A Matter of Time (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
| "A Matter of Time" | |
|---|---|
| Star Trek: The Next Generation episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 9 |
| Directed by | Paul Lynch |
| Written by | Rick Berman |
| Featured music | Jay Chattaway |
| Production code | 209 |
| Original air date | November 18, 1991 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
|
|
"A Matter of Time" is the 109th episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. The ninth episode of the fifth season.
The crew's attempts to save the inhabitants of Penthara IV from the devastating aftereffects of a massive asteroid strike are interrupted by the arrival of Berlinghoff Rasmussen, a purported historian from the 26th century, who claims to be studying their era. The rather curious nature of Rasmussen's questions about the 24th century, and his interest in gathering- and stealing- technological "artifacts" from the Enterprise, make Troi and the others increasingly suspicious of his origins.
On route to Penthara Four to assist its population in combating the effects of reduced temperatures created by a dust cloud from a recent asteroid impact, the Enterprise encounters a nearby temporal distortion, and finds a small pod containing a single human occupant. Aboard the ship, the human introduces himself as Professor Berlingoff Rasmussen (Matt Frewer), a researcher from the 26th century to witness the Enterprise complete this "historic" mission at Penthara Four. He requests interviews with the crew to obtain the full story, but reveals little about himself as he does not wish to alter history. Rasmussen's interviews are somewhat irritating to the crew but they entertain him.
At Penthara Four, the Enterprise uses its phasers to drill into the planet to release carbon dioxide, increasing the greenhouse effect to warm the planet, but this creates a side effect of increasing the seismic activity and causing volcanoes to erupt, threatening to send the planet into an ice age. La Forge and Data offer a solution of ionizing the upper atmosphere but the maneuver must be done precisely or they could risk destroying the entire atmosphere and killing all 20 million on the surface. With the severity of the decision, Picard attempts to gain Rasmussen's help, claiming this is a scenario where the temporal-prime-directive can be overridden, but Rasmussen refuses to offer advice, noting by his era, the fate of all those on Penthara Four has already been decided. Picard decides to allow La Forge and Data to go through with the plan, which is successful and returns the planet to its normal climate.
...
Wikipedia