The Most Toys

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Star Trek: TNG episode
"The Most Toys"
A costumed and posed Data has been stolen by an unprincipled genius collector in "The Most Toys."
Episode no.	70
Prod. code	171
Airdate	5 May 1990
Writer(s)	Shari Goodhartz
Director	Tim Bond
Year	2366
Stardate	43872.2
Episode chronology
Previous	"Hollow Pursuits"
Next	"Sarek"

"The Most Toys" is a 1990 episode from the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. The episode involves Lieutenant Commander Data being kidnapped by an effeminate and obsessive collector, who leads the Enterprise crew to believe that Data was killed in a shuttlecraft accident. The episode aired during the third season and has generated criticism from some viewers and fans of the series.

1 Plot
2 Criticism
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The Enterprise-D is called to assist a colony world that has suffered tricyanide contamination to its water supply. Because of this, they meet with a ship named the Jovis owned by the Zibalian trader, Kivas Fajo (Saul Rubinek). Fajo, a member of the Stasius Trade Guild, is one of the few vendors of hitridium, an extremely rare medicinal compound capable of neutralizing the contamination. Because hitridium is a volatile substance that cannot be beamed aboard, Data is assigned to shuttle Fajo's cargo from the Jovis to the Enterprise, which needed to be done in several trips.

Just before the final trip, the crew of the Jovis kidnaps Data, and performs a scan of his body. They remove Data from the shuttlecraft, and set it to explode between their vessel and the Enterprise. When the shuttlecraft that Commander Data was flying explodes, the Enterprise crew fear that Data is dead and have to delay the investigation because of the vital mission they are on. The Enterprise scans the wreckage of the shuttle and finds materials which seem to indicate Data died in the explosion. In reality, the Jovis crew took the results of the scans they made and placed the appropriate amount of materials on board the shuttle to simulate a casualty.

Data is then taken to an art gallery on board Fajo's ship. Fajo collects rare and valuable objects and thus has kidnapped Data because he is a highly advanced android. Fajo is joined by his female slave named Varria (Jane Daly). He then tries to persuade Data to remove his Starfleet uniform and gives tours of his rare collection to some fellow art aficionados. Only when Fajo threatens to kill Varria with the rare and much feared Varon-T disruptor does Data finally agree to sit in a chair as Fajo asks. We learn that the blast from the Varon T tears the body apart from the inside out, resulting in a relatively slow and excruciating death. As a result the Varon T is illegal in the Federation.

Upon arriving at the colony, the Enterprise uses the hitridium to neturalize the tricyanide contamination. They find that the tricyanide was neutralized very quickly—in fact too quickly for naturally occurring tricyanide, so it must have been replicated. But, since tricyanide replication is difficult and expensive, and the only known antidote is hitridium—which Fajo just happens to have in sufficient supply—the crew begins to suspect that Fajo staged the whole plague. Once the crew learns that Fajo is a "collector of rare and valuable items", they quickly conclude that Fajo must have kidnapped their own rare and valuable item—the android officer, Data.

Data is able to escape with the help of Varria, and the Enterprise crew is finally able to locate Fajo's ship, with Data on board. However, before the Enterprise can beam up Data, Fajo murders Varria with the Varon-T disruptor. Fajo drops the gun and walks away. Data picks up the weapon and nearly kills Fajo, but he is beamed aboard the Enterprise just as he begins to fire. In fact, Chief O'Brien reports that the weapon was in a state of discharge during transport, and he quickly deactivates the weapon. Once on board the Enterprise, Data asks Commander Riker to arrest Fajo. When asked why the weapon was discharging, Data tells Riker that perhaps something happened to the weapon during transport.

Data later visits Fajo in the Enterprise brig. He reveals to Fajo that the remainder of his stolen collection has been confiscated and is being returned to their rightful owners. When Fajo asks Data if that gives him pleasure, Data replies that it does not. Data tells Fajo that he does not feel pleasure, and that he is only an android.

[edit] Criticism

At a science fiction convention in 1987 Gene Roddenberry promised that Star Trek: The Next Generation would have gay characters in it. Many gay and gay-friendly fans felt that this was the initial response to this promise and were insulted because Kivas Fajo's effeminate mannerisms, artist friends and eagerness to see Data naked were seen as signs that the first gay character on the series was a stereotypical gay villain. However, other fans have disputed the idea that this episode has anything to do with homosexuality or homophobia, given that he was not so much interested in seeing Data naked as he was in getting him to change clothes.^{[citation needed]}

The portrayal of Kivas Fajo by Saul Rubinek was a late decision. British dwarf David Rappaport was initially slotted to play Fajo, but Rappaport's suicide necessitated a last-minute cast change.

Data's decision to kill Fajo (effectively murdering him, since he was defenseless) has been criticized by some fans as being out-of-character.^{[citation needed]} In Data's defense, it could be argued that Fajo is a malicious, unprincipled person who is likely to kill in cold blood the next time someone stands between him and a "rare and valuable item" that he wants.

[edit] Trivia

David Rappaport, a well-known British actor and little person, had originally been cast for the part of Kivas Fajo. Rappaport struggled with depression in his life, and committed suicide in 1990, shortly after having filmed some scenes as Fajo. Saul Rubinek was then asked to take over the role, but some early still shots include Rappaport in the role.
Ironically, David Rappaport had his own TV series, The Wizard, about a former weapons designer genius who makes fantastic toys which get him and his friends out of deadly situations.