star trek tng jenna

Michele Scarabelli

Series: TNG

Character(s): Jenna D’Sora

Michele Scarabelli is the actress who portrayed Lieutenant junior grade Jenna D’Sora in the Star Trek: The Next Generation fourth season episode “In Theory” in 1991.

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Jenna D'Sora

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Jenna D'Sora was a Human woman who served in Starfleet in the late 24th century .

• 1.1 Early life and career
• 1.2 Aboard the Enterprise -D
• 1.3 Aboard the Enterprise -E
• 2.1 Connections
• 2.2 External links

Biography [ ]

Early life and career [ ].

The daughter of Gwen and Patrick D'Sora , Jenna was born on Sherman's Planet in 2339 . At age 18, Jenna entered Starfleet Academy on Earth . During a midshipman cruise aboard the USS Sparta in 2360 , Jenna received a commendation from the ship's security chief for her expertise with the weapon systems. In 2361 , She graduated from the Academy in the 94th percentile and was assigned to the USS Argelius as a junior torpedo room officer.

In 2363 , D'Sora saved the Argelius from destruction by defusing an armed photon torpedo after it became jammed in a damaged torpedo tube following an ambush by a Breen starship near Kolos IV . In early 2364 , D'Sora was promoted to lieutenant, junior grade and named junior weapons officer aboard the Argelius . In 2365 , D'Sora received the Starfleet Ribbon for her role in developing key components for the new quantum torpedo weapons. ( ST video game : Starship Creator )

Aboard the Enterprise -D [ ]

Early in the year 2366 , Ensign D'Sora transferred to the USS Enterprise to assume the role of torpedo room supervisor. ( ST video game : Starship Creator )

By 2367 , she had been promoted to lieutenant junior grade and security systems specialist. D'Sora worked with Lieutenant Commander Data modifying several photon torpedoes with science equipment to assist in the Enterprise 's study of the Mar Oscura , a previously unexplored dark matter nebula . She began a romantic relationship with Data following the break-up of her relationship with Jeff Arton . Unfortunately, Data's inability to emote or fully understand the emotions of others proved too much of a strain on the couple and they decided to split up. ( TNG episode : " In Theory ")

D'Sora received a promotion to full lieutenant in 2369 . ( ST video game : Starship Creator )

In 2369 , D'Sora was on an away team examining ruins of a destroyed Lisarion community. D'Sora's tricorder scan revealed aftereffects of disruptor fire, of a type that indicated Klingons were somehow in the assault. ( TNG - Shadowheart comic : " The Lion and the Lamb ")

Aboard the Enterprise -E [ ]

In 2372 , D'Sora became part of the USS Enterprise -E 's crew and was given the position of assistant chief of security . The following year the lieutenant received decorations due to her participation in the Battle of Sector 001 . Captain Jean-Luc Picard 's recommendation earned her a promotion to lieutenant commander . ( ST video game : Starship Creator )

In 2376 , Data recalled his relationship with D'Sora when he was experiencing flashbacks as a result of exposure to the Orb of Memory . ( DS9 novel : Avatar, Book One )

Appendices [ ]

Connections [ ], external links [ ].

• Jenna D'Sora article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
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starring Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, and Michele Scarabelli as Jenna D’Sora

“It’s beautiful. Like watching fireworks in the sky when I was a little girl…”

Later, Jenna and Data are involved in a public musical rehearsal but once they reach the end, Jenna is unjustifiably upset with her performance. Data promptly informs her that he detected nothing except minor faults which they could correct by the next rehearsal.

As time moves on, and analysis of the nebula continues, Data discovers numerous M-class planets within. Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) tells Data that they will continue their analysis of the nebula as they move towards the nearest of the planets. Meanwhile, strange events begin to unfold around the ship. In sickbay, medical devices which were positioned on benches suddenly appear on the floor.

Back at work, Jenna is dreaming back to the days of her childhood. Memories which she explores in the company of Data. Her thoughts move on as she asks rhetorically, why it is that she always falls for the wrong man. Such thoughts then make her ask why she can’t fall for someone like Data – who she describes as “perfect”. Data is quick to point out that, due to his human limitations, he is far from “perfect”. Nevertheless, Jenna highlights how kind and patient Data has always been with her. How much he makes her laugh. Those, she says, are the things that matter. It’s then, when she tells Data how handsome he is, that Jenna kisses him. As she leaves, Data begins to question her advances and attempts to seek help.

As their relationship flourishes, so the Enterprise moves further into the cloud. Also, the strange events in the ship become more and more frequent. In the captain’s quarters; on the walls of the corridors; in the ready room.

In Jenna’s quarters, she and Data discuss their lack of success in determining the cause of the strange phenomena. Data continues his “sub-program” as he demonstrates an attempt at being a loving partner at the end of a hard day’s work.

“In that particular moment, I was reconfiguring the warp field parameters; analysing the collected works of Charles Dickens; calculating the maximum pressure I could safely apply to your lips; considering a new food supplement for Spot…”

“I’m glad I was in there somewhere…”

When Data discovers that the strange events are due to small areas of dark matter causing pockets of subspace distortions which are impacting with the Enterprise , Picard goes on to navigate them safely out of the nebula.

Later that day, Jenna visits Data in his quarters. She tells him that she has thought about their relationship and knows it will never work. She has realised that she left a man who had no feelings for her and ran straight into a relationship with a man who never could have any feelings. As she leaves him, Data deletes the appropriate program and Spot jumps into his lap.

THE MICHELE SCARABELLI FACTOR

Jenna D’Sora is beautiful, sweet, compassionate, intelligent, cute and she even keeps her quarters in a mess. This girl is perfect! The question isn’t why she fell for Data , rather it’s why, out of a ship of over a thousand people, she only falls for emotionless men.

Star Trek : The Next Generation lasted for seven years, 179 episodes – many of which were very similar to each other. Only a few episodes are of remarkable interest – and they usually involve the Borg in some way. Despite this, In Theory is a very enjoyable episode. It tries, but fails, to answer if it’s possible to love an android; it tries, but fails, to answer if it’s possible for affection from a beautiful woman to melt a metal heart. However, it does succeed in telling a romantic story – if one doesn’t dwell too much on Data ‘s attempts to write a program to enable him to romance Jenna.

