Podcast: Misssion Log 107 – Star Trek: TNG’s ‘Datalore’

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The 13th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation gives us two Spiners for the price of one, with Data’s rascally twin Lore being introduced. Listen to the Mission Log gang discuss "Datalore" in the latest podcast below.

Mission Log 108 – “Datalore” (Star Trek: TNG Season 1, Episode 13)

What does it mean to be alive? What does it mean to find out that you are not exactly one of a kind? Can Data find a new sense of being now that he has a brother? Or will the TV curse of the evil twin prevail? Find out as “Datalore” is put into the Mission Log.

 

LISTEN: MISSION LOG PODCAST

 

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Data ponders “if I kill the boy, will anyone notice?

 


 

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I remember watching this show first run and thinking that “finally, some action, and it’s getting better!” That feeling didn’t last long, and didn’t return until later in the second season.

This ep is a ham-fisted “evil twin” bore-fest. Having said that, it sets up several much better episodes.

#1, Loved your report on TOS’ “The Omega Glory” Viewmaster Reel:
(Great ST scrapbook too.)

http://mystartrekscrapbook.blogspot.ca/2009/03/omega-glory-viewmaster-reel.html

LLAP

Pretty good episode.

OK — The sequence of events…

1) Dr. Soong builds B-4.
2) A psychic Romulan steals B-4, encasing its parts in a cloaking device that will expire during the time of “Nemesis,” by which time the Federation has developed sensors that can see every-freakin’-thing in the quadrant.
3) Dr. Soong builds Lore.
4) Lore pisses off the colonists while also contacting a space snowflake to come and kill the colonists… but, not just yet.
5) The colonists disassemble Lore.
6) Dr. Soong builds Data and leaves him complete, but not activated.
7) Dr. Soong builds Juliana, then leaves the colony… somehow losing her and forgetting to mention B-4 to anyone.
8) Big Bad Snowflake eats everyone on the colony.
9) Decades later, the Enterprises wanders over and stuff happens.

My brain hurts.

I love these podcasts.

Ways to tell ahead of time which TNG episodes were utter crap:

All having to do with Data’s evil twin. (I face palmed the instant I realized that is what they actually did!)
All where the holodeck was presented front and center.
Episodes that examined if Data was “alive”. (This may be a bit controversial but I personally found them very weak.)
All episodes where Wesley was directly involved.
All episodes involving Troi’s family.

I would add all episodes where Q appeared but “Qpid” was played successfully for laughs and “Tapestry” was actually pretty good. The rest were all terrible.

I don’t particularly like any of the Data/Lor episodes, because I don’t like the character of Lor. I realize that he’s the bad guy, but I still don’t like him. Lor is the sociopathic or spoiled kid that is a menace but still gets coddled by his parents to the detriment of everyone else. That’s Lor and Dr. Soong. Lor is a menace and Soong was an a**hole for creating and coddling him. I don’t particularly like Dr. Soong either, come to think of it. I’m glad that he died by the hand of his own creation, Lor. Serves him right.

That said, this wasn’t a particularly bad episode for Season 1.

Average or above average, I’d say. I’d have to re-watch Season 1 to judge better, and I’m not going to do that. Many if not most of the first season is unwatchable to me.

*Much* if not most…

#7 – It seems that there was not much that you did like about TNG. Oh dear…

As for me, I found more to like and enjoy than not. Lucky me, I guess.

I used to manage a laundromat for my parents .
I would work on Saturdays .
Getting home to watch TNG was the highlight of my week.