The Offspring (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

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Star Trek: TNG episode
"The Offspring"
Data watches his daughter Lal die
Episode no.	64
Prod. code	164
Airdate	March 12, 1990
Writer(s)	René Echevarria
Director	Jonathan Frakes
Guest star(s)	Whoopi Goldberg Hallie Todd Nicolas Coster Judyann Elder Leonard Crofoot
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.

The show was written as a spec script by René Echevarria, and was bought by the show. Echevarria did a re-write which was then touched up by staff writers. Echevarria was subsequently hired to re-write the episode "Transfigurations", and would become a regular writer and story editor for the show.^[1]

Like 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")

Michael Dorn said this was one of his two favorite episodes, the other being "The Drumhead."[1]

[edit] Plot

In secret, Data creates a new artificial life form. Originally it is asexual (and played by Leonard Crofoot) 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 (Hallie Todd), 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 Riker and kisses 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 is scandalized to see her in the role of a "cocktail waitress" in Ten Forward and Picard has to explain that this is the best way for her to observe a wide variety of human social behaviors. In the subsequent interview, Lal observes that he does not speak with respect toward her or her father; he talks to Picard as if she isn't even there, and he clearly doesn't believe an android is capable of responsible care for another sentient life. He decides her remarks are '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. ("Order a man to turn his child over to the state? Not while I am his captain.") 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.