ST:TNG Season Five, Episode Eleven "Hero Worship"

ST:TNG Season Five, Episode Eleven "Hero Worship"
Production Order: 11
Air Order: 11
Stardate: 45397.3
Original Air Date: January 27, 1992

I have just learned that, in the military (all branches), if a member of the military has a pet, that pet has a rank, and it is always one rank above that of the service member. This way, if that service member is a complete piece of shit and beats their pet, they are disciplined not only for beating a fellow officer, but for beating a commanding officer. You can get dishonorably discharged for that. That's... that's brilliant. This also means that, if Star Fleet followed that same protocol, that Spot is actually Commander Spot.

Picard's Log 45397.3: "Going to see what happened to the Vico, a research ship that was checking out the black cluster."

The E hits the black cluster, and they find the Vico right away. It's adrift in space, and when they pull up visuals, it's obvious why: a big chunk of the front end is gone. Crap.

Data does scans and determines that there are no life signs, and that many of the decks are exposed to space. They can't get a lock on the computers to get information transfers over because those systems are closed behind emergency bulkheads.

"Is it stable enough for an away team?" asks Picard.

"Kinda?" says Data. "The chance of collapse is pretty high, though."

Picard tells Riker to form an away team, but to make sure the transporter chief keeps a lock on each of the members, just in case.

Riker chooses Data and La Forge, and they beam over.

The Vico is a mess of twisted wreckage and fallen crewmembers, all dead. Beams threaten to fall over. The computer stations they try are non-functioning, so they tap directly into the computer core and begin transferring files through a device.

There's a weak human voice nearby, and Riker and Data leave La Forge with the computer to check it out. They wander onto the destroyed bridge with a palm light, and finally find the source: a human kid.

Dramatic music! Opening credits!

Picard's Log, supplemental: "Well, shit. There was a kid alive in the wreckage, and the sensors were blocked from seeing him. Gonna attempt a rescue, but the going will be tough."

The transporter chief gets a lock on the kid, but he's pinned under a fallen beam, and the shielding in place is keeping things dicey. They tell Crusher to prepare for an emergency beam straight to sick bay, and the chief throws the controls. It starts to work for a hot second, then fizzles out: too much interference.

"No good," the chief tells the group. "Can you move the kid to the corridor? I think I can get a lock there."

Data looks around and does some quick calculations before telling Riker and La Forge (who has finished the computer transfer) that he can move the beam to get the kid, but the whole bridge is like one big game of Pick-Up Sticks, and moving this one beam might upset the balance. "I think you guys should beam back first."

Riker and La Forge agree and go back to the corridor so the chief can grab them. Once they're out, Data goes over the plan with the kid: he's gonna lift the beam, then they both run like hell for the corridor.

"How can you lift that by yourself?" asks the kid.

"I am an android," states Data. He tries a bit of bedside manner: "It is going to be... okay."

The kid nods, Data counts off, then moves the beam. The kid books it for the corridor, and Data drops the beam. The wreckage around them creaks and starts to fall around them. They hit the beam-out point and energize just as another beam falls right where they had been standing.

They appear in sick bay, and Crusher smiles at the kid, who backs closer to Data.

"Don't be afraid," she smiles.

Picard's Log, supplemental: "We explored the rest of the Vico, and found no other survivors. We're getting the kid trauma counseling."

The kid, Timothy, tells his story to Troi and Crusher in sick bay while he holds Data's hand: "They had purple helmets and phaser rifles. They came in and started shooting. They didn't see me."

Crusher leaves to get Timothy some food, and Data tries to excuse himself to go to Engineering to help La Forge, but Timothy won't let go of his hand.

Troi asks Timothy if he'd like Data to stay, and the kid nods.

In Engineering, La Forge shows Picard schematics of the Vico, and where things were located. It'll be a bit before the computer info from the Vico can be accessed.

"Timothy was outside the computer core when we found him. His mother was the ship's engineer, and they found her body in the core. His father was the second officer," says La Forge, "and most likely on the bridge when it was exposed to space."

"Most likely," says Picard heavily.

Down in sick bay, Timothy has fallen asleep and finally let go of Data's hand.

"His whole world is gone," Troi tells Data. "We have to help him build a new one."

Dramatic music! Commercial break!

