Star Trek: The Next Generation

Work Title: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Medium: TV Episode
Episode Title: Datalore
Year: 1988
Writer(s): Robert Lewin
"Original" Writer: Yes Writer(s): Maurice Hurley
"Original" Writer: Yes Own work?: No
Summary:

(copied from http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TNG/episode/68334.html) The U.S.S. Enterprise crew investigates the mystery surrounding the disappearance of an earth colony in the Omicron Theta star system 26 years earlier, which coincidentally happens to the exact same time when Lieutenant Commander Data was discovered. While visiting Data's home planet, the away team discovers a laboratory containing android body parts. When Dr. Crusher and Chief Engineer Argyle assemble the parts, they bring to life a duplicate of Data! The real Data learns that the look-alike, named Lore, was once "alive," but was disassembled by the colonists on the planet who were jealous of Lore's perfection. As a result, a less-than-perfect android, Data, was constructed. Unbeknownst to the crew, Lore gained revenge on the planet's inhabitants before being disassembled. He unleashed a ravenous crystal entity onto the colonists — an entity which feasts on intelligent life forms — thereby erasing all life on the planet. As part of his scheme to turn the entity loose on the Enterprise, Lore renders Data unconscious and impersonates him. Just when he's about to succeed in his plan, Wesley Crusher recognizes Lore and urges his mother to find Data. Once back on his feet, Data beams Lore into space during a spectacular android skirmish.

Era/Year of Portrayal: distant_future
Distinctive characteristics of the world in portrayal:

All activity takes place aboard the Starship Enterprise space ship, and occasionally on planets during away-team visits.

Technology

  • Name of portrayed presence-evoking technology: Data (an android) is usually referred to by his name or using a personal pronoun; when Cpt. Picard refers to Lore as "it," Data questions whether or not that makes him an "it" and Picard apologizes.
  • Description of the technology: Data is an established character in the series, and the humans interact with him as they would another person, for the most part. He is professional, courteous, and somewhat stiff in his mannerisms and speech. In contrast, Lore exhibits sarcasm, humor, and a sense of vengeance, and more human speech patterns such as contractions. For example, where Data says "cannot" Lore says "can't."
  • Nature of task or activity: The crew interact daily with Data as part of a professional and social group. Lore is brought on board in pieces and assembled because Data (and Picard) are curious as to his nature and what they might learn from him.
  • Performance of the Technology: Data seems fully functional, but Lore has a facial twitch that suggests he is malfunctioning in some way. He does not "break down" but betrays the crew and puts them in harm's way.
  • Description of creator(s): Data reveals that his creator is a controversial robotics expert - originally from Earth - named Dr. Noonien Soong.
  • Major goal(s) of creator(s): According to Lore, the people on their home planet did not like interacting with him because he was "too human." He says Dr. Soong created Data as a "less perfect" android that the people would be more comfortable with. It is implied that Soong's primary purpose in creating them both was an experiment in robotics and their "brains."
  • Description of users of technology: The Enterprise crew "use" Data as a Starfleet officer. They consider him an equal. The crew is a diverse group of people, somewhat military in their adherence to Starfleet protocol.
  • Type(s) of presence experience in the portrayal: social_presence
  • Description of presence experience: The crew interacts with Data and Lore as if they are human beings.
  • User awareness of technology during experience: Their nature as androids comes out when Dr. Crusher or other medical staff are dealing with their circuitry, assembling Lore or when Data doesn't understand a joke or a human activity. The episode begins with Data attempting to believably sneeze the way he has observed humans doing. The "holes" in Data's human-ness are frequent sources of comic relief in the series.
  • Valence of experience: The crew's interactions with Data are neutral, occasionally comical. Their interactions with Lore become unpleasant, especially at the end when he threatens Wes and Dr. Crusher with a "tazer."
  • Specific responses: When Wes tries to warn Picard that Lore is impersonating Data and possibly putting the crew in harm's way, Picard chastizes him and implies that he trusts Data (actually Lore) more than he trusts Wes.
Long-term consequences:

One lesson of the episode is that Lore was TOO human - he had the capacity for humor, anger and other strong emotions that Data lacked. This did not make him a better "person"; indeed, Data's neutral nature seemed positively humanitarian compared with Lore's. At the show's end, Picard and Riker comment on how they wish they could have Data's sense of "balance."

Other:

This is a fascinating example of good vs. bad androids, and how people go from interacting with a machine as they're assembling an android, to behaving toward him as a person once his human form is complete.

Coder name: Tina Peterson
Coder email: tina.peterson@temple.edu
Coder affiliation: Temple University