lore star trek next generation

Lore's Entire Backstory Explained

Every "Star Trek" series seems to have its own version of Spock, someone who doesn't understand (or cannot feel) emotions in the traditional sense. On "Star Trek: The Next Generation," that character is the beloved synthetic human Data (Brent Spiner), though Data also has elements of another famous "Star Trek" character. According to producer Robert H. Justman (via " The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next Twenty Five Years "), Data was envisioned as "an android programmed by Starfleet Command with all of the familiar abilities and characteristics of Spock fused with the leadership and humanistic qualities of Captain Kirk."

For seven seasons, Data played a major part in the show's explorations of selfhood, intelligence, and emotion. One plan to explore these feelings was to give Data a love interest . Her job was supposed to be repairing the ship in dangerous situations. Instead, "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry decided to go down the evil twin route, and so the Lore that we know — also played by Spiner — was born. He's clever, mean, quirky, and very funny to watch, but with a lurking malevolence that's impossible to ignore. Let's take a look at his backstory.

The story of Data and Lore begins on the Omicron Theta colony, where Doctor Noonian Soong and his wife Juliana built a series of androids: Two basic prototypes, the simplistic model B-4, Lore, and Data. These were the first true fully functioning "positronic brains," which is the show's explanation for artificial intelligence in android form, and which is politicized, in various ways, throughout the canon.

The four Omicron Theta creations are known as "Soong-type" androids, because they are made in Dr. Soong's image (Dr. Soong, of course, is also played by Brent Spiner). Soong and Juliana considered all four of them their children, and Data and his fellow Soong-types are often referred to and behave as brothers. The Soongs also have a biological son, Altan Inigo Soong, graced with the same brilliance as his parents and brothers. He is introduced much later in the "Star Trek: Picard" series.

Thanks to Data's fame as the first android in Starfleet, Soong's research is further developed by Dr. Bruce Maddox, who goes into hiding after synthetics attempt to conquer Mars and synthetic life is subsequently banned. He and Agnes Jurati work with Noonian's son to create a whole community of organic androids based on Data's positronic neurons.

Creating Lore

When we first meet Lore on Omicron Theta, he claims to be an improvement on Data, but that turns out to be a lie: He is Data's older brother, not younger. Lore was born extremely advanced, with great strength and speed and high intelligence. He was also, unfortunately, unstable from the jump and he developed a serious superiority complex.

Later, Lore would claim he was rejected for being "too perfect," but the truth is that he's flawed in many ways. The people of the colony demanded that Noonian shut Lore down because he was creeping everybody out. In response, Lore secretly contacted a planet-killing space creature called the Crystalline Entity to come and destroy all life on the planet — excluding himself, of course.

Noonian eventually gave in to the demands of his fellow colonists and deactivated Lore. He stored Lore away and started work on Data instead. Since Lore's emotions were the core of his terrible behavior, Noonian decided Data would be created without all that mess — and he promised himself he would come back and fix Lore later. Noonian later came to feel bad about leaving Data's emotions out and created an "emotion chip" for him, but it took a long time for Data to actually receive and initiate it.

Meeting Lore

Unfortunately, Lore's deactivation doesn't take place soon enough for the colony to avoid the consequences of his actions, and the Crystalline Entity destroys all life on Omicron Theta. Data is discovered by the crew of the USS Tripoli years after the disaster, while Lore remained in Noonian's lab. An away team including Dr. Beverly Crusher comes from the USS Enterprise-D, and they are able to reactivate him.

Lore plays the part of a kind brother to Data at first, sharing stories about Soong, although we see in a few tics and quirks that indicate he's not entirely stable. We soon learn that he's lying about being created after Data rather than before. He isn't a more advanced model, as he would have people believe. That truth is that Soong saw some of his features were broken and resolved to work on him later, then designed the somewhat simpler Data.

Lore's true nature soon comes to the surface — he steals Data's uniform and knocks him out, planning to sacrifice the Enterprise crew to his old friend, the Crystalline Entity. Wesley Crusher is the only person who can tell the difference between the brothers, and he is frustratingly persecuted for his attempts to expose the interloper. Eventually, the ruse is discovered, and during a battle with Data and Wesley, Lore is transported into space.

