S1E13 Datalore

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.