Data's abandoned story arc in The Next Generation

[@Bludvarg]

"As a robot, I don't have emotions, and that makes me sad" --Bender "Bending" Rodriguez

[@jpivarski]

In my head, I've always called it the Mr. Data Paradox: wanting things is an emotion. Wanting to want emotions is wanting to want, and therefore always having what you want. It's the opposite of the Oscar the Grouch Paradox, in which you want to feel bad, so if you feel bad, you feel good, which is bad so you feel bad. This one is self-negating in a way that the Mr. Data Paradox is self-affirming.

[@JDubbsTheatre]

I always thought the same thing. Lol

[@nerdomancer]

The show runners envisioned Data as Pinocchio, an incomplete being who needed a special piece of magic in order to become a "real boy". But the writers (most of them, anyway) and the actor (Brent Spiner) knew better. They understood Data as the Tin Man, who desperately wanted a heart, without realizing he had one all along.

[@CatsClaw44]

That makes sense because that "piece of magic" ended up being the emotion chip.

[@axebomber2108]

I would’ve rather Data developed emotions naturally, rather than just instantly having them through the emotion chip. To me, it would be more like he was alive if his positronic brain were inherently capable of emotions and it only needed more time to “grow”.

[@Robert08010]

Wow, that to so freakin poetic... I actually FELT that.

[@astrowebs410]

I came to the comments to say pretty much this. That the most human thing about Data was the fact that he didn't realize just how human he was.

[@bb7931]

There's also that bit in Season 4's "Brothers" where Dr. Soong is about to die, and Data says "You know I cannot mourn you, sir?" And Soong says "You will, in your own way."

[@kaitlyn__L]

I love that in the board game episode Pulaski outright says Data is having a crisis of confidence. Everyone else scoffs, saying he has no emotions and can’t be shaken. Then she argues in the very text of the episode that he DOES have emotions and they ARE real, even though they’re mathematical instead of hormonal. She argues a similar thing about the validity of Data’s concerns in Pen Pals. Everyone remembers the standoffish way she approached him, but very quickly she arguably became his biggest ally! She even challenged Geordi in a few ways once or twice.

[@InfernosReaper]

If that character had stayed around longer, people might've warmed up to her

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@InfernosReaper exactly, they could’ve cemented her growth across the seasons just like Data got better at poker

[@Zodroo_Tint]

Her logical character arc was to be the biggest ally of Data and a best friend after Geordi. That would have been better than Crusher's character arc.

[@InfernosReaper]

@@Zodroo_Tint What are you talking about? Being the mother of an obnoxious prodigy and ghost-fornication expert are fantastic character arcs! 😉

[@Bored_Barbarian]

Oh hey, I recognize your name from the Steve Shives livestreams lol

[@Swenglish]

Data has emotions even in the episode where he's given the emotion chip, before and after he has it. His desire to have emotions *is* an emotion, and that's a constant. The tragedy of Data is that he doesn't know he already has what he wants, and the tragedy of the writers is they didn't seem to know it either, since they just kind of left it hanging.

[@scooterdooter]

I also liked Pulaski. A blunt contrarian who wasn't afraid to challenge authority.

[@izzafizza339]

Ya crusher was too soft

[@MrAsmontero]

I dislikes contrarians for constrarian sake. I like contrarians that stand up to injustice.

[@Xebelan]

I love her friendship with Worf-- and her being excited to participate in a Klingon tea ceremony with him.

[@FattyMcFox]

Data has always resonated with Nuerodivergent people. He has emotions, but they are experienced in ways that do not appear like those of the people around him. This is the everyday experience of a lot of people. They have emotions but others don't recognize or acknowledge them, because they manifest in a way that is so different than the way they see manifest in others. Polaski started off by doing just that, and then by the end of the season, she fully recognizes him as a person, has shown growth as a character, and is on her way to becoming his friend.

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

I agree completely. This in no way has anything to do with the fact that I am highly neurodivergent, and my family's nickname for me as a teen was Data.

[@eritain]

Yes! Data absolutely has emotions. He has motivational states. He has arbitrary preferences and self-selected interests. He values his own freedom and consciousness. He appreciates irony. He talks about wanting and hoping as convincingly as anybody. With the exocomps he chooses to risk his own freedom for conscience's sake. He reminisces about Tasha Yar and keeps a memento of her. He preferentially hangs out with the three people most like him: LaForge (socially awkward, has a super sense from a technological body part), Worf (orphan, visibly an outsider), Picard (precise, massively under-engaged with his own emotions). The evidence for his emotional life is abundant once you get past everybody else's discourse about him not having one. He doesn't have the conventional expressions of emotions, but those are socially learned anyway. They differ from culture to culture here on Earth right now. How did *Data* not notice that he has emotions? How did he buy into the discourse that he lacks them? Alexithymia. His emotions don't demand his attention. This all makes Data an unintentionally revealing portrait of what non-Autistic people thought about Autistics in the 1990s. But here's the thing. Alexithymia isn't autism. They often go together, but they're different. Most importantly, alexithymic people can learn to recognize their emotions, whereas trying to teach people not to be autistic is like trying to teach them to be shorter or taller. And I believe Data could have discovered his own subjective experience of emotions without the magic chip whacking him over the head with them, if anyone had ever suggested it was possible.

