The Offspring (TNG episode)

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Star Trek: TNG episode
"The Offspring"
"Data watches his daughter Lal die in "The Offspring".
Episode no.	64
Prod. code	164
Airdate	March 12, 1990
Writer(s)	René Echevarria
Director	Jonathan Frakes
Guest star(s)	Whoopi Goldberg Hallie Todd Nicholas Coster Judyann Elder
Year	2366
Stardate	43657.0
Episode chronology
Previous	"Yesterday's Enterprise"
Next	"Sins of the Father"

For other uses, see Offspring (disambiguation).

The Offspring is a third-season Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, in which the android Data, creates a "child" of his own.

Like the most critically acclaimed episodes of Star Trek, this raises philosophical questions, namely, what constitutes a living being and a good parent? The former was a subject that had been addressed by Next Generation writers before, specifically with regards to the character Data's rights as an android. (The Measure of a Man TNG)

1 Plot
2 Quotes
3 Trivia
4 External link

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In secret, Data creates a new artificial life form. Originally it is androgynous, because Data wants the "child" to be able to pick its race and sex. Data and Counselor Troi take the child to the holodeck so it can try on various appearances. After many hours, it chooses a human female appearance prompting Troi to exclaim, "Congratulations, Data. It's a girl!"

At first, Captain Picard is incredulous about Data's "daughter". He knows that the creation of a new artificial life form will attract a lot of attention from the Federation and asks why he was not informed of Data's experiment. Data responds simply. "I did not observe other crewmembers consulting you on their procreation, Captain."

Data names his daughter Lal, which, in the Hindi language, means "Beloved". He walks her through the first days of her life, adding information to her positronic brain and helping her interpret her environment. While Data is on duty, he leaves Lal in the care of bartender Guinan, who begins to teach Lal the fundamentals of human interaction, including love when Lal is shocked at the sight of two people kissing. Guinan explains that this is a form of intimate expression of affection between Humans. Commander Riker, returning from a mission and unaware of Data's creation, walks into Ten-Forward and begins a conversation with Lal. Deciding to further investigate Human interaction, Lal grabs the officer and embraces him. Riker's confusion is compounded when Data enters and sees the sight. "Commander, what are your intentions towards my daughter?"

Meanwhile, Lal has attracted attention from the science community of the Federation, and Admiral Anthony Haftel boards the Enterprise intending to take Lal to a facility where she will be "taken care of." Data expresses concern at this desire, and claims he is the best qualified being to teach Lal, based upon his own experiences integrating into humanoid culture. When Haftel meets Lal, he finds her to be adversarial, however Picard refutes the point, and asks Lal what she wants. Her request is to stay onboard the Enterprise.

Afterwards, Haftel attempts to convince and later orders Data to turn over Lal however at his Captain's command, the android belays the order. Picard claims that Data and Lal are entitled to the same freedoms and liberties as Humans and he is prepared to put his career on the line to see that they get them. As this confrontation takes place, Lal visits Counsellor Troi and claims the admiral has frightened her. Troi confirms that Lal is actually feeling fear, though they do not know how this is possible, given that she was built upon the same foundation as Data, who cannot experience emotion.

Shortly after this revelation, Lal begins to experience cascade failure, and Data and Haftel work for a number of hours in a desperate attempt to keep her alive, by repairing the errors whilst keeping her higher functions online. Eventually they fail however, and Haftel leaves the Father and Daughter alone. Lal eventually dies in Data's arms, recounting her various experiences onboard the Enterprise.

Upon Data's return to duty, Picard informs him that the whole crew grieves for his loss. Data responds without emotion, claiming that he transferred Lal's thoughts into his own neural net, so that she would not be forgotten. The episode ends with a close-up of the android's expressionless face as he takes a moment to gaze into space.

[edit] Quotes

"Then he is questioning my ability as a parent."

"In a manner of speaking..."

"Does the Admiral have children, Sir?"

"I believe he does. Why?"

"I am forced to wonder how much experience he had as a parent when his first child was born."

- Data, Picard

"It is my duty, not Starfleet's to guide her through these first difficult steps to maturity, to support her as she learns, to prepare her to be a contributing member of society. No one can relieve me of that obligation. And I cannot ignore it. I am her father."

- Data

"There are times, sir, when men of good conscience cannot blindly follow orders. You acknowledge they are sentient, but ignore their personal liberties. Order a man to turn his child over to the state? Not while I'm his captain."

-Picard after Haftel orders Data to turn Lal over to Starfleet.

"And his hands started moving faster than I could see, trying to stay ahead of each breakdown. He refused to give up. He was remarkable... It just wasn't meant to be."

- Admiral Haftel, delivering the news that Lal will not survive.

"I love you father."

"I wish I could feel it with you."

"I will feel it for both of us."

- Lal, Data

"What is our function?"

"Our function is to contribute, in a positive way, to the world in which we live."

- Data, Lal

[edit] Trivia

This was the first of many Star Trek episodes to be directed by a member of the cast.
When Data enters his quarters with Lal for the first time, there is a painting called "Composition with red, blue and yellow" by Piet Mondrian on the wall behind them.