The good doctor

The Enterprise is working at a Federation colony when the Crystalline Entity reappears, destroying another planet. Data and Riker are able to save almost the entire group they're working with by hiding in caves made up of a certain kind of stone. In an attempt to capture or speak to the Crystalline Entity (and in the hope of getting it to stop killing everything it comes across), an expert xenologist named Dr. Kila Marr is summoned. She seems intensely interested in the Entity, and even more so in Data.

Kila's not an android-hater: She knows Data's relationship to Lore, and Lore's relationship to the Crystalline Entity, and she thinks there's some connection between these things and the group's survival. Isn't it likely, she wonders, that the Entity would overlook the caves if they contained an ally? Were the colonists spared because Data was with them? In the end, it's revealed that Dr. Marr's son was killed in an attack by the Crystalline Entity, and she uses the Enterprise's attempts to communicate with the Entity to first torture and then destroy it. The crew is horrified by this waste of life, and Dr. Marr herself seems to go completely off the rails.

Lore's niece

Did you know that Lore once had a niece? After attending a cybernetics conference, an excited Data returns to the Enterprise to build a Soong-type android child of his own: Lal, which means "beloved" in Sanskrit. At first, the child is genderless and faceless, throwing off Deanna Troi and Geordi La Forge entirely. But the child is intelligent and clearly alive — or at least sentient — in the same sense as Data himself. Lal refers to Data as "father," just as Data and Lore do with Dr. Noonian Soong. Data creates Lal knowing all the things that can go wrong, and he's determined to improve on Soong's failures with Lore.

Eventually, Lal chooses a form: Human female. The crew easily goes along with her choice of gender and race, just as they are okay with Data's claims to fatherhood. After a few attempts at schooling, in which she mostly unnerves the other children, Lal takes up a job in Ten Forward under Guinan's guidance and begins learning the ins and outs of social behavior. After a Starfleet Admiral arrives to take her away, Lal's fear response kicks in and causes a cascade failure in her neural net. Ultimately, Data is unable to save his daughter, and they say goodbye.

The emotion chip

Lore drifts in outer space for almost two years before his rescue by a Pakled trade ship. Soon after, Noonian — alive, but dying — sends out a homing signal to summon Data to his new lab on Terlina III. It also summons Lore, who arrives with much resentment, but shows genuine concern when Noonian reveals that he is dying.

However, this family intimacy only lasts for so long. It all goes out of the window when Lore finds out why Noonian sent out the beacon in the first place: He has created an implantable chip that will allow Data to feel human emotion. Lore is, of course, unable to comprehend that Data's makeup and background make him more ethically sophisticated, and therefore able to deal with having emotions without going unstable like Lore.

Lore gets jealous about this, even when Noonian explains that Lore didn't get a chip because he thought he was still deactivated. This isn't a great excuse, since it leads back to the fact that he was deactivated in the first place. He takes the chip for himself by impersonating Data, but Soong explains that the chip was made specifically for Data and that the chip is just going to make him even more unstable, which it does — he eventually kills Noonian because of it, disappearing into the cosmos.

Hugh the Borg

While Lore is gone and presumed dead — or at least no longer a problem — the Enterprise-D discovers a gravely injured Borg drone at a crash site in the Argolis Cluster. Beverly Crusher fights for his life and they bring the Borg back to the Enterprise for care and study. It's the right thing to do, but Geordi La Forge understandably doesn't trust the Borg, named Third of Five. He treats the patient like a machine and keeps his guard up. Soon enough, the Borg starts showing signs of individuality and ego, necessary for a personality to form.

The Borg are a cybernetic race of former humans (and others) who have been assimilated into a vast hive-mind collective, ruled by a Queen. They operate as a group, and can hear each other's thoughts at all times. Beverly and even Geordi come to care for their subject, giving him a human name: Hugh. Captain Jean-Luc Picard suggests they send Hugh back to the collective as a kind of Trojan Horse, hoping his individuality will infect his brethren like a virus. But what does all this have to do with Lore?