Michele Scarabelli is the real jewel in this episode. She sparkles in every scene and really makes the episode work on her own. As the only non-regular cast member, Michele does a fabulous job of out-acting everyone else without once going too far. She turns in a really special performance which creates a character that you could watch time and time again.

Listen closely to Michele’s final speech as Jenna and be prepared to reach for those tear-absorbent tissues…

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Recap / Star Trek: The Next Generation S4E25 "In Theory"

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Original air date: June 3, 1991

The Enterprise is about to enter a "dark nebula," so Data is working with security officer Jenna D'Sora to modify a photon torpedo into a probe to study the nebula. Jenna has just broken up with her boyfriend, and Data lends an ear to her troubles. Jenna finds Data's attentiveness to her drama as sweet. After the pair perform as part of a musical performance, Data provides further support to her insecurities and have what is effectively a double date with O'Brien and Keiko. It becomes clear that Jenna has developed a crush on Data.

Although Data lacks emotions and is therefore incapable of love, he would like to pursue a romantic relationship to explore that aspect of humanity. He seeks advice from all the major crewmembers aboard the ship. Worf warns Data to treat Jenna right. Troi cautions Data that his experiment could hurt Jenna. Riker tells Data to go for it. Picard refuses to comment. Data ultimately decides to do it. He invites Jenna to his quarters and tells her that he has devoted a considerable amount of his processing power to writing a romantic program for her. She is flattered and yields to his passionless, robotic advances.

Meanwhile, something strange has been happening on the ship. Things are turning up missing, temporarily disappearing or getting broken with no explanation. Picard jokes that the ship might have a poltergeist and advises cautious observation before putting the whole ship on high alert. When they arrive at their destination in the nebula, they discover that the M-class planet they expected is nowhere to be found.

Data continues his relationship with Jenna. She frequently has to correct his behavior when he's Innocently Insensitive , such as when she arrives at his quarters with a gift and he continues painting rather than give her his full attention. It becomes more and more clear that a romantic relationship with an android who feels no romance is untenable. Data suddenly begins yelling at Jenna during one disagreement. When she questions why he's behaving this way, he drops his act and calmly states that his studies indicate that a "lover's quarrel" brings people together. Jenna is left very unsure of this whole dating-an-android thing.

But more important things are happening around the ship. The disturbances are increasing in frequency and severity. A security officer winds up dead after she phases partially through the floor. Data concludes that dark matter from the nebula is warping space, putting the whole ship at risk. Further, the Galaxy -class starship is too large to safely maneuver through the pockets of dark matter without hitting them. Worf suggests using a more maneuverable shuttlecraft to chart a course, and Picard volunteers. He zigs and zags through a dark matter slalom course, leading the ship to safety just before his craft is critically damaged. O'Brien manages to beam him out just before the craft explodes. The ship is saved.

Tropes in this episode include:

• Call-Back : In his quarters, Data still has Tableau 1 , by Piet Mondrian, which he showed to Lal in "The Offspring."
• Casual Danger Dialogue : "Now would be a good time, Mr. O'Brien..."
• The Comically Serious : Jenna mistakes Data's blunt observations for dry wit.
• Cruel and Unusual Death : At one point, the nebula causes the floor to go out from under one crewmember, then resolidify right through her midsection .
• Did Not Get the Girl : Data and Jenna discontinue their relations at the episode's end, when Jenna realizes that Data doesn't feel anything from their relationship—she can't make him happy (or sad, or anything).
• Double Date : Jenna treats her drinks with Data, O'Brien and Keiko this way. After Keiko tells a funny story about O'Brien, Jenna immediately tries to tell a funny story about Data.
• Fake Relationship : Data is only able to imitate a romantic relationship, and badly at that.
• If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her... : Worf says that, as Jenna is under his command, he will be very angry if Data ever does anything to hurt her while dating her.
• Innocently Insensitive : Jenna quickly learns that Data isn't good at pretending to have emotions, so it's easy to pick up on the fact that he doesn't actually care about her.
• The Main Characters Do Everything : Even though Riker is the Ace Pilot and volunteers to man the shuttlecraft, Picard insists on doing it himself. He doesn't even give a justification for it, saying only, "I must do this."
• Mood Whiplash : Mostly a fluffy piece exploring Data's romantic life, right up until a crewwoman gets cut in half.
• On the Rebound : Jenna is so desperate after her breakup that she dates an emotionless android.
• Our Dark Matter Is Mysterious : The episode features the Enterprise exploring a dark matter nebula which causes bits of the ship to randomly vanish. This causes activity from Spot (Data's cat) exiting Data's room without using the doors to a crew member falling through the floor after it vanishes and then getting killed when it comes back.
• Remember the New Guy? : Despite us never seeing Jenna before, she clearly has spent enough time with Data to consider him a friend and feel comfortable telling him about her personal life. We won't see her again, either.
• Romantic Candlelit Dinner : Data prepares one for Jenna and himself in the final act. He's so clueless that he expects they'll continue with dinner after she dumps him.
• Red Shirt : A random security officer dies when she phases through the floor. No one seems particularly broken up about it.
• Replacement Goldfish : Jenna ultimately admits that Data was just a substitute for her emotionally distant ex-boyfriend, whom she still pines after.
• Stock Footage : The nebula is obviously a re-colored version of the Mutara Nebula from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan .
• Take That, Audience! : According to Word of God , Jenna D'Sora was inspired by the female fans of TOS that expressed romantic feelings for Spock. This episode was written to explore what would happen if such a woman got her wish and found herself in a relationship with a man with no emotions.
• Two Lines, No Waiting : The B-story of the Enterprise experiencing anomalies while exploring a nebula is entirely disjoint from the main plot, and was written just to add some action to the episode.
• Telefrag : A crew member is lost when part of the hallway she is walking down briefly disappears during one of the anomalies and reappears as she is halfway through it, resulting in this happening to her.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation S4E24 "The Mind's Eye"
• Recap/Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Star Trek: The Next Generation S4E26 S5E1 "Redemption"

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The Best Data Episodes Of Star Trek: The Next Generation

You can't really talk about  Star Trek: The Next Generation  ( TNG ) without talking about Data. Played by Brent Spiner , this sentient android appeared in all seven seasons of the series, has a recurring role in  Star Trek: Picard , and showed up in all four  TNG  films. Data proved to quickly be one of the most popular  TNG  characters, as fans enjoyed following the synthetic officer's struggles to understand humanity and grow closer to it. 

