As a lifelong Star Trek fan who’s seen every episode from TOS to Discovery, I must say that “Fully Dilated” was a delightful trip down memory lane! The homage to “The Hidden Light” and the clever nod to “Time’s Arrow” made this particular episode stand out.
Warning: SPOILERS for the Star Trek: Lower Decks episode “Fully Dilated” are ahead!
As a die-hard Star Trek: Lower Decks enthusiast, I must say that the episode slated for 2024’s broadcast was nothing short of thrilling. It not only paid a delightful tribute to the iconic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Hidden Light”, but also brought back Brent Spiner as Data, albeit a vibrant counterpart from another realm stranded on a pre-industrial planet with his head detached!
During his first conversation with Tendi in “Fully Dilated”, Purple Data mentioned that she should not be concerned that his body got burned up in the shuttle crash that left him stranded on Dilmer III, as he has “just been a head before.” Later in the episode, the android told her he struggled to build an electromagnetic field core when he was stranded in 19th century San Francisco. When she asked how she got back to her own time, he said “waited in a cave until Captain Picard, myself and some guy in a silver jumpsuit dug me out.”
Since “Time’s Arrow” is my preferred tale from “Next Generation“, I couldn’t help but mention it during my interview with Kelly. He then divulged the following details to me:
That was completely in the booth that day. I don’t remember what the original line was, but he never said that. I think [Brent Spiner] just said, ‘I was found in a cave.’ But then I think we just rewatched the episode right there like with him or just described it. Like, ‘Who found him exactly?’ Because we all remembered it differently. That’s the funny part, we’re all Star Trek fans, but what’s it like when you think you remember something and then you learn it’s wrong. I forget the term, but we all remember it differently and we had to go back to the episode to watch. We’re like, Well, it’s Picard, and then there’s just some random guy in a silver jumpsuit.’ And we’re like, ‘How about you just say that?’ It’s so funny that it actually worked and that’s what we ended up using. It just makes it more specific.
In the culmination of “Star Trek: The Next Generation’s” fifth season and the start of its sixth, the two-part episode titled “Time’s Arrow” commenced with Data’s head being found in a cave near Starfleet Headquarters, located in San Francisco. The silver-suited character displayed this peculiar discovery to both Data from the present time and Captain Jean-Luc Picard. This revelation was made when Starfleet unearthed evidence suggesting that inhabitants from Devidia II had visited Earth 500 years earlier. Shortly after, Data was time-traveled to the 19th century, where he crossed paths with Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and a younger incarnation of Guinan, who was portrayed by Whoopi Goldberg on the series.
Despite the efforts of his comrades from the Enterprise-D rescuing Data’s body, his head was unfortunately destroyed during the process. However, the 500-year-old detached head found earlier was eventually reattached to Data’s body. The quirky way Purple Data humorously summed up “Time’s Arrow” was quite enjoyable, and learning that the line was improvised adds an extra layer of amusement. Although it would have been nice to see Data with his longtime friend Geordi LaForge in Lower Decks as Barry Kelly had anticipated, at least this time his head sprang back to life instead of remaining dormant like in “Time’s Arrow.
Here are three upcoming events for fans of Star Trek:
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2024-11-29 22:37