Star Trek: Nemesis isn’t a fan favorite film, and one of it’s biggest negatives was the death of Lt. Commander Data.
Brent Spiner’s character had been part of Star Trek: The Next Generation for seven seasons and four movies, and while ultimately sacrificing himself for Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) was definitely something he would do, it didn’t ease fans’ dismay. Nor did it make it any easier to say goodbye to the beloved android.
One fan, who has a Youtube Channel named Honeycutt Videos, didn’t think Data’s death was as powerful as it could have been. Had more emotion been added, it could have been as good as Spock’s death was in Wrath of Khan. And that’s how this fan video was born.
A scene was deleted from Star Trek: Nemesis that would have added so much more emotion to Data’s death.
The edit includes a deleted scene where Geordi LaForge (LeVar Burton) and Worf (Michael Dorn) are in Data’s room after his death, gathering his things, and bit by bit, we see flashes of what we loved most about Data. Geordi finds his emotion chip, something that Data had wanted for the longest of times.
There’s the copy of “The Celebrated Cases of Sherlock Holmes” along with the pipe Data used when he played Holmes. And then there was the violin which Data played in two recitals on the Enterprise. And Worf packs up a painting which was most likely one Data had created as he loved to paint despite his struggles with the lack of emotion he could imbue in them.
Then we see Data’s antique sailor’s hat from Star Trek: Generations from Worf’s promotion ceremony which took place on the holodeck. And finally, Spot, Data’s cat, jumps into Worf’s arms, and we learn that Worf has now become the feline’s uncomfortable owner. Worf quickly says he’s not a cat person, and Geordi replies “you are now.”
The only thing that would have made this video even better would have been the addition of conversation Captain Picard had with B-4 and if a scene had been filmed with LaForge mourning his friend’s death. Otherwise, the video would have been the better way to say goodbye to an officer and a friend.