The Offspring (TNG episode)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Star Trek: TNG episode | |
| "The Offspring" | |
 "Data watches his daughter Lal die in "The Offspring". |
|
| Episode no. | 64 |
|---|---|
| Prod. code | 164 |
| Airdate | March 12, 1990 |
| Writer(s) | René Echevarria |
| Director | Jonathan Frakes |
| Guest star(s) | Whoopi Goldberg Hallie Todd Nicholas Coster Judyann Elder |
| Year | 2366 |
| Stardate | 43657.0 |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous | "Yesterday's Enterprise" |
| Next | "Sins of the Father" |
- For other uses, see Offspring (disambiguation).
"The Offspring" is a third-season Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, in which the android Data, creates a "child" of his own. The episode was directed by Jonathan Frakes, who also portrayed Commander William Riker. It was the first of many Star Trek episodes to be directed by a member of the cast.
Like the most critically acclaimed episodes of Star Trek, "The Offspring" raises philosophical questions, namely, what constitutes a living being and a good parent? The former was a subject that had been addressed by Next Generation writers before, specifically with regards to the character Data's rights as an android. ("The Measure of a Man")
When Data enters his quarters with Lal for the first time, there is a painting called "Composition with red, blue and yellow" by Piet Mondrian on the wall behind them.
[edit] Plot
In secret, Data creates a new artificial life form. Originally it is androgynous, because Data wants the "child" to be able to choose its race and sex. Data and Counselor Troi take the child to the holodeck so it can try on various appearances. After many hours, it chooses a human female appearance, prompting Troi to exclaim, "Congratulations, Data. It's a girl!"
At first, Captain Picard is incredulous about Data's "daughter". He knows that the creation of a new artificial life form will attract a lot of attention from the Federation and asks why he was not informed of Data's experiment. Data responds simply, "I did not observe other crewmembers consulting you on their procreation, Captain."
Data names his daughter Lal, which means "Beloved" in the Hindi language. He walks her through the first days of her life, adding information to her positronic brain and helping her interpret her environment. While Data is on duty, he leaves Lal in the care of bartender Guinan, who begins to teach Lal the fundamentals of human interaction, including love when Lal is shocked at the sight of two people kissing. Guinan explains that this is a form of intimate expression of affection between humans. Commander Riker, returning from a mission and unaware of Data's creation, walks into Ten-Forward and begins a conversation with Lal. Deciding to further investigate human interaction, Lal grabs the officer and embraces him. Riker's confusion is compounded when Data enters and sees the sight. "Commander, what are your intentions towards my daughter?"
Meanwhile, Lal has attracted attention from the science community of the Federation, and Admiral Anthony Haftel boards the Enterprise intending to take Lal to a facility where she will be "taken care of." Data expresses concern at this desire, and claims he is the best qualified being to teach Lal, based upon his own experiences integrating into humanoid culture. When Haftel meets Lal, he finds her to be adversarial, however Picard refutes the point, and asks Lal what she wants. Her request is to stay onboard the Enterprise.
Afterwards, Haftel attempts to convince and later orders Data to turn over Lal however at his Captain's command, the android belays the order. Picard claims that Data and Lal are entitled to the same freedoms and liberties as humans and he is prepared to put his career on the line to see that they get them. As this confrontation takes place, Lal visits Counsellor Troi and claims the admiral has frightened her. Troi confirms that Lal is actually feeling fear, though they do not know how this is possible, given that she was built upon the same foundation as Data, who cannot experience emotion.
Shortly after this revelation, Lal experiences a cascade failure, and Data and Haftel work for hours in a desperate attempt to keep her alive. Eventually they fail however, and Haftel leaves the father and daughter alone. Lal eventually dies in Data's arms, recounting her various experiences onboard the Enterprise.
Upon Data's return to duty, Picard informs him that the crew grieves for his loss. Data responds without emotion, saying that he transferred Lal's thoughts into his own neural net, so that she would not be forgotten. The episode ends with a close-up of the android's expressionless face as he takes a moment to gaze into space.
[edit] External links
- The Offspring article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
| Preceded by: "Yesterday's Enterprise" |
Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes | Followed by: "Sins of the Father" |
