Time's Arrow, Part II

Apart from the poor sit-com with the landlady, this was good, if contrived, fun. Those who complained about Samuel Clemens voice/accent have clearly not done their homework. He did make audio recordings (on wax cylinders) but none are known to have survived.) However, the actor William Gillette (best know as the first to play Sherlock Holmes) knew Clemens and used to impersonations of him on stage. He recorded at least one and it sounds like what we hear here.

The first half of 'Time's Arrow' offered up a rather mediocre cliffhanger, but 'Part II' livens things up with an entertaining conclusion. It takes a bit to really get going (still dealing with Data's hiding out in San Fransisco), but once the time portal opens back up, it pretty well balances the 19th and 24th centuries. Jerry Hardin's Samuel Clemens was a highlight, marveling at the Enterprise and offering comment on poverty and technology. Things really clicked for me here, and the problem of retrieving the captain from centuries earlier and reviving Data offered the episode some urgency.

Turned into a decent payoff.

7/10

He was from the South. Why is he talking like cartoon coal miner?

There's a bit of Mark Twain in an episode that features his character. The whole crew finally ends up together along with Guinan. Data's dismembered head is the critical thing. After a narrow escape from the evil space cannibals, Data, driving a horse and buggy, drives everyone back to the aforementioned cave. There they are to meet their adversaries. All is going well until Mark Twain shows up and throws a monkey wrench into the works. All manage to escape to the Enterprise to continue pursuit, but Picard and Guinan are left behind along with the head of Data. Also in the cave is one of the dying aliens, who tells Picard that if the Enterprise attacks her planet, they will destroy themselves. Twain has caused huge damage to the process. He is going to cause more trouble so the crew beams him aboard. The way they ultimately get a message back to the ship is so far fetched that it is beyond the pale. Still, it is a bit of fun.

This was a fun time travel episode, complete with period outfits and everything. The ending got a little strained, I would have preferred they just didn't have a ticking clock over a cringey, totally fake ticking clock. It's like, "Oh my God we gotta stop these time traveling aliens who have had, who knows how many millennia to time travel, in like the next five seconds or... well, let's just do it right away for no reason!"

Given that the whole plot overall also frequently lacks much meat-on-the-bone, I think it averages out with the fun and adventure to an 8/10.