As for his backstory, Data is discovered before the events of the series on the otherwise lifeless Omicron Theta colony. About halfway through the first season of TNG , in "Datalore," we learn most of the colony was wiped out by a powerful spacefaring being known only as the Crystalline Entity (take Galactus, but make him look like a giant snowflake). Fortunately, the android is rescued by Starfleet, which heavily influences his choice to join the organization. On board the  Enterprise , Data regularly proves to be one of the crew's best assets, though occasionally his android origins allow villains to turn him into a crippling liability. 

Throughout the series, most of the crew's   senior officers were the focus of at least a couple of episodes, but Data's struggles and adventures proved compelling enough to fans that the Enterprise 's own Pinocchio could rightly be accused of hogging the spotlight. And today, we're going to look at the episodes where Data shined the brightest. Here are our picks for the best Data episodes of  Star Trek: The Next Generation .  

'Phantasms' is one of Data's weirdest and funniest episodes

In 1968, Philip K. Dick penned one of his best-known novels, one where the title poses an interesting question: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Well, after watching the 1993  TNG  episode "Phantasms," we can't tell you if androids dream of electric sheep, but we  can  report they occasionally dream of cakes made of out of crew members.

In season six's "Birthright," Data discovers a program that allows him to dream. And in the following season's "Phantasms," Data's dreams haunt him to the point where he appears to be losing his positronic marbles. His dreams are filled with absolutely bizarre images. For example, in one, he finds in a party on Ten Forward in which Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) is a cake whom his crew members are devouring. We eventually learn the weird dreams are actually giving Data the key to save the  Enterprise . After the ship takes on a brand new warp core, invisible parasites start feeding on the crew. Data unconsciously detects the creatures, and the strange imagery of his dreams is actually designed to alert him of the danger.

"Phantasms" goes into weird  Twin Peaks  territory that no one ever expected from  Star Trek , and for that alone, it deserves a spot on this list. But the episode also proves to be one of the funniest  TNG stories, particularly with some uncharacteristic off-color humor that begins to surface after Data discusses his dreams with a holographic version of Sigmund Freud (who had a reputation for linking most neuroses to sex) .

'Descent' puts Data against two of Star Trek's best villains

Two of TNG 's most compelling bad guys form something of an alliance in the two-parter "Descent." And this terrifying union starts early in part one, when Data surprises us by getting murderously enraged when attacked by Borg drones — to the point that he continues to beat on an already dead drone when he should be helping out his crew members. 

Data is puzzled by the spontaneous burst of emotion and concerned with his homicidal urges, and we eventually learn he's being manipulated by his brother Lore, a predecessor to Data who's programmed with emotions but suffers mental instability. Lore is gathering Borg drones detached from the Borg Collective and recruiting them into a cult committed to the rise of cybernetic beings over organic life. To this end, Lore is behind Data's murderous emotions, and he manipulates him to the point where he's almost willing to kill his best friend, Geordi (Levar Burton).

Bookending the penultimate and final seasons of  TNG , "Descent" not only gives us another chance to see the Borg, but it also marks the return of the free-thinking Borg Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco) who first appeared in "I, Borg." It also proves to be the final confrontation between Data and his twisted brother Lore. It's as sad as it is satisfying when Data deactivates his wayward sibling, whose final profession of love before his death is almost certainly a lie. 

'Hero Worship' explores the pros to being an android

When you first discover how badly Data wants to be a human, it's natural to at least briefly wonder why he would want to be something that — in so many ways — is inferior. That's part of what occurs to the young Timothy (Joshua Harris) in the season five episode "Hero Worship." Timothy is the sole survivor of the wrecked ship  Vico , and it's Data who saves him. Traumatized by so much death, Timothy takes comfort in pretending to be an android. Counselor Troi encourages Data to help Timothy find shelter in this temporary fantasy, and he teaches the boy what it's like to be a synthetic person, including finding Timothy appropriate clothes and combing his hair to look more like Data.

Data's time with Timothy is touching and bittersweet. We can tell from the beginning that Data enjoys the company of someone who wants to be more like him and that he'll miss Timothy when, inevitably, he emerges from the fantasy. Regardless, the exercise helps the boy open up to his rescuers. Timothy initially tells the  Enterprise  crew that his ship was attacked by aliens, but by the end, it comes out Timothy wrongly blames himself. Moments before the ship's destruction, Timothy fell and hit a console, and he erroneously believes that whatever he hit on the console is what destroyed  Vico . But in a nice twist, it's Timothy's memory of the  Vico 's final moments that gives Data the clues he needs to save the  Enterprise  from the Vico 's actual fate.

'The Quality of Life' asks some heavy questions

"The Quality of Life" is unique in that it puts Data at odds with his shipmates, but it's not because any villain infiltrates his positronic net. Instead, Data refuses the orders of a superior officer on his own free will.

Early in "The Quality of Life," we meet Dr. Farallon (Ellen Bry), the head of a project she hopes will be approved by the Federation. To help with her work, Farallon creates small, mobile, problem-solving machines called exocomps. After one of the exocomps refuses to perform a task, Data — while everyone else assumes the exocomp is malfunctioning — determines the machine is self-aware. Toward the end of the episode, Data locks horns with Riker over using the exocomps to save Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) and Geordi from an accident but in a manner that would destroy the machines. Riker solves the problem by suggesting that Data ask the exocomps to help rather than ordering them. The machines agree to help, and they find an alternative means of saving Picard and Geordi, though sadly one of them chooses to sacrifice itself for the sake of the others. 

"The Quality of Life" is an episode that challenges its audience. It doesn't take much to feel sympathy for Data. He may be a machine, but he looks like a person and is being played by a flesh-and-blood human. It's quite another thing to root for Data when he's treating the rights of three drone-like machines as inviolate enough to risk the lives of beloved regular characters. 

