7.23 Emergence

Rating: 1.5

Data’s Shakespearean holodeck program is interrupted when a steam locomotive suddenly appears and almost kills the android and Captain Picard. Soon, other events point to someone or something controlling the ship.

Comments

This teleplay was written by Joe Menosky, from a story by Brannon Braga.

The episode has a great concept (that the ship itself could spawn intelligent life), but the pacing made it feel as if they were trying to stretch out a 15 minute idea into 42 minutes. There are way too many ‘cute’ holodeck scenes.

Nits

Everyone is an expert on ancient history in this episode. Picard knows much about Shakespeare, and Picard and Crusher share trivia about the Orient Express.

Memorable Moments

•    Data holding off the taxi with one hand

Quotable Quotes

"The intelligence that was formed on the Enterprise didn’t just come out of the ship’s systems. It came from us; from our mission records, personal logs, holodeck programs – our fantasies. Now, if our experiences with the Exterprise have been honorable, can’t we trust that the sum of those experiences will be the same?"
- Picard to Data