DATA'S DAY This was a VERY interesting episode. Not a GREAT episode, but it raises some interesting points. The first and most obvious point is raises is the issue of the rest of the Enterprise's crew. There are 1000+ people on the ship, and it seems reasonable to guess that half of them are crewmembers. One would think that more of the crew would at least turn up on a regular basis in the series, even if they're just extras with a few speaking lines. One of the things that lends verisimilitude to TOS episodes like "The Man Trap" and "The Naked Now" is the presence of minor characters taking on a substantial role in the episodes without becoming its focus. They're performing the duties they're (presumably) being paid by Starfleet to perform. However, in TNG we get the officers doing EVERYTHING, even more than the TOS officers did. In episodes like "Legacy" we have four officers beaming down into a zone known to be extremely hostile to Federation citizens in particular without even some security guards! And this is hardly an isolated occurrence. It dates back to "Encounter at Farpoint," and even superior episodes like "The Best Of Both Worlds" part one aren't immune. While this episode is far from fully successful in integrating the background characters into the story (I wasn't sure whether I should be laughing at the inane-looking barber or groaning in pain), it does lend the show an added dimension which is sorely lacking from many other episodes. "Data's Day", especially coming on the heels of "The Loss", points out another major flaw in a lot of TNG stories: exposition. Characters like Troi are walking exposition devices, especially in personal trauma-type plots where she's usually trotted out to deliver some rosy speech about why people are as they are. They key word there is "say". The whole POINT of drama is that we should be SHOWN how people act and draw our conclusions from the dramatic action rather than having it calmly explained to us. This may be a big part of the reason why I dislike Troi: She actively undercuts the drama of almost any episode. Here we get her neatly explaining to Data the nature of marriage. She doesn't fully succeed (for obvious reasons), but the explanation is BORING. I don't need to be told what Troi thinks marriage is all about. I DON'T CARE. It would have been more useful to have Data talk to, say, Dr. Crusher about her actual EXPERIENCES of marriage. It could have given us some insight into Beverly's character as well, so the episode benefits in two ways! Incidentally, I think Picard often functions as an exposition device as well. I think a large part of the success of Data and Worf as characters is that they have these glaring flaws in their characters with respect to how well they interact with other people, and those FLAWS make them interesting. They de facto introduce drama into just about any scene the charaters appear in. Now that Picard isn't as stubborn as he once was, he seems somewhat blander than he did in the first two seasons (except, of course, in episodes like "Family"). But enough philosophy. Here's what I thought of the rest of the episode: "Day In The Life" stories are old chestnuts in comic books (another of my major sources of entertainment). In fact, they were old chestnuts before I was born. That doesn't mean they can't be done well, of course, and this episode made a good go at it. One of the problems with the format this episode chose (with the narration of the letter) is that we get lots of exposition, which is dull. However, it's coming from Data, which can be interesting. The result is that sometimes Data's narration is entertaining, and sometimes it's boring. The episode does, however, get high marks for portraying EVERYTHING from Data's point of view, without any major lapses that I noticed. The "first person" effect was very compelling, and the juggling to fit all the plot in around Data was well done. The wedding seemed almost like a throwaway to me. The bride's motivations for calling it off were extremely murky and dampened the dramatic "oomph". Except for giving Data a reason to go about talking with various officers, it didn't seem useful. Perhaps a better "on board" plotline could have been developed. I have to admit that I guessed that the Vulcan ambassador was a Romulan spy as soon as she started questioning Data, but, unlike "Future Imperfect", this didn't bother me here, largely because it WAS a guess, and I wasn't SURE until the Romulan admiral said that he wasn't holding anyone captive on his ship. It also provided the brief "mystery" subplot which was entertaining (though if I hear about Sherlock Holmes' "elimination of the impossible" theory once more I'm going to scream!) and seemed error-free to me (though I do question the wisdom of the "standard procedures", but, oh well...). I got many chuckles out of the tap dancing routine. It looked to me like for most of the sequence, Brent Spiner and Gates McFadden were actually doing their own dancing. Most impressive! The recipient of Data's letter was the "plaintiff" from "Measure Of A Man", yes? Nice bit of continuity there. Also nice to see Data doesn't hold a grudge... :-) I don't remember any other sequences of note. All in all, this episode was quite a mixed bag, succeeding and failing with just about equal frequency. It was enjoyable, but by no means outstanding. Grade: B- SEASON FOUR TO DATE: The Best Of Both Worlds Part Two: C- Family: A- Brothers: B Suddenly Human: C Remember Me: A+ Legacy: D+ Reunion: A- Future Imperfect: D- Final Mission: B The Loss: D- Data's Day: B- --- Total: 26.667 Average: 2.424 = C+ (Rise of 0.024 from previous episode) Reality check: Somewhat better than "Suddenly Human", check. Somewhat worse than "Brothers" and "Final Mission", check. Looks good to me...