'Elementary, Dear Data' is The Next Generation having a whole lot of fun

Picard loves his Dixon Hill, and Data loves Sherlock Holmes. And in "Elementary, Dear Data," we get to see Data indulge in his love for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic detective, while Geordi LaForge plays his loyal companion, Watson. 

It begins, as most holodeck-gone-wrong episodes do, with the heroes just having a bit of fun. Geordi gets frustrated when Data, rather than going through an entire Holmes mystery, ends the story early by revealing the killer. Only instead of using deduction, Data knows who committed the crime simply by having read the story already. Dr. Pulaski (Diana Muldaur) gets involved when she overhears the two in Ten Forward, and she challenges Data to solve an original Holmesian mystery. That challenge inadvertently leads Geordi to give the holodeck a command that makes the holographic version of Holmes' nemesis, Professor Moriarty, sentient. And soon enough, the classic bad guy becomes aware he's a hologram on a space ship. 

Once the challenge gets interesting, Data and Geordi throw themselves into their roles, and their enthusiasm is infectious. But what makes the episode one of the  TNG 's most memorable is Daniel Davis' portrayal of Moriarty. Picard is forced to get involved after Moriarty figures out a way to briefly take control of the  Enterprise.  However, Moriarty's evolution makes him much more than a villain, and his portrayal is surprisingly affecting. When Moriarty tells Picard, "What I have seen, what I have learned, fascinates me — I do not want to die," it takes you off guard. Against all odds, you actually care about this holographic recreation of a Victorian-era villain. 

Brent Spiner shows off his acting chops in 'Brothers'

When Data's twin brother Lore threatens the  Enterprise , Brent Spiner does double-duty by playing both androids. But in the fourth season episode "Brothers," Spiner does  triple  duty as Data, Lore, and their enigmatic creator, Dr. Noonian Soong .

In "Brothers," Dr. Soong activates a homing device that summons both Data and Lore to his workshop deep in the jungle of an otherwise seemingly unpopulated planet. Soong is dying, and before his passing, he wants to give Data a chip he's developed that will give Data human emotions but without the flaws that lead to Lore's instability. Before Lore's predictable betrayal and Soong's death, we learn much of what Lore told us in the earlier episode "Datalore" was untrue. In particular, while Lore claims to be a perfected version of Data, Soong reveals Lore was built first and was deactivated because humans feared him. Data seems genuinely stunned to learn he isn't inferior to Lore, so much so that he repeats the revelation "I am not less perfect than Lore" out loud, much to his brother's aggravation. 

Spiner's performances in all three roles genuinely feels like a troubled family reunion. Data and Lore come off like two feuding brothers under the tutelage of an impatient father, including in the perfectly touching and funny moment when Soong orders them through clenched teeth to both sit down. "Brothers" is a testament to Spiner's acting abilities, and the episode is an essential piece of the puzzle when it comes to understanding Data.

'Data's Day' lets us look through the android's eyes

The plot of season four's "Data's Day" isn't particularly memorable. Data prepares for the wedding of Chief O'Brien (Colm Meaney) and Keiko (Rosalind Chao), while the  Enterprise  heads for the Romulan Neutral Zone with a Vulcan ambassador in tow. Really, "Data's Day" is pretty much a meat-and-potatoes TNG episode, but it's elevated by being told completely through Data's adorably hopeless point of view

"Data's Day" references the episode "The Measure of a Man," with Data writing a letter to Bruce Maddox, the same cyberneticist who caused the android so much trouble in the earlier story. Data writes his letter as a log entry, explaining everything that's happening, what he believes will resolve each situation, and inevitably how laughably wrong he proves to be. For example, Data tries and fails to understand the drama between O'Brien and Keiko when the latter gets cold feet and cancels their wedding. And the eventual betrayal by the Vulcan ambassador, who proves to be a Romulan incognito, seems almost unnecessary compared to the fun of Data learning to dance while wearing a Joker-like smile that is the stuff of nightmares.

"Data's Day" is equally sweet, sad, and funny in showing us Data's attempts to understand human behavior. One interesting aspect of the episode is when he describes Worf (Michael Dorn) as a "kindred spirit." With both often finding themselves confused by humans, the connection makes sense. Still, with both taking vastly different approaches to most situations, it's a surprising revelation. 

'In Theory' is a heartbreaking Star Trek episode

In the early first season episode "The Naked Now," Data famously gets intimate with Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby). After that, Data doesn't have a lot of chance at romance until the fourth season's "In Theory." 

As Data's friend Jenna (Michele Scarabelli) is getting over a break-up with an on-again/off-again boyfriend, it suddenly occurs to her that her synthetic buddy might just be her best new candidate for romance. As Jenna's interest gradually becomes clear to Data, he goes to each of his  Enterprise  friends in turn, asking their advice. He decides to move forward with the relationship and creates a program for it. Slowly, Jenna begins to realize that having a romantic relationship with an emotionless android means ... having a romantic relationship with an emotionless android. Data never knows how to react to what Jenna does, whether it's what to do when she brings him a gift or when he abruptly initiates a lovers' quarrel simply because he thinks that's what Jenna wants. 

The episode's final scene is gut-punching. Once Jenna tells Data their relationship is over, he responds emotionlessly with, "Then I will delete the appropriate program." Jenna is crushed while Data seems perfectly fine, as untroubled by the break-up as if it'd never happened. Most Data episodes end with some kind of sentiment hinting towards Data being more human than he appears. "In Theory" swerves hard in the other direction, letting you viscerally feel the impact Data's lack of humanity can have on those around him. 

Data goes looking for his father in 'Birthright, Part I'

As far as  TNG  two-parters go, season six's "Birthright" is a little different than most. "Birthright, Part I" is maybe 60 percent Data and 40 percent Worf, with the Klingon officer dealing with the reveal that his father Mogh — long presumed dead — may still be alive. In the meantime, Data is gifted with a strange dream-like vision of his father, Dr. Soong, after an accident involving Geordi, Dr. Bashir (Alexander Siddig) of  Deep Space Nine , and a mysterious device found in the Gamma Quadrant. 

