In Theory by: Joe Menosky and Ronald D. Moore and directed by: Patrick Stewart

 

“In Theory” is written by: Joe Menosky and Ronald D. Moore and is directed by: Patrick Stewart.  It was produced under production code 199, was the 25^th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4, the 99^th episode overall, and was broadcast on June 3, 1991.

 

There’s a shot in “In Theory” where a female officer is partially merged through the floor of a hallway and that little bit of body horror is tonally just not nearly as effective as it should be.  This is an episode that is most notable for being the first episode directed by Patrick Stewart, making him the second cast member of Star Trek: The Next Generation to helm an episode.  Stewart shoots “In Theory” closer in tone to an episode of a sitcom which is apt, outside of that major piece of body horror that is snuck into the B-plot of the episode, as the A-plot is a stock sitcom plot.  The premise is that Data is once again experiencing an approximation of a human emotion and falling in love with a fellow crew member.  This time it is guest star Michele Scarabelli playing Jenna D’Sora, equally becoming attracted to Data’s blunt yet incredibly kind personality.  D’Sora has also just broken up with a boyfriend and asked Data to remind her exactly why she left him.  Yes, this is an episode where Data is framed as a rebound relationship throughout, ultimately leading to the relationship falling apart through no fault of his own.  The breakup scene at the end of the episode is quite good for playing a breakup as two responsible adults understanding that a relationship was started for the wrong reasons in a subversion of the typical sitcom framing that much of this plotline is playing into however unintentionally.  It’s a healthy understanding of relationships and while the ending is tinged to be bittersweet for Data, the episode does show him being quite willing to be an attentive partner and listen to what she is saying.

 

Modeling a healthy relationship while framing the episode with a sitcom plot does create disconnect tonally in how the episode is meant to play out.  Joe Menosky and Ronald D. Moore have both been responsible for quite good examples of character drama, however, “In Theory” has a script that is not really going for the dramatic while Stewart’s direction is shying away from the comedic.  There is a scenario where Data is being almost too attentive to D’Sora’s desires and needs.  Brent Spiner does get the chance to play Data as close to flirty as possible, dialing up the charm with the slight overenunciation of the dialogue.  The romantic farce of the episode that is meant to fuel the relationship is this overcorrection in being an attentive partner after Data making some initial missteps in the relationship.  These again are not framed as malicious or in the typical sitcom male archetype of being inattentive, just the usual explanation of Data not quite understanding typical acts of humanity.  Menosky and Moore clearly wish for the audience to find it funny, but it is framed just as Data being Data.  There is the issue that at this point a plot like “In Theory” has been done before with Data, though not necessarily better.  The relationship in this episode is almost written as a continuation between the relationship between Data and Tasha Yar from the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  D’Sora is a guest character, however, she is styled quite similarly to how Yar was styled, Scarabelli is a tall, thin blond playing a crew member who has had difficulty in previous relationships.  That is the extent of her characterization, something that is becoming a recurring issue with single episode love interests, falling into some of the issues as the romantic interest in “The Host”.  That isn’t to say that the A-plot is bad, it is not, it’s just an incredibly standard plot that is going over ground that has been done with Data elsewhere, for better and worse.

 

The aspects of the A-plot that work quite well are whenever Data interacts with a recurring character, going to his friends and colleagues for advice into how to pursue the relationship.  The best interactions are with Worf, Michael Dorn picking up on the comedy of Worf’s protective response over D’Sora, and with Keiko and Miles O’Brien, that couple getting to be explicitly funny while Rosalind Chao and Colm Meany play their roles in love.  For the dramatic weight, Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan is given a guest spot providing more serious advice for Data, something that’s just become her role on the show at this point, but it’s a nice little scene.  The B-plot of the episode is tonally quite different from the A-plot, it is about a poltergeist of sorts on the Enterprise.  Objects, and Data’s cat, begin to phase through other objects on the ship because it is close to a specific nebula that is causing distortion in the space-time continuum.  This is an oddly specific science fiction plot to be used on a simple B-plot.  It’s material that could easily be elevated to an A-plot for Star Trek: The Next Generation, even centering Picard as the hero who needs to attempt a noble sacrifice to resolve the distortions.  There is the obvious hypothesis that because Patrick Stewart was slated to direct this slot, this idea was put into a B-plot simply because he needed to have a reduced screentime, but unlike the episode’s directed by Jonahtan Frakes, Picard does appear quite a bit even in the A-plot of “In Theory”.  It’s not a bad plotline, but again it makes some particularly odd decisions.

 

Overall, the prominence of “In Theory” really comes down to the fact that Patrick Stewart is in the director’s chair.  Outside of that it is a perfectly serviceable episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, though when compared to previous episodes focused on Data it is significantly less interesting and with less to say from writers who are usually overflowing with interesting ideas.  The sitcom framing being contextualized in the dramatic world of Star Trek: The Next Generation is the biggest downside to the episode which could have been better.  Despite being a largely enjoyable time, this is going to become one of those episodes that gets lost in the shuffle.  6/10.