[@marscaleb]

The idea that he does secretly have emotions works so much better with his story. After all, Soong had already managed to create perfectly real androids already, complete with real emotions. Data was created later, largely to appease what people had perceived a robot should be. And when he created Data, he was designed to be upgraded to become full human with emotions, which shows that he WANTED Data to have emotions. It makes sense that Soong would have created some level of emotional capacity, but kept it subdued, so that he would not outwardly appear to have them. And besides, even after the second season, he still exhibits things like desire, compassion, interest, care, and so forth. These things ARE emotions, they just aren't the ones we typically think of. And then there's stories like when Data creates a child. She winds up having emotions, despite Data's understanding of how that could be so. It seems that a positronic brain is natively capable of emotions, as it is modelled somewhat after an organic brain, but Data was explicitly designed to subdue any overtly apparent emotions.

[@deusexaethera]

Data doesn't have human emotions because he doesn't have human neurology. But he doesn't need them either. His neurology works differently.

[@joshuacalkins]

Good points! I’ve always felt there was an unaddressed complexity to Data’s nature. The Most Toys is worth considering as an example that he is not exactly what we are told, or even what he himself believes. There’s also that nice moment in Tine’s Arrow where he translates “anticipation of familiar inputs” to “I am fond of you as well, Commander.” This muddies the water on how different his interpretation of reality really is. And nobody can deny that he is friends with Geordi.

[@brasswirebrush]

I always think of The Most Toys as an episode where Data unequivocally shows he has emotions. He gets pushed over the edge by this selfish, narcissistic little man, and then lies about it afterwards.

[@joshuacalkins]

@ It might be fun to read a short story that dealt with Data’s internal struggles following that incident. If he felt there was an undeniable implication to his actions, and that he would need to conceal that information indefinitely for his own preservation, then he might also feel (that word again) that he was presented with a disturbing and highly private puzzle to unravel. Would he eventually tell Geordi? It’s probably best left alone, but it’s very intriguing.

[@zoinksgraphics]

Geordi had a beard for a quick minute

[@sureshmukhi2316]

The episode "The Offspring" clearly showed Data had emotions even if he doesn't admit it. Why else would he want to create a "daughter" . Why else would he want so desperately to save her at the end, and when he couldn't, he transfered her experiences to his own memory then says "I thank you for your sympathy, but she is here. Her presence so enriched my life that I could not allow her to pass into oblivion. So I incorporated her programs back into my own. I have transferred her memories to me." That is obviously an emotional act.

[@travtotheworld]

Honestly, this is a problem with the whole "he has no emotions" conceit. Throughout the series Data WANTS things... to be more human, to have a daughter, to play Sherlock. Desire IS an emotion.

[@sureshmukhi2316]

@@travtotheworld agreed!

[@jamesboulger8705]

You have to accept the conceit or you could replace Lal with basically anything he is motivated to do. The show just assumes motivation works differently. Data values Lal - he has values. Does valuing your daughter equate to "liking" or "loving" something? Well no, you could value money but resent needing it. This is the essential problem of what emotions are, and whether we could consider a being sentient in the way we understand it if it is incapable of emotions. Right? Why does data join starfleet? People pursue careers out of pride. In his case, he was curious - is curious an emotion. You could do this circle loop with ANYTHING he does. Therefore, the answer is that it's a storytelling conceit, and axiomatic within the universe - motivated beings with values can exist without needing emotions.

[@sureshmukhi2316]

@@jamesboulger8705 to value something is to have an emotional attachment to something, material or not.

[@jamesboulger8705]

@sureshmukhi2316 I was highlighting how the show only establishes that data values things, and he can value Lal, but that doesn't equate to the emotion of love. But you are correct it could be some other emotion. Data's aspects of motivation and morality could always fall back upon "well he is just programmed to do it" and that the program is just very sophisticated- once he has curiosity as an attribute, seeking knowledge (not emotional, its just "what he does") everything else falls into place. I don't recall if Data himself ever makes this kind of argument, but if a program is sophisticated enough, then all his actions could just be the result of that program and its initial conditions. He joins starfleet because they rescue him after reinitializing - then starfleet provides an environment that encourages further exploration of a variety of topics, including reproducing himself. So you have to accept that Data doesn't feel as a conceit of the show, and that everything we see is imitation and facsimile. While this brings to question whether he is even sentient or self-aware ... well that's a good one which is why one of the earliest episodes focuses on this question with a resounding conclusion of "I don't know" The truth is if Data was a classical computer like my desktop, then it's pretty obvious that no he is not self-aware. The problem is that the show uses "sci-fi magic" in the form of the positronic brain which we are lead to believe has some of the qualities of our brains but it's just a plot device in the same way that Doc Browns Flux capacitor functions in Back to the Future to get the story moving along. The intention of both is to be a hazy and unexplained thing to keep things moving.

[@wackyvorlon]

It’s pretty evident that Data has always had emotions. But they’re more subtle.