Data and Worf's narratives come together when Data tells the Klingon about this experience, and Worf sees the event as a powerful vision. Taking Worf's advice, Data does everything he can to interpret his vision. At first, he tries to read his dream through art and is inspired enough to create dozens of paintings, many of which include images that Data didn't even see in his vision. Eventually, he recruits Geordi and Bashir to help recreate the accident that caused it in the first place so he can experience the vision in its entirety. 

The result is a powerful, tear-jerking reunion with Data's father, albeit not "in the flesh." By recreating the accident, Data unlocks a program that his father had set to be activated when Data reached a specific point in his evolution. As a result, Data not only gets to see and speak to his dead father, but he leaves the experience with the newfound ability to dream. 

'The Measure of a Man' is Star Trek: The Next Generation at its finest

Among the first two seasons of  TNG , few episodes are as impressive as "The Measure of a Man," in which Data finds himself on trial for his life — not for a crime but simply for being.

Starfleet scientist Bruce Maddox (Brian Brophy) wants to perform experiments on Data, but Data is worried he won't survive them. When Maddox forces the issue, Data tries to resign his commission. Maddox argues Data is Starfleet's property and doesn't have the right to resign his commission, so Picard is forced to face-off against Riker in a legal proceeding to determine whether or not Data has sentience. He famously tells the judge, "Your Honor, Starfleet was founded to seek out new life." Then, pointing to Data, he says, " Well, there it sits ."

Perhaps even more powerful is Data's defense. When Maddox visits Data's quarters in hopes of convincing him to submit to his experiments, Data tells him, "When Doctor Soong created me, he added to the substance of the universe. If, by your experiments, I am destroyed, something unique, something wonderful, will be lost. I cannot permit that." The lines' power comes from the fact that they're spoken by Data. If a human being were to describe themselves as "something unique" or "wonderful" that must be protected, it might come off as sappy or even self-important. Coming from an android without emotion to corrupt his logic, it seems like nothing but the wisdom it is. 

'The Offspring' is definitely Data's saddest episode

If "The Offspring" doesn't make your eyes sweaty, nothing will. The emotions all start when Data builds an android that he names Lal (Hallie Todd). As Picard predicts, Lal's creation attracts all the wrong kind of attention. Starfleet Admiral Haftel (Nicolas Coster) makes it clear he wants Lal to be supervised by Starfleet scientists, while Data is adamant that he will keep his daughter with him.

Lal's time aboard the  Enterprise  is marked by the same kind of well-intentioned confusion we're used to from her father. Unaware school children are laughing  at  her, Lal determines that because they laugh so much, she must have "mastered" the concept of humor. She then agrees to work in Ten Forward with Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) in an attempt to learn human behavior. Lal becomes something of a child to the entire crew, making her loss that much tougher to handle. Lal experiences intense emotion at the prospect of being taken away from her father, and it triggers a cascade failure . Data races to save her with such determination that even Admiral Haftel is struck by it, but in the end, Lal can't be saved. She thanks Data for her life and tells her father, since he can't feel love, that she will love for them both. 

Having transferred Lal's memories into himself, Data assures the heartbroken crew, "She is here ," and then points to his head. Unwilling to allow her fade into oblivion, Data keeps her memories in his positronic net so she'll always be with him. That right there is a truly tear-jerking Star Trek moment , and if you're not weeping, then you're probably an android.

How Star Trek Made LeVar Burton Actually Glow For Its Identity Crisis Episode

In the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Identity Crisis" (March 25, 1991), Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) meets an old friend, Lieutenant Commander Susanna Leijten (Maryann Plunkett), the only surviving member of a mission they both went on years before. It seems that their compatriots have gone missing or stolen shuttlecrafts to return to the planet Tarchannen III, where they were last united. Soon after her arrival, Leijten also begins exhibiting weird behavior, twitching nervously and demanding a visit to Tarchannen III. Her body begins to mutate. Her fingers fuse together and eerie blue veins appear on her skin. Her eyes turn yellow. It's all Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) can do to slow the mutations.

Geordi, while unattended, also suddenly begins to mutate. He eventually returns to Tarchannen III, having turned into a near-invisible creature that can only be seen under a special blacklight. Leijten has to overcome her own mutations and communicate with Geordi before his transformation becomes irreversible.

"Identity Crisis" is a good body-horror episode of "Star Trek," and perhaps shouldn't be watched in the dark alone. The scene where Geordi recreates a shadow on the holodeck is one of the scariest in the show's history.

In order to achieve the look of the invisible alien, Burton had to undergo a full-body makeup process  that involved a facial prosthetic, contact lenses, a lot of painted-on veins, alien gloves, and alien feet. It was the most makeup Burton ever had to wear on "The Next Generation."

In the book "Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages" edited by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, "Crisis" director David Livingston recalled the makeup process in detail, as well as the complex lighting the episode required. Livingston used U/V light on set, a first for the series.

The Mark & Brian Show

Some fun trivia: local KLOS DJs Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps, stars of "The Mark & Brian Show," played two additional aliens in the episode. They had no lines and just lurched past the camera. They also didn't have to undergo the same makeup process that Burton did, wearing full-body stockings and masks instead. The issue was getting the aliens to glow as it said in the script, a problem Livingston presented to his producer, Peter Lauritson. After checking out some test footage, Livingston went to longtime "Trek" makeup artist Michael Westmore and longtime costumer Robert Blackman about achieving the look. Livingston explained:

"We were talking about how we're going to make these guys glow and Peter Lauritson said to me, 'Why don't we try ultraviolet?' [...] I said because we had done a test the year before. I almost dismissed it, but then pulled out the tape and looked at it, and said this stuff is great. [I] went to Michael Westmore and Bob Blackman and said we want to do this, and they designed these suits and we painted them with U/V [paint] and put these contact lenses into this woman's eyes that glowed. [...] LeVar looked fabulous."

The costumes looked great, and they did indeed glow under a blacklight, a phenomenon anyone who has visited a commercial haunted house has likely encountered. The next problem, however, was lighting a set with blacklight-activated aliens on it. It seems that Livingston had to employ a special kind of blue lamp on set to bathe everything in a low, even color. This was in addition to the white lights needed to illuminate the actors. This kind of lighting had never been done on "Next Generation," a show that typically featured clean and even lighting.

