TNG Flashback: The Measure of a Man

In reviewing second season episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, I've noted several times that the Writers' Strike of 1988 forced the production to look for scripts in unconventional places. The results of this desperation weren't always positive, but any bad episodes probably should be forgiven for one reason: the wider search net yielded "The Measure of a Man."

An ambitious cyberneticist believes he's on the verge of creating his own android and replicating Dr. Soong's success. But for the final stages of his work, he wants to dismantle Data -- perhaps irreversibly, if his theories prove wrong. When the local sector judge rules that the law views Data as a machine without the right to refuse the procedure, Captain Picard must participate in a hearing and find the winning argument to prove Data's equality.

The writer of this episode, Melinda Snodgrass, wasn't established in television when she conceived of the idea. She'd published a classic Star Trek novel a few years earlier, but her only connection to Hollywood was a friend on the writing staff at Beauty and the Beast, George R. R. Martin. (Yes, that George R. R. Martin, 25 years ago, when he still had respect for a deadline.) Martin agreed to use his own agent as a backdoor to get someone on the Star Trek staff to read Snodgrass' unsolicited script, and because the show was desperate for ideas, they read it. Not only did they recognize a good story when they saw it, they hired Snodgrass to join the writing staff for seasons two and three. (This also likely led to Star Trek's policy, beginning in season three and unique among all television shows at the time, to accept unsolicited scripts -- without agents -- for possible use on the show.)

Snodgrass' story was inspired by the infamous U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Dred Scott case. (If you've never heard of it, go look it up. Seriously.) The resulting script was quintessential Star Trek: it took a moral issue and, through the comfortable lens of science fiction, allowed it to be examined in a thought provoking way. The episode not only allowed for a recontextualization of history, but allowed for a still quite topical examination of equal rights and freedom of choice. The episode is just as relevant now, 25 years later, as it was when it first aired. I'll probably never live to see the day where it feels dated; sadly, there probably always will be people trying to oppress the rights and freedom of others.

The acting in the episode is absolutely stellar. Patrick Stewart commands the courtroom and the screen as he fights for Data's equality. Jonathan Frakes is compelling in Riker's torment at having to argue against his friend. Brent Spiner perfectly modulates his performance to be as free of emotion as we've always known Data to be, while still inspiring great emotion in the audience and the other characters. Whoopi Goldberg's one key scene in the episode packs an intellectual and emotional punch. Levar Burton's brief goodbye scene to Data is strikingly poignant. Even the guest stars are outstanding, particularly Amanda McBroom as judge Phillipa Louvois.

So much about the episode is brilliantly constructed. Louvois is given a past history with Picard (both romantic and adversarial), so that we don't have some anonymous judge ruling over Data's future. Scientist Maddox is given a past with Data, so his desire to dismantle Data has more context and seems less out of the blue. Picard's openness and heroism is shown in that he adopts Data's cause rather than immediately siding with it on his own; he realizes the injustice when convinced first by Data, then later Guinan, becoming an even stronger advocate for having been, however briefly, on the wrong side of the fence.

The episode is so strong that one can very easily accept the few "asks" the script makes of the audience. It's a stretch that Riker somehow has to be the one to argue in court against Data... but it's a worthy stretch, in that it leads to a compelling storyline for Riker and saves us from being introduced to some one-off villainous lawyer character. Also, the legal proceedings themselves don't quite follow the real rules of a trial (questioning gets mixed freely with arguments), but the dramatic impact is powerful enough to forgive it. (Besides, trials might be different in the future, and Picard and Riker aren't actual lawyers anyway.)

All this, plus an incidental scene at the top of the episode that would resonate throughout the series -- the introduction of the officers' poker game. Here, poker is included in the episode as a metaphor Data later cites for how reality sometimes differs from theory. But in many future episodes, the poker game would be a place to show casual banter between characters, and to dispense with exposition easily in a more interesting setting. In fact, the final scene of the final episode of The Next Generation would take place over a poker table, and it all started here. (That said, it's hard to buy that Data's extensive reading on the subject didn't include the concept of bluffing... or at least of "implied odds," which should have compelled him to call and win the hand depicted in the episode.)

Other observations:

• It's funny that we hardly ever see Picard in a current romantic situation (never, in fact, to this point), yet we're finding his past old flames strewn all over the galaxy. He was quite the Kirk in his youth, it seems.

• A good plot point is made of Maddox only referring to Data as an "it" and not a "he," but in my experience, people personify machines far less advanced than Data all the time. I know plenty of people who refer to their cars by name, for example. (Invariably as a "she.")

• A callback is brilliantly deployed in showing the Tasha funeral hologram (The Next Generation's most poignant moment before this), and referencing her relationship with Data.

• Jonathan Frakes has a great little moment when Riker learns of Data's off switch and realizes how he can use it in court. There's a quick smile of triumph before the crushing recollection of what it is he was happy about.

• The slavery analogy in the episode would have resonated brilliantly in any event, but I think it's all the more powerful that the first person to articulate it is Guinan. Whoopi Goldberg is a powerfully skilled actor, and her own race happens to add just that much more subtle resonance.

• This episode has a very sparse score from composer Dennis McCarthy, but appropriately so. In the few moments music is used, it makes a much bigger impact.

• The Blu-ray release of the second season includes an extended version of this episode. I offered up some thoughts on it when I saw it on its one-night-only theatrical screening. In short, there are both good and not-so-good additions, and it's nice to have both versions of the episode available.

I think "The Measure of a Man" is the series' first grade A episode, and thus might be the moment the series finally "arrived." Put simply: if you don't like this one, you probably don't like any Star Trek.