Data’s Day

This Story: Season 4 Episode 11 (production code 185)
TNG Overall: Episode 85
Trek Overall: Story 184, Episode 187
Airdate: 7 Jan 1991
Teleplay by Harold Apter & Ronald D. Moore
Story by Harold Apter
Directed by Robert Weimer

Notes

• The first episode with Data’s cat Spot, although in this episode the cat is unnamed.
• The first episode with O’Brien’s wife Keiko (maiden name Ishikawa), and it was their wedding.
• The ship’s barber makes his first appearance here – a Bolian.
• The first episode where Data refers to Geordi as his best friend.
• The first appearances of several places on the ship: The aforementioned barbershop, the nursery, a replicating center, and the arboretum.   The replicating center is a redress of the bridge set of the Enterprise from the first three movies.
• Briefly references events from “The Measure of a Man” by the inclusion of Bruce Maddox being a talking point.
• The events of this episode are referenced in the future episode “The Drumhead“.
• Picard’s dialogue about officiating at a wedding was an intentional nod to Kirk’s dialogue in “Balance of Terror“.  In a case of “paying it forward”, Picard’s comments were used in the DS9 episode “Til Death Do Us Part“.
• Dialogue from the Vulcan ambassador here mirrors similar dialogue spoken on series by Spock’s father Sarek in both TOS & TNG.

Links