The blue beacon

Livingston described the lighting rig as follows:

"We used heavy blue light for the set lighting, and it's different lighting than you see elsewhere because all the source coming from behind the camera is blue light. That's a decision we made and it should look harsh and unrealistic and not well-lit because it's not lit from one single blue source. It's basically a beacon shining out. It looked different than anything else and that was intentional." 

It was certainly strange-looking, giving off a ghostly vibe that wasn't used elsewhere in the series. Livingston noted that it worked well before adding that, after 1991, many other photographers and TV-makers started to use a stylized U/V light to create glowing images, notably in music videos. He continued:

"What I was surprised at was how powerful the U/V reflected back, and MTV is using it a lot now. I liked our use because it was integrated into the story. We used it to make it work dramatically rather than doing it as an effect. To me, that was a major accomplishment. We didn't do it to just be glitzy, we did it because it tied in dramatically with the story."

The makeup on Burton took four makeup artists and six full hours to apply. It was not just Burton's most extensive makeup job but the longest application in the history of the series. Luckily for Geordi, he was spared a subplot in the "Crisis" script wherein he and Leijten experienced a stalled romance. Geordi had already experienced several stalled romances , and piling another one on the character seemed cruel. The showrunners merely mutated him into an alien instead.

Star Trek: TNG's Identity Crisis Started As A Fan-Submitted Mess Of A Script

I n the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Identity Crisis" (March 25, 1991),  Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) discovers from an old friend named Lieutenant Commander Susanna Leijten (Maryann Plunkett) that they are the only two people still alive and accounted for from a mysterious away mission on the planet Tarchannen III, conducted years before. The other members of the team have all mysteriously fled to Tarchannen III -- sometimes stealing shuttlecrafts to do so -- and vanished without a trace. It won't be long before Leijten begins exhibiting strange, nervous symptoms of an unknown disease, causing her to become fearful and twitchy. She, too, it seems, is being irresistibly drawn back to Tarchannan III. Is Geordi next? Not to spoil anything, but yes he is.

It's eventually revealed that an undetectable spore on Tarchannen III infected the members of Geordi's old away mission, causing them to mutate. It seems the spores are a reproductive element of the local species that merely transforms other life forms into itself. Geordi mutates into a semi-invisible creature with yellow cat eyes, unusual hands and feet, a strange alien nose, and glowing blue veins all over his body.

"Identity Crisis" began its life as a spec script submitted to Paramount by a fan named Tim de Haas. In the 1990s, "Star Trek" had an open-door policy when it came to scripts and would accept submissions from anyone. If used, the fan scripts were often heavily reworked to match the proper "Next Generation" parameters, but the original authors always got a "story by" credit. In the oral history book "Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages," edited by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, producer Michael Piller recalled the original script for "Identity Crisis" was a total mess that required extensive tinkering.

Read more: Celebrities You Didn't Know Were In Star Trek

Tim De Haas' Original Script

It seems that de Haas' original script contained the base idea for "Identity Crisis" -- Enterprise crew members slowly mutating into another species -- but that the structure was wildly different. Brannon Braga was credited as the episode's writer, and he excised a subplot about Geordi and Leijten having a stalled romance. Braga removed the romantic subplot when he realized how many stalled romances Geordi had already gone through.

According to Piller, Geordi wasn't even the original protagonist. De Haas' had envisioned the mutations happening to several entirely new characters. Piller clearly liked de Haas' ideas but needed to re-shape the teleplay into something more in-keeping with the traditional style of the show. Piller explained:

"It was a very tough script to solve. [...] The script was originally bought as a spec script submitted by a fan, It was very heavy on point of view and [contained] stylistic devices we didn't want to do. The original script had two non-'Star Trek' characters going through what Geordi and [Leijten] eventually went through. It was a very complicated, complex production that the director did a terrific job on. It had scenes within scenes and I was very happy with the show."

The "scenes within scenes" refers to a sequence wherein Geordi recreates an old video log on the holodeck, allowing him to interact with a holographic version of his slightly younger self.

When Braga re-wrote de Haas' script, he also made the story way darker, implying that the mutating aliens had taken over more human bodies than previously assumed. Braga rethought that idea and turned in a final draft with only a few mutating aliens. He also finally made Geordi the protagonist of the story. "Those guys in production can really turn out a helluva product," Piller added.

Read the original article on SlashFilm

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Denise Crosby on Leaving Star Trek: I Wasn’t Going to Be ‘The Token Hot Blonde’

The tasha yar actress on that next generation life (and after-life)..

Some days you’re hard at work, trying to make a deadline on a Friday night. (That’s right now as this is being written.) Others, you’re sitting in the VIP lounge with Tasha Yar herself, Denise Crosby, sipping a cocktail as you sail through the Caribbean Sea onboard a cruise ship.

Call it that Star Trek life.

And so it went on the Star Trek cruise recently – a.k.a. Star Trek: The Cruise VII – and not just for me, either. Crosby has become something of a fixture at the annual event, and she’s certainly one of the participating Trek castmates who gets out and mixes it up with the fans who are sailing. Crosby is almost like a brand ambassador for the Star Trek cruise experience – just out there loving it with her fellow castmates and fans alike. Just look at this amazing photo of her being chased by “Armus” – a cosplay version of the alien that infamously killed her Trek character back in Star Trek: The Next Generation’s first season.

But as we sat down to talk, it became clear that Crosby has no regrets about her abrupt departure from the show back when it was still in its infancy. We talked about that, Tasha’s eventual return for one of the all-time great Trek episodes, and much more.

Killing Tasha Yar (One Bad Script at a Time)

In 1987, Crosby was cast as one of the original cast members of Star Trek: The Next Generation as Enterprise security chief Tasha Yar. Tasha was a fierce fighter with a complicated past, and a striking presence on the bridge of the Starfleet flagship, but the actress found herself bumping up against a familiar Star Trek problem – being relegated to a “hailing frequencies” capacity while more prominent characters were given all the good storylines.

I suggest to her that, when she decided to move on, half of Hollywood probably thought she was crazy. She agrees.