Lore's Borg army

One year later, we learn the results of the Hugh gamble. The Borg ship that retrieves Hugh from the Argolis crash site does indeed become more individualist — an effect that causes them great consternation, as they are used to operating as a unit, without personal thoughts. They are adrift and disconnected from the collective when Lore comes across them, ripe for control, and assumes leadership of the group.

Lore gives the Borg individual names but restricts their freedoms — his rule is a totalitarian one. The Borg become his fanatical followers, shouting slogans and threatening violence. They don't even bother assimilating people into the collective anymore, they just kill. Lore is now the leader of a fascist movement made up of formerly mindless drones.

Eventually, he starts experimenting on them, trying to replace their once-human, organic brains with positronic brains like he and Data have. These experiments do not go well, resulting in mutilation and death. What Lore really wants to do is experiment on human subjects, and he plans on using Data to acquire them.

Lore's death

Lore's Borg army begins an attack in Federation space, luring Data in. Lore can now use his emotion chip to moderate Data's own emotions and perceptions — when Data kills a Borg, he feels a perverse pleasure afterward, an alien sensation to him. Lore decides to deactivate Data's ethical subroutines, and Data deserts the Enterprise to follow his brother.

Geordi and Picard are captured, and Data does experiments on Geordi, putting his crewmate through a terrible ordeal. Between bouts of torture at Data's hands, Geordi is able to teach Picard how to modify a Borg interlink transceiver to reboot Data's ethical programs. This won't decrease Lore's power over his emotions, but he'll at least have the option of acting on them.

Lore continues to manipulate Data for some time, fighting against the ethics rising in his subroutines, but eventually Data recoils from the cruelty and futility of their experimentation. The Borg on whom Lore has been experimenting all die horribly, and this is what pushes Data over the edge. He attacks, deactivates, and dismantles Lore, whose last words are: "I love you, brother."

Lore's mother is also an android

Data meets and becomes close with Dr. Juliana Tainer — formerly Juliana Soong, Data and Lore's "mother" — and they play music together. After an accident it becomes apparent that Juliana is also a Soong-type android. She's more developed than both of them, which bodes well for Lore in terms of potential future appearances.

Juliana comes with a holographic chip of Noonian, which Data activates on the holodeck and learns that it's a message directly to him. Soong's hologram explains that the original, organic Juliana was injured in the Crystalline Entity's attack on Omicron Theta, and by the time Soong made it to Terlina III, she was in a coma. Soong built her a positronic matrix and loaded her mind into it, creating a special shutdown loop in case she ever discovered she was an android.

Data wrestles with the decision of whether or not to tell her about her true nature. Eventually, he opts to leave her be, telling Juliana that she was the love of Soong's life, despite the fact that he was sometimes cold toward her — he could never quite get over the fact that she was a replacement for his real wife. They agree to meet again on Atrea and Data calls her "mother" in a touching moment.

Data and Lore's other brother makes an appearance

Lore's now-damaged emotion chip is back in Data's hands, but he's wary of using it due to the instability and actions of his brother. It will be years before he installs the chip, causing a lot of drama during the movie "Star Trek Generations," but not going haywire like Lore would. For the remainder of his appearances, Data possesses emotions, and his arc becomes one about learning to control them, which he eventually does.

In "Star Trek: Nemesis," the tenth film in the series, Data comes up against another older brother, B-4. While Lore's appearances always stage him as being on par with (or perhaps even more capable than) Data, in this case, the roles are reversed — B-4 is a much simpler machine. However, a lot of the same hijinks ultimately ensue, with Data and B-4 impersonating each other and B-4 eventually betraying the crew.

In order to save the Enterprise, Data valiantly offers his own life to destroy a Reman Warbird, and Jean-Luc Picard ends the film discussing Data and his sacrifice with a repaired but still confused and unsophisticated B-4.

Lore is coming back for the final season of Star Trek: Picard

This slide contains spoilers for "Star Trek: Picard."

