Data’s Day
Season 4 Episode 11
Original airdate: January 5, 1991

Netflix Synopsis

Data tries to comprehend the complex emotions between O’Brien and Keiko, who are about to be married.

My Brief Review

This one gets fairly high marks from the IMDb crowd, but I don’t get it. I found it so contrived and tedious that I actually watched most of it at double speed with the subtitles on, just so I could get through it faster.

The conceit is that Data is making a log of his daily activities for Commander Maddox at the Daystrom Institute, but it’s so cornball that it’s hard to believe. As we’ve seen the advancements in A.I. in the first part of the 21st century, it is positively ludicrous that an android like Data, in the 24th century, would be unable to comprehend human emotions (I mean, after all, we’re pretty much specifically training A.I. to read human facial expressions right now), or even to use contractions. I recognize that I’m judging this show’s writing with 30 years of technological advancement coloring my perspective. But come on… if we’ve accomplished this much in 30 years, how could we not accomplish significantly more in 300?

The real problem here is that there are basically about four separate episodes happening at once, but none of their stories are developed enough to matter. The most interesting thread — which I really wish had been an entire episode on its own — involves a Vulcan ambassador and a strange rendezvous with a Romulan ship. Turns out the Vulcan was really a Romulan spy in disguise. Oh well! Not like it would be a major event for the Federation to have a trusted ambassador turn out to have been a spy for their archenemies all along!

Somehow all of that gets swept aside, because it’s much more important for us to see if Data will be able to dance with Keiko (he’s standing in as “father of the bride”) without crushing her waist or breaking her feet.

Memorable Moment

Data is a quick learner with Dr. Crusher teaches him to tap dance. Be sure to smile!

Crew Rando

Ahh, who cares?

Distance Rating: 4K

IMDb score: 8.2/10