The Most Toys by: Shari Goodhartz and directed by: Timothy Bond

 

“The Most Toys” is written by: Shari Goodhartz and is directed by: Timothy Bond.  It was produced under production code 170, was the 22^nd episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3, the 70^th episode overall, and was broadcast on May 7, 1990.

 

The ending of “The Most Toys” is where the episode is let down by interference from the production team.  It is the final thing the audience is left with and clearly meant to be part of the episode’s thesis, but is altered in a way that poorly attempts ambiguity.  The premise of the episode is that Data is kidnapped by Kivas Fajo, played by Saul Rubinek, because he is the only sentient android in existence.  The Enterprise thinks him dead in an explosion and Fojo treats him as an object to be shown off to his very rich and powerful friends.  The conflict is this game of quiet resistance Data puts up, only breaking not when his life is threatened but the lives of those happily working for Fojo.  Data’s programming of course will only let him commit acts of violence in self-defense, and when there is a clear and present danger.  The climax of the episode has Fajo happily kill his partner, a woman he is implied to have groomed for 14 years.  Data gets the gun in his hands and is transported away right as it is pointed at Fajo.  The trouble here is that the episode includes a line that Data did in fact fire the gun, only lampshaded as it possibly being the transporter that fired the gun.  Fojo is taken into custody and the final line of the episode is Data essentially telling him point blank he feels nothing now that the roles are reversed, for he is an android.  Now, the intent of this line is to be dripping with sarcasm and irony, Shari Goodhartz’s script to this point has been using the insistence that Data is an android to be dehumanizing.  He could not possibly have meaningful emotions or experiences, something that Fojo never comes to learn, importantly.  The last line is meant to be read as incredibly dark, Data is not just an android and he can make his own decisions.  He was going to kill Fajo, but adding the lampshade of it is just a transporter malfunction, shot in a way so we don’t see a trigger being pulled and it being deliberately added, undercuts this.

 

It does not tank the episode, but it does weaken it.  Brent Spiner is carrying the episode on his back as Data, something that should not be a surprise at this point, but he makes Data understand exactly how to resist within the parameters of the programming.  The most effective scene is Data refusing to even move when Fojo is showing him off to an old friend, knowing that despite Fojo insisting he is just part of his collection, if Fajo wants a thing he should get a thing and not a person.  It’s this great little bit of resistance that is enough to push Fajo into punishing violence, Data is stripped of his uniform forcefully by the use of a solvent which in and of itself is a violent act.  Data is patient, he understands that there is going to be a mistake and he is going to make it out at some point.  Goodhartz knows how to balance this idea that Data is both the kindest member of the Enterprise crew, and a genuinely terrifying person in many respects.  The same can be said about director Timothy Bond, often shooting Spiner as Data at this incredibly even level that just feels off intentionally in several shots of the episode.  He is effectively immortal, will outlive Fajo if it comes to it but also does not blame his crewmates for not coming to rescue him.  He knows that the lie was set up so that they believe he is truly dead.

 

The plot on the Enterprise is responding to the environmental disaster, something revealed to be part of Fajo’s plan to kidnap Data, is one that works well to focus on the characters.  The crew is dealing with their grief, even Captain Picard calls Worf “Data” at one point as it has been decided he will take over Data’s duties.  LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge gets the best material, Geordi and Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher being tasked with going through Data’s personal items.  That scene in particular is effective at exploring Data’s own sentimentality and just how his death is one of grief.  There’s even a reflection on the fact that Data is not the only crew member to have died in the line of duty, Michael Dorn as Worf does remember his previous promotion being from the death of Tasha Yar.  Geordi is the one insistent that something is wrong, there is a slight mistake in Fajo not having Data communicate that he was taking the shuttle back to the Enterprise, but that mistake is too small to notice and the actual issue at hand is saving a planet.  The transport of an unstable mineral adds to the heightened tension and the eventual logical deduction comes at long enough time for the audience to realize the length of time Data has been in captivity.  The unravelling of the plan is a great sequence and it’s surprising that there is actually a set made for the scene set at the contaminated water source.   Sure it’s not one of the most memorable Star Trek planets, but it is enough to notice how Star Trek: The Next Generation is growing in terms of budget and capability, especially compared with the previous season which in this episode slot was the clip show finale “Shades of Grey”.

 

Overall, “The Most Toys” despite taking its title from one of the weirdest sources, a quote from a millionaire vaguely about the joys of collecting, and by undercutting itself with this unnecessary ambiguity, it’s still a great episode.  It’s an episode that just fires on all cylinders in the character drama and should be applauded for writing a B-plot that doesn’t actually have any conflict outside of characters coming to terms with grief.  The entire cast has each their moment to shine even if this is Brent Spiner as Data’s show.  Timothy Bond also directs to really wring the emotions out of the episode despite being stylistically often simple.  8/10.