Sfdebris.net

http://sfdebris.com/videos/startrek/t199.php

This one was posted while the forums were still down and I had a thought on it I wanted to share.

Like, this is an episode that is really hard to rate and I . . . SORTA agree with Chuck that it's 5/10. But I'd probably give it a 3/10 or 4/10 because I actually find it uncomfortable to sit through, and 5/10s generally are benign enough to not fall under the "uncomfortable" umbra for me, on top of the B plot not being all that interesting.

What I agree with is that it certainly brings up interesting concepts about Data and relationships that could have been explored. That's the key though: could have. While it's interesting in concept, the episode ITSELF doesn't explore the idea in-depth enough to really get at why this relationship isn't working. It more or less leaves it as it is, and at best you can "read in" all the interesting bits that aren't quite said.

I have to treat this one as kind of a pair with "Data's Day" - the early rumblings of TNG becoming The Data Show.

The climax depends on Data's personality shift. It makes logical sense that he might try something like that, but we're still missing that essential scene where Data boots up the holodeck and instead of getting comedy "advice" from Joe Piscopo, he gets other terrible ideas from soap opera stars.

It shows how the storytelling is character-driven more so than thematic. We don't see other relationships in action besides a little of Miles and Keiko. If you're doing this episode, why isn't there more background on Troi/Riker?! Perfect opportunity!

So apart from the interesting thing Data does, the ep just kind of ticks boxes. Space thing happening? Check. Reset button? Check. It's basically an inverted "Booby Trap" where we don't have to hate Data afterwards. Not a terrible episode, not really essential either.

Revisiting this, I've always really loved this episode. That is, I've always loved the plot about Data getting involved in a relationship. The problem is that, by this point, they were getting very formulaic with their need to have an A plot and a B plot, and Ron Moore himself admitted he didn't give a shit about this episode's B-plot involving the ship in peril. The writing staff did a much better job at writing a relationship episode with "Lessons," where they didn't shoehorn in any danger plot until the third act, and then only focused on how it was involved with Picard's relationship and not all the messy details.

I honestly thought their relationship evolved very naturally at the start. Data isn't capable of friendship, exactly, but he still is capable of being a good friend. He's reliable, he's considerate, and he combines social awkwardness with a frank earnestness that gives him a degree of charm. There's an obvious reasons that a woman might find him appealing, and I think the episode demonstrates that. Then they take a skidding left turn where they refuse to treat the relationship in a serious way and Data starts turning into something from a sitcom. It's awkwardly mishandled. What would have made more sense, to me, would be for Data to start trying to emulate specifically William Riker. He's commented before and will comment later that he models some of his assessments about relationships around Riker's popularity with women. That would have made that scene with Jenna appropriately uncomfortable, while not making me wonder if Data was being possessed by the anomaly of the week (which was my initial reaction).

But the episode gets a lot of grace from me by ending on such a strong note. Jenna points out that, in the long term, she can't matter to Data in the same way that she could to a person. She can't make him happy, or sad, or angry, or hurt his feelings at all because he has none. And it really points out how alone Data is. And that point is puncutated hard when Data declares he's ending their relationship by saying, "I will delete the appropriate program." And yet, in a metaphysical sense....that's Data killing a part of himself as the relationship ends, and it always really made me reflect. I think Spiner nails it, and I think Stewart's direction at the end is spot on.