S2.E9

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The Measure of a Man

Episode aired Feb 11, 1989
TV-PG
46m

IMDb RATING

9.1/10

5.7K

YOUR RATING

Amanda McBroom in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

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Watch The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation

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When Data resigns his commission rather than be dismantled for examination by an inadequately skilled scientist, a formal hearing is convened to determine whether Data is considered property... Read allWhen Data resigns his commission rather than be dismantled for examination by an inadequately skilled scientist, a formal hearing is convened to determine whether Data is considered property without rights or is a sentient being.When Data resigns his commission rather than be dismantled for examination by an inadequately skilled scientist, a formal hearing is convened to determine whether Data is considered property without rights or is a sentient being.

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IMDb RATING

9.1/10

5.7K

YOUR RATING

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Videos1

Clip 1:33

Watch The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation

Photos18

Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Wil Wheaton, LeVar Burton, Patrick Stewart, and Diana Muldaur in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Patrick Stewart and Amanda McBroom in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Brian Brophy and Clyde Kusatsu in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Diana Muldaur in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Wil Wheaton, and Diana Muldaur in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Picard's scene with Guinan was not in the original script. Melinda M. Snodgrass was told that they needed a "Ten-Forward" scene to accommodate Whoopi Goldberg coming in that week.

Goofs
Data tells Picard that Maddox was the only dissenting member of a screening committee that approved his entrance into Starfleet. This implies that the majority approved him. Since only sentient beings can take the oath of a service personnel officer, this would be the grounds for Data's status as a living being, but this is overlooked at the trial.

Quotes
[Picard activates Data's hologram of Tasha Yar]
Capt. Picard: You have no other portraits of your fellow crew members. Why this person?
Lt. Commander Data: I would prefer not to answer that question, sir. I gave my word.
Capt. Picard: [softly] Under the circumstances, I don't think Tasha would mind.
Lt. Commander Data: She was special to me, sir. We were... intimate.

Connections
Edited into Young Sheldon: An Ugly Car, an Affair and Some Kickass Football (2022)

Soundtracks
Star Trek: The Next Generation Main Title
Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage

User reviews41

Review

Featured review

10/10

Best episode of the ST:TNG series.

Of all the episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, this is the episode that I consider, without hesitation, to be the best episode of the series. Its brilliant writing explores many facets including the right to choose your pathway in life (be you android or not), what makes a "sentient being" ("Does Data have a soul?"), the ethics of robotics (do we have the right to make slaves out of them?), friendship, camaraderie, and other factors.

As MTDAVIES mentioned, this is the type of storyline that Gene Roddenberry wanted for "Star Trek". By the time this episode came along, most of us who watched the series were already attached to the Enterprise crew, and especially to Data as he was the foil for exploring ourselves and the human condition. To have Data be told that he didn't have the right to choose for himself was inconceivable. The resulting JAG case was riveting as well as emotional.

You just can't ask for better Star Trek than this. This also ranks very highly in the "Best Science Fiction ... period" category.

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