Datalore (16 Jan. 1988)

The Enterprise visits the planet where Data was created and discovers another android like him, but when he's assembled, he's not EXACTLY like him.

Director:

Rob Bowman

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (creator), Robert Lewin (teleplay),

Stars:

Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Patrick Stewart	...	Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes	...	Commander William T. Riker
LeVar Burton	...	Lieutenant Geordi La Forge
Denise Crosby	...	Lieutenant Tasha Yar
Michael Dorn	...	Lieutenant Worf
Gates McFadden	...	Doctor Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis	...	Counselor Deanna Troi (credit only)
Brent Spiner	...	Lt. Commander Data / Lore
Wil Wheaton	...	Wesley Crusher
Biff Yeager	...	Argyle

Storyline

The Enterprise visits Data's planet, Omicron Theta, to see if they can learn more about his somewhat unknown beginnings. The entire population of the planet died of unknown reasons many years previously with Data being found just around that time. Although they find no one alive, they do find a huge underground complex and, surprisingly, a disassembled version of Data. They re-build him and once activated, he introduces himself as Lor, an earlier and, he claims, a superior version of Data. He claims he was disassembled because he was so human-like that he frightened the local population. In fact, he knows far more than he is letting on and has the ability to call upon a crystalline entity of great destructive power, the very power that destroyed the planet and killed all of its inhabitants. All he has to do is find a way to impersonate Data.

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Plot Keywords:

speaking klingon | 24th century | character name in title

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 January 1988 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title is a compilation of two characters' names, Data and his "brother' Lore.

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Goofs

When Data first discovers Lore's body components, he has a very emotional response to this, such as when real humans discover a long-lost relative.

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Quotes

Lore: [after trapping Worf in a turbolift with him] Now show me your warrior fierceness.

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Connections

Referenced in Star Trek: The Next Generation: Brothers (1990)

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Soundtracks

"Abdulla Bulbul Amir"
Written by Percy French
Performed by Brent Spiner

User Reviews

My review of TNG's "Datalore"

This is one of the best episodes of the 1st season featuring a tour-de-force performance by actor Brent Spiner in the dual role of android twin brothers Data and Lore. One is a good, model, android Starfleet Officer. The other is an evil, manipulative, out of control android recently reassembled and reactivated by the Enterprise-D crew.

The audience is in on the fact that Lore is evil, and it is up to the Enterprise-D crew to find this out eventually. Interestingly, young Wesley Crusher catches on early on, but Picard doesn't want to hear any of it from that young boy so he tells him "Shut up, Wesley!" So does his mother, who tells him "Shut up, Wesley!" so that her son won't disrupt the bridge crew. But a mild disruption to the bridge crew is nothing compared to the havoc that is in store from the malevolent Lore.

The climax of this exciting, well-written episode features an early-CGI of a gigantic crystal entity. You have to see it to believe it. Its destructive power is what caused the annihilation of Data and Lore's colony in the first place. This episode is an original, and interesting twist on the "doppleganger" story. Brent Spiner and the writers of this teleplay are to be highly commended. :)