. Actually what was the most frequently used matte painting (representing different planets)?

Del: Actually what was the most frequently used matte painting (representing different planets)?

Wasn't it the one first seen in "Angel One"?

Luigi: The cylindrical buildings with the relief sculpture designs on the exterior look suspiciously like the Brandeis Bardin institute in Simi Valley...

I think the main building was also used to represent the Power Rangers Command Center!

John A. Lang: The Borg symbol can be briefly seen on one of the walls in BOBW Pt. 1 or Pt. 2.
Luigi Novi: No, that was not the Borg symbol. That was just a generic oval graphic of some kind. The Borg symbol was only used by Lore's faction, and first appeared in this episode.

Borg Symbol: I recently watched Q Who? and I believe that the Borg symbol can be seen as Data, Riker, and Worf enter the Borg nursury.

3 officers for Sovereign-Class.

Maybe THAT'S where I saw it. I'll have to watch that one again.

That ISN'T the Borg symbol. It's just a oval shape on a panel.

Luigi---I regret to inform you that the Borg symbol does appear in "Q Who?"...I just re-watched the episode. It appears when Data is scanning one of the walls in the Borg Nursery. It is a red oval with the "Borg Claw" effect in the middle...just like the ones seen in this episode.

No it is not. It's just a red oval with intersecting lines overlaid on top of it. The Borg symbol that first appeared at the end of this episode is an oval whose upper portion is not a solid oval, tendrils that curve upward from the bottom portion, and are the same color as the bottom portion.

There are two types of lines seen on the oval on that panel in Q Who. One is the light-colored ones running across it and up and down it. The other is black ones running straight down the bottom portion of the oval. There isn't any "claw" effect. How can you say that the "curved same-colored fingers on top" of the symbol in this episode, and the "straight different-colored ones on the bottom" of that one are the same? They're not.

Luigi--You must have HDTV to see that much detail.

Nope. Just me own two eyes, laddie. Merry Christmas, John.

I have to disagree Luigi. It looked a lot like the Borg symbol to me.

BTW, thanks for the Nemesis folder. It's pretty cool.

I guess I'll recheck again.

Any time, Josh.

>The Borg have transwarp. Why do they head for Earth at warp speed, giving the Federation time to amass at Wolf 357,< (ScottN, way up at the top)

Umm... I thought the Federation amassed at Wolf 359?

Oops! Dopey me.

Maybe the majority of the fleet amassed at Wolf 357 & only 40 ships got the corrected message and went to Wolf 359? ;-)

John Neville plays Isaac Newton. A very distinguished actor, Neville was Baron Munchausen in Terry Gilliam's film and was the mysterious Well-Manicured Man on "The X-Files."

Stephen Hawking has considerably milked the publicity he got by his appearance here. Recently in his book "The Universe in a Nutshell", while talking about quantum uncertainty, he uses a screenshot of the poker game from this episode, then says something went wrong with the warp drive and follows it with another shot which has been doctored to show Marilyn Monroe landing on his lap.

I don't see how one two-photo sequence constitutes "considerable milking," or how a book more than three years old is "recent." (Pick, pick, pick! )

By Meg on Sunday, May 28, 2000 - 12:03 pm:


Prof. Steven Hawking got a tour of the sets of the Enterprise when he did this episode. When they took him to engeneering and showed him the warp core Hawking told them, "I'm working on something like that"

-- Prof. Steven Hawking was also (and still is) the only person ever to appear on Trek listed as "Himself" in the credits. What a legend that man is!

Despite living just around the corner from Stephen Hawking (literally) for two years I've never caught more than a glimpse of him.

It was mentioned when the crew was beaming down to look for Data that fifty Borg could be there and they wouldn't know it. How did they know they wouldn't materialize within a Borg(or part of one?)

The Borg didn't seem to be adapting to the phasers. Due to their renegade nature, perhaps?

I wish that there had been some consistency with disabling the safety protocols on the holodeck. Here, Data says that two senior officers have to authorize it. In one Voyager episode, Seven simply asked the computer to, and it did so.

Since the Voyager ep came after this one it's the Voyager writers that goofed up.

I thought it was B'Elanna who disengaged the safeties in a Voyager ep? Then again, the Voy writers might have done it more than once.

You're right that B'Elanna did(in Extreme Risk). I think Seven did in 'Night' in the Proton program when the ship had been boarded.

NOTE: This is Natalia Nogulich's favorite episode. She said, "Picard didn't listen to me about destroying the Borg, therefore I should have spanked him" (Not an exact quote, but close enough)

PS: Natalia also said that if she had the opportunity to do another "Trek" episode, she'd like to play the Admiral again.

TRIVIA: When Stephen Hawking visited the Engineering set, he pointed to the Warp Core and said, "I'm working on that!"

FUNNY LINE:

Picard: "Doesn't it seem strange to you that there have been two Borg attacks and the Enterprise has been the nearest ship in both instances?"

HA! It's a good thing Picard wasn't on Kirk's Enterprise, he'd be saying something similar to that every day!

GREAT DIALOGUE:

Data on the Holodeck with Albert Einstein, Sir Isaac Newton, and Stephen Hawking. Data is talking to Sir Newton about the joke that Hawking has told, when...
NEWTON: Do not attempt to explain physics to me, sir. I invented physics! The day that apple fell on my head was the greatest day in the history of science!
HAWKING: Not the apple story again!
DATA: Sir Newton, that story is believed to be apocryphal.
NEWTON: What? How dare you!

I just thought that was funny. Also, Sir Newton wonders why he is there, playing "that ridiculous game". He was a true genius, and I once read that it's possible that he may have had Autism/Asperger's Syndrome. Plus, it is believed that he was asexual, as it was recorded that he never married and never had a romantic or sexual relationship with anyone. Perhaps he was just too devoted to, or absorbed with, his work with physics. It's certainly possible!

When Riker and away team beam down near the abandonned shuttle, they materialize almost knee deep in grassy vegetation. Just how did the transporter manage to avoid having all those blades of grass embedded all through their feet and lower legs.