Third Season - Episode 064

THE OFFSPRING

Stardate: 43657.0
Rating: 8 Humour: - Action: -- Tension: + Romance: +

Alternate Titles: German: "DATAS NACHKOMME"

Written By: Echevarria, René
Director: Frakes, Jonathan
Executive: Berman, Rick
Roddenberry, Gene
Co-Executive: Piller, Michael
Producer: Behr, Ira Steven
Line-Producer: Livingston, David
Co-Producer: Beimler, Hans
Manning, Richard

Cast

Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Patrick Stewart
Cmd. William T. Riker: Jonathan Frakes
Lt.Cmd. Geordi LaForge: LeVar Burton
Lt. Worf: Michael Dorn
Doctor Beverly Crusher: Cheryl Gates McFadden
Counselor Deanna Troi: Marina Sirtis
Lt.Cmd. Data: Brent Spiner
Wesley Crusher: Wil Wheaton
Guinan: Whoopi Goldberg
Lal: Hallie Todd
Admiral Haftel: Nicholas Coster
Lt. Ballard: Judy Ann Elder
Crewman: Diane Moser
Crewman: Hayne Bayle
Crewman: Maria Leone
Crewman: James G. Becker

Plot

Data, after returning from a cybernetics conference, builds a robot child, Lal. While the crew attempts to deal with Data's fatherhood, Data attempts to teach Lal about humanity. Starfleet Admiral Haftel, after hearing about the experiment, attempts to convince Picard that the new robot should be moved to the Daystrom Institute where she can be properly studied and taught.

Quotes

Troi:	"It's not like Data to be secretive."
Wesley:	"And cautious. He's got that lab locked every minute."
LaForge:	"Now how do you know that?"

Lal:	"I am functioning within normal parameters."

Lal:	"Purpose for exterior drapings, father?"
Data:	"It is an accepted custom that we wear clothing."

Picard:	"Data, I would like to have been consulted."
Data:	"I have not observed anyone else on board consulting you about their procreation, Captain."

Picard:	"I fail to understand how a five-foot android with heuristic learning systems and the strength of ten men can be called a child."
Troi:	"You're never been a parent."

Lal:	"I am genter neuter, inadequate."

Troi:

"Congratulations, Data. It's a girl."

Wesley:

"Parents. Nothing personal."

Lal:	"Why is the sky black?"

Lal:	"Judging from their laughter, the children at school found my remarks humorous. So without understanding humor, I have somehow mastered it."

Data:	"Doctor, I need your guidance as an successfull parent.."
Beverly:	"Thanks Data, I'd like to think I was.."

Data:	"I can give her attention, Doctor, but I am incapable of giving her love."
Beverly:	"Now why do I find that so hard to believe?"

Lal:	"Father says that I would learn a great deal from someone as old as you."

Lal:	"What are they doing?"
Guinan:	"It's called flirting."
Lal:	"They seem to be communicating telepathically."
Guinan:	"They're thinking the same thing, if that's what you mean."

Lal:	"Guinan, is the joining of hands a symbolic act for humans?"
Guinan:	"It shows affection. Humans like to touch each other. They start with the hands, and go from there."

Lal:	"He's biting that female!"
Guinan:	"No, he's not biting her. They're pressing lips together. It's called 'kissing'."

Lal:	"Wy are they leaving?"
Guinan:	"Lal, there are some things your father's just going to have to explain to you when he thinks you're ready."

Data:	"Commander, what are your intentions towards my daughter?"
Riker:	"Your daughter? Nice to meet you. Excuse me."

Lal:	"You are wise, father."
Data:	"It is the difference between knowledge and experience."

Haftel:	"Captain, are we talking about breaking up a family? Isn't that a rather sentimental attitude about androids?"
Picard:	"They are living, sentient beings. Their rights and privileges in our society have been defined, I helped define them."

Haftel:

"She is capable of running sixty-trillion calculations a second, and you have her working as a cocktail waitress."

Haftel:	"Don't misunderstand me. I have great respect for your father."
Lal:	"You do not speak with respect."
Haftel:	"She seems very adversarial."
Lal:	"I am merely stating a fact, Admiral."

Troi:	"Hello, Lal. How are you?"
Lal:	"Troi...Admiral...Admiral...An Admiral from Starfleet has come to take me away. Troi. I am...scared."
Troi:	"You are scared, aren't you?"
Lal:	"I feel it. How is this possible?"
Troi:	"I don't know."

Lal:	"This is what it means to feel. This is what...means...feel."

Data:

"Lal is my child. You ask that I volunteer to give her up. I cannot. It would violate every lesson I have learned about human parenting. I have brought a new life into this world and it is my duty, not Starfleet's, to guide her through these 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 from that obligation. And I cannot ignore it. I am...her father."

Picard:

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