Brent Spiner, however, was also thoughtful about his character. Although he noted that “Star Trek” was often “samey,” and that its samey-ness was a vital part of its continued existence, he also did note that Data did have the ability to grow and change. By the end of the series, Data was meant to be more human than he was at the start. Spiner said:
“Data has certainly changed from the first episode of the series, but that was a design built into it. Gene Roddenberry wanted this character to start as a sort of blank tablet, and his idea was that by the end of the day he would be as close to being human as possible … and still not. That’s the way it’s been written all the way down the line. They try to have Data experience or grapple with every aspect of the human condition.”
One of the plot points in “Insurrection” is when Data bonds with a young Ba’ku child who asks him if he ever had a conventional childhood filled with play and silliness. Data realized he hadn’t, having been built in an adult body. That was Spiner’s “hook” into Data for “Insurrection.” He said:
“In this particular film he’s dealing with locating the inner child. That’s a part of the human condition he hadn’t dealt with yet. This one went in a certain direction with the first two films where Data changed by virtue of having an emotion chip.”
Spiner ended with a word for the haters: “Some people liked it,” he said, “some people didn’t. I don’t really care.”
Data would eventually return in “Star Trek: Picard” with Spiner, 74, reprising the role. He did indeed become more human than ever on that series.
