Thursday, January 22, 2009

Star Trek: TNG Season 1 - Datalore

Link to StarTrek.com episode guide.

As I progress through the first season, I can see all the different ways that this season laid out a foundation for the series to grow and expand on.  This episode established two recurring villains and a great recurring character with the appearance of Lore and the Crystalline Entity.

We really get in to some bogeyman territory here with a villain that is never really explained but has terrible powers.  I think it’s part of human psychology to fear things like this, which is why it shows up in the show. 

The episode has a brief mention of the Laws of Robotics invented by Asimov and his vision of a positronic brain.  It also shows an alternate vision of how things might turn out if artificial intelligence is possible.  Another theme that is touched upon with the larger story arc that develops with Data and his brother is the debate between Nature vs. Nurture.  Or, in this case, programming vs. experience. 

Cool Gadget/Science:

  • Data has an off-switch – Shhhh! Don’t tell!

Fun Stuff:

  • We really get to see Brent Spiner’s range as an actor since he gets to play both parts.
  • Incidentally, for any of those twitter folks out there, Brent Spiner, Levar Burton, and Wil Wheaton are all on twitter.  (And I am too.)

2 comments:

Suzie Ridler said...

I loved the episode of L&O with Brent, he can be soooooo creepy! A good actor indeed. I would love the watch the shows in order, I don't think I have ever done that. We just watched it together as a family during reruns (if I remember right). I like TNG very much. I think it had the greatest ethics and intelligent writing out of all of the shows.

And holy cow, that sounds like one tiny kitchen! Smaller than a boat's? I hope you have a bigger one now!

Genie Sea said...

Love the reviews, and your take of trek! Not a fan of twitter. :)