25 Best Episodes Of Star Trek EVER
10. The Measure Of A Man - Star Trek The Next Generation
One of the first great episodes of The Next Generation, The Measure of a Man is now infamous for Picard's speech on the rights on Androids and by extension sentient beings living in slavery in all of creation.
Star Trek Picard has already revisited this episode in a massive way, with the returning character of Commander Bruce Maddox creating Data's daughters Dahj and Soji. Here, he is the man attempting to dismantle Data, to study and better understand him. He is arrogant and closed to anything other than the process of his work.
While audiences had had time to get to know Data, the episode was a stark reminder that there was a universe outside the bulkheads of the Enterprise. It was one of the first great displays of acting from both Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner, as both actors were truly pushed in this episode. Data's calm lack of emotion helped the sympathy he elicits in the show and he was developing it piece by piece.
Here, in the second season, is one of the first examples of the Data that would come to be. It is an episode with heart, with passion and with a message. It was prime Roddenberry, showing the chance for the future to be the best that it can be, just sometimes needing a little reminder along the way.