Stardate 210324.1 - Season 3 is behind me now, and so is the first episode of Season 4 (because how could I stop watching right after Riker says, "Fire" at Picard?). But before I get to the epic, cinematic two-parter that bridges those seasons, I want to talk about one other Season 3 episode - one that actually made me cry.

Okay, maybe not "cry" cry. More like... ugly sobbing.

The episode is The Offspring, and it just cements Data as my favorite character in all of Star Trek. I don't know if it hit so hard because I'm a father or because Lal looks at Data as she's dying and says, "I love you, father," and he replies, "I wish I could feel it with you." Are you kidding me?! That's devastating.

The beauty of this episode is how much it packs into 45 minutes - it starts off weird, goes into funny, takes a sharp turn into deep philosophy, and ends in tragedy. That's a lot for a '90s sci-fi show. Maybe I'm reading into it too much, but beyond the obvious "We hope our kids will be better than us" message, it almost felt like the show was saying feelings are a bug in the system - and when a logic machine like Data or Lal starts exhibiting them, it's dangerous. Either way, it's a great episode. And yes, I cried a lot.