PATRON TAKES - TNG S6E9
TAKES WILL BE READ 4/3
Comments (44)
A lot of people are saying "I can't relate to the exocomps", but its not an exocomps episode, its a Data episode featuring exocomps. We care about him, and his care for them is whats interesting. It admittedly could have had better execution, but its such good character work for data that I can't dislike it beyond some pacing choices. I'll give it a B.
I'd rather see an episode about Dr. Crusher fighting Worf with a batleth
One of the rare episodes where the vertical blinds behind Dr. Crusher's office are open. A corridor can be seen through the window. LeVar Burton was allowed to regrow his beard because he needed it for his wedding. But unlike The Outcast, which aired in 1992, it did not just appear and disappear, it was written into the episode. It is unknown whether or not he shaved the beard off in future episodes because he lost his bet with Doctor Crusher. So the xoxo comps are good at basic problem solving. That does not necessarily mean they are alive.
Great episode. Elaborating more the concept of meassure of a man. Not at all looking like Data but still having the Life in it. Data now standing up for them when noone else would. The discussion with Riker when he is convinced to "ask" them to willful do the dangerous job was very good imo. A for me.
I hate, hate, hate this episode with a fiery passion. It is an easy E. I think what they may have been trying to do was to make us think about the idea that something or someone doesn't have to look exactly the way we expect to deserve our respect or for us to recognize its value, but I just don't think that going with an artificial life form is an approach that paid off here and if anything I think it almost turns me off to that message because in this episode there are just too many logical flaws or contradictions with the idea that the exocomps really are a lifeform. The episode tries to build a bit on The Measure of a Man, but that episode did the concept so much and so far and away better than this one that in comparison I feel like The Measure of a Man almost makes the case *against* the exocomps. We might even look at the episode in a whole new way in 2025 as compared to the way it was when I first saw it twenty years ago in that by the standards used to judge the exocomps to be new forms we could declare several of the better LLM chatbots to be alive in the here and now. I say this as someone who predicts that the ChatGPTs of the world will one day get much closer to genuine intelligence than even most experts and people who work on these things, but to say that they are there today is just not accurate - and yet The Quality of Life takes what was even in 1993 so obviously an illogical and shallow approach to the question that here in 2025 it is even more silly.
Weirdly this one gets an A from me. It isn't usually the type of episode i'd love. I see things from Data's perspective, and i love it.
Interesting idea, though I don't remember what exactly justifies this 'evolution' of what would seem to be somewhat primitive machines (compared to an android like Data) turning into 'life forms'. But if I accept the premise on its face, I admire and understand Data sticking up for them.
The execution is what really just puts this in C-tier for me.
Care to elaborate?
Exocomps are such an interesting addition to Star Trek.
A premise that I’m sure looked great on paper, but I just can’t feel any sympathy or just anything for the exocomps. I blame that on a failure of execution. This one would’ve worked better had the exocomps had a “Batteries Not Included” look to them, but the design here just doesn’t work. We have to care about the exocomps, and it’s hard to care about a floating toolbox. C for “Can’t believe I’m siding with Maddox”
I always admired the episode for doing exactly that. To quote Bruce Maddox "If it were a box on wheels I would not be facing this opposition". It's directly challenging our nature as humans to disregard what doesn't look like us with that design. It's easy to sympathize with data because, I mean, he's essentially human. Much harder to be confronted with something that is so totally machine-like, and viewed as a tool much more so than data, and be asked to extend the same basic rights that you would any living creature. I don't think the episode is incredible by any means, but I do love this idea. It's a concept that only sci fi could tackle.
My nickname for the Exocomps has always been the Piglets. And it's nice to see Data standing up for another potentially living being. Another fun one for me but not top tier. I rank it as "Enjoyable".
They do look like something futuristic you'd shove down a long pipeline, don't they?
