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Published Jan 27, 2026, 5:18 PM EST
Collier Jennings is an entertainment journalist with a substantial amount of experience under his belt. Collier, or "CJ" to his friends and family, is a dedicated fan of genre films - particularly science fiction, fantasy and comic book adaptations, not to mention all forms of animation animation. This stems from a close bond with his father, who introduced him to these genres via copies of X-Men comics and reruns of the original Ultraman series. Using his near-encyclopedic knowledge and bottomless love of genre, he's been able to tackle a wide variety of articles.
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When Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered, it marked major milestones for the Star Trek franchise. Not only was it introducing a new cast of characters and a whole new host of foes, but it also started to push the boundaries of what Star Trek could do on television. The best example comes from the iconic Season 2 episode "Measure of a Man", which finds Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) at the center of a trial over whether he's Starfleet property or a living being. "Measure of a Man" is often regarded as the point where The Next Generation came into its own, but there's a quote that fundamentally challenges the foundations of Star Trek.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) chooses to defend Data, even though this pits him against his first office Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) in the process. In the closing moments of the trial, Picard delivers a stunning speech that proves Data is alive, and caps it off with this sentence: "Starfleet was founded to seek out new life. Well there it stands." Picard's statement doesn't just validate Data as a living being; it also reveals that the Federation might not be the utopia that fans were expecting. It also showcases why Starfleet's ideals still matter.
Data's Identity Validates The Core Concept of 'Star Trek'
Image via Paramount TelevisionWatching Data's trial in "Measure of a Man" brings the phrase "to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations" to mind. Those words were made famous by James T. Kirk (William Shatner) in Star Trek: The Original Series, but they aren't just part of a catchy opening speech. They're also a core reminder of Starfleet's key principles, and Star Trek's in general. By saying that Data is a new lifeform, Picard shows that he is still able to follow Starfleet's principles, and also calls out those who would ignore or subvert said principles.
"Measure of a Man" wouldn't be the last time newly sentinent life appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the Season 3 episode "The Offspring", Data creates a daughter named Lal, which once again leads to Picard having a heated moral debate with Starfleet about her humanity. Season 5's "I, Borg" gives humanity to the previously inhuman Borg through one of their recently assimiliated, Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco); later, Star Trek: First Contact would explore Picard's rage at the Borg for assimiliating him and show that even he had a blind spot when it came to living beings.
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Other Star Trek Series Explore The Federation's Flaws
Star Trek: The Next Generation would be the first series to explore the flaws in Starfleet, but it wouldn't be the last. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine pushed Starfleet's ideals to its limits during the Dominion War, and also introduced the spy organization known as Section 31. Star Trek: Discovery radically shook up the future of Star Trek when it leaped forward into the 32nd century; Starfleet had dissolved in the wake of the galaxy-wide destruction called "the Burn", leading the Discovery's crew to reignite the Federation's light in arguably its darkest hour. The series that arguably challenged Starfleet as an institution the most was Star Trek: Picard, which featured an older Jean-Luc Picard who had retired from commanding the Enterprise
In the pilot episode, "Remembrance", Picard is asked why he left Starfleet. In response, he delivers a fiery commendation of Starfleet's inability to help Romulus evacuate its people before it was destroyed by a supernova:
"Because it was no longer Starfleet! We withdrew. The galaxy was mourning, burying its dead, and Starfleet slunk from its duties. The decision to call off the rescue and to abandon those people we had sworn to save was not just dishonorable, it was downright criminal! And I was not prepared to stand by and be a spectator!"
This was a shocking revelation, but it shows that for all the advancements humanity has made in the Star Trek universe, there's still some moral myopia that can overcome Starfleet. "The Measure of a Man" was only the first step to exploring a moral frontier, and future Star Trek stories should keep it in mind.
Release Date 1987 - 1994-00-00
Network Syndication
Showrunner Gene Roddenberry
Writers René Echevarria, Maurice Hurley, Richard Manning, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Tracy Tormé, Hannah Louise Shearer, Stuart Charno, Ira Steven Behr, Sara B. Cooper, Peter Allan Fields, Herbert Wright, Frank Abatemarco, Burton Armus, Hilary Bader, Morgan Gendel, David Kemper, Michael I. Wagner, Philip LaZebnik, Robert McCullough, Susan Sackett, Nick Sagan, Fred Bronson, Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Sam Rolfe
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Commander William T. Riker
English (US) ·