The Most Toys

DVD, TNG S3 (The Most Toys)

Is it more worrying that Data was about to kill or that he pretended the discharge may have been a transporter malfunction? Is he also expressing satisfaction in Kivas Fajo's capture when he visits him in the holding cell, or would irony be a step too far and I'm putting my own impressions onto his actions? Certainly makes you think. Seeing the way Data's friends react to his apparent fate brings to mind 'Star Trek Nemesis' and so the sadness, and La Forge's thought that he assumed Data would outlive them all by centuries has much more meaning than it did at the time. Data's quarters appear to have another entrance unless Geordi and Wes were coming out of what would be the sleeping part of most quarters. Data's medals get another showing, as does his prized holographic display of Tasha Yar.

It is actually Worf's turn to show a new side when it comes to his dead former colleague - he explains that taking over from Yar he just tried to do the job as well as she did to the best of his ability, and does so again when he takes Data's station - seeing him on a forward console is a throwback to the first season in a good way, but it shows how the dynamics have changed, with everyone having found their proper place - Worf isn't quite right unless he's glowering over the horseshoe console at the back of the bridge.

Kivas was delightfully terrible, with the fluttery mannerisms of a large moth and a childlike enthusiasm and demanding nature. You could almost compare him to Harry Mudd, except Mudd was a little less evil, a little less successful and a little more varied in his responses to things. The pair might have got on well, though they would have been very competitive. Mudd's interest was in power and profit, while Fajo is much more about pride in collection and greed in acquisition, but he also relishes power over other people and things. The Andorians get a mention, so it's clear they're active on the galactic stage, but unlike 'Captain's Holiday' we don't get to see any. Another link to that episode is the tiered cave set which in the former was used as a dig site, and here is effective as an underground pool. It's also worth noticing the name of the shuttlecraft which blows up: Pike, after the first Captain of the USS Enterprise (unless you count the unconfirmed Robert April, or technically Captain Archer of the first ever starship Enterprise...).

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