I think this is an excellent episode of Star Trek. The search for "new life, new civilizations" never stops, even when it's right in front of your nose. This is well written, and Data is the perfect character to save the excomps. Data did a good thing. Wave Hi at Geordi's beard again. It's nice to see the exocomps as a form of AI that doesn't terrorize audiences since it's too often employed to that effect in fiction. "B" grade
I just have to say… Gates McFadden in this episode is just AMAZING ! This is one of those Star Trek episodes that are SO Star Trek in my opinion!
Data locking out the controls seems unnecessary and forced. It really holds this episode back.
It's his "HAL 9000" moment. Or, at least it's supposed to remind you of that.
irl AI is getting spooky, and the line between tool vs life is going to get very blurry very soon. It's wonderful having stories like these that are timeless enough to be enjoyed by generation after generation to help explore these ideas on paper, so we don't have to disastrously explore them irl. As an episode, probably a B It's easy to write this sort of story when the 'other' is familiar looking like Data, who has two arms, two legs, and can make a super subtle pouty face when it's existence is on the line. It's harder when your 'other' doesn't look like anything at all and has zero expression, like with exo-comps or a Horta. 'Measure of a Man' is comparatively easy to pull off, while episodes like these are a challenge. The writers didn't shy away however, and nailed it.
The current state and nature of "AI" is not well understood by the general public, and it's often used as a vehicle to drive fear into audiences or societies. It's easy for people to fear what they do not understand. "AI" is the latest in a long list of items that humanity has come up with for which the threatening nature is contrived and overblown. Seriously: don't lose sleep over it.
I like this one.
Low B‐tier for me. Not badly done but focusing on whether or not the Exocomps are alive rather than sentient seems odd.
I always interpreted that to be the same thing.
I want the biography on Geordi's Beard.
Blah. Everyone talks about this one as a triumph for Data and artificial life form rights. To me, it’s totally unbelievable that Data would be willing to sacrifice his best friend and his Captain to save R2-D2.
I respectfully disagree, I believe this is exactly how Data would behave. He is essentially the only one who could, precisely because of the way he is and how his character arc has been until that point.
A classic Trek plot executed comptently. I like it, but it's not in the top half of the season for me.
A pseudo-sequel to "Measure of a Man" where Data gets to be the advocate for new life, showing how far he's come. Let's just hope they don't go all Cylon on everyone.
Good plot but boring as hell. C
Not as boring as others.
Season 6 is superb.
Well, this one is pretty good compared to the majority of what came before it in S6...
I think this episode is a generous interpretation of how friendly Roombas would be if they achieved sentience. Always bumping into walls, cornering the cat, trying to eat our toes.....I don't trust the little bastards. Also Geordi does the original Drake meme
All I remember about this one is the look of the exocomp. Probably a bad sign.
Special Guest Star: That device in the lab with the two flashing red tubes has been used as a prop in countless TV shows and movies, including The Wrath of Khan.
It's a good story. Exocomps looked kind of silly but guess function can't always look cool.
Nice exploration of the idea of mechanical sentience - but as an episode of a TV show it falls a little flat
Special Guest Appearance by Geordi’s beard
It almost got a writing credit.
PICARD: "You see, he's met two of your three criteria for sentience, so what if he meets the third. Consciousness, in even the smallest degree. What is he then? I don't know. Do you? (Turns to Josh and Alex) Do you!?" Not much to say about this episode. Very good. Solid A
C+ for Competent Contract Filler - Data finds android Pokemon and loves them. Solid plot, good execution but doesn't quite hit that mark for me. Keen to see your thoughts on this one, cant call if it'll grip or bore the shit out of you... Some big "Batteries Not Included" vibes here too - have you guys seen that movie?
This episode sets up even more strange precedent for the treatment of robots. If a computer glitches and does not want to perform a task it was designed to do, does that mean it has free will? The definition of a computer glitch is an unintended behavior. Rubs me the wrong way.
Trek by numbers maybe but done well, it’s a good use of Data and I like the idea the artificial life rights being applied to something non humanoid.
A nice sequel episode to Measure of a Man and The Offspring, not as dramatic, but nice to see the continuance of the idea of rights for artificial beings, even if they don't look human.