In the first season finale of "Star Trek: Picard," the titular character briefly visits with Data in hologram form after downloading the remains of his consciousness from B-4. Positronic brains and neural nets, Dr. Maddox discovers, are capable of "fractal neuronic cloning," using just a single positronic neuron to recreate the whole of the consciousness. This is part of an arc that saw the fifth Soong brother — the biological son of Noonian and Juliana — create a planet of Soong-type androids, including two off-world sleeper agents, sisters who may not even know they're androids. These Soong-types are highly advanced, with all of Lore's abilities and none of his problems, and it's exciting to think about what artificial life could look like in the future of the show.

In 2022, it was revealed that Brent Spiner is set to reprise the role of Lore in the third and final season of "Star Trek: Picard." Fans already knew that Spiner was going to be involved, but his return as Lore wasn't confirmed until New York Comic Con, where a new trailer was released . One thread of the series has been Picard's grief and acceptance of Data's death, so Lore's appearance is likely to stir a lot of emotions in the titular character. There was another big Lore reveal at NYCC : The character will be part of a new comic book series called "Star Trek: Defiant." The comic is set before "Star Trek: Nemesis" and sees Lore join the crew of the Defiant, led by Worf. Lore already has a fascinating backstory, and it is set to be filled out even more in the near future.

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Lore is a major antagonist from Star Trek: The Next Generation . He is the archenemy to his brother, Lt. Commander Data.

Lore physically resembles the android Data and his elder brother B4. Like Data and B4, Lore was created by Dr. Noonien Soong. By human standards, he would be considered either Data's twin or elder brother. Unlike Data, who is normally a curious and essentially good individual at his core, Lore is a clever, manipulative, and cunning individual who believes solely in self-preservation. Lore is also a jealous type and has many negative traits that humans traditionally associated with hostility and evil.

Like Data , B4, Noonien Soong, Arik Soong, Adam Soong , and Altan Soong Lore was portrayed by Brent Spiner.

History [ ]

When Lore was introduced in "Datalore", he gave two contradicting versions of his history when Picard wonders aloud who was created first, Lore answers, "He was, but they found him to be imperfect, and I was made to replace him." and then when he and Data are talking he says that he lied and he was created before Data, but it was because he was made perfect on the first try, and the colonists became envious of him and told Soong to create another "less-perfect android".

Lore's real backstory was given only later in the episodes "Brothers" and "Inheritance." After several failures, Dr. Soong was finally able to create a stable positronic matrix in Lore. However, Lore was unstable emotionally and caused so much strife between the colonists that Soong had no choice but to deactivate him. After so many failures and the pain caused by Lore, Juliana has opposed to Soong building any more androids, but Soong decided to build just one more android. He planned on repairing Lore after he and his wife Juliana built and tested Data, but before he could do that the colony was destroyed by the Crystalline Entity , and Soong and his wife were forced to flee. Unknown to Soong, his wife, or the colonists at the time, it was Lore himself who had contacted and attracted the Crystalline Entity to the colony to destroy it. Data meanwhile had been left outside with no memories or any idea of who he was.

In 2364 Lore's remains were discovered in Soong's lab in the episode "Datalore." Lore was rebuilt and reactivated. Although Lore initially appeared as inquisitive and harmless as Data, his true nature was gradually revealed during the episode. Lore secretly contacts the Crystalline Entity again, offering it the crew of the USS Enterprise as sustenance. However, Data foils his plans and transports Lore into space before the Crystalline Entity can attack, saving the ship.

In the episode "Brothers", Soong summoned Data to Terlina III in order to give him an emotion chip. However, the same signal summoned Lore, who had been found drifting in space and rescued by a group of Pakleds. Data tried to keep Soong from reactivating Lore, but Soong ignored Data's warnings and reactivated Lore. In the reunion that followed Soong set Data straight, that he was not inferior to Lore in any way - that the two men were identical in every way except for a small bit of programming.

When Soong revealed that he was dying and had summoned Data to give him a chip containing basic emotions, Lore incapacitated Data and posed as him while Soong installed the chip. He then fatally wounded Soong before fleeing.

In "Descent, Part II", Lore revealed that he later encountered a group of Borg struggling with individuality following the Enterprise crew's actions in "I, Borg", and became their leader. Lore uses Soong's emotion chip to control Data until Geordi La Forge, Jean-Luc Picard and Deanna Troi manage to reactivate Data's ethical programming. Data shoots Lore at the end of the episode and then deactivates him permanently. As he is being deactivated Lore's final words to Data are "I love you... brother." and Data replies, "Goodbye, Lore."

