Picard excludes Data from away team
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
The Enterprise arrives in orbit around a planet where Data detects temporal disturbances and triolic waves. These readings match the magnetic signature found in the cavern on Earth.
Picard orders an away team to investigate the source of the disturbances, while Data volunteers to join. Riker pointedly excludes Data from the away team.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Conflict between duty and personal concern for Data, masking his reluctance to address the exclusion directly. Surface-level composure hides a deeper unease about Data’s vulnerability and the moral weight of his decisions.
Picard enters the bridge with authoritative composure, immediately taking command of the situation. He listens to Data’s sensor readings with intellectual rigor, confirming the triolic waves’ correlation to the Devidian signature. When Riker omits Data from the away team, Picard hesitates before issuing the order for Data to remain on the bridge—a decision that feels like a compromise between protocol and protection. His reluctance to engage in a private conversation with Data is palpable, but he ultimately nods in acquiescence, avoiding direct confrontation while acknowledging Data’s request. His body language is controlled, but his conflicted emotional state is betrayed by the brief pause before speaking.
- • Maintain Starfleet protocol while protecting Data from potential danger
- • Avoid a direct confrontation with Data about his exclusion, preserving the illusion of neutrality
- • Data’s safety is paramount, even if it means limiting his autonomy
- • His role as captain requires him to make difficult decisions, even when they are unpopular or emotionally charged
Concerned for Data’s well-being, masking his protective instincts behind a facade of professional detachment. His exclusion of Data is not malicious but stems from a deep-seated fear of losing him, as evidenced by his swift, almost defensive, exit.
Riker confirms the ship’s orbit and engages in a brief, knowing glance with Picard after Data mentions the temporal disturbances. He deliberately omits Data from the away team, a decision that feels premeditated and protective. His demeanor is decisive, bordering on abrupt, as he issues orders to Worf and Troi and communicates with Geordi via com. His exit with the away team is swift, leaving no room for Data to protest further. His actions speak louder than his words, signaling his concern for Data’s safety without explicit discussion.
- • Protect Data from potential danger by excluding him from the away team
- • Uphold Starfleet protocol while prioritizing the safety of his crew, particularly Data
- • Data’s involvement in the investigation could put him at unnecessary risk
- • Picard shares his concerns about Data’s vulnerability, even if unspoken
Neutral and focused on his duties, unaware of the subtextual tension surrounding Data’s exclusion. His brief interaction serves as a backdrop to the larger conflict, emphasizing the crew’s functional roles.
Worf confirms the absence of life signs on the planet and is included in the away team by Riker. His participation is noted but his dialogue is limited to his initial report. His inclusion—unlike Data’s exclusion—highlights the crew’s divided roles and the unspoken concerns about Data’s vulnerability. Worf’s presence on the away team is a matter of course, reflecting his role as the ship’s tactical officer and security chief.
- • Comply with Riker’s orders and prepare for the away team mission
- • Ensure the safety and security of the away team during the investigation
- • His role as tactical officer requires his presence on away missions when security is a concern
- • The away team’s composition is determined by Riker and Picard’s assessments of risk and necessity
Neutral and focused on his duties, unaware of the subtextual tension surrounding Data’s exclusion. His brief interaction serves as a backdrop to the larger conflict.
Geordi’s participation in this event is limited to his com response, acknowledging Riker’s order to meet the away team in transporter room three. His voice is brief and professional, but his inclusion in the away team—unlike Data’s exclusion—highlights the contrast in how the crew is deployed. His role here is peripheral but symbolic, representing the crew members who are permitted to engage with the mission’s dangers while Data is not.
- • Comply with Riker’s orders and prepare for the away team mission
- • Support the crew’s investigative efforts without question
- • His role as chief engineer requires his presence on away missions when technical expertise is needed
- • The away team’s composition is determined by Riker and Picard’s assessments of risk and necessity
Aware of the underlying tension but choosing not to intervene, possibly deferring to Riker and Picard’s authority or sensing that this is a moment for Data to address directly. Her silence speaks volumes about the crew’s unspoken agreements and hierarchies.
Troi exits the bridge with Riker and Worf to prepare for the away team mission, her presence noted but her dialogue absent. Her inclusion in the away team—unlike Data’s exclusion—underscores the crew’s divided roles and the unspoken concerns about Data’s safety. Her empathic senses, though not explicitly mentioned, would likely pick up on the tension between Riker, Picard, and Data, but she does not intervene or comment.