Back in Engineering, La Forge and Data look at what the computer device was able to pull from the Vico. It doesn't look good - almost 85% of the info is gone, and there are no sensor logs. La Forge thinks he can maybe use the E's sensors to boost. 

Data is curious, and asks La Forge if he ever experienced any trauma as a kid.

It's a moment before La Forge answers, and he's obviously bothered by a memory. "I was caught in a fire once when I was five. It was before I got my first VISOR, and it was only for a few minutes, but those were the longest few moments ever. It was years before I let my parents get out of earshot. I needed to know they were there all the time."

"Timothy doesn't have that anymore," notes Data thoughtfully.

Timothy, who has been released from sick bay, has been shunted sideways into the schoolroom. The teacher reads aloud from a mythology textbook to the rest of the class, but pauses in his reading to ask Timothy to sit down with the other kids and follow along with the reading. Timothy, who is using a building set to make a model of a temple schematic on the wall, insists that he isn't finished. The teacher looks to a window into another room, where Troi watches Timothy.

I have to question pretty much everything about this scene. Why is Timothy in the classroom, and not Troi's office? Why is the teacher insisting that Timothy stop what he's doing and join the others? The kid is traumatized. He won't want to sit quietly with the group while his head is full of immediate, bad memories. Leave him alone to build his model. And what's with the weird observation window into the schoolroom? Is it the foyer into that area, where parents say goodbye to their kids when dropping them off? Because it's used several times in this episode to spy on Timothy, and that's just off-putting.

On the bridge, Data and La Forge have put together some schematics of what they think happened to the Vico: they were in the black cluster and attacked with some kind of disruptor weapon at close range. Afterward, gravitational waves pushed the ship out of the black cluster.

"That kind of attack sounds like it came from a cloaked vessel, like the Romulans, or the Klingons," says Picard. "But we're nowhere near either of those territories."

"Could be the Breen," suggests Data.

"Maybe," concedes Picard. "Timothy described helmets and phaser rifles and a boarding party."

"Boarding party seems unlikely," interjects La Forge. "There were no chemical or electrical traces of anyone else being on board."

Troi enters the bridge, and the conversation.

"Could he have been mistaken, or lying about a boarding party?" Picard asks her.

"Hard to say now," she admits. "I don't sense he was lying, but his emotional trauma is through the roof."

La Forge heads off to try more scans, and Troi asks Picard if she can have Data stay with Timothy.

Data is surprised.

"He trusts you, because you rescued him," she explains. "I'm worried about his behavior, but I think it will be beneficial to have you hang out with him."

Hoping Timothy might tell Data the whole story, Picard agrees.

"What should I do?" asks Data.

"Just hang out with him," says Troi. "He finds you comforting."

 Data goes to Timothy's assigned quarters to find that he's been allowed to take the model set with him. Timothy is attempting to build the model again, and Data correctly guesses which temple it is. Timothy is glad to see Data and cheerfully tells him about the different parts of the temple, courtesy of the teacher's instruction.

"What do you think?" asks Timothy.

Ack, NO.

Data opens his mouth, then pauses. He's encountered this before, and seems to know that when humans ask for an opinion, they don't always want an honest one. "Do you want an honest opinion?"
Timothy nods, but he doesn't really, because humans are complicated. They say they want an honest review, but they don't. 

Your emotionally delicate friend asks if you like a thing they made? You say you love it, regardless of how you actually feel. Your sister asks if you like her wedding dress? You love it. Your coworker tells you her baby name: YOU. LOVE. IT.

Timothy is too young and too emotionally raw to know that he doesn't actually want an honest opinion, so when Data starts to methodically tell him which parts are not correct, he dejectedly drops the remaining parts and slumps onto the couch behind him, declaring that Data hates the job he's done.

"I am not capable of hatred," Data corrects him.

Timothy tries again, but the pieces won't stay in place, and he is disappointed again. "I can't do anything right."

Data starts to help him, but La Forge pages him to Engineering. He starts to leave, then turns back and reassembles the model at super-human speed.

"How come you can do that?" Timothy asks.

"I'm designed to exceed human capacity."

"So you're better than humans?"

"That's really subjective. It's a feeling, and I don't have those," he explains. "I'm not capable of emotions."

"You don't feel happy... or sad?" asks Timothy.

"Correct." Data turns to leave again, and before he gets in the lift, Timothy calls out and asks if he will stop by again later, so they can build something else.

Data replies that this is acceptable.

