2. A British Tar - Star Trek: Insurrection
Paramount Pictureshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M38niSUEWtY None of us is sure why these last few Star Trek movies involve so much music at inappropriate times, but between "Magic Carpet Ride" in the last movie, the wedding reception in the next one, and
this scene, it feels like Star Trek has turned into a Broadway show. We're talking the Spider-Man show, not Cats. On top of it all, nothing, absolutely nothing, about this scene makes sense. The idea is that since Data is malfunctioning but is still processing information well enough to keep Picard and Worf at bay, perhaps he'll respond to something he was recently working on - and of course, that just happens to be yet another production of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. (Honestly, were the works of Ionesco and Miller lost in the post-atomic horror or something?) So, in order to get Data to respond to a different stimulus long enough for them to grapple onto his shuttle and tow him back to the ship, Picard sings. Picard sings "A British Tar." Picard sings "A British Tar" by Gilbert and Sullivan. The lyrics of which are displayed on his console along with a bouncing ball to allow for singing along. A
freakin' bouncing ball. There's a point at which Picard tells Worf to sing along, and we cut to Worf looking very unhappy while he shakes his head. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the only proper response to this scene.