Data befriended a young girl in Star Trek: The Next Generation and saved her planet, setting up his story with a Ba’ku boy in Star Trek: Insurrection.
Summary
- Data’s friendships with young children on TNG drive his desire to be more human, setting up his journey in Star Trek: Insurrection.
- Sarjenka and Timothy’s connections with Data lay the groundwork for his creation of a daughter named Lal in a later TNG episode.
- Data’s capacity for sentiment and emotion is shown through his relationships with children, highlighting his human-like qualities.
Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) befriended a young girl and helped save her people in Star Trek: The Next Generation, setting up his similar Star Trek: Insurrection story. Data spent much of his time on TNG observing and learning from his fellow crew members aboard the USS Enterprise-D. As an android, Data wanted nothing more than to be human, and he learned more about his own inherent humanity as TNG went on. Because of his child-like curiosity and friendly personality, young children often gravitated toward the android, and they, in turn, offered Data insight into what it means to be human.
In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2, episode 15, “Pen Pals,” Data strikes up a correspondence with a young girl named Sarjenka (Nikki Cox) after she sends a plea out into space. Data later learns that Sarjenka’s planet, Drema IV, will soon become uninhabitable due to volcanic activity. Although initially reluctant to violate the Prime Directive to save Drema IV, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) eventually relents. In the end, Sarjenka’s memories of Data are wiped away, but the android never forgets his connection with this little girl.
Data’s Interest In Helping Children In TNG Sets Up His Star Trek: Insurrection Story
Data’s friendship with Sarjenka laid the groundwork for later stories.
Sarjenka is not the only child who finds a friend in Data throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation and the android’s connection with children would go on to play a role in Star Trek: Insurrection. Through his friendship with Sarjenka, Data gets one step closer to being human. Data makes another young friend in TNG season 5, episode 11, “Hero Worship,” when he rescues a boy named Timothy (Joshua Harris). As the lone survivor of an alien attack on a Federation research vessel, Timothy begins to mimic Data as a way to mask his own grief and pain.
Data admits that he has often wondered what it would be like to be a child.
Data’s friendships with Sarjenka and Timothy plant the seeds for his later friendship with a Ba’ku boy named Artim (Michael Welch) in Insurrection. As the Ba’ku people have rejected technology, Artim is initially frightened of Data, but he later grows curious about the android. As Captain Picard and the USS Enterprise-E crew fight to help the Ba’ku people, Artim starts asking Data questions about what it’s like being a machine. Data admits that he has often wondered what it would be like to be a child, and Artim reminds Data to “have a little fun every day.”
Star Trek: Insurrection was the first film role for child actor Michael Welch, who went on to play Mike Newton in the Twilight films and Mack Thompson in Z Nation .
TNG’s “Pen Pals” Also Sets Up Data’s Daughter Lal
Data builds an android daughter in TNG’s “The Offspring.”
Data’s friendship with Sarjenka in Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “Pen Pals” also sets up his eventual decision to create a daughter named Lal (Hallie Todd). In one of Data’s best episodes, TNG season 3, episode 16, “The Offspring,” Data decides to create another android like himself and raise her as his child. He then creates Lal and teaches her about humans and their behavior. When Starfleet threatens to take Lal away from the Enterprise for further study, Captain Picard fights for Data’s right to raise his own daughter. Lal’s programming eventually begins to surpass Data’s, and she suffers a cascade failure when her new emotions overwhelm her systems.
Data’s endearing connections with children on Star Trek: The Next Generation illustrate the android’s capacity for sentiment and human-like emotion.
Everyone involved is moved by Data’s obvious determination to save Lal, as the android fights just as hard as any parent would to save their child. Although Data is not able to save Lal, he does preserve her memories within his own positronic brain, ensuring that her legacy lives on. Data’s friendship with Sarjenka back in TNG’s “Pen Pals” gave him a glimpse of what it would be like to care for a child, and he does his best to be a good father to Lal. Data’s endearing connections with children on Star Trek: The Next Generation not only set up his Star Trek: Insurrection story, but also illustrate the android’s capacity for sentiment and human-like emotion.
