![]() ![]() It’s funny and oddly relatable for anyone who’s struggled with social cues. Picard finally stops him mid-sentence, and bitterly thanks him for the critique. He notes how inept and inappropriate Picard’s juxtapositions are, as well as the disturbing nature of his artistic influences. Eager to join in on the praise, Picard asks Data what he thinks of his own painting.ĭata just says, “Interesting.” Clearly, he would prefer to leave it at that, but Picard doesn’t take the hint and instead asks him to elaborate. When he enters Picard’s art class and begins praising his fellow artists’ work, we understand that they are truly great artists. Data is about as impartial a judge as one could imagine. Brothers forgive.”Īt the start of “A Matter of Perspective,” we get to see how much Data has grown and learned about the need to temper his focus on telling the truth. Crusher gets one more bittersweet line at the end when she says, talking about a pair of quarreling brothers whose feud almost killed one of them, “They’re brothers, Data. ![]() That’s okay because we the audience grieve for Data and the tragic loss of what is in essence his father. Soong accepts that with quiet dignity, noting that Data will grieve in his own way. Data speaks with his creator one last time and explains that he can’t grieve over his death. The ending of this episode is particularly poignant. Soong by switching Data off and taking his place so that he receives the emotion chip instead of his brother. Unfortunately, Data’s evil brother Lore also intrudes on the family reunion, hence the name of the episode. In “Brothers,” Data comes tantalizingly close to receiving an emotion chip that would help him overcome the limitation in his positronic brain. The only thing that saves the bad guy from a gruesome death is a timely beam up of Data. But Data resolves the dilemma in his mind by simply saying, “I cannot permit this to continue,” and he pulls the trigger. #Datas creator star trek androidThe android is programmed against needlessly taking a life. He taunts Data’s lack of emotions because if he felt anything, Data might be able to feel enough rage and need for revenge to kill him. The captor just killed his most trusted assistant who was helping Data escape. He aims a vicious weapon at his captor and commands him to surrender. But his final act of defiance is amazing. Data pushes back against this indignity by refusing to wear a costume and sit in a chair as long as possible until he has no other choice. In “The Most Toys,” Data is imprisoned against his will by a collector of rare artifacts who treats him like a prized possession instead of a sentient being. I’d like to share parts of them as a means of explaining why I agree that Data is the best one of the main characters in Star Trek: The Next Generation. He becomes more in tune with people’s emotions, and he fights back against his own limitations.Įpisodes like “The Most Toys,” “Brothers,” and even “ A Matter of Perspective” give him ample opportunities for growth. But something interesting happens over the course of the show’s seven seasons. When we first meet Data, he’s childlike and curious, sometimes even arrogant and annoying. For some reason, this makes him remarkably likable and interesting. Unfortunately, he lacks the capacity to feel anything, so he has to watch his crewmates suffer, celebrate, and struggle with no common frame of reference with which to understand them. He’s an android who wants to understand human emotions and perhaps even experience them one day. Picard is aloof, Riker is strong, Worf is noble, Geordi is tenacious, Crusher is incisive, Deanna is empathic, and Data? He’s different. The ensemble characters in Star Trek: The Next Generation are each defined by a single trait. Who is your favorite character, and why is it Data?” That made me laugh. I remember years ago on Reddit visiting the Star Trek subreddit and finding a post entitled, “I just finished watching TNG for the first time. ![]()
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