Timothy goes back into his room, smiles at the model, then goes to his mirror. He mimics Data's speech patterns and head movements. "I am designed to exceed human capacity. That is correct."

Mildly worried music... commercial break.

There's a brief scene where the senior officers discuss going into the black cluster to see if they can find out more about what happened to the Vico. They're going to try the next day. Picard asks Troi if she has gotten any more info out of Timothy about what happened, and she tells him no, but that she has an appointment with him soon.

Troi goes to her appointment with Timothy 2.0. He's wearing a sweater that resembles Data's uniform, and he's dropped his contractions, and has adopted the head movements of everyone's favorite Soong son.

"You sound like Data," she laughs.

"I am an android," he replies.

To her credit, she rolls with the punches. "Cool, let's go for a walk."

They end up in Ten Forward, where Timothy tells a server that androids don't need to eat or drink, but that he will order something to taste it.

"How long have you been an android?" Troi asks him.

He replies that he's always been one, and while he slips in contractions, he continues with the head movements.

She asks him what it's like to be an android, and he repeats Data's assertions that he's designed to exceed human capabilities, but does not feel emotions.

There's a quick cut to the ready room.

"Whut?" asks Picard.

"Yeah, he's decided to be an android," Troi confirms. "It's called enantiodromia, which means "conversion into the opposite." He's basically suppressing his emotions by pretending that he wasn't designed to have any."

"So... what do we do about it?" Picard asks.

"Lean into it," she replies. "He's trying to figure out who he is, and he'll keep up the android thing as long as he needs to. When he feels safe to be himself without the android persona, he'll ditch it. It's not a good time to ask him about the Vico. In the meantime, I think we should go along with it."

Picard looks at Data. "Make him the android that he can be."

Data looks puzzled. Weirdest. Assignment. Evar.

Back in Timothy's quarters, Data is checking himself out in the mirror so he can do Timothy's hair the same way. But Timothy is doing his Data Head Movements, and Data asks him what he's doing. When Timothy explains, there's a moment of physical comedy where they're both doing it, Timothy because he's mimicking Data, and Data because he's pondering the implications of the movements.

"I didn't realize that that was so distracting," he admits.

He begins slicking back Timothy's hair with pomade.

"How come you're not captain?" Timothy asks.

"My service record does not warrant that rank."

Timothy pauses, and he drops the android act for a bit. "What's the scariest thing that's ever happened to you?"

"I do not experience fear."

"But what if you had a nightmare?"

"I do not have nightmares, because I do not require sleep." Data gets a clue. "Are you having nightmares?"

Timothy pauses. "I do not require sleep," he says quietly.

Data accompanies Timothy to sick bay for a check-up, and Crusher has clearly been clued in to the situation, because she tells him that all of his circuits are functioning within normal parameters.

As a side note, Dr Crusher has a great bedside manner with kids. In New Ground, she explained to Alexander which of his bones was broken. If I was a kid, I would absolutely be okay going to Crusher for medical stuff.

Later, Timothy and Data share a Bob Ross moment in Data's quarters. Timothy yawns while painting, and Data asks if he needs to go back to his quarters.

"I'm fine," Timothy insists. Then he thinks. "The servos in my mouth are designed to approximate human movements."

Lol, Timothy. You brilliant little shit.

Data pauses, then tries out the fakest-looking yawn ever. 

"That is not bad," Timothy compliments his friend.

Data asks Timothy if his painting represents anything, and Timothy says no, but you gotta guess that it probably does because it's rather... violent? aggressive? There's a lot of red and black, with jagged shapes.

Data, thinking that a little probing might be in order, reminds Timothy that he can talk to him about anything. He starts to tell the boy about how he sometimes worries about talking to his friends about specific things, because he isn't certain he's communicating in a way that humans will understand. But when he looks back at Timothy, he sees that his Mini Me has fallen asleep. He sets his palette down, then carefully carries Timothy to a couch.

Gentle music, commercial break.

.

It's time to enter the black cluster, and Data has been replaced on the bridge because he's playing How To Train Your Android. 

The E proceeds inside, and occasionally, the bridge crew rocks in unison to indicate that they are going through energy waves - little ones, but they're big enough to get past the shields.

"Crap, there's something off the starboard side," announces Worf. "No, wait - port bow. No, wait - starboard. WTF?"