[@brendalg4]

I agree with your statement, but not this video

[@sleepinggorilla]

There was a TNG novel where they encountered a group of Androids that rivaled Data and had emotions. When presented a problem, they all came up with individual solutions, showing true intelligence. It was explained that the Androids were so sophisticated, emotions just developed naturally. Data is far too intelligent, and his friends know he has feelings. I think what he is missing, is emotional intelligence, which he finally gains when he merged with Lor.

[@lore_droid]

@@sleepinggorilla Any idea the title of that novel? It sounds cool.

[@sleepinggorilla]

@@lore_droid Spartacus by T.L. Mancour. It was a good book that would have made a good episode.

[@lore_droid]

@@sleepinggorilla THANK YOU!

[@jj-sc1kq]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the season 3 episode "The Most Toys". Anytime you talk about Data's subtle development of emotions that's one that stands out to me. The scene at the very end with Data holding a gun on Kivas and you have all the emotional reasons in the world for Data to pull the trigger and none of the logical reason. Kivas even mocks him over it. And then The Enterprise beams him out and Miles states "Sir there's a weapon in active discharge in the beam."

[@Robert08010]

Kivas trapped Data in an endless loop. Then data reached... "The Blue Screen of DEATH!"

[@semiapies]

I'd argue that Kivas quite logically needed killin'.

[@dufkers]

Yes. I thought this video would be about the most toys. Not only does Data get angry and try to kill someone he also lies about it afterwards by saying the disruptor must have malfunctioned and fired.

[@MrAranton]

If you‘re looking for the most certain way to make some cannot do certain things ever again „Kill them“ is logical. After all: Making sure the person will never do anything ever again is the only to guarantee way they‘ll never do those certain things ever again. But then: If someone killed their mother you logically don‘t need to do anything to stop that from happening again. You cannot (sucessfully) kill your mother twice, so it‘s not going to happen again… Pure logic can lead to very different conclusions based on how you apply it. When the word „logic“ is used in Star Trek, it comes with a set of unspoken doctrines that include fundamental premises that guide the application of logic. With Vulcan „logic“ those doctrines are given the name „IDIC“. But you cannot use pure logic to come up with „IDIC“, you cannot use pure logic to choose „IDIC“ over other doctrines. In that respect „IDIC“ is a lot like „Jesus Christ is our lord and saviour“ or „there‘s only one god and Muhammad is his prophet“ - it takes a leap of faith to base your value system on them. Data‘s programming must contain some equivalent to „IDIC“ to guide his application of logic, and I gather it‘s programmed into Data‘s equivalent of a subconscious. I think that is why Data and Lore (before the latter stole the emotion chip Soong made for Data) apply logic in such drastically different ways. Their „subconciousness“ operate with different parameters, which results in them not just coming to different conclusions, but also choosing different problems to apply their logic to and using their logic to pursue different goals.

[@j.rileyindependentproductions]

Off-topic here, but I agree that Pollaski was a great character. If it hadn't been that she was brought in to replace a fan favorite, she'd have been beloved. The dynamic between Pollaski and Data wasn't like Bones and Spock, but more like a grandmother trying to understand the grown autistic grandson she had never met. Pushing through her bias and actually growing to really like Data, unlike the constant reset button for Bones on his growth with Spock (prior to the films).

[@adama7774]

Even if she just had another season. Ignoring the shitty season 2 clip show finale, she was really starting to integrate into the dynamic well towards the end. If she did season 3, she would have worked really well.

[@Zodroo_Tint]

Yes, she was a good character. It is weird when people don't see this. Remind me of franchise-A fans who are against franchise-B just because they are already franchise-A fans. Some people are born to live in a two party paradigm world.

[@lazyperfectionist2]

If you're gonna take up for Pulaski, though, spell her name right.

[@kasterborous1701]

So good you can't even spell her name properly (Pulaski).

[@Robert08010]

They are similar to Spock and McCoy relationship in that they each help us learn about the other. But who would have wanted to watch Emotion battle Logic all over again? So the specifics of the relationship had to be different.

[@shadowgb]

Data was designed to develop emotions naturally. His neural net grows like a human brain.

[@ronwit]

Data is the TNG Spock. They were both intended to develop emotions as the seasons went on, but we fell in love with the character as is. So, all the character development went out the window.

[@Applemangh]

Even into the last season of TNG (which is as far as I've gotten on Data's arc), it seems clear to everyone except Data that he absolutely does have emotions, he just expresses and experiences them differently. That's why he's such a neurodivergent icon!

[@KairuHakubi]

Comparing yourselves to robots.. at least we agree there.

[@ObiWanBillKenobi]

They never did explain Data’s emotions and drunkenness in “The Naked Now,” did they?

[@jeffgaboury3157]

Yeah, I never really got the "hatred" for Pulaski. I think it's "loyalty" for Crusher, but I like both characters very much. I liked the dynamic between Pulaski and Data and Season 2 had some very strong episodes.

[@bsmith1]

Geordi has a beard in that one episode that also became a meme. 4 beards!

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

THERE ARE 4 BEARDS!

[@ascorvinus]

Leah Brahms?

[@portland-182]

How many beards are there Picard? Sounds like a Cardassian torture sequence :)

[@pferreira1983]

He does it twice.

