In Theory

DVD, TNG S4 (In Theory)

This is a novelty, albeit a Patrick Stewart-directed, Data-focused novelty. You'd think that such a fine combination would be enough to make it a classic, but it doesn't. It's the 'Data in love' episode, or to be as precise, as the Android would be, it's about someone falling for Data. The drippy Jenna D'Sora doesn't have much going for her and is one of the many hundreds of faces that pass in and out of our view as we travel around the Enterprise. She could be anyone and, just as she realised she didn't truly 'matter' to Data in the ways she wanted, she doesn't matter to us because she's a stranger and does little to gain our sympathies, whereas Data has them from the start.

So what can I say that's good? The story, which was really just a pretext upon which to hang the main plot of Data and Jenna, takes the ship into a beautiful region of space full of pretty colours and, as it happens, destructive dark matter that is invisible, but can disrupt normal space. This leads to an unfortunate death by a crewmember, who falls to her death in a corridor floor, instantly crushed. There is also the occasional visual effect of sections of the ship becoming affected by the pockets of dark matter - a ripple of transparency running through a corridor or console, an up-close, internal view of Picard's shuttlecraft nacelle, or most spectacularly the Observation room's chairs and table pushed into a pile by the windows!

It's also a pleasure to see Keiko and O'Brien chatting about their married life, Data's cat Spot, and though Stewart's direction is functional rather than stylish, I did like the shot which begins at the end of Jenna's flute, slides across each performer, and circles round in a pull-back to reveal the audience. To be fair, the penultimate episode of a season tends to be a little bit muted as the budget and creative thinking is saved for the finale, so it would be mean to criticise it too harshly. It does have a few fun scenes to enjoy, such as Data's round of advice from the main characters (including Guinan), and Worf's polite threat. But I can't disguise that it's a rather forgettable entry in what has been one of the stronger seasons.

**