Riker checks his own screen. "Sensors all over the place. Like, reflections? Seems like there's something there, but also not?"

Troi and Data are watching Timothy play with some other kids in the school room, but through that window that Troi was using before. Data is surprised to see Timothy laugh.

"He's back to being human," Data notes. "Is my work with him done?"

"I don't think so," says Troi. "I think he needs more of a push. Could you talk to him about your own interest in humans?"

We move to Ten Forward, where Data and Timothy are drinking synchronized smoothies. Timothy asks Data how his smoothie is, and Data replies that he can taste it, and analyze textures and how sweet things are, ect but he can't give an opinion, because that's a feeling, and he isn't designed for that.

"I often wonder about what it's like to have your mouth water in anticipation, or how it feels to enjoy food," Data admits. 

Timothy is surprised. "Sounds like you don't want to be an android."

"But I am," replies Data. "I can't change that."

"Do you wish that you weren't an android sometimes?" Timothy asks.

"Sometimes. I watch humans carefully to more accurately do as they do."

This answer makes Timothy grouchy. "But androids are smarter and stronger than humans."

"Sure, but I can't take pride in those things, or any of my accomplishments."

"But having emotions means you have to be sad sometimes," says Timothy. Definitely not a place he wants to go.

"Yeah, but I'd gladly take being sad sometimes if it meant I could enjoy my dessert," Data answers.

Back on the bridge, Worf has been asked to try the sensors in a bunch of different ways, but ends up calling them "useless" in frustration. Everything is being reflected back from the gravitational waves.

Picard calls Data to the bridge, and when he arrives, they try an experiment:

"Fire the phasers, full power."

They do, and the beam breaks up, forking in different directions in front of them.

"Data," says Picard thoughtfully, "would a disruptor beam do that in here?"

"Probably," Data replies.

"And how would a cloaking device work in this place?"

"Not very well."

"So what are the odds that a cloaked vessel could fire on the Vico in here with a disruptor weapon?"

"Not great."

Troi brings Timothy to the ready room to talk to Picard and Data.

"Explain to us again what happened," says Picard. "The tests we're running don't add up with what you described."

Timothy has dropped the android act. "We were attacked!" He's briefly angry.

"Androids don't lie," says Data gently.

There's a pause, then Timothy whispers, "It was me. I killed them all."

Dramatic music! Commercial break!

Timothy starts crying. "Everything was shaking, and I was trying to steady myself, and my arm hit the computer panel, and everything blew up. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do it!"

"Oh. Timothy, that isn't possible," says Troi softly. "You couldn't have caused that by touching a computer panel. It was just a coincidence that the ship blew up when your arm touched that panel."

Together, they tell him that every panel needs to have a clearance code plugged in first to be activated, and simply touching a panel would have no affect on the Vico whatsoever.

"We're trying to figure out what actually happened," says Picard. "Can you remember anything else before the accident?"

There's another wave, and Timothy tearfully recalls the Vico rocking in this way as well.

On the bridge, Worf tells Riker that the wave intensity has increased. They increase shields.

Picard and the others come out of the ready room, and Picard tells the helm that he wants them to turn around and rocket out of there.

"I can't," says Helm. "It won't let me form a warp bubble." 

Timothy looks sharply at her.

Another wave rocks the ship, harder.

"No impulse power! Helm isn't responding!"

"We couldn't get out either," says Timothy.

"Um, let's go downstairs, get out of their way," suggests Troi.

"No!"

Riker asks La Forge in Engineering to get him more power to the shields, and Timothy tells Data that that's what they kept saying on the Vico: more shields.

Data pulls Timothy over to the science station at the back of the bridge, and asks him to recall everything they said on the Vico before the accident.

"Just more shields," Timothy insists.

Data begins typing in fast Data-fashion. Picard asks La Forge for more shields; there's another, bigger wave; more shields, more shields...

"I can divert power from the warp engines to the shields," La Forge says.

"They said that, too!" Timothy tells Data.

"Done!" says La Forge. "The shields can't get any stronger!"

"Drop the shields!" yells Data.

"The hell?" asks Riker.

Data addresses Picard directly with his most Serious Data Face: he is not fucking around.

"Make it so," Picard tells Worf.

Shields down, and instead of this

this happens

Everyone turns to stare at Data.

"Our shields were increasing the wave," he explains. "When Timothy told me he heard the Vico's crew calling for more shields, I plugged our shield strength into the computer with the wave amplification, and found that they correlated."

