Why did Data stop using his emotion chip after FC?

[The Rock]

This question goes for both real life reasons and storyline reasons.

Did the writers just find Data more interesting a character without emotions, and that's why he never had it in INS and Nemesis?

As far as storyline reasons go, wouldn't removing his emotion chip go against his quest to learn more about humanity? I thought his whole goal was to become more human, so wouldn't experiencing emotions be the best way to do so?

 

[jackoverfull]

Data has an emotion chip in Insurrection, it’s mentioned in dialogue and is now removable. Interestingly, he doesn’t bring it to Ba’ku for unknown reasons.

No idea if he had it in Nemesis, hard to tell one way or the other.

 

[Relayer1]

After the last year or so I'd have stopped using one too.

 

[The Rock]

Data has an emotion chip in Insurrection, it’s mentioned in dialogue and is now removable. Interestingly, he doesn’t bring it to Ba’ku for unknown reasons.

No idea if he had it in Nemesis, hard to tell one way or the other.

I don't count Insurrection, since he never used it in it and they said he removed it before he ever went to Ba'ku.

 

[Vger23]

Because it was a terrible story idea that fundamentally altered one of the most unique things about the character.

 

[fireproof78]

IT was a huge inconsistency in the films. In Generations it was fused and couldn't be removed or deactivated. In First Contact it could be deactivated. Then in Insurrection it is removable again. It seems that Data regressed.

 

[Kor]

In-universe, Data probably spent time between movies working with cyberneticists and engineers to un-fuse it and such.

Kor

 

[STEPhon IT]

Data has an emotion chip in Insurrection, it’s mentioned in dialogue and is now removable. Interestingly, he doesn’t bring it to Ba’ku for unknown reasons.

No idea if he had it in Nemesis, hard to tell one way or the other.

Would his emotion chip be relevant to the plots of both movies and how would it be a positive to the narrative?

 

[Eckauskas]

Perhaps he felt some kind of guilt (or as close as he can feel guilt) because his emotion chip caused him to hide while Geordi was taken by the Duras sisters, inadvertently causing the destruction of the Enterprise-D and the loss of lives from the saucer crashing on Viridian III. Then finding himself tempted by the Borg Queens offer in FC might've caused him to think it wasn't worth the trouble.

 

[Timo]

It only ever was a pair of training wheels. And probably Soong bolted them onto Data five years too late, not helping out with the learning process any, and merely making the other kids ridicule Data (even if his brother was secretly envious). After all, dad had missed out on those years during which Data not only learned to emote, but to do it without hands and with eyes closed.

Data would keep the chip for a while out of respect to dad. And then ditch it in the deepest and dirtiest ditch he could find.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[MakeshiftPython]

The real life reason is that Michael Piller felt that giving Data the emotion chip made him stray too far from his original appeal as a character, that he should always be someone that strives to be more human and that giving him an emotion chip takes away from that.

I sort of get where he's coming from. If Data should have emotions, it would have been more interesting to see him actually develop that internally rather than just be a special external device you install and PRESTO! After all, we saw Lal develop emotions well on her own without such a device, shouldn't Data be able to achieve that?

 

[STEPhon IT]

The evolution of Data was the sprinkles on the ice cream when watching TNG; I thought every season another layer of the character unraveled with some interesting points. It was like a first for everything he did when it came to exploring humanity and the movies should've gravitated on that instead of what was done. Could there been a point where Data felt leaving Starfleet would be a way to expand his humanity and then all of a sudden it was denied for some reason? Is there a danger thought about within the league of aliens where such a being may not fit within their universe? Movies I feel should be grand, a grandeur for the character and a larger obstacle for the internal workings of him. Data was that vessel and unfortunately the producers just scratched the surface, a waste of the character.

 

[Mad Mike]

Because Michael Pillar and John Logan hate the idea of character growth.

 

[Herbert]

Because it was a terrible story idea that fundamentally altered one of the most unique things about the character.

There you go.

/end thread

 

[MakeshiftPython]

Because Michael Pillar and John Logan hate the idea of character growth.

Piller seemed to always be about character growth, I think he simply didn't like HOW the initial films proceeded with that growth where all he had to do was install a chip rather than push his own boundaries. When Data developed the ability to dream, it wasn't due to a chip but something inherent within his system.

 

[cardinal biggles]

Because Michael Pillar and John Logan hate the idea of character growth.

On the contrary, I agree with Piller's thinking that giving Data the chip in Generations took away from his character growth. It gave the movie some comic relief, but didn't do a whole lot for his character. But by that point, you can't squeeze the toothpaste back into the tube... let's face it, TNG was better as a TV show.

As for Logan, he's a hack who somehow manages to keep getting work despite others having to be brought in to constantly clean up his messes. The less said about Nemesis, the better.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

On the contrary, I agree with Piller's thinking that giving Data the chip in Generations took away from his character growth. It gave the movie some comic relief, but didn't do a whole lot for his character. But by that point, you can't squeeze the toothpaste back into the tube... let's face it, TNG was better as a TV show.

As for Logan, he's a hack who somehow manages to keep getting work despite others having to be brought in to constantly clean up his messes. The less said about Nemesis, the better.

Logan has had a better career outside of Trek, so I wouldn't hold NEMESIS entirely against him. We've seen from Michael Piller's account on what he had to deal with when writing INSURRECTION, and he was one of the top esteemed Trek writers. I have no doubt Logan had to deal with the same factors when writing his screenplay.

 

[cardinal biggles]

Logan has had a better career outside of Trek, so I wouldn't hold NEMESIS entirely against him. We've seen from Michael Piller's account on what he had to deal with when writing INSURRECTION, and he was one of the top esteemed Trek writers. I have no doubt Logan had to deal with the same factors when writing his screenplay.

Logan's certainly had a charmed career given the projects he's worked on, but I think he's highly overrated. Perhaps the most telling moment was at the 2005 Golden Globes when Leonardo DiCaprio was giving his acceptance speech for Best Actor, Drama for The Aviator, and thanked Michael Mann and John Logan for their "intricate, involved script"; Logan received sole writing credit on the film, so Leo inadvertently outed Mann as having rewritten Logan's script. God bless awards shows with an open bar.

 

[Yistaan]

In-universe, keep in mind that Data somehow as an android feels things a lot more concretely with his emotions chip. He recalls events from decades ago with crystal clarity. With the emotions chip on, he'd probably just go insane from what he did in "Descent", without the fraility of human memories that would dull the guilt with time.

Data says in First Contact that he was tempted by the Borg Queen's offer for "Zero point six eight seconds, sir. For an android ...that is nearly an eternity."

Imagine him going through far more difficult emotional situations that last far longer than 0.68 seconds, and him feeling every microsecond of it as an eternity. And honestly, First Contact's emotional situation wasn't even hard for Data--Borg Queen bad, Federation good. And if Data was tempted by her physical temptations, he knows he can just deal with that in the holodeck.

I did some time ago wonder why the Borg didn't just deactivate Data's ethics in First Contact though: https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/why-didnt-the-borg-queen-deactivate-datas-ethical-program.296675/

Just the sheer horror of the Dominion War might have been too much for Data. No wonder he frequently had the chip off.

 

[fireproof78]

I thought it was because the hardware didn't support the latest update.