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In Theory

Clare

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Red Shirt
I just watched In Theory and it occured to me that it has the perfect structure for a TNG episode. It focuses on one main character (in this case Data) but introduces many other main characters as well as a new one (Jenna). It has two plot lines, one being Data's love life and the other a threat to the ship. I really like it because the two together make it exciting to watch- everybody loves to know about the personal lives of the main characters and have some exciting action as well. It's also got loads of funny bits =]
However Jenna is actually really annoying.....she reminds me too much of the bimbo type girls they had in Hitchcock movies or something!
Anyway does anybody else like this episode or ones similar to it in style?
 
I enjoy this one although it is not in my top 10 (or top anything) but it is quite fun to watch. Anything that gives Brent Spiner the chance to do something a bit different is alright in my book and in this he is quite funny. ("You are not my mother" :lol:)

You are right though, the young lady is a bit of a pain.
 
I really like this episode. Like Willieck said it wouldn't crack my top 10 list, but I think it's cute and under-appreciated.
 
I like "In Theory" particularly because it's one of those Data-explores-human-nature episodes. It's always interesting to look at ourselves through Data's impartial eyes. But I found some of the interaction between him and Jenna a little painful to watch because he was so awkward. Hard as he tried to imitate human romantic behavior, he just couldn't get it right precisely because it's not about behavior, it's about feelings and that is something impossible to reproduce through imitation. I kinda felt for him.
 
I agree Sinistra, episdoes like this one make you think about human nature a lot and how funny and silly we are sometimes!
Omg yes- Data's attempts at romance were so cringy I felt sorry for him! At first it was cute the way he was trying to understand interactions (especially during the painting scene) but when he tried to go all romantic and sexy it was just plain creepy!!! The "lovers quarral" was funny though as well as all the crew's reactions to all this. =]
 
Right you are, Clare! And it's exactly Data's clumsiness when it comes to emulating human behavior that makes him so endearing. Isn't it funny that an emotionless machine can elicit such a strong emotional response both in his human crewmates and in us, the human viewers of the show? I guess that's just another piece to the mystery of the "human equation". :D

By the way, really cool avatar, Clare!:techman:
 
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Thanks, i found it randomly on deviant art and actually printed it out and stuck it on the inside of my wardrobe so I lol every morning!! yeah as you can see I'm a bit of a Data fan......hehe he's so cute! Oh and I'm also a cat lover (therefore went mad when I realised he is too) so I like your avatar xD
 
As much as I love Data and see him as a real, "living" sentient/sapient being I can't watch this episode without thinking Jenna is coo-coo for seducing and dating a walking, talking, vibrator.

It's also odd that Data having interacted with humans for close to 20 years thought acting like the husband in a bad romantic drama aired on the Lifetime network would impress Jenna rather than, you know, being himself. He was down-right acting like Lore in the scene in Jenna's quarters. (Which, oddly, being a Junior officer she had the more elaborate quarters usually seen for more senior/high-ranking officers.)
 
I really love this ep but I wish they'd jettisoned the awful B-story (which goes nowhere and says nothing) and replaced it with more time looking at the A-story, which I found very affecting and beautiful.
 
(Which, oddly, being a Junior officer she had the more elaborate quarters usually seen for more senior/high-ranking officers.)

Those are the perks that come with dating the second officer. :)

She seemingly had the quarters all of the time.

For the record there were at least three quarters configurations on the E-D.

There was the large, multi-room quarters reserved for high-ranking officers and the occasional dignitary guest. Picard, being the captain, was the only one of the senior staff to have one of these.

There was the large quarters we're all probably most familiar with. Again multi-room but a bit less elaborate and spacious. Most of the senior staff had these.

Then there was the small quarters. This was multi-room but more along the lines of a one bedroom apartment. No windows, and I believe the biggest difference Data had was the large "office" room he had with the curved wall. (I believe a reused set-piece from the TOS movies.) In most cases we see these quarters used for "junior officers" or on occasion of the crew displaying some assholery given to guests they didn't like. (The Ferengi, for example.)

Who had the large suite:

Picard: Perks of being the CO.

Who had the "standard" quarters:

Riker: The XO.
Crusher: The CMO. (Commander)
Troi: Ship's counselor. (Lt. Commander)
Guinan: The ship's fucking bartender!

All senior, bridge, officers.

Jenna: Junior science/security officer. (Lieutenant?)

Who had the small, windowless, quarters:

Worf: Security chief. (Lieutenant)
Geordi: Chief Engineer. (Lt. Commander.)
Data: Second Officer/Science Officer/Operations Officer. (Lt. Commander)
Barkley: Junior Engineering Officer. (Lieutenant)
O'Brien (IIRC once he marries Keiko and even when they had Molly they still have this room but seemingly a larger "two bedroon" version of it.): Transporter Chief. (Chief Petty Officer) (Keiko: Botanist (Civilian)
The Q Girl: "Intern" of some-sort.
The Junior Officers in "Lower Decks": They were even doubled up.

All senior bridge officers except for the "minorities" on the ship or in one case a disabled man are given the larger room (even the damn bartender! Why is it a junior science officer (Jenna) or the ship's counselor both get the nicer, larger, fancier quarters but the second officer doesn't?

And at least twice "disliked aliens" are thrown in the tiny quarters to "shine them on" or something. (The Ferengi in "The Price", the Yiridian in "The Chase" whom Riker even tells was given the best they had to offer!)

Strikes me as a bit... odd.
 
^^^Maybe location's got something to do with it? Like Worf's room is smaller, but has a view of the topless pool/holosundeck that we never see. Or is really close to the turbolift, or is far away enough from the ice machine that the noise won't bother him when people go out for ice at 0300 hours and he has to be on duty at 0700 hours.

I guess you could justify some of this in universe by saying that Worf's Spartan Klingon spirit would view the large quarters as too luxurious (although it would give him more room to store his batleths and other instruments of death). I can't explain why the chief engineer would get the shaft, though.
 
^By having a residence almost directly in the center or the hull, all the decks and bulkheads block ambient radiation that would otherwise give him major headaches due to his visor.
 
My other idea is that is quarters are near the engines, and when running on impulse the vibrations act like "magic fingers."

Take that with as much dirt as you'd like.
 
I enjoy this one although it is not in my top 10 (or top anything) but it is quite fun to watch. Anything that gives Brent Spiner the chance to do something a bit different is alright in my book and in this he is quite funny. ("You are not my mother" :lol:)

You are right though, the young lady is a bit of a pain.

Data is probably the funniest character in all of Trek because it's always unintentional.
 
As much as I love Data and see him as a real, "living" sentient/sapient being I can't watch this episode without thinking Jenna is coo-coo for seducing and dating a walking, talking, vibrator.

I've always thought that about any "love story" involving Data. Including the Tasha seduction. Icky. :eek:
 
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