Q. What do you think Star Trek should mostly be?
A. Challenging situations solved by thoughtful people B. People doing gosh-wow things in a spaceship
This episode has one amazing strength: Brent Spiner, who is such a talented actor, we can almost watch this.
But not quite: stupid premise, stupid events, annoying scripting -- it's not even worth going into detail. The Data character is already a stretch too far, made enjoyable by Spiner's talents; stretching it further was never a good idea, and this episode falls into the realm of Bollywood plot (which would at least be enlivened by dancing and songs).
Instead, "Datalore" completes a trifecta of terrible TNG (along with "The Big Goodbye" and "Angel One"): a terrible misstep that should have been left behind ... but this is TNG, so they returned to the same premise in later seasons. An insult to Star Trek fans, but a great episode for Spiner.
A. Challenging situations solved by thoughtful people B. People doing gosh-wow things in a spaceship
This episode has one amazing strength: Brent Spiner, who is such a talented actor, we can almost watch this.
But not quite: stupid premise, stupid events, annoying scripting -- it's not even worth going into detail. The Data character is already a stretch too far, made enjoyable by Spiner's talents; stretching it further was never a good idea, and this episode falls into the realm of Bollywood plot (which would at least be enlivened by dancing and songs).
Instead, "Datalore" completes a trifecta of terrible TNG (along with "The Big Goodbye" and "Angel One"): a terrible misstep that should have been left behind ... but this is TNG, so they returned to the same premise in later seasons. An insult to Star Trek fans, but a great episode for Spiner.