Welcome back to Underrated Trek, where I take a special look at Star Trek episodes that I love…which may not be the most popular or even liked by most. I’ve done a lot of talking about Season 7 TNG and as I’ve said most episodes are either pretty darn good…or so silly they’re ridiculous. There is one today I’ve never really categorized. Which one?
Ah yes, the Data as Frankenstein episode. So was this episode good, or awful? It seems to be a good example of a general problem with Season 7. But I’ll get to that.
Plot Synopsis:
During a mission to repair a probe which crashed on a planet with a Renaissance culture, an explosion damages Data bad enough to cause amnesia. He is taken in by villager Garvin and his daughter, Gia.
Before the arrogant medical expert is convinced of Data's scientific superiority by experiments, the nuclear material he carried has caused radiation sickness. Meanwhile Deanna decides to take her bridge officer exams, supervised by Riker, but keeps failing the engineering emergency test - or is it really something else?
Data discovers the cure but not before the villagers attack and destroy him. However the village is saved and Data safely rescued. Deanna finally discovers what her mistake was, and passes the test.
Guest Stars:
Several character actors who’ve appeared in a million things show up here. Including Mike Haggert, Kreeger on Friends and Ronnie Clair Edward’s best known for The Waltons.
Episode pros
Data having amnesia is a cool idea and it’s handled well. It’s funny how he knows the arrogant medical lady is wrong. And her views on what constitutes an element are funny. And using his name but not recognizing was cute. I like with no memory it’s still Data. He’s smart, knows right from wrong, and just wants to help. Brent Spiner gives a nice low key performance.
I would have liked more of the relationship with Gia and Data. The episode obviously wanted them to be close but there just isn’t enough time. Her final scene where she tells Riker and Crusher about him is well done.
Rather then the B story be the search for Data we get Troi deciding to take the command test. It does make some nice scenes between her and Riker even if it feels rushed. This really the same Troi from season 4? To be fair the episode tries to make the case this a natural character development. And if your wondering she finally realizes she needs to be able to order someone to do something that will kill then because the ship is what matters. Handled pretty well too.
The makeup effects were damn impressive but that was par for the course at this point.
Episode Cons
The big problem with the story in my opinion is there are no stakes. We know what the metal is. We know what Radioactive means. We know Data will find a cure. It’s just waiting for it to get there. Even the villagers turning against Data feels forced and since its Data we know he’ll be fine so there’s no weight.
Some characters sure get screwed here. Worf and LaForge only appear as holograms. Picard gets one line at the end (Patrick Stewart had been doing A Christmas Carol). And the weird choice to have Data not remember what happens makes the episode feel, well, pointless.
Troi getting promoted was cool but also rushed we never even see other reactions to it except Data. Lots to nitpick here. Why was Data sent alone? How could his cure possibly work? Why didn’t the villagers listen at all? Data was severely damaged and buried and turns up just fine???
Fast Forward Moment:
That whole scene where the medical lady demonstrates how foolish her beliefs are is pointless. Funny, Datas reactions are great, but pointless. I mean. Cmon lady. Wood has fire in it? This idea of refusing to accept your own ignorance would be better done in other episodes such as Voyagers “Distant Origin “ for example.
Final Thoughts:
This episode has grown on me but is not great. So what was that problem I mentioned at the start? Like many in this season the episode is just boring. Not bad, it’s got some good stuff in it, but it’s slow and since nothing means anything we’re just waiting for it to end. That was the big problem this season everything was paced so damn slowly, seriously compare season 7 with season 3 it’s jarring. I’ll never know why this was but it hurt episodes they weren’t awful. Like this one.
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