Emotion Chip.A central character struggle in Star Trek: The Next Generation is Lieutenant Commander's Data's lack of emotions. Our favorite android experienced life on the U.S.S. Enterprise-D but was constantly challenged in his attempt to relate to emotional humanoid life forms. Phillip, Daniel, and Darren look at the flagship's second officer's "pre-emotion chip" existence and ask: Did Data actually already have the capacity for emotion? Did he evolve over those seven years, experiencing emotional states?Earl Grey also examines the ever-changing look and features of Dr. Noonian Soong's emotion chip, introduced in the fourth season episode "Brothers." They discuss its appearance in "Descent, Parts 1 and 2," and the chip's installation during the inaugural TNG film, Star Trek: Generations. The trio asks whether "emotional" Data in the film was done well and how fans received that portrayal. They also look at the emotion chip's cameos and various "upgraded" features in the other three feature films. So "stop it, stop it, stop it!", open up your mind, and listen to this episode (which may overload your neural net), analyzing Data's emotion chip.HostsDaniel Proulx, Phillip Gilfus, & Darren MoserEditor / ProducerDarren MoserExecutive ProducersNorman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, & C Bryan Jones

Will Nguyen