“The Bonding”
“The Bonding” While studying the remains of the extinct Koinonians, Marla Aster is killed by a still active bomb. She leaves behind her son Jeremy. Briefly after, however, she seems to be alive again and creates a perfect life for Jeremy. Actually, it is an energy entity that felt sorry about the loss and tried to compensate for it. Picard explains that the boy needs to stay in the real world, and the entity retreats. Jeremy and Worf, who is sorry that Marla Aster was killed in his away team, perform the R’uustai, a Klingon brotherhood ritual. summary by Ex-Astris-Scientia
Woohoo! Another Data episode! A kid who’s so fascinated by him that he wants to emulate him? Count me in!
Okay, joking aside, the episode gets a little boring when watched a few times but it’s still a fascinating psychological study. The boy’s experience is traumatic and it’s quite believable he’d choose a role model who has no feelings. Deanna was smart to just let it be. And Data, with his usual dedication turned out to be a great soul healer.