4.25 — “In Theory”
Plot: A co-worker of Data’s, Lieutenant Jenna D’Sora, is discouraged with her romantic prospects. She decides that Data , her uncritically supportive friend, would make an excellent romantic partner. Sensing an opportunity to expand his knowledge of human relationships, and to be increasingly supportive, Data obliges her wish after consulting with various members of the crew. Meanwhile, an exploratory expedition into a dark matter nebula turns dangerous for the ship.
Thoughts: This is the first episode of TNG to be directed by Patrick Stewart (Jonathan Frakes had already directed three at this point; Stewart will eventually direct four more). I am tempted to blame him for it falling a bit flat.
Showing how Data interacts with “ordinary” crew members is a surprisingly rich vein of story. We have rarely seen him interact with anyone other than Geordi outside a crisis or purely work situation. It doesn’t seem strange to me that others would want to explore what it would be like to romance Data. In fact, it happened already, in “The Naked Now,” with Tasha. That situation probably worked better because Tasha took charge (and perhaps limited her expectations to what Data was capable of delivering). Lt. D’Sora, after making the first move, seems more passive. She doesn’t seem to be empathetic enough to understand Data, and significantly overestimates Data’s ability to understand her. Meanwhile, the writers seem bent on exaggerating Data’s awkward understanding of interpersonal relations.
I note there are no leering references in the episode to Data being “fully functional.” Gene Roddenberry, who would die on October 24, 1991, had truly relinquished control of the series by this point.
Unlike so many other Data episodes, this episode seems to proceed with a point of view that Data does not have feelings, and so is fundamentally unlike D’Sora. What does Data learn during this episode? Why is he so motivated to please D’Sora, or to become human? I don’t think any new insight is gained, unless that insight is that Data really is just a machine without a hope of being human, which doesn’t seem consistent with previous episodes.
There were opportunities, surely, for some emotional moments to be inserted. I was expecting Data to discover that he is unexpectedly distracted at work by his new relationship, or to experience confusion, if not outright sadness, following the end of the relationship. But no.
After the amusing scenes where Data seeks advice (Troi gives the best advice, but Worf FTW), the story of the relationship seems to be told from D’Sora’s point of view, which is an odd choice. As far as we know, Data has no point of view about the subject.
We have seen Brent Spiner insert humanity into Data in a number of previous episodes. I suspect Patrick Stewart stifled this, which, if true, was ungenerous towards his castmate. The comedy inherent in a human dating a emotionless android works fine in the context of a short film, but this is a series with ongoing characters, and the more interesting choice for Data would have been to discover that he has more emotional capacity than he suspects (not less).
I wrote that the last two episodes may be the most interesting Crusher and La Forge episodes yet. Data’s most interesting episode, alas, is still either “The Measure of a Man” or “The Offspring.”
I was pleased to see a woodwind quintet–I used to play in one of those in high school! Brent Spiner does not mime playing the oboe particularly well. Did you catch this episode’s references to Star Trek II (shooting torpedoes into a nebula) and Star Trek IV (transparent aluminum)?
The less said about the nebula subplot the better. I feel a bit like Data myself–my notepad says “So far, this subplot with the anomalies seems strangely unfocused.”
Data may be a bad boyfriend, but this is a romantic thing to say:
DATA: You are much more than that, Jenna. I have written a subroutine specifically for you. A program within the program. I have devoted a considerable share of my internal resources to its development.
I will have to remember to use this line the next time I attend a science fiction convention.
2.5 of 5 glasses of Claman Sherry.
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