May 27, 2002
(I guess I've just been on a Trek kick lately.)
Anyway, I was watching Next Generation again, this one from the seventh season. I noticed that in Data's exchanges with Worf he showed what could be considered emotion. And at the end, he definitely showed he had a little bit of an evil streak to him.
I like that. Over the seven seasons of the show Data gradually ... well, "evolved" is probably the best word for it ... from just a collection of circuits that had to be legally classified as alive into a person. Not a human, obviously, but a person nonetheless. He might not have realized he had emotions and a sense of humor, but he had them nonetheless.
Then they ruined it in Generations. They installed an emotion chip (which was at least from an episode and not just out of the blue) and he turned into King Wuss. I realize that a being suddenly being subjected to fear would find it paralyzing, but he'd already felt confusion and apprehension. Why not have him continue to grow, instead of just slapping a chip into the character and calling it done?
The worst thing is, they didn't even need to do it. Here's what they got for their tampering with a well-developed character:
- Data was unable to prevent Geordi's abduction by the Bad Guys. There are other established ways to incapacitate him.
- The pep-talk from Picard. I'm guessing they wanted to break up the technobabblish scene, but they just made it drag.
- He got to pump his fist and grunt "YES!" after destroying the Klingon ship. Riker could've done that. Hell, I would have expected it from him.
- A minute later Data got to say "oh, shit!" when the saucer section was pushed into the planet's atmosphere. Again, a good Riker line.
- Upon finding his cat Spot, Data got all bleary-eyed. Bleah.
Of course, in the next movie Data got turned on by the Borg Queen. And I ain't talkin' about the switch in his back. But I would have preferred to see that happen without the chip. The realization that she could have that effect on him would have added even more to his confusion.
Ah well, it wasn't the first time Star Trek screwed up something it should've left well enough alone. And nothing would've made Generations a good movie.