Data then had the Enterprise engineering department dismantle Lore, retrieving his emotion chip in the process. The chip had been damaged after Data had shot Lore, and Data had been prepared to vaporize the chip too, feeling that emotions were too dangerous. LaForge stopped Data from destroying the chip and said they would keep it until he was ready. The chip was eventually repaired and Data decided to implant it the following year.

After Lore was dismantled Data put Lore's brain in a secure vault on the Enterprise-D that was designed to self destruct if it was tampered with. The rest of Lore's body was also kept separately in the lab. When the Enterprise-D crash-landed on Veridian III the vault was damaged and the self destruct feature activated, destroying Lore's brain in the process. The remainder of Lore's body parts were unharmed, and Data brought them along when he was assigned to the Enterprise-E .

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Data’s Double: Revisiting Lore From ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’

If you’re even a little familiar with Old Trek , then you’ll know about Lt. Commander Data ( Brent Spiner ), the android officer who served under Picard on the Enterprise . But what about his brother, Lore (also Brent Spiner)? Data was supposed to be the only one of his kind, so the arrival of a secret brother came as a surprise, and though Lore was in comparatively few episodes, his impact on the Star Trek universe was significant. Here’s everything you need to know about the character some consider to be Data’s evil twin.

Who is Lore?

Like Data, Lore was created by Doctors Noonian and Juliana Soong at the Omicron Theta Colony. The fourth of their android children, Lore was the first to have a fully functional positronic brain and function with greater-than-human intelligence. However, unlike Data, Lore was created with the ability to feel the full range of human emotions—something that turned out to be a disaster. Possessed of superhuman abilities but with none of the empathy, ethics, and emotional regulation that organic beings develop over their childhood, Lore was the equivalent of a super-powered toddler, and convinced of his own superiority to all other beings.

The destruction of the colony

Considering him a threat, the other colonists pressured Soong into shutting Lore down. Knowing what was coming, Lore managed to summon the Crystalline Entity , a being that consumes all organic life it encounters, hoping it would arrive and wipe out the colony before Soong capitulated—and content that if it didn’t, then at least he would have his revenge on the community that murdered him. Soong did have enough time to dismantle Lore and put him into storage with the hope of being able to fix him later, as well as finish constructing Data before the entity arrived—leaving the brothers alone and offline on an empty world.

Lore’s discovery

Data was found by the initial Federation team investigating the destruction of the colony because he was laid out in the open and ready to be switched on, but Lore was overlooked because his body had been left in storage. It was only when the Enterprise returned to the colony years later that Lore was discovered by Data and reawakened by the ship’s Chief Engineer, Lt. Commander Argyle, and Dr. Crusher. This only served to increase Lore’s resentment; not only had his father created a replacement, but that replacement had been rescued while he’d been left to languish in a box on an empty world.

Antagonistic relationship with the federation

After a failed attempt at passing himself off as another benign, human-positive android, Lore first tried to steal Data’s identity, and when that didn’t work, he summoned the Crystalline Entity again in an attempt to kill the crew of the Enterprise. While this failed and left Lore stranded and floating in space for several years, it marked the beginning of a hostile relationship with the Federation and a complicated one with his brother.

The emotion chip

Lore’s reappearance (and the reveal that he was no longer trapped in the vacuum of space) came about when Dr. Soong, who had escaped the destruction of the colony and set up on Terlina III, attempted to summon Data via a homing beacon. The beacon was also visible to Lore, and he arrived along with Data to discover their father dying. Though distraught by this news, Lore’s anger took over once again when he learned that Soong had only intended to summon Data—because he’d decided Data was ready to experience emotions without turning out like Lore, and had designed an emotions chip to enable him to do so. Furious that their father was once again favoring Data, Lore stole the chip and killed Soong, only for his mental state to deteriorate further after installing it because it wasn’t designed for his brain.

