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| Data is intrigued by the mechanical exocomp. |
The Enterprise has been sent to evaluate a particle fountain, a new technology intended to be used for deep mining. It is the brainchild of Dr. Farallon (Ellen Bry), who has pushed it into existence over the past six years. The project is behind schedule, having encountered one problem after another. To overcome these setbacks, Farallon has invented the exocomps, taking the design of a basic servo unit and adding on a replicator and the ability to learn. "It becomes a better tool the more you use it," Farallon explains.
When one of the exocomps behaves strangely just prior to the explosion of a plasma conduit, the machine is taken offline so that Farallon, Geordi, and Data can determine what happened. Data discovers a preponderance of new data pathways. He comes to believe that the machine deliberately exited the conduit as an act of self-preservation. The exocomp, Data argues, is no longer merely a mechanism. It is now demonstrating the properties of sentient life!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: Shows a strong trust in Data's judgment. Even when it appears that the exocomps have failed the crew's (contrived) test of sentience, he says to Data that he considers the time taken to address this possibility as "time well spent." Nor does he question Data's decision near the episode's ending, despite it being a choice that could easily justify a court martial. The protection of life in any form is a priority, one for which Picard cannot fault his second officer.
Data: The importance he places on proving the exocomp's status as a life form goes beyond simple scientific investigation. As he explains to Dr. Crusher, he has been unique in the universe as a sentient machine. The discovery of another living machine makes him less alone. This is likely why he continues testing and re-testing the exocomp even after its sentience has been seemingly disproved.
Geordi: Once again demonstrates his ability to improvise quickly in a crisis. When an accident on the facility causes a radiation build-up, he uses the station controls to create a low-level force field. As he tells Picard, it won't save them forever - but it does give Riker and the Enterprise crew 22 minutes to find a way to get them out.
Dr. Crusher: Data's ally in his attempts to prove the exocomps' sentience. She is patient when Data asks her to define life, and she seeks him out after the failed test to continue their discussion. When the exocomp demonstrates that it recognized the test as false, she verbalizes it for Data's benefit (and that of the audience):"The exocomp didn't fail the test. It saw right through it!"
Hot Alien Space Scientist of the Week: Farallon (Ellen Bry) is the scientist who has created the exocomps. A nice touch in an otherwise ordinary episode is that the exocomps are not the focus of her work. Her focus is on the particle fountain. To her, the exocomps are simply a tool to help her complete the work. As such, the attention Data directs to them is an irritant to her, something she dubs a waste of time. Though effectively the villain of the piece, she doesn't come across as belligerent. She is simply focused on her work, largely to the exclusion of all else.
THOUGHTS
The Quality of Life is a very ordinary, middle-of-the-road TNG episode. We've seen the same basic questions at the core of this episode already addressed, most notably in Season Two's The Measure of a Man - though also, to varying degrees, in Evolution, The Offspring, and even Home Soil. This episode adds nothing new, save for its life-form being one that doesn't actually speak.
That said, it's a well-made and well-acted episode. Jonathan Frakes directs, which is always good news. Though this installment is particularly dialogue-driven, Frakes still brings a sense of the visual to the proceedings. His use of depth in his shot selection opens up what might have felt like a filmed stage play.
The episode's biggest limitation is its script. This is most evident at the climax, when a third act crisis comes out of nowhere, its cause unexplained even at the episode's end. The entire situation is just a contrivance to allow the exocomps to demonstrate their sentience in a dramatic way. Since the crisis doesn't feel like an organic part of the episode, none of these scenes carry any weight. All the usual dramatic boxes are ticked off, and we move on to the tag.
Another problem is the exocomps themselves. There don't seem to be any consistent rules about their inteligence and sentience. The first part of the episode suggests that the exomcomps develop sentience as they perform new tasks. Some exposition delivered by Farallon suggests that when an exocomp reaches this point, it ends up being wiped in order to remain useful as a tool. This would suggest that only the exocomp Data has been testing should be at this stage. The two still in-service as tools should still be mechanisms, albeit ones working toward that same level. Nevertheless, the climax shows all three exocomps to be fully sentient and equally intelligent.
These issues make it difficult to fully engage with the story. There are good scenes, and I didn't dislike the episode. But even its best moments are hobbled by TNG having traveled this road before, and to far better effect.
Overall Rating: 4/10.
Previous Episode: A Fistful of Datas
Next Episode: Chain of Command
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