My wife and I are rewatching The Next Generation and just finished Measure of a Man, the episode in season 2 in which Data’s personhood is legally debated and his life hangs in the balance.
I genuinely found this episode infuriating in its stupidity. It’s the first episode we skipped even a little bit. It was like nails on a chalkboard.
There is oodles of legal precedent that Data is a person. He was allowed to apply to Starfleet, graduated, became an officer and rose to the rank of Lt. Commander with all the responsibilities and privileges thereof.
Comparing him to a computer and the judge advocate general just shrugging and going to trial over it is completely idiotic. There are literal years and years of precedent that he’s an officer.
The problem is compounded because Picard can’t make the obvious legal argument and is therefore stuck philosophizing in a court room, which is all well and good, but it kind of comes down to whether or not Data has a soul? That’s not a legal argument.
The whole thing is so unbelievably ludicrous it just made me angrier and angrier. It wasn’t the high minded, humanistic future I’ve come to know and love, it was a kangaroo court where reason and precedent took a backseat to feeling and belief.
I genuinely hated it.
To my surprise, in looking it up, I discovered it’s considered one of the high water marks for the entire show. It feels like I’m taking crazy pills.
Season 2 can absolutely be ignored entirely going into season 3, which is good because season 2 is complete garbage. And that annoys the hell out of me because it’s the one with Q, Guinan, and even a brief appearance of Wesley.
I watched, and really enjoyed Season 1, even with its flaws. I started season 2, and turned it off after I think an episode. I don’t know if they changed writers or what, but something about it was just too stupid. If I remember correctly, they brought back some person that died, or someone did something unforgivable in season 1 and then they’re back on the squad for… reasons? I dunno, it was so jarringly stupid I stopped watching a show based entirely on my favorite Star Trek captain. If your show, about Picard, turns off hardcore TNG fans… then, what are you even doing?
Though I’ve heard that season 3 is good multiple times now, so perhaps I’ll try to reengage
You should watch season 3. The only things to know about season 2 is that they wrote off all but 1 of the new characters, and that it’s entirely unimportant for season 3.