The Offspring

Despite a lot of this episode's themes' inherent creepiness, it is is definitely one of my favorites. It has a great story, great acting (as episodes in which Brent Spiner and Patrick Stewart are handling the bulk of the acting usually do), and solid directing from Frakes, who is much better off behind the camera instead of in front of it. Yet another bullish Starfleet admiral makes for a great antagonist, and yet another good actor portrayed him. There are also deep philosophical questions about AI that we are facing NOW and in our near future that even Next Generation's cast and crew could not have possibly foreseen happening so quickly when they made this episode in 1990.

This is an amazing episode that shows that in ONE EPISODE the characters and the guest star that plays Lal could get into the viewer and make them feel the loss when she passes away at the end.

I understand why they had to have the Admiral involved, but I really hate that someone would think they know better than someone else and push them around. This kind of stuff I'm sure happens today.

The ending was beautifully done.

Lastly, why coulnd't Star Trek Discovery do this? When they have the last episode right before the crew goes to the year 3000 or something, you just don't care! The writers of Discovery should take notes of this and other great TNG episodes, and dump that pathetic idiot Kurtzman. Maybe we'd see some good Trek there. (Note, he wasn't involved in the 3rd season of ST:Picard and it was much better)

Data creates another android to be his daughter.

Despite some issues and contrivances in how this episode is written, it is very well made and compelling to watch.

The plot very effectively focuses on various aspects of humanity. Lal is in the earliest phase of her assimilation to a human society and Data is experiencing parenthood for the first time. All the scenes dealing with the two characters struggling and experiencing human behaviour and emotions are very well done.

This is a great step in the overall character arc of Data, as parenthood is one of the biggest challenges faced in life. It not only shows some of the everyday situations all parents can identify with, but also some of the worst fears imaginable and portrays them all with great heart.

Lal is a great idea for guest character and her observations on life and behaviours are presented in a way that invokes both humour and sympathy.

Unfortunately there is an aspect of the plot involving its antagonist that takes the story in an unnecessary direction. Personally I found the concept of Data's daughter to be quite captivating without the need to force a conflict into episode. When you hear how little rationale there is behind Admiral Haftel's position, it feels like it has been included for little other than additional drama. The problems are further compounded as it forces Captain Picard into a position of having to argue the rights of sentient beings again, which takes up screen time with dialogue that covers the same ground as second series episode 'The Measure of a Man'.

Personally I think this could have been one of the greatest episodes of all time if it focussed solely on the very real dramas of Lal and Data trying to fit into life and what becomes of her.

I enjoyed the visuals, particularly some of the sight gags and special effects used in the technical design of Lal.

Brent Spiner and Hallie Todd are superb in their roles. They managed to realistically portray androids and at the same time evoke emotion. Patrick Stewart is brilliant as ever. Caryn Johnson gives that perfect sense of wisdom to Guinan. Nicolas Coster does remarkably well with a fairly contrived character.

This episode is streets ahead of anything Sadler in the series and for me came at exactly the rut time as I was getting ready to give up on the series due to corny, cliched storylines, rushed writing, and mediocre acting performances.

Looks like I'm hanging sound for a little while longer at least.

Data returns from a cybernetics conference, inspired enough to create his own android which he names Lal. After deciding on her gender and species, Lal begins integrating herself on board the Enterprise with varying amounts of success until a Starfleet admiral arrives, decreeing that Lal should be relocated to a specialist facility - and away from Data.

A touching and surprisingly deep episode exploring the ethics and morality behind artificial intelligence, long before it started creating fake news and doctored images. Guest star Todd does really well bringing the infantile Lal to life while Spiner delivers another great performance as TNG's secret weapon. Apart from Lal's off-putting haircut and Coster's pantomime villain, this is a good episode.