Summary

  • Data and Spock both faced challenges when attempting to apply pure logic to command.
  • In TNG's "The Ensigns of Command", Data must use logic to convince colonists to evacuate against their desires.
  • Data excelled as a starship commander on TNG, while Spock found great success as a Federation Ambassador.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) once faced the same command problem Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) encountered on Star Trek: The Original Series. As an android, Data often filled the role of the outsider on TNG, the same way that Spock did on TOS. But while Spock spent much of his life trying to suppress his human side, Data wanted nothing more than to be human. Still, the two Starfleet icons had many similarities. Both Spock and Data would often spout facts and exact figures for times and measurements, and both faced most problems with logic and reason.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, episode 2, "The Ensigns of Command," Data must beam down to the planet Tau Cygni V to organize an evacuation. Mysterious aliens known as the Sheliak have proclaimed Tau Cygni V to be part of their territory and have given the Federation three days to remove the colonists there. Based on a treaty between the Sheliak and the Federation, the Sheliak have the right to the planet, but three days is not enough time to evacuate the colonists. As Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) searches for a loophole in the treaty, Data struggles to convince the colonists of the need to leave Tau Cygni V.

Star Trek TNG Data In Command Enterprise Ship
Related
Every Time Data Commands A Starship In Star Trek: TNG

Data only got to command a starship a handful of times on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but he proved himself to be a confident and skilled Captain.

Spock & Data Realize Logic Has Limits In Star Trek

"Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end."

The problem Data faces in Star Trek: The Next Generation's"The Ensigns of Command" is that humans do not behave logically. Although Data presents a reasonable argument to the colony's leader Gosheven (Grainger Hines), he is blinded by his prejudice against androids and his own desire to remain on Tau Cygni V. Another colonist, Ard'rian McKenzie (Eileen Seeley), trusts that Data is right, and she helps him reach the other colonists. Data adapts, trying different tactics to convince the colonists that remaining to fight the Sheliak would be futile. At the end of the TNG episode, Data insists that he cannot experience feelings, but after everything, even Captain Picard finds this difficult to believe.

Spock realizes that emotional thinking also plays an important role in command.

In Star Trek: The Original Series season 1, episode 16, "The Galileo Seven," the shuttle carrying Spock and a science team crash lands on Taurus II. As the leader of the away team, Spock relies on logic to find a way out of their predicament, but the mission goes from bad to worse when one of the team members is killed by a creature native to the planet. Spock gets caught up trying to figure out where his logic went wrong, as he faces insubordinate officers and impossible choices. By the end, Spock realizes that emotional thinking also plays an important role in command, bringing him one step closer to unifying his human and Vulcan sides.

Data Became A Better Starship Commander Than Spock

But Spock excelled at being a Federation Ambassador.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation's "The Ensigns of Command," Data adapts more quickly than Star Trek: The Original Series' Spock in "The Galileo Seven," and the android does not spend time dwelling on where he went wrong. Spock, too, learned from his experience and went on to become a better commander, but the Vulcan never took to command the same way Data did. Data listened to Ard'rian, knowing that her insight into the colonists' way of thinking would help him reach them. When Data takes command of the USS Enterprise-D in later TNG episodes (such as "Redemption" or "Gambit"), he proves to be a confident and successful commander.

Spock had no desire for starship command and found that his strengths lie elsewhere. The Vulcan pursued a career as a Federation Ambassador rather than becoming a career starship captain. Spock could take command when he needed to, but he made a greater impact as a Federation Ambassador. Not only did Spock help achieve peace between the Federation and the Klingons, but he also initiated the reunification of the Vulcan and Romulan people. As an advisor and Ambassador, Spock became one of the most accomplished and distinguished figures in Federation history. Thanks to Star Trek: Picard season 3, Data's story is still being written, but he proved what a great Starfleet Captain he would make on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Star Trek: The Original Series & Star Trek: The Next Generation are available to stream on Paramount+.

  • Star Trek the Next Generation Poster
    Star Trek: The Next Generation

    Star Trek: The Next Generation is the third installment in the sci-fi franchise and follows the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew members of the USS Enterprise. Set around one hundred years after the original series, Picard and his crew travel through the galaxy in largely self-contained episodes exploring the crew dynamics and their own political discourse. The series also had several overarching plots that would develop over the course of the isolated episodes, with four films released in tandem with the series to further some of these story elements.

    Release Date
    September 28, 1987
    Seasons
    7
    Showrunner
    Rick Berman , Michael Piller , Jeri Taylor
    Where To Watch
    Paramount+
  • Star Trek The Original Series TV Poster
    Star Trek: The Original Series

    Star Trek: The Original Series follows the exploits of the crew of the USS Enterprise. On a five-year mission to explore uncharted space, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) must trust his crew - Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Forest DeKelley), Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (James Doohan), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Sulu (George Takei) - with his life. Facing previously undiscovered life forms and civilizations and representing humanity among the stars on behalf of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets, the Enterprise regularly comes up against impossible odds and diplomatic dilemmas.

    Release Date
    September 8, 1966
    Seasons
    3
    Showrunner
    Gene Roddenberry
    Where To Watch
    Paramount+