Getting To The Bottom Of The Bottle: 25 Best Bottle Episodes

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Star Trek: The Next Generation – “Data’s Day”

In terms of the letter of the bottle episode law, this one might be stretching it a bit. I include it in this list because its focus is solely on Data, and we get a look at the robust world of the Enterprise through his eyes. He was one of the  most popular characters on the show, and so it was a real treat to get a sense of his perspective on things we took for granted when looking through other characters’ eyes.

Things like a pet cat and a wedding preoccupy Data all day, and it has a sense of whimsy we didn’t get a lot of on this show. Data volunteers to help his friend with a study on artificial intelligence so Data starts a daily blog, although back then we just called it a journal. Data decides to focus his studies on his friendships, specifically his involvement in the wedding of his close friend, Keiko Ishikawa.

Through Data’s aloof, non-human perspective, we get a more objective view of the absurdities of the mundanity of human nature and our rituals. These rituals include learning to dance at a wedding, getting advice from a trusted friend, owning an animal and shopping for a gift. This all sounds terribly anti-climactic, but it worked out to be a charming dive into a character that we thought we couldn’t know any better.