‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Retro Recap – ‘Inheritance’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

For the most part, science fiction television shows, and television shows in general, that feature some kind of central theme… only stick with that one theme and it makes sense as to why. Because no one wants to overload the audience with too many themes, nor do they want to dilute a strong concept. So, they hold to one, something powerful in nature, and let the audience ruminate upon that, and perhaps explore other ideas that came up in crafting the story in question for another episode down the line. But now and again, you run into a series that decides splitting up too many complex ideas would be a bad idea if they can be properly combined. Giving way to either a powerhouse episode, or a jumble and one series that had no qualms with trying this… was Star Trek: The Next Generation.
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For its next episode decided to go hard and combine multiple themes and concepts to explore, courtesy of a grand surprise for Lieutenant Commander Data. For ‘Inheritance’ is a tale that offered up quite the surprise for Data when the Enterprise entered orbit of a planet in need of its vast resources to keep its core going. In that, he met a woman named Juliana, who outright informed him, that she was his mother. For she was once married to Dr. Noonien Soong and lost touch with Data after the Crystalline Entity ravaged his home world. Which led to a powerful journey for Data. One where he had to reconcile the sorrowful reasons that she left Data behind, and the fact that she was an android herself. One that didn’t know her true identity.

Which is… a lot to chew upon thematically. Because on the one hand, there is a deep and brooding story here about why some parents choose to abandon their children, and what motivates them to step back into their baby’s life. Which is a topic you don’t see explored in television all that often and it leads to some incredible musings. Such as how such a decision isn’t easy in the first place, but necessary for some parents based on the circumstances in that moment, and… how hard it is to try and make amends for doing so. Granted, Data makes it easy since he is devoid of emotion at this point in his life, but even still… that is indeed an incredible exploration to go upon, which makes the other concepts here quite surprising to find.

Because at the same time, this is an episode that also ponders upon the ethical nature of letting artificial life believe it is in fact, organic. Since Data comes to learn that his real mother died not long after she and his father escaped, and dear old dad wanted to give her more life and a chance to thrive and chose to make this artificial body and program her to shut down if she ever discovered the truth. A move that put Data in a tough spot when he uncovered mom’s true nature, since he had to choose to tell her the hard truth and let her die or let her live a lie. All of which pondered deeply on our responsibilities when the day comes that we create artificial life and what is acceptable and ethical regarding that creation. 

All of which made for a powerful episode. One that gave us a lot to think about, but in true Star Trek fashion… it was handled masterfully and never felt overwhelming in the slightest. If anything, this felt akin to a ‘sins of the father’ style episode, where Noonien’s madness and mistakes were imparted upon Data, leaving him in a no-win scenario. And it is likely that concept that made this one so easy to digest, as did the human aspect of it. Because you felt for Data here, and the fact that he tried so hard to make a real connection with family and his own kind again, only to stonewalled again, by his dad’s foolishness. And while it might not have hurt Data, it hurt us, and that pain stays with you long after this episode comes to an end. Making this… another wondrous tale, one that impressed and reminds us of the importance of this series and why it continues to find new fans after all these years. Until next time.

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