{"id":6183,"date":"2015-09-17T04:49:37","date_gmt":"2015-09-17T04:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/43-Brothers"},"modified":"2015-09-17T04:49:37","modified_gmt":"2015-09-17T04:49:37","slug":"43-brothers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relivethemajesty.com\/index.php\/2015\/09\/17\/43-brothers\/","title":{"rendered":"4.3 — \u201cBrothers\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

4.3 — \u201cBrothers\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Plot:<\/strong> It\u2019s a family reunion, as Data is reunited with his creator, Dr. Noonien Soong, and Data’s evil brother, Lore. The brothers fight for the upper hand after discovering that Soong has invented an emotion chip. Meanwhile, aboard the ship, a young child lies dying as sacrifice to the writers’ need to create plot exigency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thoughts:<\/strong> This is the third strong episode at the start of Season Four. It is also the first TNG script written by Rick Berman, who was by this time co-executive producer of the series (along with Michael Piller and Gene Roddenberry, IIRC). The first half of the episode is remarkably tight and suspenseful, with a strong build to the reveal of Dr. Soong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The moral of this episode is that Data is a very scary piece of technology. I nominate him as the second most terrifying piece of technology in Star Trek, after the transporter. Although those disintegrating hand phasers from Star Trek II<\/em> are also pretty freaky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On a technical level, the three-way shooting of Brent Spiner’s performance in his triple role is nearly flawless. The direction is very strong. Kudos to Spiner and Rob Bowman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I also like the design of the isolation quarantine chamber for the MacGuffin<\/strike> sick boy. I could have done with fewer scenes between him and Crusher, however. I just wasn\u2019t into the B plot, although it does tie in thematically with the brotherly conflict between Data and Lore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wouldn\u2019t freezing the kid have worked? Presuming they couldn\u2019t get to where they needed to go fast enough? What is this about parents going off on a sabbatical without their preteen children, anyway? Obviously that was prudent and safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I like how the show doesn\u2019t spell out every little thing about Lore\u2019s motivation, his feelings, or Data\u2019s reactions to the significant information he learns during the episode. \u00a0Lore isn\u2019t all that evil, necessarily, in this version. Notably, he does not kill his father (a dramatic opportunity which would probably not be skipped if the episode was being made today). It could be argued that Soong’s death is hastened by Lore’s treatment, but according to Soong he was already on the verge of death before they arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Much of the story is a giant retcon of the comparatively clumsy plotting in TNG 1.13, \u201cDatalore,\u201d during which both Lore and Soong were definitively killed off. I don’t mind, however. Bringing these characters back is a much better idea.\u00a0We don\u2019t actually see the death of Dr. Soong, which means they are reserving the right to bring him back again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One flaw is that Soong\u2019s makeup looks terrible. It imitates humanity abominably, just as in TNG 1.16, \u201cToo Short a Season.\u201d Spiner\u2019s performance makes up for it, though, effectively differentiating Soong’s voice, posture, and mannerisms from those of his “sons.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Soong tells Data that \u201calmost everyone\u201d dies, implying that Data himself might be immortal. This is ironic, given the events of Star Trek: Nemesis<\/em> (2002).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Best gadget: the thumbnail transporter device. Best line: \u201cThe only way we knew we’d come out of warp was by looking out a window.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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4.5 of 5 cascading sequential force fields.<\/p>\n\n\n

http:\/\/en.memory-alpha.wikia.com\/wiki\/Brothers<\/a>