[@neverendinglute3125]

My favorite fan theory about Data that I’ve ever heard (I believe it was from tumblr) is that when Soong went to make Data he basically rebuilt Lore but since he felt like Lore’s flaw was emotions he just put in a patch to prevent Data from reaching his emotions, and like many tech patches it wasn’t entirely faultless so subtle bits of emotions slip through. The thing I read went more in depth on patches and why soong would prefer just rebuilding with a patch but I can’t remember all of it

[@livinlicious]

Noonien Soong build the emotion chip patch for data. Lor took it and it was explicitly stated that it's not designed for him. It probably made Lor even more unstable. On Data it actually worked perfectly. As seen in the Movie. After a very short adaption time he integrated the emotions. After Generations he was a fully integrated person with emotions. That was always the plan and goal for his design. Soong just needed the time to develop the process. He could only make it work without emotions until the attack of the christaline entity. Given enough time he would have been able to fix it. Data's mother is also a good example. He build her perfectly right from the start. He just needed time.

[@neverendinglute3125]

@ you have the same pfp as one of my tumblr followers

[@SpockvsEgon]

Considering emotion does serve a purpose (fear is a self-preservation instinct) I always assumed Data had the root of emotion, even if they were very basic emotions. I saw the emotion chip as an upgrade of previously existing programming. The episode with his mother suggested Soong intentionally built him without emotion so he wouldn't be cruel like Lore, but I think that's an oversimplified explanation. I don't think Data could have been sentient without some basic emotions. I think he built Data with the least amount of emotion possible to achieve sentience. Then, after observation and further research, he developed the chip to increase his emotions while maintaining his moral and ethical program.

[@KairuHakubi]

The very desire to have emotions is emotional

[@macmcleod1188]

Without emotions to set weights for different positions, logical thinking is impossible for humans. That's the function of the Amygdala. and people with damaged Amygdalas can't make good decisions.

[@KlingonCaptain]

Many consider curiosity to be an emotion, so there's thar. 🤔

[@Zodroo_Tint]

@@KairuHakubi Because desire is an emotion but just wanting emotion is not emotional.

[@KairuHakubi]

@@Zodroo_Tint so desire and want are not synonyms to you

[@bloodred255]

Data had a friend with geordi. he had stunted emotions, he could make an entirely new android, he could make his own emotion chip. but he wanted Dr Sungs Emotion chip because it was his missing piece and he wanted to be whole. and he wanted that piece of his father. he could have at any time just made his own emotion chip if the emotions where all he wanted. but it was the connection with his father that both his sons wanted.

[@RustyRaygun]

Everyone forgets Worf had a beard too

[@simonpreston]

Not now, Mister Worf!

[@buckaroobanzai7063]

In the very first pilot for TOS, the character of Number One was the unemotional one and Spock had emotions. With the second pilot, the character of Number One was dropped and her lack of emotions was given to Spock.

[@livinlicious]

Number One was Diannas mother in TNG. And also Gene Roddenberrys real wife.

[@DarkeningSkies1]

Majel Barrett. Also, Nurse Chapel in TOS, and the voice of the Federation computer network in TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager and the movies.

[@deantodd8103]

Spock having strong emotions rather than repressed ones actually makes some sense. The world he's from is named for a very passionate people.

[@JeniferSeweryn]

@@livinlicious I came here to correct something... Then re:read your post. Then the original... Whoops.

[@Chocwish]

Justice for Polaski!!

[@richardkenan2891]

Alexithymia is a condition in which a person is unaware of their own emotional state. I think that describes Data a lot better than emotionlessness. Combined with the fact that he is not human and thus has an entirely different context to his emotions, whatever they may be, and it would explain his behavior throughout the series. The emotion chip would just be helping his rational positronic brain understand the emotions it was experiencing, and interpret the emotions that motivate the people around him.

[@FiddlerKeith]

Pretty sure the show runner changed after season 2, which is why Pulaski left and Crusher came back, and would also explain why the way Data was handled changed. And yeah I spent seven seasons screaming "He wants to be human! Desire is an emotion! He has feelings!" He started dreaming because he had grown enough to do it, and it made sense to me that emotions would come the same way. The emotion chip always felt like such a cop-out

[@ericbailey9549]

I always thought Data's beard was making fun of Riker having one.

[@DestinyFilmWorks]

I loved Pulaski..she added edge to the show that to me was too crowded and too nice..Everyone got along and that's not always true in real life..

[@ChronoGamerOne]

Nice commentary and I appreciate the good vibes for Pulaski.

[@BThings]

I really wish Dr. Pulaski could have stayed on. I liked her so much better than Crusher, and I think she added some valuable friction, not only for Data's character, but for the show in general. That being said, I'm not a fan of Dr. Crusher really at all, so Pulaski has a soft spot in my heart for not being like Crusher (as well as being like Bones, who is one of my favorite fictional characters), even if I understand that the behind-the-scenes reasons for all the casting changes were pretty crummy.

[@jahipalmer8782]

Polaski being abrasive made her such an interesting character and I wish they would have found a way for her to stay on the show even after Crusher came back.

[@Zodroo_Tint]

She could have been serving on a frontier hospital ship or a hospital/research ship so she could have been a recurring character.

[@NeonVisual]

It took Spiner a while to find Data.

