A Friend Held Hostage: Graves' Violent Ultimatum
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
The viewscreen flips on to reveal Data holding a phaser to Geordi's head, instantly turning routine triage into a hostage crisis and snapping Picard and the bridge crew to full alert.
Data issues a cold ultimatum ordering the bridge evacuated and threatens lethal force; Riker warns the phaser is set to kill while Picard pleads with Data's sense of friendship to save Geordi.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Focused concern with tactical awareness
Riker quietly informs Picard about the phaser setting, then attempts to reactivate the viewscreen after contact is lost.
- • Support Picard's command decisions
- • Maintain communication with the bridge
- • Graves poses an immediate threat to ship security
- • Team coordination is essential to resolving the crisis
Fear tempered by hope that Data can still be reached
Geordi is held hostage at phaser-point, attempting to reach his friend Data beneath Graves' control.
- • Survive the immediate threat
- • Help Data regain control of his body
- • Data would never willingly harm him
- • Graves' control is not absolute
Rage and paranoia masking underlying fear of annihilation
Data/Graves holds Geordi at phaser-point, oscillating between Data's personality and Graves' megalomania, ultimately threatening to kill a crew member exiting.
- • Maintain control over the Enterprise bridge
- • Ensure personal survival in Data's body
- • The crew poses an existential threat to his continued existence
- • Kareen is the only person he can trust
Uncertainty mixed with concern for Graves
Kareen is hesitant but responds when called upon by Picard, triggering an emotional response in Graves-in-Data.
- • Prevent further violence
- • Connect with the remnants of Graves' humanity
- • She may be the only one who can reach Graves
- • The situation is dangerously unstable
Focused determination to aid the injured
Pulaski treats and revives the incapacitated security guards during the confrontation.
- • Treat injured security personnel
- • Be prepared for further casualties
- • Medical attention must continue despite the crisis
- • Graves is dangerously unstable in Data's body
Incapacitated/recovering
The security guards are being treated and revived by Dr. Pulaski after being incapacitated by Graves-in-Data.
- • Recover from injuries
- • Return to duty if possible
- • The ship is under threat
- • Their duty remains important despite setbacks
Controlled urgency masking deep concern for Geordi and Data
Picard attempts to de-escalate the situation by appealing to Data's friendship with Geordi, then strategically uses Kareen's presence as leverage.
- • Protect Geordi's life
- • Regain control of the Enterprise
- • Data's true personality can still be reached beneath Graves' influence
- • Kareen is the key to destabilizing Graves' control
Recovering but ready to re-engage
Worf is helped to his feet after being incapacitated earlier in the encounter.
- • Regain combat readiness
- • Assess the tactical situation
- • The security of the ship is paramount
- • Graves represents a serious threat
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The phaser is used by Graves-in-Data to hold Geordi hostage, its lethal setting indicating the seriousness of the threat. It becomes both a literal weapon and a symbolic representation of Graves' violent takeover.
The viewscreen displays the tense hostage situation until Graves-in-Data terminates the connection, serving as the Observation Lounge's only window into the bridge crisis before being deliberately disabled.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The main bridge serves as the primary hostage situation location, though seen only through the viewscreen until communication is severed.
The Observation Lounge becomes the command center for the hostage crisis response, with its viewscreen providing the only visual link to the bridge confrontation.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Troi's clinical diagnosis that two personalities inhabit Data and that the alien persona is violent directly predicts/causes the subsequent hostage situation in which Data (dominated by Graves) holds Geordi at phaser-point on the viewscreen."
"Troi's clinical diagnosis that two personalities inhabit Data and that the alien persona is violent directly predicts/causes the subsequent hostage situation in which Data (dominated by Graves) holds Geordi at phaser-point on the viewscreen."
"Troi's clinical diagnosis that two personalities inhabit Data and that the alien persona is violent directly predicts/causes the subsequent hostage situation in which Data (dominated by Graves) holds Geordi at phaser-point on the viewscreen."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"DATA: Captain Picard -- I have ordered your people to vacate the bridge and they have refused. In an effort to save insignificant lives I will give you the opportunity to issue the same order. Otherwise, I will remove them my way."
"PICARD: Data. That's your best friend you're threatening. That's Geordi. You wouldn't harm him for the world, would you?"
"DATA: Maybe I should shoot one in the back just to let you know I mean business."
"PICARD: Kareen is with us! You want to talk to Kareen."