Later, Lore was able to use the chip to remotely project emotions into Data after somehow switching off his ethical subroutines—the aspects of his programming that would have prevented him from becoming like Lore once given the ability to feel emotions. Filling him with anger and hatred, Lore’s plan briefly worked, and the two of them joined forces before the Enterprise was able to reverse what he’d done.

Lore was able to take over a rogue Borg cell that had broken away from the hive. First encouraging their newfound individuality, he began conducting experiments on their brains, replacing organic sections with positronic parts and making them more violent in the process. Then he began pointing them at the Federation, trying to provoke a confrontation with the Enterprise so he could get his hands on Data, and causing a lot of death and destruction in the process.

His relationship with data

All of this might make it seem like Lore hated Data, but their relationship was more complicated than that. Initially feeling anger and resentment towards him, seeing him as their father’s golden child and the being who would replace him, Lore began to long for a brotherly relationship with Data—or perhaps he had all along. The purpose behind everything Lore did with the Borg and the emotion chip wasn’t for revenge against Data; it was to have Data by his side as his brother, transformed into a person who could understand him, and who he was finally able to understand in return. Even after Data finally shot Lore, shutting him down permanently, Lore’s final words before he went offline were, “I love you, brother.”

(featured image: Paramount)

Lore (Star Trek)

You may be looking for the Australian fanzine Lore .

Lore is a recurring character in Star Trek: The Next Generation , played by Brent Spiner . He is a prototype android brother of Starfleet's Lieutenant Commander Data (who serves as second officer cum science officer aboard the USS Enterprise ).

Lore was created by Mad Scientist , Dr. Noonien Soong . Lore's emotional programming was very advanced. However, he began displaying signs of emotional instability and malevolence, leading Lore to see himself as superior to the human colonists. He frightened the other colonists, who demanded that Soong deactivate him. Lore later claimed that they saw him as "too perfect", and were envious.

Found in Soong's lab in pieces, Data and Geordi LaForge reconstruct Lore and reawaken him. After an attempt to dupe Data's colleagues, Lore was transported into space and drifted alone for months, until recovered the Pakleds. Lore stole an emotion chip intended for Data and eventually subverted a small collective of Borg . He was again defeated by the Enterprise crew and deactivated by Data.

In the movie Star Trek: Nemesis , another Soong-type android prototype is discovered, known as B-4 .

Doctor Altan Soong , in the streamed series Star Trek: Picard was a male human scientist who lived in the 24th century. Another self-described " mad scientist ", he was the son of Noonian Soong, and visually identical to Lore, Data and the B-4. Many fans speculated that Altan, or the gold-skinned female "synth", Sutra , would turn out to be a resurrected and disguised Lore. But this was not to be.

An aged Lore eventually makes a surprise return in Season Three of Star Trek: Picard .

In Fanworks

Fanzines focusing on the character include:

• The Body Electric series and its sister zine , The Bawdy Electric (1992-95).
• Continuum #2 (1989) - Lore by Janet Lawn .
• D-Tales (1998) - Android Rights and Wrongs by Eva A. Enblom .
• Data Base v.2.1 (1993) - First Lore by Kate Orman .
• Data Entries #3 (1988) - A Question of Humanity by Jamie Lawson .
• Data Entries #15 (1992) - The Price of His Toys by Lyn Gunn .
• Eridani #16 (1992) - MisQued by Cyndi Bayless Overstreet .
• Grip #30 (1988) - Bored With Lore by Diana Fox .
• Grip #45 (1993) - Lore's Lure by Marjorie Russel .
• Klingons over Kiron III (1991) - The poem by Ian McLean , Lore and Order , has since been reprinted online on the author's blog.
• Lore and Disorder (1996).
• Make It So #12 (1993) - You Lived Among the Colonists? , poem by Christine Carr .
• Make It So #14 (1993) - Lost and Found by Debbie Lee .
• Make It So #18 (1993) - The Positronic Dream Made Flesh by Carol Sterenberg .
• Make It So #19 (1994) - Some Kind of Justic by Carol Sterenberg .
• Reassembly (1997) by Denise Tanaka .
• Sons of Kiron III (1991) - contains the story A Lore Unto Himself .
• Volumes of Forgotten Lore (1992) by Jean Lorrah .

