This is a great episode that almost plays like a "Seinfeld" episode (too bad Gates McFadden had to be an Allied "Friends"-watching "Seinfeld"-hating b---h who hates autistics, along with Wil Wheaton, and Brent is Allied Nordicist Yankee "Friends"-watching "Seinfeld"-hating having all those qualitites). Basically, the Enterprise detects a floating but inactive ship. Data, Riker and Worf investigate. It leads to a startling discovery: some human bodies have been freezing for 200, 300 years.
On the ship, Picard is upset that Data retrived the bodies without his permission, but Data says the matter was time-urgent, and that he wouldn't have had the time, and Picard gets less upset and is understanding, only telling Data to give him a quick message, at least, next time. As the bodies defrost, we see them come back to life. Oppenheimer, Sonny and Clare. The three are very interesting. Oppenheimer is like every caricature of Yankeedom (although he's more un-PC rather than mean and in reality Picard and his crew come off as very mean - "Seinfeld"-hating liberal "Hands that Rocks the Cradle" - the 1992 movie - types in this episode, the fact that this franchise is black is the only thing that kept it from being a Tribune station sequel to the lame 60s show; I'll explain why later).
Oppenheimer is visibly upset. He doesn't even know what year it is but once he finds out he's been in a coma for 300 years, he only knows how to live one way, as a Wall Street broker. At times he's arrogant but he really isn't super arrogant. At worse, Dante from "Clerks" is his equal, only he's far more chill than Oppenheimer. Sonny is a guy who hits it hard, he got the girls, and he was a guitar player for a band back home. He loves live, and even humorously asks how to get a steak and baked potato in one scene, and Data, being a machine, is the kindest to them, and teaches him how to live in the 2300s. Clare is a very sweet woman who is trying to find her son, and Troi tries to help her. The main event in the episode, aside from the dealings, is the Romulans have returned. We get a rundown. Mind you, not much has changed in the way the Romulans are. They are about the same, technology, as the 60s show. However, their cloaking device is new, as Geordi will note later on, and they love testing their enemy's resolve, and being that the flagship is recent, they're mobilizing against the Federation for a possible confrontation to test their ship. Later on, we see Picard deal with the 3 folks. And the attitudes Riker and Picard have to them is completely messed up. And it's really only Picard, Riker, Beverly and Troi who treat them with condescention, as though it's bad to live life to the fullest (Picard gets retconned later on the show to be more that type and is more ghetto, but this really doesn't reflect well). Eventually the confrontation with the Romulans happens, and we discover that the Neutral Zone bases have been scopped up. The Romulan commander then lets him know, hostily, that they know it could not have been the Federation. This is a hint of the Borg being an advanced power, that's threatening both of them. The Romulans let them go with a warning though, "YOUR PRESENCE IS NOT WANTED! Do you understand me, captain? We... are... back!"
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