Star Trek TNG Offspring

K is for Kristina Kochoff who starred as an uncredited andorian n Star Trek TNG. In this episode of "the Offspring", Commander Data transfers android daughter Lal's entire process of existence into his own positronic brain. You see Data was Lal's father, creating Lal in 2366 using his own brain as a template.

He nurtures and brings a unique sentient android (played by Hallie Todd) to life so he could have an offspring. All seemed jolly fine on the surface, once Lal chose her own appearance she was able to emulate humans and their odd behaviour, use verbal contractions and eventually exceed even the parameters of her own fathers sophisticated programming... Lal was able to FEEL......EMOTIONS! How could this happen?

Starfleet's Patriarch Admiral Haftel beams aboard the USS Enterprise NCC 1701-D to take control of the Lal situation. Apparently he wants to acquire android Lal like you would a piece of technology, to study her. Haftel is a hard nosed, cold hearted brute who crushes Lal's emotional happiness. The cruel beast declares her the property of Starfleet without so much as considering Lal's personal needs. Captain Picard is horrified and objects but Admiral Haftel is adamant. 'I am Starfleet, Captain' growls Haftel at Picard through gritted teeth. Poor Lal. She never stood a chance and experiences extreme fear and confusion. The situation is grim. Lal returns to Datas lab just before the end of her life and then finally we understand why.

                                                     "It just wasn't meant to be."

A cascade failure in her neural net has caused irreparable, permanent positronic systems failure. Lal's neural net is slowly shutting down from emotional overload. Despite being capable of 60 trillion operations per second even her father Data cannot save her.

Star Trek's 'The Offspring' really is a heart breaking episode. I believe Lal died because she was heartbroken!

Data: "Lal? I am unable to correct the system failure."
Lal: "I know."
Data: "We must say goodbye now."
Lal: "I  F-E-E-L"
Data: "What do you feel, Lal?

Lal: I love you, Father."

Data: I wish I could feel it with you."

Lal: "I will feel it for both of us. Thank you for my life. Flirting. Laughter. Painting. Family. Female.

H--U--M--A--N."

Jellico

J is for Jellic remember him? He completes a short stint in Star Trek TNG. In 2369 Captain Jellico is assigned to command the USS Enterprise NCC 1701 while Picard, Beverly and Worf get reassigned to a special black ops mission on Cestris III.

Commander Riker tries to communicate the crews concerns abouts Jellicos latest crew restructuring but its no dice. Jellico never raises his voice, but his tone becomes far colder and harder.


You will tell the department heads that as of now, the Enterprise is on a four shift rotation.

I don't want to talk about it. Get it done!

Ilia

I is for Ilia but who is she? In Star Trek The Motion Picture we see a few brief glimpses of the beautiful Persis Khambatta who died tragically at only 47. Shes plays the first female officer to declare an 'Oath of Celibacy' aboard a Federation starship touching us with her empathic powers.

We know from Ilia's chat with Captain Kirk that Deltan culture is dominated by sexuality in stark contrast to Khambatta's emotionless V'ger mechanism. V'Ger beams android "Ilia" aboard the Enterprise to communicate and learn about the humans "infesting" the USS Enterprise 1701 and planet earth.

Ilia speaks for V'Ger now: "I have been programmed by V'ger to observe and record normal functioning of the carbon-based units infesting USS ENTERPRISE."

Kirk: Who is...'V'ger'...?

Ilia: "V'ger is that which programmed me."

Kirk: "Is V'ger the Captain of the alien vessel?"
Bones: "Jim, what the blazes...."

Ilia: "V'ger is that which seeks the Creator."

Bones: "Jim, this is a mechanism...!"

Kirk: "Where is Lt. Ilia?"

Ilia: "That unit no longer functions. I have been given its form to more readily communicate with the carbon-based units infesting Enterprise."

Security Guard: "Carbon-based units"...?

McCoy: "Humans, Ensign Lang, us!"

Kirk: "Why does V'ger travel to the third planet of the solar system directly ahead?"

Ilia: "V'ger travels to the third planet to find the Creator."

The women of Star Trek have rather more significant roles than those in other Tv shows watched by young audiences, like say Daisy in the Dukes of Hazzard. We had to wait until Star Trek Voyager arrived in 1995 before a woman took command aboard a starship. Its only fitting I suppose, that Star Trek is one of the first TV shows to deploy leading women on the front lines of Science Fiction.

Who would you prefer to serve under, Captain Kathryn Janeway (ST) or Laura Roslin in Battlestar Galactica?