'Star Trek: Nemesis' screenwriter says Data never really died

On the podcast, Frakes asked Logan, who also created the Gothic drama Penny Dreadful, “Do you believe that Data died in Nemesis?” To which the three-time Oscar nominee answered “No!” rather emphatically. Frakes followed up by saying, “That’s the author right there. That’s my answer.” Brent Spiner, who returned to the role of Data for Nemesis to give him closure, even agreed. He said, “I never thought so. I wanted him to. But I didn’t think it was happening, really.” The end of Nemesis sees Data’s programming now uploaded into the simpler (but identical-looking) android B-4. At first, the programming doesn’t take. But soon, he starts singing a favorite song of Data’s, suggesting Data would return in his body in the next film. But there was no next TNG film.

Almost twenty years later, in the first season of Picard, the Data storyline finally finds resolution. We learned that Data’s programming did indeed survive, and Data wanted to die now to learn about mortality. But in Picard season three, Data returned for real. Now in a new, more human (and aged) synthetic form, which he shared with his android brothers, Lore and B-4. Eventually, Data emerged as the dominant personality, integrating the rest. So in the end, Data died, but like Spock before him, came back to life. Unlike Spock, however, it took him two decades to do so. But now we know, it was always the intent for Data not to stay dead. He just took the long way home.