The Limits of Literal Translation
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Picard delivers a tactical solution: Data has learned Riva's language and can serve as his translator at the summit, proposing an immediate workaround to Riva's communication loss.
Data echoes Riva's signed reply and bluntly rejects the proposal, asserting that he 'needs [his] words' and that the suggested fix will not work.
Data spells out the core problem: a literal translation lacks the nuance and shading Riva's Chorus provides, framing the loss as an existential impediment to mediation.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Frustration sublimated into calculated aggression
Picard transitions from optimistic problem-solving to aggressive confrontation, physically advancing on Riva while strategically wielding accusations like weapons to break through despair.
- • Force Riva to confront his capabilities beyond technology
- • Prevent planetary genocide through any means necessary
- • Extreme circumstances justify extreme psychological tactics
- • Riva's true skill lies in himself, not his Chorus
Frustrated self-awareness of limitations
Data serves as both imperfect translator and accidental provocateur, his mechanical precision highlighting the very emotional deficiencies Riva laments.
- • Facilitate communication despite emotional translation barriers
- • Objectively assess the viability of his participation
- • Language algorithms cannot replicate human emotional nuance
- • Imperfect communication is preferable to none
Alarmed concern with professional restraint
Troi acts as empathic strategist, quietly advising Picard to shift tactics while monitoring Riva's deteriorating emotional state through subtle physical proximity.
- • Prevent psychological harm to Riva while enabling breakthrough
- • Guide Picard toward emotionally effective strategies
- • Riva's despair requires nonstandard intervention
- • Direct confrontation may access hidden resilience
Defensive fury masking existential terror
Riva cycles through defiance, despair, and rage, his signing becoming increasingly violent as Picard dismantles his professional identity, culminating in a physical lunge restrained only by self-control.
- • Reject inadequate technological substitutes for his Chorus
- • Protect his identity as a legitimate mediator
- • Without his Chorus, he cannot mediate effectively
- • Literally translated words lack necessary emotional resonance
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Riva's disabled communication device becomes the invisible elephant in the room—its absence making Data's literal interpretations painfully inadequate, and serving as the catalyst for Picard's verbal confrontation strategy.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Observation Lounge transforms into an emotional pressure cooker, its panoramic starfield backdrop contrasting with the claustrophobic intensity of the confrontation as characters orbit the central conference table in escalating tension.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Data's study and rapid acquisition of gestural languages directly enables Picard's tactical idea to use Data as Riva's temporary translator at the summit."
"Data's study and rapid acquisition of gestural languages directly enables Picard's tactical idea to use Data as Riva's temporary translator at the summit."
"Picard's deliberate provocation—labeling Riva a 'fake'—directly triggers Riva to bolt from the room, shifting the crisis from argument to immediate, personal collapse."
"Picard's deliberate provocation—labeling Riva a 'fake'—directly triggers Riva to bolt from the room, shifting the crisis from argument to immediate, personal collapse."
"The proposal that Data translate for Riva sparks a sequence of exchanges (Data's objections, literal translation concerns) that escalate when Picard presses Riva and accuses him of hiding behind the Chorus—provoking an intense emotional reaction."
"The proposal that Data translate for Riva sparks a sequence of exchanges (Data's objections, literal translation concerns) that escalate when Picard presses Riva and accuses him of hiding behind the Chorus—provoking an intense emotional reaction."
"Picard's deliberate provocation—labeling Riva a 'fake'—directly triggers Riva to bolt from the room, shifting the crisis from argument to immediate, personal collapse."
"Picard's deliberate provocation—labeling Riva a 'fake'—directly triggers Riva to bolt from the room, shifting the crisis from argument to immediate, personal collapse."
"The proposal that Data translate for Riva sparks a sequence of exchanges (Data's objections, literal translation concerns) that escalate when Picard presses Riva and accuses him of hiding behind the Chorus—provoking an intense emotional reaction."
"The proposal that Data translate for Riva sparks a sequence of exchanges (Data's objections, literal translation concerns) that escalate when Picard presses Riva and accuses him of hiding behind the Chorus—provoking an intense emotional reaction."
"Riva's flight from the Observation Lounge leads Picard to find and reach him in his quarters, setting up the intimate confrontation that reignites Riva's agency."
"Riva's flight from the Observation Lounge leads Picard to find and reach him in his quarters, setting up the intimate confrontation that reignites Riva's agency."
Key Dialogue
"RIVA (via Data): "There -- that is what I mean. Your translation is literal. You say words. I do not need just words -- I need nuance, and subtlety... the shadings my Chorus enable me to communicate.""
"PICARD: "You hide behind your Chorus. You're a fake.""
"RIVA (via Data): "You are attempting to provoke me. It is not going to work.""