Episode complete credited cast: | |||
Patrick Stewart | ... | Capt. Jean-Luc Picard | |
Jonathan Frakes | ... | Cmdr. William Riker | |
LeVar Burton | ... | Lt. Geordi La Forge | |
Denise Crosby | ... | Lt. Tasha Yar | |
Michael Dorn | ... | Lt. Worf | |
Gates McFadden | ... | Dr. Beverly Crusher | |
Marina Sirtis | ... | Counselor Deanna Troi (credit only) | |
Brent Spiner | ... | Lt. Cmdr. 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
This episode of TNG brings us to the home planet where Dr. Sung created the Android entity Data. Way back when the entire population of the planet was wiped out and Data was the only one found and turned off as well.
The away team discovers Dr. Sung's laboratory and the makings of another prototype Android and when put together Data finds he has a brother named Lore.
This episode belongs to Brent Spiner who plays both Data and Lore. Lore was given human emotions and he's all too human. Like the Krells, Dr. Sung forgot about the ID. Lore has the brilliance of an exponential Einstein and the humanity of Adolph Hitler. He in fact is the reason the population is no more on his home planet.
When like in The Man In The Iron Mask the identities are switched only for the worst in this case. It is Wil Wheaton who is the first who spots behavioral anomalies, but when he brings it to Patrick Stewart who is dealing with a crisis on the bridge that never to be forgotten phrase of 'shut up Wesley' comes uncharacteristically from a usually unflappable Picard.
In fact it's Wesley Crusher and Data who save the Enterprise. Although in disposing of Lore, all I can say is good thing for him he's an Android because no carbon based life form would have survived to come back for several more episodes over the course of the series run.