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Observations in TNG: "Time's Arrow II"

A joint project with TrekCore, by Jörg Hillebrand and Bernd Schneider

Here are some observations about sets, props and visual effects in TNG: "Time's Arrow II" without a specific theme, and a comparison of the original TV release (TNG) with the remastered episode (TNG-R).

"Time's Arrow II" HD Screencaps @ TrekCore

Description TNG		Other caps	Comparison TNG to TNG-R	Description TNG-R
San Francisco in part II looks completely different from the way it did in the previous episode. This is because the San Francisco street scenes in part I were filmed at historic Pico House and along Olvera Street in old Los Angeles. By the time part II was filmed, the New York Streets set on the Paramount Pictures lot had been completed, so the second part was filmed here, explaining the different appearance of the streets close to Hotel Brian in the two episodes. Re-Uses of the New York Streets Set		"Time's Arrow I"		The street scene in HD.
The small poster on the street lamp advertises Okuda's growing seed, one of the rare in-jokes referencing Mike and Denise Okuda.				A better look at the poster in HD.
A good look at the new type of science tricorder introduced at the beginning of season 5. Here, the blue lights seem much more intense, much bluer than in previous season 5 episodes. This may be because blue LEDs were used for the first time, as they first became available in the early 1990s.		"Silicon Avatar"		The tricorder in HD.
Captain Picard and the rest of the away team live in the same building in San Francisco as Benny Russell does in New York in the DS9 episode "Far Beyond the Stars". Both shots were filmed on the New York Streets on the Paramount backlot.		DS9: "Far Beyond the Stars"		The apartment building in HD.
Mark Twain tinkers with the device created by Data in the previous episode. The sparks of electricity and the blue energy beam were added in post production.				The scene with the reconstructed effect in HD.
The Devidians, undercover as humans, phase-shift to escape the away team of the USS Enterprise-D.				The vanishing effect in HD.
Data's contraption detects the phase-shifting Devidians, so the energy beam is much wider than before in this scene.				The light effect in HD.
Data's coach ride.				In HD, we can clearly recognize this is not Brent Spiner in the wide shot, but a stunt double.
The snake stick morphs into the Devidian ophidian, already seen in part I of the episode.		"Time's Arrow I"		The Devidian effects in HD. As already in a few shots in "Time's Arrow I", we can see something like vignetting on the top, although it was not present in the same area in the SD version.
The ophidian shoots out energy beams, creating small phase shifts.
As the ophidian morphs back into its walking stick disguise, this intermediate step which looks much like a regular snake, is briefly seen.
The same painting of an elder woman, seen in the background in the away team's apartment here, appears in a holographic recreation of Chez Sandrine in several Voyager episodes, including "Learning Curve".		VOY: "Learning Curve"		The painting in HD.
Sparks of energy form on Data's body as another temporal vortex forms and separates his head from his body.				The anomaly in TNG-R.
Counselor Troi has certainly got some nice tan while stranded in 19th century San Francisco, as can be seen when comparing it to her much paler skin in "Time's Arrow I". The three-month summer hiatus fell between the filming of the two episodes, of course, so Marina Sirtis must have gone on vacation in a very sunny place.		"Time's Arrow I"		No changes
Various parts of the true appearance of a Devidian body become briefly visible before the female Devidian dies and disappears in these screenshots.				The Devidians in HD.
The medical lab last appeared as the science lab in "I, Borg". The large console and the rows of large domes were lit differently in that episode. The large console was lit white and the three domes were lit red in that episode. In this episode, the large console is lit red and the rows of domes are lit blue. One modification made to the set for "I, Borg", however, can also be seen in this episode: The wall consoles now feature monitors displaying animated graphics and no longer static backlit graphics.		"I, Borg"		The lab in HD.
		"I, Borg"
		"I, Borg"
Several different openings in Data's head have been seen in previous episodes. The smaller hatch at the back of the skull was also opened in "The Game" and will be seen open again in "A Fistful of Datas". The larger opening on the right side of Data's skull was previously seen open in "The Best of Both Worlds II", "Clues", "Disaster" and "Cause and Effect". It will be opened again in "A Fistful of Datas" and "Birthright I". The hatch on Data's detached head, however, features a larger opening and doesn't fit either the smaller opening on the back of his skull or the larger opening on the side. The same larger hatch was seen opened in "Time's Arrow I".	"The Best of Both Worlds II"	"Cause and Effect"		A look into Data's head in HD.
	"Clues"	"Time's Arrow I"
	"Disaster"	"A Fistful of Datas"
	"The Game"	"Birthright I"
When Data is turned on again by Geordi, sparks fly and the LED lights in the openings of his skull start to blink again.
This footage of the USS Enterprise-D was originally created for "The Wounded" as can be seen when comparing this shot to the one from that episode, also featuring a Cardassian Galor-class ship.		"The Wounded"		The same shots of the ship in HD.
This shot of the USS Enterprise-D was filmed for "Suddenly Human". In that episode, the ship faced a Talarian observation craft. The footage was first re-used in "Half a Life", where the ship is seen firing a volley of photon torpedoes, just like in this scene. As the Enterprise-D was very close to the star Praxillus in that episode, an orange glow was added to the shot, reflecting on the hull of the USS Enterprise-D. When this exact footage was re-used here, the orange glow needed to be toned down, as the ship is only facing the planet Devidia II and not a star here. The hull still seems to be too orange, however, especially when compared to the screenshot from "Suddenly Human".	"Suddenly Human"	"Half a Life"
The Devidians are briefly seen sitting in the cave on their homeworld, before the cave is destroyed. This shot is similar to one seen at the end of "Time's Arrow I". It seems the footage of the two Devidians on the left was recycled from that earlier episode.		"Time's Arrow I"		The Devidians in HD.

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