Star Trek: Picard: Why Geordi LaForge couldn’t say goodbye to Data

Lt. Commander Data’s death in Star Trek: Nemesis has always been an issue with fans who didn’t want to say goodbye to the android

And in Star Trek: Picard, Admiral Picard got the one opportunity that no other Star Trek: The Next Generation character got—to say goodbye. But there are some fans that have an issue with Data’s best friend, Geordi LaForge, being left out of the mix and believe he should have been given the same opportunity to say goodbye on Picard. The only problem with that is Picard’s death.

The only way Picard was able to see Data again and have a conversation with him was through dying. His body had given out, and he had passed away, opening a door to the afterlife or whatever you choose to call it. That enabled them to have a heart-to-heart talk that offered some closure. It also allowed Data to make one final request of his captain.

While some may believe the series could have made a goodbye talk happen between Geordi and Data, to do so, it would have had to jettison the events of Star Trek: Nemesis or killed Geordi, unless they gave the Chief Engineer a dream sequence. But, honestly, a dream sequence would not have offered the closure some fans wanted the android and his best friend to have as Geordi would only have been imagining what Data would be saying to him.

All of the characters on Star Trek: The Next Generation would have wanted the chance to tell Data goodbye, but his death happened so suddenly, so unexpectedly. Data saved Picard’s life in an ultimate act of sacrifice. It stands to reason the producers would want to give Picard an opening to share his feelings with Data. And it doesn’t mean the other characters meant less to Data or Data meant less to them.

It’s a part of life that we don’t always get the chance to say goodbye, and after twenty years, Geordi LaForge had mostly likely already come to terms with his friend’s death. Would he really have wanted to reopen a wound that had healed?

Picard and Data had unfinished business. They both needed to talk to one another. Bringing Data back onto Picard to give the two of them one last, unifying moment was a stroke of sheer brilliance.