Riker asks the computer to bring up Data’s technical schematics. But my very favorite point is a tiny detail, lasting no longer than eight seconds, immediately before the hearing convenes.
I could call many parts of this episode my favorite - the moment Data and Geordi share about Data’s resigning from Starfleet, Guinan’s conversation with Picard. For Riker, reality - as Data says about games of chance - very suddenly “bore little resemblance to the rules.” But, for the sake of his friend, it quickly becomes something he has to do. He didn’t just say to himself: “You know what? Today, I think I’ll ruthlessly show that Data is just a worthless piece of machinery made to serve humans. It wasn’t something Riker woke up that morning planning to do. But “prove your friend and fellow officer to be an object and a piece of property” is not part of the job description for a Starfleet Commander. If there is to be any chance of saving Data from experimental refit, cementing his right to autonomy, and proving his identity as a sentient being, Riker must prosecute the case.
Riker is flung face first against a choice that causes him great pain. Through Riker, “The Measure of a Man” deals with a crucial aspect of love, friendship, and caring, which is often left unattended because it is such a distressing thing, both to watch and to experience. Data is the focus, as he should be, but I have always been captivated by what Riker experiences here. However, underneath this, there is another current to which I find myself drawn. They are horrible questions, all of them, but how they are resolved is what makes this episode a classic. You don’t have to think about their welfare. In “The Measure of a Man,” the focus is “What makes someone human?” Is Data the property of Starfleet? A toaster? A disposable creature with a throwaway existence, made to do the hazardous, dirty work and valuable only for how “it” can serve? The first in a vast line designed by Maddox to act as human eyes and hands in dangerous situations? As Guinan says, “An army of Datas all disposable.
It is a beautiful episode, but it’s a painful kind of beauty. In minutes, we’re hit with: “Commander Maddox is here to work on your android” - a statement implying possession, as if Captain Picard owns Data - and, from there, it holds nothing back. In all seriousness, “The Measure of a Man” offers no emotional downtime. Do you know how difficult it is to cry and keep yourself from falling off a treadmill? I do now!) (The first time I saw it, I was walking on the treadmill. “The Measure of a Man” is one of my very favorite episodes of Star Trek, but I can only watch it when I’m prepared to hurt. At those times, it would often be easier on us-but not better for the ones we love-to just let the chips fall where they may. Sometimes, it asks us, in loving others, to do things that are painful for us. By subscribing to the Star Trek newsletter, which may include personalized offers from our advertising partners, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data collection and usage practices outlined in our Privacy Policy.
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