“And half of me thought I was crazy,” laughs Crosby. “It was like I saw it, I had to do it. And yes, 99% of people that have an acting job with a six-year contract are not going to ask to go out. And I don't know that I would have 25 years later in my life, but I was young enough and perhaps naive enough to know that I was willing to gamble and take a chance. I was young enough that I knew I didn't have a mortgage. I didn't have children. I didn't have private education to pay for. I didn't have an ill relative that I was caring for. I didn't have the things that would necessitate a different way to think about doing a job for a paycheck. So I was free to purely live creatively at that moment.”

Looking back on it now, she also points out that TV in 1986 was a very different beast than it is today, and first-run syndicated dramatic television – which Next Gen was an early adopter of – was virtually unheard of.

“It wasn't the be-all, end-all for a young actor,” she says. “We were going to these amazing acting classes where we were reading all the great classics … I saw stuff in my acting class I still haven't seen to this day, the level of talent.”

But getting out of her contract would’ve been much more difficult if it weren’t for Trek guru Gene Roddenberry, who had created and was still in charge of Next Gen at that time.

“Nobody leaves a TV show,” Crosby continues. “You have a contract. I had a signed contract. The only way I was able to do it was because Gene Roddenberry had total control. He wouldn't have made another Star Trek if that were not the case, because he had been so abused by the process in the ‘60s. So he finally makes Next Gen, and he is given real autonomy. And he and I sat down like this together and he said, ‘Look, I wish you wouldn't leave. I don't want you to leave.’”

But Roddenberry ultimately gave his blessing, which meant Crosby was able to leave the show. It’s a funny thing though, because she says that the producers actually loved the character of Tasha Yar. But for some reason the scripts were not servicing the character; indeed, Season 1 of Next Generation is widely regarded as one of the lower points of the show’s run. And there was a lot of behind-the-scenes turmoil as well. Marina Sirtis, who played Counselor Troi, has said she was on the verge of being fired. And Gates McFadden, who played Dr. Crusher, was fired at the end of the season (she would return in Season 3). Still, this meant the first year ended with two of the three female leads leaving the show.

Did Denise Crosby make the right decision when she left Star Trek: The Next Generation?

“And now they're like, ‘Oh my God, there's no … women,’” remembers Crosby. “So now we’ve got to keep Marina and Gates we'll recast. … It kind of wreaked havoc. That wasn't my intention. My intention was to get somebody in the room and tell me, ‘What is this going to be? What is this character?’ It's such an incredible opportunity. You have so much here, but I'm not going to just be the token hot blonde on the show. But they had a ’60s mentality. It was all these old white dudes in the room until, God love them, until Gene passed. And it shifted. There was a shift when [showrunner] Michael Piller came onto the show [in Season 3] and things changed.”

Denise Crosby’s Star Trek Return (and Tasha Yar’s Redemption)

Tasha was oil-slicked off the Enterprise, but Denise was beamed right into a successful career in both movies and TV, while also becoming something of an expert on the Trek fan community thanks in no small part to her successful documentary Trekkies, which she produced and hosted.

But of course, she did return as Tasha Yar to the bridge of the starship Enterprise two years after she had left, for the Season 3 episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise.” Through a bit of time travel and alternate timeline trickery, the episode gives us a version of the Star Trek world where Tasha is still alive. Not just that, but Starfleet is at war with the Klingons and things are, to quote Picard, “going very badly for the Federation, far worse than is generally known.” That even includes all the lights onboard being set to “dim”!

“I always make this joke at cons and stuff: I had to die to get a good script,” laughs Crosby.

The episode works on many levels, from its sci-fi conceits to its great cast of guest actors (Christopher McDonald and Tricia O'Neil as doomed crewmembers from a different starship Enterprise), to the off-kilter lighting and design touches which subtly place the story in a different universe. But perhaps most effective is the redemption of Tasha, who as the episode itself says, had died a senseless death the first go-round. Not this time!

“[Executive producer] Rick Berman called me at home,” she recalls. “It was a long time since I talked to him. Out of the blue. And he said, ‘We have this episode that brings Tasha back.’ … It was such a shock – never saw that coming. … And I said, ‘Okay, ew. That sounds weird.’ And he goes, ‘But it's really good, the script. Will you read it?’ I said, ‘Absolutely. Of course.’ Read it over the weekend. And I called him Monday. I said, ‘Oh my God, this is so good.’ This is what I wanted! It's ironic.”

Yes, Tasha did have to die in order for Denise to get a good script. Of course, by Season 3 Next Gen had finally hit its stride and was consistently knocking out strong episodes, but there’s a special resonance to “Yesterday’s Enterprise” because of the meta aspect of Crosby coming back to make right by Tasha. In fact, the actress just recently watched the episode for the first time in 35 years.

“It's so good,” she says of the hour. “It was such a delight. It was such a beautiful surprise that I couldn't have anticipated to be able to come back on the show and almost redeem her on many levels. … It's better than I thought it was. It's really good. Not only is the writing amazing, Whoopi [Goldberg] brings so much. Christopher McDonald is incredible. And Tricia O'Neil, who plays Captain Garrett. … I mean, those guys bring it. Everybody's better when you have good actors.”

Crosby would return a few more times for guest shots, first as Sela, Tasha’s half-Romulan daughter (long story), and then in the series finale, “All Good Things…”, where she got to play Tasha once more. But still, she says she had and has no regrets about leaving the show.

Star Trek Face-Off: Who Is the Best Crew Member?

Pick a winner.

“There was no turning back,” says Crosby. “I knew I had to go. I never liked to cause problems or rifts. I sometimes feel I made the other guys uncomfortable, or I stirred something in them, which wasn't, again, the intention at all. Not all of them. … But sometimes I wonder if deep inside there was a period – I don't think anymore – but there might've been a period of resentment that, ‘Hey, we're going along here as a unit, and you feel the need to go rogue.’ That's just a natural thing, and that makes me uncomfortable. … But I could not have stayed on. I could not have stood on that thing, that horseshoe, and go ‘Aye-aye, Captain’ for five more years. No one has a crystal ball. Had I known what was to come and that maybe with Michael Piller we could have gotten in there and we could've done something with this character...

"The regret is that they didn't.”

