Clues

Friday June 29 |

Title: Clues
Season: 4
Episode: 14

The Enterprise investigates a T Tauri class system with a single Class M planet that was picked up on a long range sensor scan. On their way to the planet they encounter a worm hole that causes the entire crew except for Lt. Commander Data to lose consciousness. (Gasp!)

The crew awakens and is informed by Data that they have been unconscious for only thirty seconds and that the ship’s systems were affected by the worm hole. The crew then finds that the ship has traveled .54 parsecs, nearly a day’s travel from where they first encountered the worm hole. Curious about the M Class planet, Picard asks Data whether or not they should return but Data advises against it, Picard opts for launching a probe instead. The probe reports the presence of a frozen gas giant instead of the Class M planet from before; again, Data attributes this to the effects of the wormhole.

As the ship continues on, the crew begin to uncover evidence that contradicts what Data has told them. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Crusher has found that moss samples have fully grown within the 30 seconds they were unconscious but would have required 24 hours. She later finds that Security Chief Lt.Worf had his wrist broken and reset by a medical professional. On top of that Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge find that the ship’s chronometer has been reset and that only Data and himself could do that. Picard begins to suspect data isn’t telling the crew the truth and confronts him, but Data cannot provide a rational answer for his claims. The crew continue to investigate Data’s claims and find that he has been lying. Picard realizes that Data is merely trying to protect the ship and the crew, but his curiosity causes him to order the ship to turn around and return to the system.

When they near the Class M planet, Ship’s Counselor Troi is taken over by a mysterious energy pulse from the system, and starts to speak to the crew with a different voice. The entity that has taken over Troi informs Picard that his plan has failed, and that their people will prepare to destroy the Enterprise. Picard learns from Data and the entity that they are in the space of the Paxans, a highly-advanced but xenophobic race who have kept themselves hidden by firing a stun beam at any ship that nears their system and then moving it away; crews of such ships normally associate it with the effects of a wormhole. However, in the case of the Enterprise, the stun beam did not affect Data; Data had revived the crew as the Paxans were attempting to move the ship, and forcing a physical encounter that led to Worf’s wrist being broken. Picard was able to offer the Paxans a deal as to attempt to conceal their previous meeting, using memory-wiping technology from the Paxans to forget their encounters with them, and ordered Data to behave as he did to protect the ship.

Picard is able to implore to the Paxan in control of Troi that the previous plan failed because they left too many clues on theEnterprise that piqued human curiosity to solve the mystery and that if the Enterprise vanishes, it will cause others to come investigate. The crew of the Enterprise, with the help of the Paxans, work together to completely eradicate any possible clues; once completed, the crew is stunned again, and the ship moves away from Paxan space. When the crew revives this time, they accept Data’s explanations without question and continue on their mission.

From what I gather, the lesson this episode tries to teach you is just leave well enough alone. For all you know, your friend is lying to you to protect the two of you from getting offed by the Mafia. At least that’s what I’m taking away from this episode. But just to be clear I would never just leave well enough alone. I would be just like Picard and search even if it means I’ll probably lose a limb, or several.

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