History YMMV / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E9AMatterOfTime

** This won't be the last time that time travelers from the future will be overly enthused in being on board the bridge of the Enterprise. Unlike Rasmussen, [[Recap/StarTrekStrangeNewWorldsS2E07ThoseOldScientists the next two will be actual fans of the crew]].

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Rasmussen doesn't give an entirely spirited defense of his non-interference position because he's actually a fraud, and we're supposed to side with our hero, Picard, but there are actually plenty of reasons why someone might actually take the points he does make to heart and side with him.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: While it later turns out that Rasmussen is a fraud, the discussion between him and Picard as to what will happen to Penthara IV brings up some interesting arguments as to whether, had Rasmussen been telling the truth, he would be in the wrong for withholding information that could potentially be used to save untold lives, or Picard is in the wrong for trying to force Rasmussen into committing what by Picard's own admission would be tantamount to a Prime Directive violation, in order to get Rasmussen to make a difficult decision for him.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Some people think that making Rasmussen a fraud undercuts the meat of the episode examining the ethics of a "temporal prime directive" to not interfere with events in the timeline.

* RetroactiveRecognition:
** Hey, why is [[Series/OrphanBlack Dr. Leekie]] being a pest to the ''Enterprise'' crew??
** One of the scientists on Penthara IV is Shay Garner, who played Thumbelina in the infamous b-movie ''Film/SantaAndTheIceCreamBunny''.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: A few critics, most notably Website/SFDebris, thought the episode would've been more interesting if Dr. Rasmussen actually ''was'' a historian from the 26th century, instead of being a 22nd century ConMan.
** As an addendum to above points, as dark as it would have been, imagine if Rasmussen had been a real historian ''and'' the Enterprise had failed in their mission. Then the HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct discussion would have been really intense.

* FridgeHorror: Don't think too hard about what would've happened to Starfleet, and humanity as a whole, if Rasmussen had gotten away with all those gadgets.
** Post ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise,'' the objects that he tried to steal were only mildly more advanced than what was already there. Only the kidnapping of Data would have been potentially devastating for the 24th century, and even then we can rely on his ability to overpower Rasmussen and work out how to pilot the ship back.
** By arresting Rasmussen, the ''Enterprise'' crew casually abduct a struggling inventor from 200 years in their own past. While Rasmussen would probably never have amounted to anything if he'd stayed in his own time, there's a lot of risk in that ''probably'' in a universe where [[Recap/StarTrekS1E28TheCityOnTheEdgeOfForever you can never know how significant someone really is to history]] or [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E15YesterdaysEnterprise the effect of removing them from history]].

* HilariousInHindsight: Rasmussen remarking towards the end, "I am tickled ''pink''!" is amusing given Creator/MattFrewer became the voice of The Pink Panther two years later in the short-lived 1993 series.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Hey, why is [[Series/OrphanBlack Dr. Leekie]] being a pest to the ''Enterprise'' crew??

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: A few critics, most notably Website/SFDebris, thought the episode would've been more interesting if Dr. Rasmussen actually ''was'' a historian from the 26th century, instead of being a 22nd century conman.

* HilariousInHindsight: Rasmussen remarking towards the end, "I am tickled ''pink''!" is amusing given Matt Frewer became the voice of The Pink Panther two years later in the short-lived 1993 series.

** By arresting Rasmussen, the ''Enterprise'' crew casually remove a struggling inventor from their own history. While Rasmussen would probably never have amounted to anything if he'd stayed in his own time, there's a lot of risk in that ''probably'' in a universe where [[Recap/StarTrekS1E28TheCityOnTheEdgeOfForever you can never know how significant someone really is to history]].

** One of the scientists on Penthura IV is Shay Garner, who played Thumbelina in the infamous b-movie ''Film/SantaAndTheIceCreamBunny''.

** More a case of HeyItsThatGuy, but one of the scientists on Penthura IV is Shay Garner, who played Thumbelina in the infamous b-movie ''Film/SantaAndTheIceCreamBunny''.

* RewatchBonus: Looking back on the episode, Rasmussen really did a bang-up job on the whole con, deftly changing subjects and misdirecting the main cast at every turn. He only really stumbled, of course, by getting too cocky.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: A few critics, most notably Website/SFDebris, thought "A Matter of Time" would've been more interesting if Dr. Rasmussen actually ''was'' a historian from the 26th century, instead of being a 22nd century conman.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: While it later turns out that Rasmussen is a fraud, the discussion between him and Picard as to what will happen to Penthara IV brings up some interesting arguments as to whether Rasmussen is in the wrong for withholding information that could potentially be used to save untold lives, or Picard is in the wrong for trying to force Rasmussen into committing what by Picard's own admission would be tantamount to a Prime Directive violation, in order to get Rasmussen to make a difficult decision for him.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: A few critics, most notably WebVideo/SFDebris, thought "A Matter of Time" would've been more interesting if Dr. Rasmussen actually ''was'' a historian from the 26th century, instead of being a 22nd century conman.