Star Trek: 10 Worst Things Data Has Ever Done
4. Stabbed Troi (Phantasms)
Unusually Data is in control of all his faculties during the bizarre nightmares of season seven's Phantasms.
Straws in heads, Victorian engineers and Sigmund Freud aside, there's one part of this which is both utterly bonkers. and in turn, the catalyst for the second part of the episode. In one of Star Trek's eeriest and most chilling sequences, Troi senses (how, Data's an android?) that she's being followed. Entering the turbolift she seems to be fine until Data forces the door open. Menacing and with a focused stare in place he proceeds, almost Psycho-like, to stab Deanna in her shoulder.
It is revealed that the crew have been infected by parasites that are extracting their cellular peptides. These were were living in the new warp core and awoke when it was activated. Data is on the verge of a cybernetic neurosis throughout this episode with the attack on Troi being the culmination of his subconscious experiences.
If you saw this in the UK on it's first BBC2 airing then the episode clipped to the following scene just as Data raised the knife and skipped Troi's screams. Yes, sometimes a cake is just a cake but he gets off lightly once more.