[@SuStel]

Data had emotions from the very start, not just from the second season. The writers just forgot. They turned him from an artificial life form - actually alive - to a programmable computer in humanoid form. The change really begins in earnest with the episode "In Theory," where he starts talking about writing his own subroutines, and the "no emotions" is stated outright. From that point on, they're pretty heavy-handed about Data being more computer than man.

[@KairuHakubi]

yeah I don't think they really had a solid grip on what he was at first. He could get sick? He seemed kinda weirdly pink in places? Still, I think a robot is still a better thing for 90s Trek to cover than the complexity of an artificially built, synthesized organic life form. That's some anime stuff. american primetime was not ready.

[@davidwuhrer6704]

Remember when Data got drunk and slept with the security chief?

[@Zodroo_Tint]

Yes, people forgot writers forget. This is and always was a tv-show, we have to accept that every time we analyze an episode.

[@sprockkets]

He smiled after getting laid by Tasha Yar despite her saying it didn't happen.

[@steveleeart]

It’s a ship with over a thousand people on it. They could have easily had two doctors working to care for the ship’s population.

[@kendrakirai]

They have several doctors and many nurses. But only one is the CHIEF medical officer. And once you're CMO, not being CMO is a demotion.

[@steveleeart]

@ they could have a CMO for enlisted personnel and one for civilian personnel.

[@steveleeart]

@ who were the other doctors? I don’t recall ever seeing any as recurring characters on any Trek series.

[@kendrakirai]

@steveleeart Selar, Baylak, Chandra, Emil and Lynn Costa, Fletcher, Gavar Gold, Grunewalt, Iovino, Logan, Milu, Marino, Mitchell, Par'mit'kon, Ramirez, and Saduk.

[@kendrakirai]

@@steveleeart That's not how it works onboard a ship. There's ONE chief of each section. Just like a real hospital, there's one chief of each section there. Crusher/Pulaski were the ships chief medical officer, in charge of ALL the other medical doctors onboard.

[@Josh_Fredman]

I think Data had emotions right out of the gate! I still remember his scene in the holodeck in "Encounter at Farpoint," where he is unsubtly wonderstruck at Riker's whistling. I bet you're right that they originally intended Data's long-term arc to be more along the lines of "recognizing that he was human all along" i.e. emotional, caring, thoughtful. Berman had consolidated his power over the show by Season 3, and that's when TNG started becoming a lot more formulaic and risk-averse in its storytelling. (I'm not saying that's a bad thing; Seasons 3 and 4 were very good, but it really gave up on what Seasons 1 and 2 were trying to do.) Many interesting early TNG premises didn't survive past Season 2, the most notable being the so-called "special relationship" that Roddenberry envisioned between Picard and Riker. Their dynamic is very different in the first two seasons, whereas in the later seasons Riker becomes more of a grump and something of a tagalong on the bridge except when Picard's not around.

[@Zodroo_Tint]

You forgot the 1st season characters are sometimes changing completelly because the writers and producers don't want to work on it too much because the show can be cancelled at any moment.

[@VHSMikey]

This was a great video, look forward to more.

[@THE_TonyFielding]

I maintain that the emotion chip was a poor choice. Id love tonhave seen emotions develop on him. Love the analysis here, because Datas reaction in season 2 do seem to show emotion, like his reaction when throwing Geordi back in the ep "Contagion". And 100% justice for Palaski. I honestly preferred her to Crusher, maiy because she brought a bit of tension. She may have been Bones-esque, but i felt she still brought uniquness to the role.

[@RustyRaygun]

Also if we write off Season 2 as "bad" we lose Measure of a Man

[@Zodroo_Tint]

I never did that. I saw the show without being a fan or having expectations. I enjoyed it from Episode 1. I don't understand what people want or expect who don't like the first two seasons.

[@myharryface]

Hmmm I never looked at Data that way before. Very interesting take. Next time I do a watch through of the series I'll pay close attention to this aspect. Great videos! Really enjoying the channel. Keep up the good work.

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

I love that you’re using music from Starfleet Academy on the SNES, those old 90s Trek games did some great work within the limitations of 16 bit consoles, or Adlib sound cards 😄

[@Duragizer8775]

Going off "The Naked Now", I have the sneaking suspicion that they also toyed with the idea of having Data be a synthetic human ala the replicants from _Blade Runner_ rather than a robot with plastic skin, but this was dropped pretty quickly. A mistake, I feel, since it would've better distinguished Soong-type androids from the androids that appeared in TOS.

[@stanleyfarrens6065]

You see this in many of the early novels as well. The degree to which Data had biological components was undecided.

[@1337penguinman]

An Android by definition is a synthetic human. The only distinction is how close to an actual human they are.

[@KairuHakubi]

It never felt inconsistent to me, he clearly had _rudimentary_ emotions, and he even said as much. Describing mourning as 'expecting certain sensory input paths, and not receiving them' and expressing fondness for people, having preferences.. I think they were decently explicit on the fact Soong gave him sorta low-level emotions, to avoid beocming another Lore, and he was going to have to sort of muddle through until Soong could finish the proper emotion chip. 1:34 lol he briefly becomes C-3PO It's funny bringing up the holodeck and especially sentient Moriarty because, if it's that easy for a galaxy-class computer to make a sentient simulation of a person via pure programming, Data becomes a lot less special. though I guess his brain is a lot smaller than the computer.

