Clues by: Bruce D. Arthurs and Joe Menosky from a story by: Bruce D. Arthurs and directed by: Les Landau

 

“Clues” is written by: Bruce D. Arthurs and Joe Menosky, from a story by: Bruce D. Arthurs, and is directed by: Les Landau.  It was produced under production code 188, was the 14^th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4, the 88^th episode overall, and was broadcast on February 11, 1991.

 

It is a crime that “Clues” opens with a holodeck sequence of Guinan joining Picard in a Dixon Hill adventure that we then do not see.  Picard and Guinan as private detective and femme fatale are two actors at the top of their respective game having fun playing off each other.  It’s also the only sequence Whoopi Goldberg was available for in the episode and is falling back on a Season 2 trope of opening an episode on something that is at best only tangentially related to the conflict proper.  In this case, “Clues” is built on the mystery of why the crew was left unconscious for a day when passing a wormhole near a previously undiscovered Earth like planet instead of Data’s claimed 30 seconds.  The tension of the episode comes not from the question of if Data is lying, early in the episode there is indication that makes it clear he is lying and can lie, but the answer of why he is lying.  As a mystery there is just enough to fill a 45-minute episode of television, however, it becomes quite clear that this episode was developed without an answer to the mystery involved.

 

While it may be disingenuous to point out a character inconsistency once the reveal is had that part of the reason Data is lying is that Picard ordered him to, it weakens the episode as much of the tension comes from Data saying he cannot answer and denies Starfleet ordering him to but Picard does not use the logical follow up that would put the reveal in the middle of the episode instead of the final act.  The viewer should understand as being glossed over as to allow the episode to happen.  This issue can be explained as the episode was written initially by Bruce D. Arthurs who is credited both with the story and script, however, Joe Menosky provided the rewrite as his second episode this season after “Legacy”.  This is Arthurs’ only credit while Menosky continued to write for the franchise so it is likely he is responsible for how well the ret of the episode works.  It is a minor note in an episode that is otherwise fantastic at building tension and paranoia around the missing day.  The resolution of the episode is specifically subverting the expectation of a sinister alien incursion, instead the Enterprise simply became too close to an alien race that wishes to be left alone, and they agreed to the memory wipe.  Data cannot have a memory wipe and will always remember the missing day; however, the mistake that caused the episode was the crew overlooking things that became clues: a botanical experiment performed by Dr. Crusher and Worf breaking his arm are the biggest.  

 

Because of the little cracks the last act of “Clues” does decrease in quality because that’s where the explanation happens.  The aliens of the episode, speaking through Deanna Troi, are not given much exploration outside of xenophobia and isolationism.  Marina Sirtis does get some good material when she is taken over, initially being horrified of her own appearance in a scene that is played as a scene in a horror film and eventually being allowed to play the antagonist.  The aliens don’t become violent, but Sirtis is clearly having fun being threatening and more proactive however briefly than Troi is usually allowed to be.  “Clues” is an episode that works on melodrama.  Director Les Landau does not block the episode as a typical episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, instead taking inspirations from soap operas to bring out the melodrama while the memory is in question.  The final act is shot with standard blocking, deescalating the tension that has been built through the first two acts which are blocked often with techniques called backacting.  Backacting is a technique that happens in theater and soap opera where two or more characters are having a conversation, often one that is going to be turning dramatic, but instead of facing each other, they are both facing the audience/camera.  They are often blocked on slightly different planes of the set which Landau takes full advantage of for dramatic effect.  It’s because of the blocking in “Clues” that helps elevate the performances.  This isn’t an episode where characters get big arcs: Brent Spiner as Data is playing the character as normal, perhaps slightly less human than he normally would, but for Patrick Stewart, Gates McFadden, and Michael Dorn specifically they are giving into the melodrama.  There isn’t a specific character focused, but several characters get their own moments to shine and find a clue to indicate that a full day has passed.  The line delivery from McFadden at one point is explicitly soap opera enough that you would expect a dramatic sting, without going too far over the top to put this into the camp inherent in soap opera.

 

Overall, although the resolution of “Clues” becomes almost too simple and is where it becomes clear that two writers worked on making the script work up to that point, it’s an episode that builds dramatic paranoia so well for much of its runtime.  The cast eats up the dramatic tension and the production uses well-worn tricks to just explore the fear of not knowing your own mind, even the reveal of something not inherently sinister still plays on that instability of not knowing what happened.  It’s an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation playing on an interesting idea over spotlighting a specific character and it makes it feel like a proper change at this point in a season that has excelled at focusing on character.  8/10.