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An Unusual(ly) Sad Story

W

Whizkid

Commander
Red Shirt
Clues | S4Ep14

There's something immensely sad about this episode, which I think ranks up there with S2's Measure of a Man.

It would seem that well into their journey, Picard's crew and Picard himself, could not fully trust Data's loyalty towards Starfleet and especially Enterprise/Picard.

They could all have left well enough alone, but perhaps Data's punctilious nature, always following protocol and unswerving loyalty to Captain and crew was too deep for any humanoid to comprehend.

In the end, ironically, it's Data's irreproachable nature itself which makes him a suspect (he's simply, as humans say, too good to be true.)

What stings however, the sad part, is that no one in the end even offers him an apology. I get it. Androids require no apologies.

But did nobody feel even the slightest need to apologise, however unnecessary, for doubting the intentions of a shipmate who was only and forever trying to protect them? Not even the great Jean-Luc? Or Geordi?

From this moment on, it was foregone that only the ultimate sacrifice might win Data the trust of Jean-Luc, his friend and mentor.

(ST: Nemesis was necessary after all. Sigh.)



 
I don't think they were terribly out of line. It wasn't about just trusting Data, it was a mystery that he at first denied and then when it was clear he knew something he declined to elaborate. Even in the face of that mystery Picard still desperately wanted Data to give him an out, even asking him what he should do. Data himself tells him that his duty is clear.

They do trust Data. With their lives.
 
Tosk said:
I don't think they were terribly out of line. It wasn't about just trusting Data, it was a mystery that he at first denied and then when it was clear he knew something he declined to elaborate. Even in the face of that mystery Picard still desperately wanted Data to give him an out, even asking him what he should do. Data himself tells him that his duty is clear.

They do trust Data. With their lives.
Click to expand...

They depend on Data with their lives but I'm not sure they fully trust him.

Yes, Picard and Data found themselves at a stalemate. But, as I said, Picard could have simply backed off. Instead his irresistible need to solve mysteries, his Dixon Hill self, took over, chose mystery over trust and friendship, and he simply had to figure out the "clues."

As Picard himself explains to the Paxan, towards the end, "sometimes, humans find mysteries irresistible." An easier, and certainly friendlier, explanation could have been: "sometimes, humans should simply trust Data." :)

In any case, my point was that in the end nobody, J-LP and GLF included, even felt the need to apologise to Data, unnecessary though it may have been.

And so Data's quest to cast off his Android shell in order to become more human would continue, all the way to the saddest conclusion.

For this time, in the subtlest of ways, he had been disregarded by his own closest colleagues and friends.
 
Whizkid said:
They depend on Data with their lives but I'm not sure they fully trust him.
Click to expand...
One of the definitions of depend involves trust. :D

Picard could have him transferred if he didn't truly trust him.

If it makes you feel any better, there's a big chunk of time before the next go-around that we don't see. Maybe everyone lined up and apologized to Data one by one. ;)
 
Those apologies would have needed to be after the Paxans granting them a 2nd chance and before the 2nd 'reset'. Though the Paxans are willing to grant them this 2nd chance, they don't seem the most patient of species. So perhaps there wasn't exactly a lot of time in that time window, which was spent eliminating all possible clues.
 
The issue was that Data was lying when Data never lies. In a ironic way their lack of trust was a compliment because the very notion of him lying and putting the crew in danger was so unheard of it that it fueled the mystery. Also the distrust was based on evidence such as the planet info being faked and him coming up with possible ideas that I guess were far fetched an thus not something Data would normally do.
 
@Jayson1

Well said. I wonder though, doesn't that make the story even more poignant? Data, who never lies, appears to be doing so blatantly. Data, who would never disobey a direct order, refuses to obey orders (since he's obeying a superseding order.) Etc.

And when the truth is revealed, what do we see? All this confusion because, "clues" were left behind, the first time. Surely that's everyone's fault and not alone Data's? Yet he's the one facing distrust yet carrying the responsibility of pulling ship and crew out of this mess. What a thankless job! :)

In any case, an excellent story!

PS - I think I was also deeply moved by an underlying implication of this episode: as humans get more and more integrated with technology, will they ever be able to fully trust it, especially when it comes to artificial intelligence? Will humans really be able to coexist peacefully with "artificial" life forms, if and when they begin to arrive? Considering that, for now, humans cannot even coexist with themselves, the answer does seem to be a somewhat upsetting one.
 