Talk to Associate Director of Features Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottCollura , or listen to his Star Trek podcast, Transporter Room 3 . Or do both!

In This Article

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Jenna Mitchell

• View history
• 1 USS Enterprise
• 2 Alternate timelines and realities
• 3.1 Appearances
• 3.2 Background information
• 3.3 External links

USS Enterprise [ ]

Mitchell served at the operations station during a routine cartographic survey that resulted in the rescue of a Majalan shuttle . ( SNW : " Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach ")

During a routine survey of the Jonisian Nebula , when a sentient non-corporeal lifeform speculated to be a Boltzmann brain (later named Debra ) forced the crew to take on the identities of characters from The Kingdom of Elysian , Mitchell believed she was a member of the Crimson Guard . ( SNW : " The Elysian Kingdom ")

When Acting Captain Spock decided to steal the Enterprise from Starbase 1 to assist La'an Noonien-Singh following a distress call, Mitchell simulated a coolant leak in the warp core 's intermix chamber that would result in a warp core breach , in order to evacuate the inspection crew. ( SNW : " The Broken Circle ")

During Ambassador Dak'Rah 's visit on the Enterprise , she and Spock attempted to synthesize a cup of raktajino for him. ( SNW : " Under the Cloak of War ")

Alternate timelines and realities [ ]

In an alternate future version of 2266 experienced by Captain Christopher Pike , Mitchell remained on the bridge of the Enterprise , though her station had switched places with that of Erica Ortegas at the helm. During a brief engagement with a Romulan Bird-of-Prey , Mitchell was able to secure a glancing hit to their engines with sustained phaser fire, that left it without sufficient power to return to Romulan space . ( SNW : " A Quality of Mercy ")

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " Strange New Worlds " ( Season 1 )
• " Memento Mori "
• " Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach "
• " The Elysian Kingdom "
• " A Quality of Mercy "
• " The Broken Circle " ( Season 2 )
• " Under the Cloak of War "
• " Subspace Rhapsody "
• " Hegemony "

Background information [ ]

Jenna Mitchell was portrayed by Rong Fu .

External links [ ]

• Jenna Mitchell at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 1 Abdullah bin al-Hussein

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Caitlin Clark on making time for her young fans: ‘That never gets old’

Caitlin Clark doesn’t take her role as one of the biggest college athletes lightly. 

The star Iowa Hawkeyes player, who is projected to be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft, spoke with TODAY and opened up about inspiring the next generation of young athletes. 

In a preview clip from the interview, which airs April 15, Clark shares who she looked up to as a child and how she hopes to have that impact on the kids who watch her play. 

“The people I idolized in my life were, you know, either professional women’s basketball players, professional soccer players, and that’s what I wanted to be growing up,” she says ahead of the WNBA draft April 15. “And I think, you know, understanding how big of an impact that can have on a young girl’s life is super important.”

Clark continues, “So I always try to make as much time as I can for them. And just to see them scream your name or have your jersey on — that’s something that never gets old.”

The WNBA draft comes about a week after her historic college basketball career came to an end. 

Her Iowa Hawkeyes fell to the South Carolina Gamecocks in a 87-75 defeat in the NCAA women’s championship game April 7.

Clark began the game with an impressive 18 points in the first quarter and ended with a game high 30 points — but it wasn’t enough to secure the victory. The Hawkeyes experienced back-to-back losses in the championship after losing to LSU, 102-85, in 2023.

Although she didn't add an NCAA championship to her resume, Clark still has plenty of proud moments from her college career to celebrate. The 22-year-old guard broke a 54-year-old record in March and became the all-time leading scorer, male or female, in NCAA Division I basketball history. She passed LSU star “Pistol Pete” Maravich who previously held the record with 3,667 points. 

She was also named the Big Ten Player of the Year for a third consecutive season.

Clark’s talents have been celebrated by basketball legends. As South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley gave a speech about her team’s win on April 7, she included a few remarks about Clark. 

“I want to personally thank Caitlin Clark for lifting up our sport. She carried a heavy load for our sport. And it’s just not going to stop on a collegiate tour but when she’s the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft,” she said. 

Staley continued, “She’s going to lift that league up as well. So Caitlin Clark, if you’re out there, you are one of the GOATs of our game. We appreciate you.”

After the loss, Clark said in a press conference that the game was “more special than last year.” 

“Yeah, I’m sad we lost this game. But I’m also so proud of myself. I’m so proud of my teammates. I’m so proud of this program,” she said. 

Clark revealed on social media in February that she was entering the 2024 WNBA draft . She is expected to be drafted by the Indiana Fever, who have the No. 1 draft pick, on April 15. 

Although her college career is over, her time in a Hawkeyes uniform won't be forgotten. 

On April 10, the team announced on X that her jersey will be retired . 

“There will never be another @CaitlinClark22 & there will never be another (22). The #Hawkeyes will retire Clark’s No. 22,” the team tweeted.

Ariana Brockington is a trending news reporter at TODAY digital. She is based in Los Angeles.

RHONY Star Jenna Lyons' LoveSeen Lashes Are Just $19 Right Now

These $19-and-up lashes from your favorite real housewives of new york star work for everyday wear, date night, and beyond..

The products featured in this article are from brands that are available in the NBCUniversal Checkout Marketplace. If you purchase something through our links, we get a commission.

We've found the answer to all your false lash issues: a high-end line of fake lashes that look great, and are easy to use, remove, clean, and store. 

LoveSeen, the brainchild of renowned designer and  Real Housewives of New York   City cast member  Jenna Lyons   and her team of lash enthusiasts, offers fabulous falsies designed for everyone.

The brand says these lash designs were built, cut, glued, tweezed, removed, added again, and made strand by strand by a 21-person crew. LoveSeen's lash products are meant to be worn by people of different ages and ethnicities and for all eye shapes and styles.

Whether you're in the market for an understated, everyday look or prefer a bolder style, you'll find something in LoveSeen's lineup to get excited about.

The brand even makes lash glue, adorable carrying cases with mirrors for touch-ups on the go, and—drumroll, please—cleaning kits.

Did we forget to mention how affordable they are? These must-try lashes start at just $19, and you won't find anything in the lineup over $50.

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