A Matter of Time (episode)

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.

"A Matter of Time"
TNG, Episode 5x09 Production number: 40275-209 First aired: 18 November 1991
←	108th of 176 produced in TNG	→
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Written By Rick Berman Directed By Paul Lynch
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A time traveler claiming to be from the 26th century arrives to witness an attempt to save a doomed planet.

Contents 1 Summary 2 Memorable Quotes 3 Background Information 3.1 Awards 3.2 Video and DVD releases 4 Links and References 4.1 Guest Stars 4.2 Uncredited Co-Stars 4.3 References 4.4 See also

Summary

A man named Berlinghoff Rasmussen appears aboard the USS Enterprise-D claiming to be an historian from the future, specializing in 24th century interstellar issues. His presence on board is quite disruptive since he refuses to reveal anything about the future, but he nevertheless drops many hints that something important is about to happen.

Simultaneously, the Enterprise is trying to fix extreme weather problems resulting from an asteroid collision on the planet Penthara IV, a colony with a population of some twenty million persons. Eventually, Captain Picard is faced with a huge dilemma: the Enterprise can initiate a chain reaction in the atmosphere that should fix the problem, but if calculations are ever so slightly off, life on the planet will be wiped out. Picard forcefully asks for Rasmussen's help: can he tell what happened to Penthara IV? While Picard concedes that there might be some sort of Temporal Prime Directive in the future that precludes Rasmussen from aiding him, he argues that this is a situation where the directive could be violated. Rasmussen refuses to help, but Picard nevertheless chooses the correct course of action.

Meanwhile, a number of small objects go missing and Picard suspects Rasmussen, who is confronted before he heads back into the future and asked to let Data inspect his time-travel pod for the missing items. Once inside, Rasmussen abducts Data and reveals that he is indeed from 200 years outside the Enterprise's timeframe, but in the opposite direction- he is actually from the 22nd century, stole the time-travel pod from the original historian from the future, and that he plans to return to his own time with the high-tech objects he has stolen, now including Data, and "invent" them. However, his attempt is foiled, as the stolen phaser he uses to knock out Data has been deactivated remotely. Picard orders Worf to arrest Rasmussen, despite his pleas to be let go. The pod vanishes, stranding him in the future. Worf leads Rasmussen to the brig, with Picard welcoming him to the 24th century and remarking there are "many legitimate historians that would be interested in talking to you."

Memorable Quotes

"Everyone dies, Captain! It's just a question of when!"

- Berlinghoff Rasmussen

"To try or not to try. To take a risk or play it safe. Your arguments have reminded me how precious the right to choose is. And because I've never been one to play it safe, I choose to try."

- Jean-Luc Picard

"I assume your hand will activate the door whether you are conscious or not."

- Data, after Rasmussen discovers the phaser he is holding Data hostage with no longer works

"Welcome to the 24th century."

- Jean-Luc Picard

"Yes Professor I know... What if one of those lives I save down there as a child who grows up to be the next Adolf Hitler or Khan Singh? Every first year philosophy student has been asked that question since the earliest wormholes were discovered..."

- Jean-Luc Picard

Background Information

• The character of Berlingoff Rasmussen was originally written for Robin Williams, who opted out in order to play Peter Pan in the movie Hook.
• This is the first of five appearances of conn officer Ensign Felton.
• The time pod was a reuse of the shuttle Nenebek exterior set, later reused as the Toron-class shuttle.
• Two of the pieces of classical music simultaneously listened to by Data in this episode were heard again in later Trek episodes. The Third Brandenburg Concerto was later played by Captain Picard on his Ressikan flute and La donna è mobile was regularly sung by The Doctor.
• Among the items that Rasmussen tried to steal are a VISOR, a tricorder, a PADD, several isolinear chips, a d'k tahg, a type 2 phaser and several small devices.
• There is a reference to this episode in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fourth season episode "Bar Association". In that episode, Odo cites the case of Rasmussen as an example of a security breach aboard the Enterprise.
• Riker says that for him the most important technological development in the last 200 years was the invention of warp coils. According to Star Trek: First Contact the coils were invented at least more than 300 years before Rasmussen and Riker met.
• Rasmussen says he's from the late 26th century, some 300 years in the future--however, the late 26th century is only 200 years after this episode.

Awards

• This episode won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Special Visual Effects, sharing it in a tie with TNG: "Conundrum".

Video and DVD releases

• Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 55, 16 November 1992.
• UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment): Volume 5.3, 5 August 2002.
• As part of the TNG Season 5 DVD collection.

Links and References

Guest Stars

• Matt Frewer as Berlinghoff Rasmussen
• Stefan Gierasch as Hal Moseley
• Sheila Franklin as Felton
• Shay Garner as Female Scientist

Uncredited Co-Stars

• J. Bauman as Garvey
• Michael Braveheart as Martinez
• Tracee Lee Cocco as Jae

References

Adrienne; apple; atmosphere; automobile; auto-phaser interlock; Bach; Beethoven; berylite scan; bioscan; Caesar; carbon dioxide; Celsius; colony; Corsica; crystal; d'k tahg; deflector dish; deflector shield; earthquake; electrostatic energy; empath; USS Enterprise-C; EPS tap; exothermal inversion; fly; The Globe Illustrated Shakespeare: The Complete Works; greenhouse effect; Gutenberg Bible; historian; Hitler; Homer; Jupiter symphony; La donna è mobile; lightning rod; Lincoln; Livingston; Milton; Model A; Model T; Mozart; Monet; museum; New Jersey; New Seattle; nuclear winter; neural stimulator; O'Brien, Miles; PADD; Penthara IV; Pentharan; phaser; phaser drill; philosophy; plasma; plasticized tritanium mesh; poker; predestination paradox; Prime Directive; quarantine field; Redstone missile; Richter scale; Rigoletto; Risa; river; sector; sensor; shield invertor; Singh, Kahn; Soong, Noonien; space-time distortion; spring dance; Starbase 214; Starfleet; Suzanne; Symphony Number Nine; Telurian plague; temporal logic; temporal distortion; terawatt; theft; Third Brandenburg Concerto; time-pod; tricorder; type C asteroid; Verdi; VISOR; volcano; warp coil; Wonder, Stevie; wormhole

See also

• Time travel episodes

Previous episode: "Unification II"

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5

Next episode: "New Ground"