Star Trek: The Next Generation — 3x22 — The Most Toys

Aired 1990-05-07

SpaceOpera.com rating:7

Average reader rating:5.4

Synopsis

Data apparently dies in a shuttlecraft explosion.

Remarkable scenes

The shuttle explosion at the beginning, with Data presumably aboard.
With such concern for the mission, no one had time to mourn for Data. It was obviously painful for them.
Data's eccentric captor.
Data's Captor's Assistant: "The Andorians wish to make a bid on the shipment of Toulorian spices you offered." Data's captor, frantic: "They had four days to decide! Why do they have to decide right n--" Data's captor, suddenly calm: "All right."
Wesley and Geordi mourning Data in Data's quarters.
Data weaseling his captor's assistant into sympathy.
Geordi refusing to accept Data making pilot error.
Worf taking ops.
Data's captor dissolving away Data's uniform.
Data's passive resistance.
Picard's faux pas with Worf.
Data finally sitting in the chair.
Data's captor killing his wife with the painful-death disruptor.
O'Brien beaming away Data just as he was about to kill his captor.

Review

Another Data episode. I liked Data's captor quite a bit. Especially the scene where he goes from rage to acceptance in a split second regarding the Andorian bid. His frantic personality is a flaw in the character but not necessarily the writing. I found the story itself largely enticing and the path Data chose for resistance appropriate. As the story went on, Data's captor got more and more sadistic and the story got more and more interesting. The conclusion leaving us with a mystery regarding whether or not Data would have killed has captor and whether or not Data felt genuine emotion is truly fascinating.

9 reader comments

During the scene where Fajo is provoking Dataabout his not capable of killing someone, I kept shouting 'Kill him!'. The Data in this episode shows some kind of 'emotion' but in an android sort-of-way. 9/10
by Ivan | 07/29/2006 at 10:21 pm

When Data begins his final run to the Enterprise in the opening scenes, he reports his progress to Geordi. After the crew of the trader ship stuns Data, his captors talk freely about the components of Data's body. Isn't it very convenient that Data's communicator happened to shut off at just the right time so Geordi wouldn't hear their discussions? Wouldn't an open communications line be standard in these types of dangerous situations?
The opening shot shows the Enterprise almost head to head with Fajo's ship. That means that Data must execute two 180-degree turns to get from Fajo's shuttle bay to Shuttle Bay 2. If hytritium is so unstable, why not put the ships back to back? In that way Data could fly out of one shuttle bay and make a straight line to the other.
Evidently, whenever there is any sort of dangerous job, Picard sends poor old Data to do it. For Fajo's plan to work he had to know, in advance, that Data would be the shuttle pilot. Requesting Data would cause too much suspicion later.
by DSOmo | 07/29/2007 at 8:41 am

Is there really a mystery? The transporter chief stated that the weapon was in the process of discharge while in transit. It seemed to me that we realise in this episode that Data has more complex rules for killing than self defence.
by Schn | 02/01/2010 at 12:41 pm

This episode is great! I love Data episodes (mainly because you know that Riker or Troi won't be humping the first alien that comes on board). Anyway, Data calculated the possibility of how many people would suffer or be killed by his captor, and then fired. He knew if he killed one man, many lives would be saved. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Also, the personality of the captor is spot-on. The actor did an outstanding job of portraying an unpredictable, quirky, manic collector who was capable of doing anything. At what point does eccentricity devolve into self-absorbed madness…?
by thaibites | 03/02/2011 at 12:51 am

The good part of this episode is the way that Data reacts to his imprisonment. The writing is excellent at portraying his unique point of view. On the other hand, the plot on the Enterprise, while necessary for pacing, didn't seem to work so well for me. The fact that I knew the answer to the mystery seemed to rob the scenes of interest.
by Christopher Alexander | 05/01/2011 at 5:14 pm

After watching this episode, I first thought too, that Data wanted to kill his captor. But he tells Riker and O'Brien, that the weapon might have been triggered during transport. So that would mean, he would be lying to them! For me, that is impossible, especially since killing him would have been justified, so Data had no reason (at least not from his "android-point-of-view") to lie.
But it could have also been a problem with the dubbing, because I watch all the episodes in German with my family (they don't understand English well). So just ignore this comment if it all makes sense in the English version.
by Lee | 04/07/2012 at 9:43 pm

Great episode. Vaja (?) (the captor) basically makes this entire episode. He's a unique and all around excellent guest character…
The little "subplot" with the water poisoning situation, which eventually traces back to Vaja, is done well also.
Finally, we have the interesting little tid-bit of an ending: Data for all intensive purposes kills Vaja, with an exceptionally "vicious" weapon, no less. (Not really but he resolves and attempts to - comes within milliseconds of success). This despite the fact that no life was actually in jeopardy, only his own freedom. (He could've chosen to obey, to placate Vaja, to remain captive)
So, was Vaja right in his early discussions with Data? Was Data's talk about using deadly force only for "defensive purposes" a kind of justification of murder?
That Data hides all this from Riker and the crew after the fact is equally interesting. Perhaps Data is most human in these rare little contradictions, questionable judgements, and deceptions…
by Ggen | 04/08/2012 at 12:48 am

Something to add to the Problems section: After the shuttle explosion Geordi is talking to Picard and Riker in Picard's ready room and Picard calls Geordi "Lieutenant" but Geordi is a Lieutenant Commander.
by Jack | 05/11/2014 at 6:15 am

Good episode, I believe that Data was on the edge of a cascade failure (See Lal in The Offspring) which brought on the quasi emotional state and more human behaviour, all triggered by the moral conflict and emotional turmoil so strong his positronic brain and programming malfunctioned, the trigger for the cascade failure in Lal was the thought of being taken away from her father and friends. Maybe if Data had murdered his captor and stayed he too would have experienced a cascade failure resulting in his death exactly as his more evolved daughter did under less emotional duress.
All just 5am theorising after spending too much time with midnight mary watching the Trek telethon style
by Rob UK | 06/18/2014 at 3:41 am