The Most Toys

During a transfer of dangerous chemicals to the Enterprise, Data's shuttlecraft explodes and apparently kills him. As the Enterprise flies off to complete its mission of mercy, Data finds himself captured by an eccentric collector of rare and valuable exhibits who plans for Data to complete his collection.

An otherwise ordinary episode benefits greats from Rubinek's appearance as Fajo who had the chance to be a rare recurring baddie for TNG in his own right. Sadly, we are treated to just this one episode which doesn't allow the character the room needed to breath. Fellow guest star Daly isn't all that great and the ending felt far too ambiguous for my liking. But apart from that, I really enjoyed this episode.

Data is abducted by a collector of rare life forms and artefacts.

This is a strong character episode with great performances and some quite memorable scenes.

The kidnapping plot is fairly simple and predictable, but in spite of this, the scenes focussing on Data's interaction with his captor are very compelling. The plot generally unfolds nicely and reaches an excellent and memorable climax.

'The Most Toys' has a number of great moments for Data. The writers continue to explore humanity with the way he reacts to a number of difficult situations. This episode presents his stubbornness, compassion and an inclination to do something extreme that is outside of his programming.

His captor is an interesting character who feels a long way from the usual antagonists portrayed on TNG. He could almost be an original series baddy with his Harry Mudd type piracy and the brat-like characteristics of Trelane. His personality contrasts with Data and this makes the scenes work well for me.

The scenes on Enterprise are a mixed bag. We always know everything is going to work out fine so at times the grief stricken moments feel quite pointless, but they are well acted and their sense of loss further humanises the character of Data.

All performances are excellent, particularly Brent Spiner and Saul Rubineck. The regular cast members are all great in the moments that show how they deal with the loss.

The visuals are mostly good with some decent effects, makeup, props and costumes. One comically obvious hand puppet feels like another original series relic. There is one sequence that cuts to a shot of Data sitting down that is superbly effective and for me the high point of the episode.

This is a great episode that explores what Data is truly capable of doing given the proper circumstance. This episode addresses a variety of moral questions and for Data, not unlike Terminator's Skynet, the answer he arrives at is based on logic alone, or is it? :)

Treehouse of Horror X, Dr. Who (The Collector--"The Sun Makers") Saul Rubinek as Kivas Fajo

The main idea behind "The Most Toys" is very familiar. I cannot say exactly when the plot was first used, but it was the subject in "Dr. Who" back in the 1970s ("The Sun Makers") and was used later on "The Simpsons" ("Treehouse of Terror X")--so this "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode isn't exactly unique. Because of this, it cannot be one of the better episodes of the series--but I did really like the way it ended.

When the episode begins, Data is accidentally killed and the crew of the Enterprise grieves for this loss. However, what actually occurred is that a dirt-bag named Kivas Fajo (Saul Rubinek) stole Data in order to add it to his sick little collection of rarities. He really has no interest in Data as anything other than a curiosity--and because he and no one else in the universe can have him. Despite being very strong and bright, Data is unable to escape from this sociopath's clutches.

The bottom line is that Fajo's cruelty and Data's ultimate solution to this is makes this one memorable. Well worth seeing despite its familiarity.

At first, this episode seemed rather boring. Then, a few scenes later, Saul Rubinek took command. He plays the antagonist Kivas Fajo to perfection. As is the case with movies as well, a lot of these episodes are dependent on the screen writing and the acting. Whereas a lot of the acting by guest stars in the first two seasons of "Next Generation" was shaky, I find myself praising season three's acting quite often. Well, in my opinion, Rubinek takes the season three gold ring for his portrayal of a fat, ugly, psychopathic, lecherous nerd. And when his kidnapping of Data went from the addition of a rare piece to his collection to a possible solution to his twisted carnal desires, the writing went from great to spectacular.

This one is definitely in my top three for season three.