one day data will be a real boy Archive

16

Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch: “Tin Man”

Tin Man“Tin Man”
Written by Dennis Putman Bailey & David Bischoff
Directed by Robert Sheerer

Season 3, Episode 20
Original air date: April 23, 1990
Star date: 43779.3

Mission summary

The Enterprise has an unexpected run-in with Captain DeSoto, who interrupts a really boring charting mission with top secret, ix-nay on the Omulan-Ray implications. He sends over a passenger, a Betazed named Tam Elbrun–“of the Ghorusda disaster,” whatever that means–who is to be the mission specialist of the week. He and Troi have already met, however, back at Betazed University, where she was studying basic visual cues and he was a patient. The mission? Approach a star about to go supernova, currently orbited by what appears to be a living ship that Elbrun has dubbed the “tin man.” Not only that, but they have to get there before the Romulans do, or else.

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16

Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch: “Déjà Q”

dejaq285“Déjà Q”
Written by Richard Danus
Directed by Les Landau

Season 3, Episode 13
Original air date: February 5, 1990
Star date: 43539.1

Mission summary

Enterprise is rendering assistance to Bre’el IV, which is about to say “goodnight, moon”— an asteroidal body on a decaying orbit will slam into the planet in twenty-nine hours unless they can devise a way to shove it back where it belongs. It’s just too damn big for the tractor beams to nudge it, which La Forge eloquently compares to “an ant pushing a tricycle.” To further complicate the situation, they’re paid an unexpected visit by an old adversary: Q literally drops in on the Bridge, in the buff. He smirks and greets them with, “Red alert.”

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13

Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch: “The Ensigns of Command”

“The Ensigns of Command”
Written by Melinda M. Snodgrass
Directed by Cliff Bole

Season 3, Episode 2
Original air date: October 2, 1989
Star date: Unknown

Mission summary

Picard and Crusher attend Data’s first violin recital, but are called away almost immediately by a message from the Sheliak, a non-humanoid race with Javert-like punctiliousness for the rule of law. It seems the Sheliak have found humans on the planet Tau Cygna V, which they plan to colonize in four days. The humans’ presence is a violation of the Armens treaty, negotiated over 100 years ago. Picard is skeptical any life could exist on that planet because of its extreme radiation levels, but Worf confirms that life is on the planet. Riker can’t imagine more than a few dozen colonists, so Data takes a shuttlecraft to bring the strays back into the fold.

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