- • Support the away team mission as ordered
- • Avoid escalating the tension between Data, Riker, and Picard
- • Her role as counselor is to mediate conflicts, but some tensions are better addressed privately
- • Riker and Picard’s decisions are made with the crew’s best interests in mind, even if they are not explicitly discussed
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Riker’s communicator is used to issue a direct order to Geordi, instructing him to meet the away team in transporter room three. The device’s sharp chirp cuts through the bridge’s tension, underscoring the urgency of the mission and the finality of Data’s exclusion. The com serves as a functional tool but also a symbolic divider—Geordi is included in the away team, while Data is not. Its use highlights the crew’s operational hierarchy and the unspoken decisions being made about who is permitted to engage with the mission’s dangers.
The Enterprise’s sensors are the critical tool that detects the triolic waves and temporal anomalies on Devidia II’s surface, directly linking the planet to Data’s severed head found in the 19th-century cavern. Data activates and interprets the sensor readings, confirming the magnetic signature’s correlation to the Devidian activity. The sensors’ data serves as the catalyst for the away team’s deployment and the subsequent conflict over Data’s exclusion. Their readings are both a scientific discovery and a narrative device, propelling the plot forward while exposing the crew’s emotional tensions.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Picard’s ready room is the secondary command space where the private conversation between Picard and Data will take place. Though not yet physically entered during this event, the ready room looms as the inevitable next stage of the conflict. Its intimate, enclosed space—with its leather-bound books, replicator, and viewport—contrasts with the bridge’s operational efficiency, making it a fitting location for the emotional and personal tensions to surface. The ready room’s role here is symbolic, representing the shift from public duty to private confrontation, where Picard will be forced to address Data’s exclusion and his own paternalistic concerns.
The main bridge of the Enterprise-D serves as the command center and conflict point for this event. It is a space of intellectual rigor, operational efficiency, and emotional subtext, where Data’s scientific discovery collides with the crew’s protective instincts. The bridge’s glowing consoles, central command chair, and viewscreen create an atmosphere of authority and urgency, while the hum of systems underscores the tension between protocol and personal concern. The location’s practical role is to facilitate the away team’s deployment, but its symbolic significance lies in the unspoken power dynamics at play—Picard’s conflicted authority, Riker’s protective exclusion of Data, and Data’s quiet insistence on participation.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Starfleet is the institutional framework governing the Enterprise-D’s operations and the crew’s actions. Its protocols dictate the away team’s deployment, the use of sensors and communicators, and the chain of command that Picard, Riker, and Data must navigate. Starfleet’s influence is felt in the crew’s adherence to procedure, even as personal concerns (e.g., protecting Data) clash with professional duties. The organization’s goals—exploring anomalies, ensuring crew safety, and upholding the Prime Directive—are explicitly and implicitly at play in this event, shaping the decisions made and the tensions that arise.
The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) serves as the operational base for the investigation into the Devidian anomaly and the crew’s response to Data’s exclusion. The ship’s systems—sensors, transporters, communicators—facilitate the away team’s deployment and the monitoring of the planet’s surface. The Enterprise is not just a setting but an active participant in the narrative, its technology and infrastructure enabling the crew’s actions while also reflecting their emotional states. The ship’s role in this event is to provide the tools and environment for the conflict to unfold, from the bridge’s command center to the ready room’s private space.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Picard's concern for Data's safety, preventing him from joining the initial away team, directly leads to Data's insistence on joining the team in the Ready Room."
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"RIKER: We're in orbit."
"DATA: Sir, sensors are picking up unusual temporal disturbances on a small area of the planet's surface... forty-two degrees, seven minutes north by eighty-eight degrees declination east."
"RIKER: ((exchanges a glance with Picard)) Temporal disturbances..."
"PICARD: Take us into a standard orbit above those coordinates..."
"DATA: Spectral analysis shows a high level of triolic waves emanating from the same location."
"RIKER: Do they correlate with your readings from Earth, Data?"
"DATA: Affirmative, sir... the magnetic signature is identical to the one found in the cavern."
"PICARD: Would these triolic waves be dangerous to humanoids?"
"DATA: Only with longterm exposure. There is no immediate threat."
"PICARD: ((to Riker)) Take an away team."
"RIKER: Worf..."
"DATA: Commander..."
"PICARD: ((interrupting)) Mister Data, I'll need you on the bridge to monitor the sensor readings during this investigation..."
"DATA: Captain, may I speak to you alone?"