Plot Synopsis: Picard tries to free Data from Lore’s control; the Enterprise battles the Borg ship.
Plot A and B Analysis: In the teaser Lore seems to be some sort of cult leader with a mission: to make the Borg like he and Data, fully synthetic life forms. Plot A is about Lore, Data and the crew on the surface, Plot B revolves around acting-captain Beverly Crusher and their conflict with the Borg ship. Plot C is about Riker, Worf, Hugh and his rogue Borg faction. The first part of the episode involves Data repeatedly saying he’s not their puppet and they don’t understand, it gets repetitive. Beverly decides not to go back through the conduit and launches a message buoy, then swings back around to pick up those she couldn’t transport off the surface. Geordi tells us Lore is transmitting emotions from his stolen emotion chip to Data–only allowing him to feel anger and hatred–and has also deactivated his ethical program. Riker and Worf are loose on the planet and get caught by Hugh and his Borg! He explains how his individuality infected the Borg collective like a virus, resulting in chaos, which is when Lore came along and seemed like a savior. Beverly comes back and manages to transport the remaining survivors to the ship, but the Borg take out their warp drive. Beverly does what any good Starfleet officer would, she plots a course right into the sun! She uses a new metaphasic shield which allows them to hide next to the sun’s corona. Picard and Deanna hatch an escape attempt which fails, but he does manage to swipe a chip from a Borg, and Picard modifies it to reboot Data’s ethical program right before Data irradiates Geordi’s brain. On the Enterprise, a plucky young ensign figures out a way to make a section of the star destabilize and explode, destroying the Borg ship. In the climactic scene, as Data is taking Picard to begin experimenting on him Lore shows up and asks Data to kill Picard. Data refuses and it is then that Hugh, Riker and Worf shows up along with their rogue Borg, plunging the area into chaos. Lore escapes, Data shoots and then deactivates him. The episode ends with Data deciding to destroy the damaged emotion chip because of his actions, but Geordi intervenes and takes custody of it saying, “Maybe someday, when you’re ready.” Whew that’s a lot of plot.
Favorite Scenes: A pivotal point occurs in the 36th minute, when Data brings Picard to begin experimenting on him. When he tells Data he’s killing Geordi, Picard then launches into a line of questioning that is fruitful, and includes a true principle for us as well:
Data: It is for the greater good.
Picard: Good? Data isn’t good and bad, right and wrong, a function of your ethical program?
Data: That is correct.
Picard: And what does that program tell you about what you’re doing to Geordi? About what you and Lore are doing to the Borg? It tells you that these things are wrong, doesn’t it, Data? So how can actions that are wrong lead to a greater good?
A good lesson for all of us in days when things like lying, deceit and even torture are condoned and encouraged by some.
Use of Cast/Characters: Picard is pivotal to the plot and involved in it, though we don’t get much character development. Riker and Worf are in about five minutes of this episode, though they do manage to recruit Hugh and his faction and rescue everyone. Data is more or less center stage, being controlled by Lore for most of the episode. This episode has the effect of reducing Data a bit as a sentient being. We learn he is only ethical or moral because a program tells him to be so, and if it’s on the fritz he is capable of anything. That’s what I would expect of a non-sentient machine. It’s nice to see Beverly in charge but I can’t say I’m impressed with her acting. Using the metaphasic shielding is quick thinking on her part and believable given her previous involvement with it in a prior episode. Geordi reveals how Data is being manipulated, and he does share a story of a vacation he took with Data that was nice to hear, where Data learns he can’t swim. Deanna doesn’t have much to do. Lore comes across as evil and manipulating right to his last breath, he is pretty well used. Jonathan Del Arco returns as Hugh, though he doesn’t have much actual screen time, which is too bad. That man can act, I wanted to see much more of him.
Blu Ray Version: Some of the graphics were corrected, a scene with Worf and Riker both firing phasers were slightly improved. This episode has some deleted scenes. The first scene takes place right after Deanna asks why he’s only felt negative emotions, and Data gives a few extra lines. Waste of time. The second scene takes place at the climax, it’s just 30 seconds but is worth including: while Lore is talking to Picard, we cut to Riker and Worf springing Deanna and Geordi out of jail and telling them how to escape. It’s not strictly necessary because we can assume they get free, but I’d rather it be in the episode.
Nitpicks: This isn’t really a nitpick but is kind of funny. Lore punishes Data by taking away some emotions, and after restoring them asks Data to thank him. Data thanks him and Lore responds “don’t mention it.” Really, because you just asked him to mention it! In terms of an actual nitpick, what exactly was Lore’s plan to change the Borg into completely synthetic life like he is? We are never told.
Overall Impression: When you have three different plots going it gets more tricky to balance them, and this episode isn’t successful at that. This is what happens when you try to do too much with the time you’re given. Data and Lore took center stage, but Beverly and the Enterprise seems a bit rushed. The real crime is relegating Hugh to a couple of scenes, when he could have been a major part of the episode. I’m left with the impression, “the writers had all summer to write an exciting and compelling ending to this two-parter, and this is all they came up with?” I rate this episode 2.5 out of 5 stars. Not an auspicious start to the season.
Behind the Scenes/Trivia: According to Lore the emotion chip has more than just emotions, it also has memories. Who knows if it’s true or not, we never learn. The whole ‘cult’ theme was inspired by David Koresh and the Branch Davidians in Waco. I remember that showdown vividly. Jeri Taylor, the de facto showrunner in season seven noted regarding this episode, “Maybe it was just too ambitious, because we were not able to do justice to any one of the themes. We spread ourselves so thin and that was our mistake.”
This is the last time we see Hugh until he appears on ST: Picard. We never see Lore again, I guess his death really took. The metaphasic shield is a reference to the season six episode Suspicions, and that bit of continuity was nice to see. We don’t see the emotion chip surface again until the Generations movie, and since Ron Moore and others were writing it, mentioning it here specifically is a decent setup for the film.
Missable/Unmissable? It’s unmissable if you saw the first part of this two-parter, but probably not otherwise. The next episode isn’t any better.