Datalore

Datalore

(Since Blayde will be reviewing a few of the first two seasons of TNG, I figured I’d throw out a few first season reviews as well. Moreover, this gives me practice for my Feature Magazine Writing class.)

Given the trouble the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation had, It is surprisingly that there were a few good episodes. Datalore was one of those surprises. The story involves the Enterprise returning to the planet where another Starfleet vessel discovered Data. They discover that the entire world is dead, and they find another android that looks like Data.

Datalore is one of those episodes that end up being better on repeated viewing. While the direction and acting is good, some flaws plagued many of the first season stories are present here. The biggest flaw is the Wesley Crusher angle. For some foolish reason, the writers felt the need to shoehorn Wesley Crusher into an already dense story. He just comes across as a tool and hurts the story. There are some great things to love about this story.

Brent Spiner is wonderful as both Data and Lore. Their interaction is entertaining. The split screen work come a long way from the Original series days. The Crystalline Entity is a nice idea, and the writes will further explore it later in the series. Sure, the Special Effects are not the best, but you have to remember that this episode was made in the 80s.

The other concept that will be further expanded on is the conflict between Data and Lore. It will carry over throughout the entire run of the series and have lasting effects on the movie series.

This episode doesn’t have the emotional heart of the later Data/Lore episodes, but it still a fun little episode with a few problems.

Grade: B-

Data: "Commander, I just discovered some blue lettering resting on a tree branch."
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The sets for this episode are amazing. I really liked all the Science Lab scenes.

I always found these pictures really creepy. It is a bit of foreshadowing for an episode later, when we actually get to see these events take place.
It is also creepy that these children would draw these pictures and would later die as well.
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Crystalline Entity
Yes, it is a giant snow flake...that kills on a massive level.