Farewell, Fractures, and a Stark Warning
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
A warm farewell unfolds as Data carefully opens a pile of gaily wrapped gifts; Wesley scolds him for not ripping paper, prompting Data to humorously comply and reveal an antique book, prompting Worf's cultural aside.
Pulaski with blunt affection reframes the moment into advice, urging Data to consider groundside life and the practicalities of leaving Starfleet as a new chapter.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Smug and under pressure—projects superiority and defensiveness because his scientific reputation is at stake.
Appears in the doorway, framed and sarcastic; taunts Data with demeaning suggestions and minimizes his personhood in front of the crew, shifting the room's tone to discomfort.
- • Undermine claims of Data's personhood by treating him as spectacle.
- • Advance his own scientific interests and justify his position.
- • Data is primarily a machine and a research subject.
- • Public skepticism and ridicule will strengthen his institutional leverage.
Pragmatically caring—uses brusque language to convey genuine concern, preferring hard truths to comforting platitudes.
Cuts into the convivial moment with blunt practical counsel; insists Data should consider groundside experiences and frames her advice as a realist's gift rather than sentimentality.
- • Impart realistic advice to prepare Data for legal and social realities off‑ship.
- • Steer the conversation from sentimental ritual to practical planning.
- • Practical preparation is more valuable than ceremony.
- • Data's welfare requires blunt, honest counsel.
Playful and emotionally open; brief delight at eliciting a human‑like response from Data, shaded by sadness at his impending departure.
Teases Data about proper gift‑opening ritual, receives Data's friendly arm and attention, stands within the farewell circle as a light, affectionate presence when other tensions surface.
- • Prompt Data to engage in human rituals and spontaneity.
- • Show affection and support for Data during the farewell.
- • Small human rituals matter for connection.
- • Data values social approval and will accommodate friends.
Restrained tenderness with a mechanical steadiness; genuine affection under a formalized surface, tinged with awkward sadness.
Politely opens gifts with care, intentionally rips the wrapping paper to satisfy Wesley, reads the book's title aloud, crosses to comfort Geordi and awkwardly expresses that he will miss him, maintaining dignified composure throughout.
- • Be gracious to friends and acknowledge their feelings.
- • Honor social ritual even when it conflicts with efficiency.
- • Maintain composure and personal dignity during departure.
- • Social rituals have value and should be respected.
- • Logical choices can coexist with expressions of care.
- • Friends deserve explicit acknowledgement of connection.
Quietly respectful and purposeful; the gift is a formal gesture of honor rather than overt sentimentality.
Presents Data with an antique Klingon novel, remarks on its cultural stature, participating in the ritual of gift‑giving with stoic respect and ceremonial gravity.
- • Offer Data a culturally meaningful gift that conveys respect.
- • Affirm bonds through ritual and tradition.
- • Cultural artifacts carry weight in expressing respect.
- • Ritual honors are appropriate ways to mark transitions.
Protective and conflicted—externally composed but privately alarmed about institutional insult to a friend and about forthcoming orders.
Moves through Ten‑Forward, joins Troi in quiet conversation about Data's interior life, confronts Maddox with measured challenge, answers Picard's com and touches his insignia before escorting Maddox toward the door.
- • Shield Data from disrespect and defuse Maddox's provocation.
- • Preserve crew cohesion while obeying a captain's summons.
- • Control the tone of the farewell to keep it dignified.
- • Data merits respect beyond a technical curiosity.
- • Chain of command must be obeyed even while resisting injustice.
- • Personal loyalty can and should coexist with professional duty.
Thoughtful and uncertain—curious but professionally reserved about whether Data manifests emotions Betazoid methods can detect.
Stands with Riker discussing her inability to empathically read Data; cautions against overconfidence about emotional interpretation and entertains the possibility of anthropomorphism.
- • Clarify what her empathic limits mean for Data's personhood.
- • Offer measured counsel to colleagues rather than emotional certainty.
- • Absence of empathic reading is not proof of absence of feeling.
- • Observers risk projecting human emotions onto nonhuman intelligences.
Grieving and angry beneath composure; sorrowful at impending separation and frustrated by institutional injustice.
Sits apart nursing a drink, voices his upset to Data about being forced out, rises and gives Data a fierce, wordless hug—an overflow of grief and protective feeling.
- • Comfort and emotionally support Data immediately.
- • Express personal grievance about the unfairness of Data's situation.
- • Data is more than a machine and deserves humane treatment.
- • Personal loyalty obligates him to show support even when institutional remedies fail.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Decorative wrapping paper on the gift table becomes a small ceremonial battleground: Data first attempts careful preservation, then rips the paper to conform to Wesley's social expectation. The ripped paper signals Data's willingness to perform humanity and punctuates the casual intimacy of the farewell.
An assortment of drinks anchors social behavior: characters nurse glasses (Geordi sits with one), others lift small sips while speaking. The drinks provide tactile focus, punctuating toasts and awkward pauses and highlighting the shift from conviviality to tension.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Captain Louvois's office is named as the destination where the crew is expected; although offstage, it looms as an institutional locus that will impose formal judgment, converting the private farewell into an administrative summons.
Ten‑Forward serves as a warm communal auditorium for crew intimacy where ritual (gift‑giving, toasts, farewells) unfolds; its informality allows emotional truths to surface and, crucially, makes Maddox's intrusion feel like a violation of sanctuary.
Transporter Room Five is only invoked by Picard's com as the immediate destination for a formal meeting; it functions narratively as the practical next step and spatial hinge between private farewell and the institutional hearing to follow.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The crew's farewell grief (Geordi, friends) thematically parallels Picard's later effort to humanize Data legally—both moments emphasize that Data's value is relational and experiential, not merely technical."
"The crew's farewell grief (Geordi, friends) thematically parallels Picard's later effort to humanize Data legally—both moments emphasize that Data's value is relational and experiential, not merely technical."
"The crew's farewell grief (Geordi, friends) thematically parallels Picard's later effort to humanize Data legally—both moments emphasize that Data's value is relational and experiential, not merely technical."
"The crew's farewell grief (Geordi, friends) thematically parallels Picard's later effort to humanize Data legally—both moments emphasize that Data's value is relational and experiential, not merely technical."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"WESLEY: "You're supposed to rip the wrapping off a present.""
"DATA: "But with the application of a little care, Wes, the paper can be utilized again.""
"PULASKI: "Instead I'm going to give you something far more valuable -- my advice. You've spent years in the womb of Starfleet. Now you're about to start a new life. You'd be wise to consider the experiences offered by groundside living.""