History Recap / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E5WhereNoOneHasGoneBefore

** This episode introduces Argyle, one of four chief engineers who would appear on the ''Enterprise'' in Season 1, and only one to have a recurring role.

* TheUnpronounceable: Being a mysterious Alien, the Traveller naturally says his true name is this.
* WritersCannotDoMath: Data states that a subspace message sent home from M33 will take "51 years, 10 months, 9 weeks, 16 days" (and presumably some change, but Picard cuts him off at this point). Either he's using a radically different calendar, or that figure should be 52 years, 2 months, 2 weeks, and 2 or 3 days, give or take.
* YourMindMakesItReal: Anything the ''Enterprise'' crew can envision, becomes reality. This includes such things as flashbacks, very real dangers like fire, and ultimately, getting the ship back to its own galaxy.

* {{Jerkass}}: Kosinski irritates absolutely everybody.

** Kosinski's relationship with the Traveler is particularly interesting, because in many real world magical traditions people supposedly worked magic by calling upon the assistance of supernatural beings (angels, demons, familiars, spirits, gods, etc.) who in turn provided the means to achieve greater feats of magic. Kosinski, a warp drive engineer, has been performing seemingly inexplicable improvements to starships with his "assistant" the Traveler by essentially having his thoughts and desire to improve the engines amplified by the alien. In this regard, he is not so very different from a magician working with a supernatural entity to perform "magic", whether he consciously accepts that fact or not.

* UpToEleven: Normally, during warp speed, we see the ''Enterprise'' zooming past individual stars. In this episode, we see the ship zooming past ''entire galaxies'' in rapid succession instead.

* HarsherInHindsight: Picard's vision of his deceased mother becomes even more heart wrenching when the circumstances of her death are finally revealed.

** As the crew prepares to try to get back to the Alpha Quadrant, Picard orders all decks and all stations to battle stations, even though the ship isn't going into battle. This seems kind of odd, given that the crew needs to be relaxed in order to send good thoughts towards the Traveler. In future installments of this and other ''Star Trek'' shows, "battle stations" is only used if the crew is actually going into battle.

* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Kosinski claims to be able to improve warp speeds by using his special engine calibrations which come off as utter nonsense to all the experienced engineers on the ''Enterprise''. The calibrations are indeed as nonsensical as they look, and the real magic is worked by the mysterious alien assistant. A bit of a subversion, as the Traveler says that Kosinski has grasped a small part of the whole -- he's actually on to something, he just doesn't understand it as well as he thinks he does.

* ReadingsAreOffTheScale: The ''Enterprise'' passes Warp 10. Later {{Jossed}} by one of the technical manuals. What really happened was that the creators of the show hadn't decided on the new warp scale yet. Although the episode can be reconciled with what they later set in stone (that Warp 10 would be infinite speed, so all speeds MUST be less than Warp 10) - it's possible that the nature of the Traveller's effect is such that it causes the computer to display an incorrect speed. Later in the episode, the ''Enterprise'' travels even faster, while the readouts show the ship never exceeding Warp 1.5 (which it clearly did, by a very large margin).

* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: A minor example; some of the discussions the crew have when the ''Enterprise'' is stuck 300 years from home seem to have influenced ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''.

* SmallNameBigEgo: Kosinski, of course.

* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Kosinski claims to be able to improve warp speeds by using his special engine calibrations which come off as utter nonsense to all the experienced engineers on the ''Enterprise''. The calibrations are indeed as nonsensical as they look, and the real magic is worked by the mysterious alien assistant.

* NotNowKiddo: Wesley tries twice to get Commander Riker's attention to explain what The Traveler did. Unusually for this trope, when Picard demands to know why Wesley didn't report it Riker admits that he didn't listen.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: This episode introduces Argyle, one of four chief engineers who would appear on the ''Enterprise'' in Season 1, and only one to have a recurring role.

* LudicrousPrecision: When the ''Enterprise'' is stranded in Galaxy M33, Picard asks Data how long it will take the SubspaceAnsible to transmit his CaptainsLog back to Starfleet. Data's answer goes down to the number of minutes before he gets cut off.

* CharacterShilling: The Traveler goes out of his way to tell everyone how how super-duper-awesome Wesley Crusher is. Specifically, he's made out to be, literally, a [[Creator/WolfgangAmadeusMozart Mozart]] of starship propulsion. Picard is convinced, and Wesley is made an "Acting Ensign" at the end of the episode.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: This episode introduces Argyle, one of four chief engineers who would appear on the ''Enterprise'' in Season 1.

'''The Traveler:''' Well yes, this could seem like magic to you.

* MagicVersusScience: This trope is called out rather explicitly when, due to the abilities of the Traveler, the ''Enterprise'' has been transported to a place where thoughts become reality.
-->'''The Traveler:''' You do understand, don't you, that thought is the basis of all reality? The energy of thought, to put it in your terms, is very powerful.\\