[@louisbrantmeyer8786]

Such great points. Well said sir. AND That beard comment tho ROFL ...oh man, and that Star Trek video game reference at the end. I grew up on that SPECIFIC game dude

[@toddfraser3353]

In a later season when Data was to get the emotion chip thsn Lore stole it, Sung stated that Data will morn for him in his own way. I think Data always had emotions, but lacked the connection for him to feel them. As Lure feeling rejected by the colonist caused his emotions to feed back triggering feeling other emotions which feedbacked again without a stop condition, to a point where he had so many negative feelings that he turned violent and cruel. Then as he succeeded in his cruelty he gets positive emotions such as accomplishment, which then reinforces the behavior.

[@haloboy456]

That one time with Gerodi. There are.....four...beards!

[@mrspook4789]

If Data had the desire to do anything and that he does like spend time with Gordi then he does have them, we even learn from Lal and Lore and Soong himself that he does have them as in his brain will naturally develop them but he has programing to stop or restrain it to not turn into Lore. And Lore was already given human qualities.

[@glamourweaver]

I don’t think they ever completely abandoned it during the run of the series (ironically it would be the act of “giving him emotions” in the movies that effectively negated the whole arc), but they definitely rolled it back so Data would have further to go. But you still get episodes like the Most Toys in season 3 where Data having emotional development is the center of the arc.

[@ewenk7]

Personally, I've always felt that the most logical explanation for Data's emotions is that he has them, but can't process them fully. I think the debate comes down to misunderstanding what emotions are. Neurotransmitters are a mechanism for feeling emotions, not the emotions themselves. Emotions are just psychological responses to stimuli. Data's sentient; of course he has those. He just doesn't express them in a neurotypical way. I'm of two minds on Doctor Pulaski. I do think she definitely deserved better, and agree that she was basically just Bones. But I do think there was one major difference from Bones that was working against her, and that's that Bones had a preexisting, longstanding dynamic with Spock and Kirk, whereas Pulaski was coming in anew. It kind of shifted the feel of her interactions with Data from being banter between longtime coworkers to feeling more like active hostility. And of course, there's nothing they could really have done about it, since she was brought on as a replacement for Crusher, so she was necessarily a new character. I think it just happened to play out in an unfortunate way that made audiences not really like her. She could have been a great character with time and further character development. She was already getting better when she left the show.

[@laioren]

There was also the episode where Data unlocked a hidden part of his programming where he started to dream. So I always suspected that the writers had an arc planned for Data where it'd turn out that he had emotions all along, and that they just had to emerge as he grew in sophistication. Sadly, someone decided to turn it into a chip with an on/off switch instead.

[@The-Story-Assassin]

NBC has Star Trek in 66, not CBS.

[@SoloRenegade]

My first nickname in the military was "Data". Later I was also called "Spock" and "Solo" (as in Han Solo). Every nickname was given to me by guys I served with at different stages of my service.

[@RamLaska]

Oh wow, I had that *exact* couch from like 2005-2013. Anyways, very good analysis! I never thought of the second season in that way, and it makes me want to re-watch it.

[@hudsonball4702]

You forgot that Geordi grew a beard once too. 4 BEARDS!!!!!

[@JDubbsTheatre]

Season 3 episode, “The Most Toys” heavily implies Data experiences emotion. He also keeps a photo of Tasha Yar on his desk, after she dies.

[@majingazetto4146]

I’m not enough of a Star Trek fan to verify this for myself but when it comes to beards, does Worf's beard not count? Or he introduced to the series after the Data has a beard episode?

[@BainesMkII]

My guess is that the writers (arguably wrongly) believed there was more story potential with an emotionless Data seeking emotions than with everyone coming to accept that Data had emotions all along. Removing Pollaski also removed the character that pushed the whole "Data has emotions" story line. Without Pollaski spurring the writing and no other character naturally transitioning into that role, the writers simply reverted to treating Data as emotionless again.

[@billlyons7024]

Brent Spiner is a funny guy and it comes through in Data. He took every opportunity to show emotion to the max when he had the chance.

[@KevinBenecke]

The one thing to remember about Spock is he was part human trying to hide the human part and didn't want emotions. Data was trying to be more like humans and wanted emotions.

[@megatronjenkins2473]

The ONE THING I was allowed, no matter what, was to watch The Next Generation with my dad, every episode! Even if I was grounded on double-secret probation, no privileges, Star Trek was always allowed! Mom was in charge of the house, but that's the ONE thing dad put his foot down for, thanks, dad!

[@Hei_Darkfire]

I've always said for years that I thought Data had emotions throughout the series. I always said it wasn't about him gaining emotions, but about him understanding what he feels. Nice to see someone else talking about it since I felt I couldn't be the only one who noticed it.

[@tgif1345]

I never understood the hate for Pulaski. Maybe that's just because I had a ton of season 2 episodes taped off TV and a few of the retail VHS releases for season 2 when I was a kid. She also looked into finding alternatives for Geordi so he wouldn't have to wear his VISOR anymore. As for Data, his natural emotions do tend to come out in every season. He's forceful when necessary, he's gentle most of the time, but it wasn't as often in later seasons. I think that's just because of the change in the writing staff in season 3, with Michael Piller taking over.

