Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) lost his head in Star Trek: The Next Generation, thanks to time travel and some pesky shapeshifting aliens. As the only advanced android of his kind serving in Starfleet, Data played a uniquely important role on the USS Enterprise-D. With his intellect, kindness, and android abilities, Data was one of the Enterprise's most indispensable crew members. Without Data, the Enterprise would have been destroyed several times over, and, in a few cases, the rest of the galaxy along with it.
Data's synthetic body meant that the android could not only lift heavy objects with ease, but was also resistant to the diseases and toxins that affected the rest of the crew. Data did not need to breathe or sleep, allowing him to participate in missions that would have been impossible for other crew members. Plus, Data could lose a limb, or even his head, and remain conscious without experiencing pain. Although Data sacrificed himself in Star Trek: Nemesis, Star Trek: Lower Decks still found a way to bring back the loveable android, with a (purple) twist.
Why Data’s Head Is Severed In Star Trek: TNG’s “Time’s Arrow”
Data's Head Is Severed In A Struggle With Time-Traveling Alien Shapeshifters
In the Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5 two-parter, "Time's Arrow," the USS Enterprise-D is called back to Earth after an excavation team finds Data's severed head in a San Francisco cavern. The head is surrounded by 19th-century Earth relics and fossils native to the planet of Devidia II, prompting the Enterprise to travel to Devidia II to investigate. As Data observes strange aliens who are out of phase with time, he is pulled through a portal that deposits him in 19th-century San Francisco, California. After an away team follows Data into the past, they all pursue two shapeshifting aliens to a cave near San Francisco.
In the ensuing struggle with the aliens, Data's head becomes detached from his body and the Enterprise's away team is forced to travel back to the future without it. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) remains behind to aid an injured Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) and he hides a message in Data's head warning the Enterprise not to attack Devidia II. Back in the 24th century, Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) re-attaches Data's 500-year-old head. Data then relays the message Picard left and he and Geordi engineer a way to stop the shapeshifting aliens without endangering Earth.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Parodies Data’s Severed Head
"Please Do Not Shut Me Down Mid-Conversation."
In Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 7, "Fully Dilated," Lieutenants Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), D'Vana Tendi (Noël Wells), and T'Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) go undercover on the planet Dilmer III to retrieve technology left behind by a purple alternate universe USS Enterprise-D. Once there, they discover the purple disembodied head of Lt. Commander Data. Stranded on the planet as they wait for a signal from the Cerritos, Mariner, Tendi, and T'Lyn begin settling in. Tendi has her eyes on the new Science Officer position aboard the Cerritos, and she is determined to accomplish as much as she can while on Dilmer III.
Upon learning that the Prime Universe USS Enterprise-D is "just neutral gray," Data remarks that "that seems like a missed opportunity when purple is an option."
Tendi finds a way to awaken Data's head and asks him for help as she works to improve her science officer resume. As Data helps Tendi perform science, he mentions that he once "struggled to build an electromagnetic field core when [he] was trapped in 19th century San Francisco." Data directly references the events of "Time's Arrow" and remains encouraging and supportive of Tendi despite the fact that he is merely a disembodied head. After the away team finally makes it back to the Cerritos, purple Data suggests that Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) give the Science Officer position to both Tendi and T'Lyn.
Futurama Also Parodied Data’s Severed Head
Bender Loses His Head In Futurama's "Roswell That Ends Well"
The popular adult animated comedy Futurama also parodied Data's severed head in season 3, episode 19, "Roswell That Ends Well." When a mishap involving a supernova and a microwave sends Fry (Billy West) and his friends back to 1947, their robot companion, Bender (John DiMaggio), gets smashed into several pieces. The crew takes Bender's disembodied head, and they begin searching for a way to return to their own time. They carry Bender's head around with them, much like Tendi, Mariner, and T'Lyn do in Star Trek: Lower Decks.
Data's head also spent several centuries lying on Earth before it was reattached to his body.
As Fry and his friends begin the trip home, Bender's head falls from their Planet Express ship and lands in the New Mexico desert. With no time to retrieve the disembodied head, the crew returns to the future, but they return to New Mexico in the 31st century to find Bender's head buried in the sand. In Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Time's Arrow," Data's head also spent several centuries lying on Earth before it was reattached to his body. For the rest of Futurama and Star Trek: The Next Generation, Bender and Data both had heads that were over 1000 and 500 years old, respectively.