"Yikes," says Riker. "We dumped warp power into the shields. That wave would have blown us to bits."

"That's what happened to the Vico," Data agrees.

With no shields, the helm comes back online, and they are able to navigate out of the black cluster on impulse.

And back to the schoolroom, where the teacher is leading the kids in a round of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" (a bit on the nose there, Star Trek). A sad-looking Timothy half-heartedly sings along while Troi and Data watch from behind the window. (Is Timothy not creeped out that they watch him all the time?)

"He's sad," remarks Troi, "but he's a human kid again."

When Data does not reply, she asks if he's finding it hard that Timothy doesn't want to be like him anymore.

"I... don't have the capacity to feel that?" he points out.

He goes into the schoolroom once the others clear out, and sits next to Timothy.

"How are you?" asks Timothy.

Data answers in typical Data fashion, then asks Timothy the same.

"I miss my parents, but I'm... okay," says Timothy. "You probably think it was silly that I was copying you."

"They tell me that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," Data answers.

"Can we still be friends, even if I'm not an android?" Timothy asks earnestly.

"I have many human friends, and would be pleased to count you among them," Data replies.

Timothy does his best Data impression. "That would be acceptable."

And he smiles.

I like this one. It's a character-development story with a strong science-based B-plot that ties together nicely with the A-plot. Though it's not one that I frequently remember, it's a nice addition, and one where we see the script flipped on Data. He often tells humans how much he'd like to be like them, but here, someone wants to be like him. And it's nice to see Data helping someone navigate confusing feelings. You can see him thinking when Timothy presents a tough situation, and Data correctly chooses what to say next, not based on logic or what programming might choose, but knowledge that humans are not likely to make choices logically. He chooses poorly when Timothy asks for his opinion on the model, but this was after asking if the boy really wanted an honest opinion or not. He most likely filed this away as humans saying that they wanted an honest opinion when they didn't.

I liked the juxtaposition of Data and Timothy each coveting something that the other had: Data wanting emotions and Timothy wanting none, but Data pointing out that he was an android and could not change that fact probably helped Timothy to see that, as a human, he was going to have emotions whether he wanted them or not.

Overall, just a nice little episode. 

Fun Facts:

- The story about La Forge's traumatic childhood memory of the fire was originally meant to go into the script for the next episode, "Violations."

- It was during the filming of this episode that the crew learned of the death of Gene Roddenberry.

- Michael Piller felt that this season made better use of Troi as a counselor than previous seasons, and joked that he and Jeri Taylor were adding in more scenes for her like this because they were both in therapy.

- However, Joe Menosky had a love/hate relationship with Troi, and felt that having a counselor onboard the ship, as a senior officer, dated the show. (I feel like it doesn't, as therapy has come back around in a big way, and people relate to it more than ever. But that's me.)

- The landscape painting that Data is working on was made by special effects guy Dan Curry. The art department made a copy of the unfinished painting on a canvas, making it look as though Data was mid-way through the project.

- This is the second mention of the Breen onscreen. (They will not actually make an onscreen appearance until DS9.)

- La Forge tells Data that the fire incident occurred before he got his first VISOR, meaning that he's probably had several growing up.

- Brannon Braga listed this episode as his favorite of the "kid episodes."

- Michael Piller thought it was a "great premise" and "very entertaining," but not very memorable.

Red deaths: 0
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Gold deaths: 0
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Blue deaths: 0
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Unnamed color crew deaths: 0
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Sassy Geordi moments: 0

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Sassy Ro Moments: 0
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Sassy Worf Moment: 0
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Sassy Riker Moments: 0
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Sassy Picard Moments: 0
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Sassy NPC Moments: 0
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Sassy Data Moments: 0
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Sassy O'Brien Moments: 0
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Sassy Keiko Moments: 0

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Sassy Crusher Moments: 0
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Sassy Troi Moments: 0
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Sassy Guinan Moments: 0
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Sassy Guest Star Moments: 0
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Number of times that it is mentioned that Data is an android: 7
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Number of times that Troi reacts to someone else's feelings: 0
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Number of times that Geordi "looks at something" with his VISOR: 0
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Number of times when Data gives too much info and has to be told to shut up: 0
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Picard Maneuvers: 1
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Tea, Earl Grey: 1
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Mentions of the number 47: 0

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