[@paulsarnik8506]

1:43 Um, LEFT? That's a "NICE" way of saying it!😮. 🤓😎🖖🏼☮️

[@draugr7693]

I always thought that Data did always have emotions subconsciously but the emotion chip allows him to experience them consciously.

[@DJRonnieG]

I love the time he grows a beard: "Am I not more distinguished?"

[@DannyDowd-fq4pm]

5:12 I think it’s because deep down dr pulaski reminded him of his mother. And let’s not forget in the halodek of episode 1 season 1 Encounter at Farpoint where Data was intrigued by Ryker’s ability to wrestle.

[@maxcardun]

Probably not what you were thinking, but don't forget Geordie tried rocking the beard a couple times. Pulaski got a passing reference by Dr. Crusher when she told Picard that she was aware of the memory erasing technique she pulled off in Data's Day, though I forgot which episode they mentioned that in. Personally I think they wrote Pulaski as a "Better Doctor" since she was actually doing more than saying the long version of "He's Dead" which is more like "He's dying". Gimme 20cc's anaprovaline, cortical stimulator.........they're gone. As for Data showing emotions, "Descent" was an episode all about the misuse of the emotion chip, but when it was all deactivated, he showed signs of regret when he nearly destroyed the emotion chip in the aftermath. Good thing he didn't.

[@thehairybeast9707]

I have always maintained that Data always had emotions. he just wasnt given a full range of emotions like Lore. He was designed to develop emotions organically, rather than having them thrust on him/

[@mattlawler8794]

It would have made a little more sense if Pulaski was the one that had an illegitimate child with Picard and disappeared for 20 years.

[@ultramaximusreviews]

It would have been a good cameo if Dr Palaski was the old doctor friend that Picard went to instead of that weirdo in season 1

[@CardboardBots]

You're not wrong. You make a good case.

[@djdjukic]

I like to contrast Data to Spock, who has emotions but he controls them, sometimes boastfully saying that he has none, and even that he does not lie (which are both clearly false - even if the lying is mostly by omission). He also definitely has a sense of humor. Whereas Data thinks he has no emotions, does not lie unless ordered to, and actually doesn't have humor. There is an element of autism, or at least neurodivergence in his depiction, and I find the depiction rather respectful and thought-provoking, in true Trek manner.

[@AszullGames]

When I watched the original pilot, I was shocked by Spock, I just thought it was Leonard trying to get a feel for how he wanted to play the part

[@joeblankenship377]

Data does indeed have emotions. He just lacks the chip that allows him to process them and be aware of them.

[@KingBuilder525]

I always did find it odd that an emotionless robot would ‘want’ to have emotions.

[@LtFoodstamp]

Data has, I think, rudimentary subroutines that simulate basic emotional acts: Self preservation Showing respect to authority Showing care to friends Showing concern if someone is hurt Recognizing failure in order to avoid it. The difference is that these are "acts", but he doesnt "feel" them. This is why humour, love, sadness and anger are lost on him. They require the feeling component to truly understand.

[@Robert08010]

I loved the ending music! So retro!

[@TheStarTrekApologist]

The idea of data secretly having emotions started in season 1 and continuted past it. The episode where Tasha died at the end, data spoke of how he will miss Tasha, In Tinman when data was returned to the Enterprise he explains to Troi how he understands how Tam felt because that is how he felt when he was returned to the Enterprise. Also a subtle nod in Season 4 where as we hear a log about how if he had emotions the change to the neutral zone would make him feel nervous if he had emotions. Then he shows signs of being nervous. That is what I noticed. To me the most on the head mention is in Schizod Man When Data's "Grand Father" is whistling if I only had a brain. He even explains the parallel.

[@bobdobbs8700]

I like Pulaski too and was very sorry to see her leave. I think the only reason she isn't given the appreciation she deserves is because the character she replaced was the paragon MILF. It's too bad that the Enterprise just wasn't big enough for both of the characters.

[@JeniferSeweryn]

It's sometimes in the comments. Massive trek fan, and seeing the channel name, I had to check it out. What some have said in the comments is food for thought. But I also think there is more to this then you have stated. Spock, Data, Odo, 7 of 9. All these characters had a massive difference in them that had them stand out from the others. How they all changed from begining to end. That is the really interesting part for me. Spock we got to see on Next Gen. The others in this latest batch. I truely love what they have done with the characters.

[@videoinformer]

I saw the introduction of Lore as the thing that led to a need to differentiate Data from Lore and Lore from Data, with the two characters being in a sense a bifurcation of the original Data character, other than the addition of evil to the Lore character. More than any other character, I see Data as the character who had to be "found" by both the writers and the actor who portrayed him, as the series progressed. Once Brent Spiner "found" Data, his acting became incredibly nuanced. He could even believably portray Data simulating emotions for a given purpose, such as a need to chew out Whorf for contradicting acting Captain Data in front of the crew, simulating anger to get his point across to Whorf, though not actually feeling emotions as he expressed anger.

