So far, Season 2 is a marked improvement over Season 1.
Episode 9: The Measure of a Man explores Commander Data and his self ownership. Such a good episode.
Captain Picard during the hearing: "Your Honor, Starfleet was founded to seek out new life" *points at Data* "Well, there it sits."
It's a great moment. This one was well done, in my opinion.
Overrated episode imo.
shareI'm watching TNG through from start to finish for the first time. This is one of the best episodes I've seen so far. And it's way better than anything in season 1.
What about it is overrated, in your opinion?
Season two is better than one, and season three is better than two. Season four through six might be the best but TNG hit it's stride after the second season, which many shows do.
I agree, I like this episode despite the fact that Starfleet had no legal basis to take Lol or Data for that matter. I guess that would be the weak point, but I still enjoy that one.
A strong, thoughtful episode that's about actual human ideas & ideals. It's also a turning point for Picard, as he's swiftly becoming the Captain we know from subsequent seasons.
shareThe overall theme of freewill and self ownership was well done. It also had some really good moments.
Picard's conversation with Guinan.
Picard's defense during the hearing.
Data's conversation with Riker a the end, where he acknowledges that Riker put himself at risk to save Data.
All very enjoyable for me.
Definitely the best episode by far up until that point.
shareYeah, for a lot of people this is their favorite episode of the series.
shareYup one of my favorite eps as well.
shareGood episode. The philosophical Episodes really are the best.
shareYes, that's the thing individual episodes of an ongoing series can do, something that a big-screen film often can't do. I'd never expect to see a theatrical film of "The Measure of a Man" or "The Inner Light" or stories along that line, but they tend to be among the best of TNG.
shareYeah for sure. And the first time around you want to see action and phasers and cloaking and all that. But that stuff doesn’t hold up. TNG still works today because of these deeper episodes. Good stuff.
shareAgreed. I enjoy an exciting, well-made action story, especially if it also has some characterization. But the stories that really stay with me are the quieter, more thoughtful stories. I can rewatch those & get more out of them each time.
shareThe episode is a series highlight, as it extends the Original series tropes regarding artificial intelligence and declares Data, in the end, a person. But the court drama in between is frankly ridiculous and cringeworthy. The idea of a Starfleet scientist stalking Data to the ends of Federation space, then using an overambitious hillbilly JAG to provoke a trial over Data's status is an insult to the legal profession. Never mind this JAG is a former f**k-buddy of Data's Commanding officer. Never mind there's seriously unfinished business between Picard and the Judge, a pair of interstellar alley-cats if ever we saw them. This case should have been thrown so far out of court over issues of conflict of interest that even Q would have trouble finding it again. Forcing one of Data's closest associates to act as amicus of the court, advocatus diaboli, and even prosecuting attorney, is tantamount to state-sanctioned torture and would never be tolerated by a real-world court of law. The JAG should have been recalled, censured, and thrown right out of Starfleet for this travesty, which bears greater similarity to 'The Drumhead' than anything approaching real-world justice. In the end Data is saved by Picard's evocation of metaphysics, in which he lets his witness tie himself down to a ridiculously simplified definition of sentience, then proceeds to stymie the witness by fulfilling the definition. But all this is moot. The definition of real-versus-artificial intelligence was worked out in the early 21st century; if Data were determined to be a mechanism rather than a person, why would he have been allowed into Starfleet? If he masqueraded as a person to enter Starfleet, he would have been thrown out once his true identity had been established. Where, oh where, is Samuel T. Cogley, Attorney At Law, when you need him?
sharebut the court drama in between is frankly ridiculous and cringeworthy. The idea of a Starfleet scientist stalking Data to the ends of Federation space, then using an overambitious hillbilly JAG to provoke a trial over Data's status is an insult to the legal profession. Never mind this JAG is a former f**k-buddy of Data's Commanding officer
Bother it did. Courtroom drama has a long and honourable history on television, featuring some of the most outstanding entertainment the media has ever produced... provided it's written well. This isn't. On the other hand, I found 'The Drumhead' a near-perfect example of the genre (and Jean Simmons perfectly cast as a lunatic Starfleet inquisitor), and as well I found favour with Q choosing to prosecute (no pun intended) his relationship with Picard as a courtroom drama... right up to the final episode. Who says they don't get it right once in a while?
share