3.22 The Most Toys No, he isn’t. Though the Enterprise crew is shocked by this suspiciously watertight death, the crew has to deliver the Hytritium they were collecting, and so off they head, leaving Fajo behind. Data then wakes up aboard Fajo’s ship and finds that he’s been added to the trader’s collection of rare and curious items. He’s basically PT Barnum in space. While Data protests his capture, Fajo tries to convince him he’s better off. A sceptical Data attempts to retaliate by performing a flying clothesline on Fajo, but his personal forcefield protects him from all forms of Android-based attack. Fajo shows Data to the chair he’ll be sitting in for the remainder of his life, but he remains defiant, preferring to stand. Back on the Enterprise, Geordi and Wesley are looting Data’s quarters and dividing up his stuff (“Oh, a deck of cards, Riker can have that. I’ll just keep any money we find.”) and then Geordi reports to Picard about what went wrong. Basically, he’s convinced nothing went wrong, but Picard tells him to get himself together and concentrate on delivering the plot devices they collected earlier. Back on Fajo’s ship, he’s becoming annoyed by Data’s refusal to co-operate. He pours acid on his uniform so that Data has to change clothes. Data retaliates by pretending to be a mannequin when Fajo invites his fellow collector over to see him. It’s all very undignified. Fajo eventually threatens to shoot data with a rare, illegal weapon if he doesn’t comply. Data calls his bluff, so Fajo threatens to kill Varria instead. This convinces Data to comply, because of the first law of robotics. Back on Fajo’s ship (yes, still there) Data is sitting in the chair. Varria breaks in and decides she might help him escape as long as he takes her with him. Data agrees, and Varria attempts to get them out in a shuttle. Naturally the plan fails. Fajo kills her for her insubordination. Data grabs one of Fajo’s weapons and threatens to shoot him, but Fajo is convinced that Data can’t do that, because it’s murder. After a protracted scene of taunting (Bond villains have nothing on this guy…) Data is transported to the Enterprise, rescued by Chief O’Brien (and the rest). O’Brien notes that the weapon is in discharge mode and asks whether he should disable it. After mentally weighing up the odds that O’Brien will be killed by the stray gunshot, Riker reluctantly allows him to disable the blast. Data claims that it was probably an accident. Although he’s fooling no-one. Now in the brig, Data visits Fajo one last time to explain that they’re going to ebay his entire collection. Fajo has lost everything. He’s never seen again. TNG WTF: Kivas Fajo’s friend, Palor Toff, appears to have lost a fight with a giant slinky. Or maybe he won. Either way, no-one’s come out of it looking good. TNG LOL: Maybe it’s just me, but I had to laugh at Troi singling out Worf for some mid-walk counselling. After she tries to psychoanalyse him en route to his new assignment, he ends the conversation with a short and probably insincere thanks. She turns away… grinning to herself. Like “Oh, that crazy Worf. Getting all curt when I try to remind him of his dead friends. He’s such a Klingon.” Time Until Meeting: 17:00. Geordi, Picard and Riker have a chat about the cause of Data’s death in the ready room. Captain’s Log: I remember Data being pretty badass in this episode, and while that’s true, the more interesting elements actually lie elsewhere. Geordi’s persistent investigation into Data’s apparent death is great, as he pieces together the clues and eventually chips away until the truth is revealed. Similarly, Fajo’s various attempts to cow Data are actually quite clever, in that he’s constantly backing the notionally superior android into a logical trap. Someone was having fun with this episode’s writing, at least. Still, the scenes between Fajo and Data are just about good enough to carry what is mainly an episode of talking heads, and those final few scenes just tip it over the threshold. There are better Data episodes out there, but even a slow one is better than most. Watch or Skip? Watch. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
