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Title: Datalore (16 Jan 1988)
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| Episode complete credited cast: | |||
| 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 | ... | Lt. Worf | |
| Gates McFadden | ... | Dr. Beverly Crusher | |
| Marina Sirtis | ... | Counselor Deanna Troi (credit only) | |
| Brent Spiner | ... | Lt. Commander Data / Lore | |
| Wil Wheaton | ... | Wesley Crusher | |
| Biff Yeager | ... | Argyle | |
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. Written by garykmcd
'Datalore' is one of the few season one episodes I'd never seen and, aside from a few head-scratchers, it's definitely a highlight. Dr. Soong's underground lab is found, meaning we're in for some Data backstory. Cue the intro of Lore, about as close to a brother there can be. Except it turns out he's a bad guy. Brent Spiner owns in this; it's an opportunity for him to stretch his legs. He plays each one completely differently - one naive, the other conniving. There's even a brawl in the cargo bay, straight out of The Original Series. The doubles used while a sole actor has to be in two places at once is surprisingly effective.
And then - seemingly out of nowhere - everyone gangs up on Wesley. now on one hand, I finally get to see the origin of the "Shut up, Wesley!" meme, but everyone just sort of goes full-on dick toward him. It's a weird scene, especially since he has a very valid point.
And Lore's turn from curiosity to villain is just a tad forced, but overall, these are just a few bumps in an otherwise well-paved road.
7/10