[@kasterborous1701]

"Data's Day" shows that this portrayal of Data didn't change, it just became more subtle over time. When asked how to play someone who has no emotions, Brent Spiner replies that you don't - you play someone who THINKS they have no emotions instead. That way you can still hint at a rich inner emotional life that even the character themselves may be unaware of, or be otherwise unable to clearly articulate.

[@idunnoalaska]

If you are sentient you have emotions. If you don’t have emotions you don’t have motivation. Data clearly does.

[@ModestNeophyte]

I always thought that data had emotions but he just had them more "on paper"

[@JoeSmith-kq6wu]

That's because Brent spiner is human

[@drthete]

Not seen anyone mention ‘The Most Toys’ yet. It’s made clear that Data is driven to anger and so fires a lethal phaser, at his tormentor for his actions to his assistant. Either Data lies about the incident on his return, or subconsciously exhibited an emotion his conscious self doesn’t recall. Either was it was clearly intended to show even Data could be angry given the right circumstances.

[@ronhutcherson9845]

Pulaski was great. Really really good. I hated her at first but then I really felt like she was true Star Trek.

[@KairuHakubi]

indeed. Making her Lady Bones was a great idea, and she HAD been in TOS so why not. She was cantankerous at times, but clearly had a good heart. her delight in taking the Klingon tea ceremony thing with Worf really added dimensions, and I loved (especially since season 2 was in that period where the show could get kinda up its own ass sometimes) that she had _zero_ respect for the Prime Directive being used as an excuse to let people die. She'd argue with anyone, anytime, to save lives. There's a lot of her DNA in Dr. T'ana

[@jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii]

I liked Pulaski’s sass from the start, and could never quite relate to what people saw in Dr. Crusher. It’s truly a pity Pulaski only lasted one season.

[@ronhutcherson9845]

@ I absolutely agree.

[@mosaton]

Data didn't have emotions, he had morals which lead to moral conflicts which many confuse with emotions. He also thought it moral to lie in certain situations, even to protect himself. For example, in the episode where Data is kidnapped by the rich toy collector, Data decides it is morally correct to kill the unarmed man, but is teleported away at the last second. When he was questioned why was his phaser in the act of firing, he doesn't tell the truth. Data decided the right thing to do was to attempt murder and lie about his intentions, because it was the morally correct thing to do.

[@kaijukoopa1248]

My theory has always been that data and any robot with the capacity for emotion always had them but didn't know how to process them so thought they were not emotions or didn't recognize them as such

[@Briansgate]

Yeah there were many times in the show that Data showed an emotional quirk that I thought, um, Data shouldn't feel that.

[@sfkeepay]

Dr. Pulaski was such a good character that there are seven U.S. states with counties named “Pulaski.”

[@Zodroo_Tint]

Jesus must really liked Star Trek if he did that.

[@leepreston9637]

Worf's beard doesn't count. A Klingon without a beard is like a bird without feathers.

[@Robert08010]

Re Data's emotion... This is interesting. I think maybe what happened is they got the idea for the long haul story arc of data and the emotion chip so they clamped back down on him at this point so that the change would be more contrasting when he got the chip. The chip has no point if he could evolve them on his own.

[@JoeSyxpack]

The thing is, Data has a fully functional morality algorithm from the start, so some of his choices (desire for personal autonomy in "The Measure of a Man", breaking the Prime Directive in "Pen Pals", etc) could stem from that independently from his emotions. Remember that he started a rather violent uprising in "Star Trek: Insurrection" while running solely on his morality programming. Emotions or not, he's compelled to do what he believes to be the right thing.

[@BerserkerSloth]

6:33 Technically there were 4 beards. Geordi grew one for like 2 episodes (it looked awful lol). Also Picard had one briefly but it wasn’t the real Picard. So not sure if we should count that lol

[@1337penguinman]

It actually makes sense since Data's brain is essentially a synthetic copy of an actual human brain. At some point you would think that it would develop emotions on its own.

[@JeffersonRedeyes]

It goes even further than that. Moriarty was likely sentient because he was most likely based on data's positronic brain by the ships computer and Moriarty had emotions and it's shown repeatedly that holograms can become emotional best exemplified by The EMH Doctor so the basis of Data having no emotions because he is a machine is shown to be a false perception. The big contradiction to Data not having emotions is Troi, who can sense Data who being a machine and not possessing an organic brain should appear as blank to her as the holographic bartended was to Laxwana but it is shown on many occasions that Troi who's psychic abelites only extend to reading emotions can sense data meaning he must therefore be generating emotions for her to sense. The chip likely helped him process and understand those emotions and did not generate them. This is further reinforced by Lore's manipulation of Data using emotion, Lore was the one with the chip installed so Data needed to have some baseline emotions for Lore to exploit remotely and intensified the feelings of anger that had to have already existed because Lore did not physically alter Data to allow him to perceive emotions so he must have had to use something pre-existing as an exploit to control Data, manipulating the emotions he already had.

[@KairuHakubi]

it seems logical to me that computerized emotions would not be detectable via whatever method the Betazoid metacortex uses to pick up thought. It's something they never went into because everybody knows what mind-reading is, but when you stop to examine it, how it can work over subspace channels, how a brain is 'broadcasting' anything, it all falls apart. Plus they can't read Ferengi minds due to their brain structure (except when they can)