The Measure of a Man

Thank you, Kristian! Glad you are enjoying the show. Ken’s better now – the DNA through the transporter trick must have worked! I was particularly intrigued by your suggestion that Dr. Pulaski would have been a better candidate for the prosecution than Riker. Riker is a good choice, and I loved that he got the character development of being forced to betray a friend in order to save him. But PULASKI would have stood to learn even more … like why it’s NOT OK to treat Data the way she has been in the previous episodes. A wonderful observation on your part, and one that never occurred to me. I wonder if she would have learned something or just waved it off and said the court was being stupid? Are you familiar with a 1947 Heinlein short story called “Jerry was a Man”? It’s basically the same story as this, though the defendant is a genetically modified servant chimp on trial for whether he’s property or a free man. I think this question is something we’re going to have to deal with in the near future both for genetically engineered creatures and sentient machines. Spectacular that somebody’s thinking about these things before they become real. Shameful that we’ll probably end up making the wrong moral choices based on economic concerns despite this. Sigh. I would have loved it if this was a two parter and made it somewhat of a flashback episode. Polaski would have been a great inclusion here for her thoughts on the subject. Also there are many more things that could have been touched on that just weren’t, like the fact that they have a treaty of sorts with a “being/civilization” that is made up completely of nanites and if Data isn’t a person then that civilization couldn’t be as well and therefor didn’t have to honor their agreement… which was formed less than a year ago. And what about Moriarty? Shouldn’t he have been brought out to speak on his behalf too? ‘Measure’ is one of TNG’s truly great eps. The characters are all firing on all cylinders (hmmm, maybe they’re all androids???) and the dialogue sings (is this a musical??). OK, I’m just confusing my own damn self. Anyhoo… Frakes really starts to come alive as Riker around this point in the series. That’s a huge thing for me… Cause he’s my namesake. It’s also great to see Phillipia hit on Picard… Phillipa: “Some say love, it is a river that drowns the tender reed…I say love, it is a flower and you, it’s only seed…” Picard: “Make it grow!” A show that works better if you’re the type to focus on theme and less on plot mechanics. I think this is a second tier TNG episode, not quite the tops but very good especially for the second season. The major problems are mostly plot: the conflicts of interest that drive a lot of the drama are shoehorned into the story just to artificially drive up the narrative. Riker being forced into the role of prosecutor is fairly absurd, and Picard being former lovers (or something) with the judge is also questionable. Even Maddox should be demanding a new trial when this thing starts! Still, it’s got great speeches and fun performances. And the scene where Riker takes off Data’s arm and then deactivates him is wonderfully effective. No, it’s not perfect, but it’s one of the all-time great Star Trek episodes. The finale is perfect, and the Riker-Data exchange at the end never fails to make me tear up. But then Louvois says “And a damn sexy man” I’m sorry but this is out and out something that could be prosecuted as sexual harassment and so that it doesn’t even get a mention is bothersome when if the roles were reversed you’d have said it was sexist, wrong, and harassment. I personally think its perfectly fine flirtatious banter, but within the context of what you guys have said in the past and the society we live in I think this should have at least rated mentioning… especially when a line that is pertinent later comes up and is in your conversation. “What about my rights to not ‘do what I want'” which is a common belief among many of the ide