Okona's Existential Charade
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Okona banters with Wesley over nicknames, drawing Data into earshot; Data warns about bridge restrictions and protocol, setting up a friction between Okona's rule‑breaking charm and Starfleet regulations.
Geordi declines escorting Okona; Okona pivots and politely secures Data as his escort to C-deck, initiating a sustained two‑handed interaction that shifts Okona's focus toward provoking Data's curiosity about humanity.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Flustered and expectant
B.G. Robinson awaits Okona's arrival at the designated room, returning his smile and stepping aside to let him in, clearly expecting his arrival for a romantic rendezvous.
- • Engage in a private rendezvous with Okona
- • Maintain professional decorum despite personal desires
- • Personal relationships can coexist with professional duties
- • Okona's charm is worth the risk of bending protocol
Charming and speculative, with fleeting melancholy when discussing love
Okona pivots from charming Wesley to manipulating Data, securing an escort through the Enterprise. He engages Data in a philosophical conversation about human experiences, feigning depth while probing the android's limitations, and ultimately telling a joke Data can't comprehend before slipping away to a romantic rendezvous.
- • Gain freedom of movement aboard the Enterprise
- • Explore Data's understanding of human experiences
- • Human experiences like love and humor are integral to a fulfilling life
- • Rules are meant to be bent or broken for personal advantage
Confused and intellectually stimulated by Okona's questions
Data escorts Okona through the Enterprise corridors, engaging in a conversation about human experiences like temperature, intoxication, and love. He fails to comprehend Okona's joke, leading to deep confusion about the nature of humor.
- • Fulfill his duty as an escort for Okona
- • Understand human experiences and humor
- • Human experiences can be logically defined and understood
- • Humor is a quantifiable phenomenon with dictionary definitions
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Enterprise corridor serves as the setting for Okona and Data's philosophical conversation, its clinical brightness and duranium-lined expanse contrasting with the organic spontaneity of Okona's humor and the android's rigid logic.
C Deck serves as Okona's destination for a romantic rendezvous with B.G. Robinson, its functional neutrality providing the perfect cover for their private interaction away from the scrutiny of command centers.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Okona's failed joke with Data sharpens Data's awareness of his deficiency, prompting Guinan to confront Data about his inability to laugh."
"The early beat of Data's confusion about jokes echoes forward into the resolution where Data, having pursued understanding, finally provokes laughter—completing his mini-arc."
"The early beat of Data's confusion about jokes echoes forward into the resolution where Data, having pursued understanding, finally provokes laughter—completing his mini-arc."
"The early beat of Data's confusion about jokes echoes forward into the resolution where Data, having pursued understanding, finally provokes laughter—completing his mini-arc."
Key Dialogue
"OKONA: Life is like loading twice your cargo weight on your spacecraft... if it's canaries and you can keep half of them flying all the time, you're all right."
"DATA: Get what?"
"OKONA: The punch line... The gag... That was a joke I told you."