Season 1 Episode 13: Datalore
Watchability: Recommended
Short Answer: Starts one of the best character arcs of the show that carries over to the movies.
Notables: Introduction of Lore. "Shut-up Wesley" internet meme.
As I have said before, TNG existed in an era of television before there were sweeping plot arcs. Most episodes are fairly self-contained and in large part can be watched in any order. That being said, there are a couple character arcs that run throughout the series. This episode begins one of the more involved story arcs and it is one of my favorites. Unlike a lot of other story lines, it reappears in season finales and it is even present in the TNG movies.
This particular episode delves into Data's backstory. Until this episode, I feel like Data is mainly a reboot of the Spock character from TOS. In every iteration of Star Trek, there seems to be a character that plays to the same story beats as Spock.
In TOS, Spock's character played the role of an outsider; an alien that questioned the strange tendencies of humans. Sometimes it was used for comedic value, but it was often used to examine what makes humanity unique or special (or at least as the writers saw it). That plot device was so successful it has become a de-facto part of Star Trek. Every show since the original series has a character that serves the same purpose (ex. Data, Odo, Seven of Nine, T'Pol).
Depending on the series, the attempt to recreate the Spock character has varying degrees of success. With Data's character, I think they do that successfully and even manage to build on it. Data has his own unique story lines. Some of them we won't see until later, but this episode marks the beginning of moving Data away from just a Spock clone. For that reason, and because it sets up stories and characters to come, I definitely recommend it.
Side Note: The scene where both Picard and Dr. Crusher tell Wesley Crusher to "Shut-up" has become an internet meme. You can see many clips of it on YouTube, and even a Tumblr or two, but if you want a T-Shirt, they have those too.
We just watched this episode this weekend as my last from Season 1 (for now, unless there are some after this that you *really* recommend). I thought it was interesting that Lore's version of being more human than Data was being more of a dick. It's a recurring theme that humans are terrible, isn't it? Not that I'm necessarily disagreeing...
ReplyDeleteI agree about Lore. I think it is part of what makes him such a great foil for Data. I think it is interesting that what Data strives for so much is what makes Lore so terrible (life lesson maybe?). It's unfortunate that the Lore stories are sprinkled in randomly among the rest, because he is one of the best reoccurring characters.
DeleteI am in the middle of editing a draft post for the one after next ("11001001"). It really surprised me at how good it was. I liked it a lot and it's probably my favorite from this season so far. Like most things, I worry that it is a lot of nostalgia. I would say go ahead and skip "Angel One" and watch "11001001" and that might be a decent time for a break if you are getting ready for one. There are one or two in the rest of the season that are "famous" episodes, but at this point I'm not confident whether I'll recommend them or not.