It's like not being able to trust a Human(oid) friend who may be under the influence of alcohol to drive you safely home, or who may be mentally unstable/emotionally compromised to keep you safe. It's not him they don't trust, it's who/what may be influencing/affecting him.
 
Consider that its not that they dont trust Data fully, its that they dont trust ANYONE fully.

They suspected something was wrong and investigated. Picrad faced soemthing analgous in 'Conspiracy'...with a phaser pointed at him.

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Leviathan said:
Consider that its not that they dont trust Data fully, its that they dont trust ANYONE fully.
Click to expand...

And rightly so. After all, at any given time, what appears to be officer 'X' could really be officer 'X', but also be a transporter clone, an evil twin they didn't know about, his alter ego from the Mirror universe, a clone, a lifelike android created by an alien race, his mind could have been swapped with another entity by accident or design, he could be under alien influence by telepathy or technology, brainwashed, infested with alien bugs controlling him, etc., etc., etc.

The Trek universe is actually pretty scary.
 
at Quark's said:
And rightly so. After all, at any given time, what appears to be officer 'X' could really be officer 'X', but also be a transporter clone, an evil twin they didn't know about, his alter ego from the Mirror universe, a clone, a lifelike android created by an alien race, his mind could have been swapped with another entity by accident or design, he could be under alien influence by telepathy or technology, brainwashed, infested with alien bugs controlling him, etc., etc., etc.

The Trek universe is actually pretty scary.
Click to expand...

Thankfully, members of The Federation have excellent (free) medical care that includes access to top-notch psychologists who easily push back most of the ensuing paranoia.
 
I think the episode is good as well. What I liked about it is how brave Data is despite not being able to feel the emotions one needs to be brave. Like he understand the logic of bravery and is even willing to loose everything on it. Well that and the feelings of th crew finding they can't trust the one person who is normally the most trustworthy of them all.
 
Ragitsu said:
Thankfully, members of The Federation have excellent (free) medical care that includes access to top-notch psychologists who easily push back most of the ensuing paranoia.
Click to expand...

To quote Garak: Paranoid is what they call people who imagine threats against their life. I *have* threats against my life.

As far as I know, each and every example I cite has actually occurred in Trek (not specifically TNG though). Some more than once. So pushing back paranoia is good, but they still need to be wary of the possibility that it is actually happening.
 
Whizkid said:
They depend on Data with their lives but I'm not sure they fully trust him.
Click to expand...
I'm going to read what you wrote here how I think it's meant, because in a way, you're not completely off.

They do trust Data. They trust who he is. They trust him as a person of good faith & intentions towards them. There'd be no way they could serve like this with him without they did.

However, the ever looming unique issue for Data is that no one, not even his crew at times, nor even himself, can fully trust what he is, because at times he has proven to be a terrifyingly unknown variable (see also Brothers)

When things go wrong with Data, it's more dangerously wrong than perhaps anyone else in Starfleet is capable, short of some of the utter villains. So this concern bubbles to the surface far more easily when there's questions, than if it were Riker's intent in a situation like The Pegasus.

They trust Data, but rightfully so, he scares the crap out of them sometimes, & even considering that, Picard extends him a lot more grace than you'd ever expect, here imho

What's sad is that the solution they devise requires him to keep a truth from his comrades forever, & that is very sad imho. It belies the whole point of him being deserving of their trust, & I honestly don't think it should ever have been allowed to come to that. If there's a lie to be preserved, it's one to be told to the Paxans, not his own people.
 
Anything that's hackable and likely hacked is inherently untrustworthy at that moment. This includes individuals overtaken by alien intelligence or replaced by lookalikes.
 
Laura Cynthia Chambers said:
Anything that's hackable and likely hacked is inherently untrustworthy at that moment. This includes individuals overtaken by alien intelligence or replaced by lookalikes.
Click to expand...
There is clearly some bias though, because they let Ol' Picard back at the helm of the Enterprise pretty quick after Wolf 359. Whereas Data can't even try to make another android like himself without some jackal gets a bug up their ass about wanting to micromanage every aspect of it by putting it into some kind of containment facility.
 
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