In Theory

Friday June 29 |

Season 4 Episode 25
Stardate 44932.3

The Enterprise enters the uncharted Mare Obscura a nebula comprised of dark matter. Data leads the operations team in scientific observations together with crew member Dr. Lieutenant Jenna D’Sora. She begins to show romantic interest in Data, and in his continuous attempt to emulate humanity he attempts to reciprocate. In this attempt, Data turns to the human crew for reliable advice; Troi warns him against trusting literature regarding the subject, but Riker says nothing beats true love.  With this new information, Data tries running a romantic program where he learns first hand about the complexities of love.

In the underlying plot, the Enterprise further explores the dark matter nebula where collisions with undetectable pockets of subspace deformations cause strange events aboard the ship.  The contact with pocket activity increases causing minor hull breaches with a female crewmember becoming fused to a deck. Worf fears the unexplained entries aboard the Enterprise, according to Data all can be resulted from proximity to so much dark matter causing the gaps of space. Captain Picard volunteers to guide the Enterprise using an observational shuttle ahead.

Star Trek Trivia: Season 4 Episode 25

  • This is the first episode where Data uses a verbal contraction, “Don’t”.
    Data has always claimed that due to his programming, he was never able to use verbal contractions, although some episodes have shown his language using something close. Additionally, Data says “I’ll join you” after Jenna orders a calaman sherry.

Subscribe to our blog

Receive fresh content right in your inbox!