The members of Astrex , a Star Trek club in Australia, were amused when a major character in the then-new Star Trek: The Next Generation was coincidentally named for their long-running newsletter Data . A few years later, members voted to title their new club fiction fanzine ... Lore .

A regular feature in Data Entries is Dear Lore , a parody "agony aunt" column, in which Lore answers readers' questions.

A parody Lore Fan Club is featured in issues of Electronic Male .

Fanart Gallery

Lore and Data, and the Crystalline Entity, cover of Sons of Kiron III , art by Maria Papadeas

Internal art from Lore and Order , Klingons over Kiron III by Paul "Breeze" Beck

Pest Control Devices by "Annie" at Seawave 's Lore Fan Art

Lore and Data, cover of Data Entries #20, art by Alicia Galka

In Nonfiction

The first TNG zine , Data Entries , was a newsletter about Data, Lore and Brent Spiner, who played them. It was launched in 1987 and ran to 45 issues; later issues also included fanfiction.

Other similar newsletters include Electronic Male , with 10 issues.

• Universal Lore by Seawave/Tanya Dean

Fannish Communities and Archives

• Datalore by Seawave ( squidge.org )
• Lore Fan Art by Seawave ( squidge.org )
• Lore (Star Trek) fanworks on AO3
• Star Trek TNG Characters

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‘Star Trek: Picard’ Reunites ‘Next Generation’ Cast, Announces Return of Classic Enemies in New Season 3 Trailer

By Jennifer Maas

Jennifer Maas

TV Business Writer

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A new trailer for the third and final season of Paramount+ ‘s “ Star Trek : Picard” launched out of New York Comic Con Saturday, revealing new additions to the Patrick Stewart-led show’s cast — including the return of some iconic villains from “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

Popular on Variety

And last but not least in terms of big “Picard” casting news was the reveal that Mica Burton (“Critical Role,” “Vampire: The Masquerade: L.A. by Night”) and Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut (“Cruel Summer”) have also been cast in recurring roles. Chestnut is playing Ensign Sidney La Forge, the eldest daughter of Geordi La Forge (famously played by LeVar Burton)and helmsman of the U.S.S. Titan, while Mica Burton (LeVar Burton’s real-life daughter), is taking on the part of Ensign Alandra La Forge, Geordi La Forge’s youngest daughter who works alongside her father.

The final season of “ Star Trek: Picard ” premieres on Thursday, Feb. 16 on Paramount+. New episodes of the 10-episode-long season will drop weekly on Thursdays.

The Saturday “Picard” panel at New York Comic Con featured Stewart and cast members LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis and Brent Spiner, as well as executive producers Alex Kurztman, Terry Matalas and Rod Roddenberry.

Stewart, Burton, Dorn, Frakes, McFadden, Sirtis, Spiner, Jeri Ryan and Michelle Hurd star in “Picard,” which is produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment.

Executive producers include Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman, Matalas (who serves as showrunner), Stewart, Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Doug Aarniokoski and Dylan Massin.

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• Cast & crew
• User reviews
• Episode aired Jan 16, 1988

The Enterprise visits the planet where Data was created and discovers another android like him, but when he's assembled, he's not exactly like him. The Enterprise visits the planet where Data was created and discovers another android like him, but when he's assembled, he's not exactly like him. The Enterprise visits the planet where Data was created and discovers another android like him, but when he's assembled, he's not exactly like him.

• Gene Roddenberry
• Robert Lewin
• Maurice Hurley
• Patrick Stewart
• Jonathan Frakes
• LeVar Burton
• 23 User reviews
• 13 Critic reviews

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard

• Commander William Thomas 'Will' Riker

• Lieutenant Geordi La Forge

• Lieutenant Natasha 'Tasha' Yar

• Lieutenant Worf

• Doctor Beverly Crusher

• Counselor Deanna Troi
• (credit only)

• Lieutenant Commander Data …

• Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher

• (uncredited)
• Operations Division Officer
• Command Division Officer
• Crewman Diana Giddings
• Gene Roddenberry (showrunner)
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia Rob Bowman credited Brent Spiner for making the episode work, giving one example, "He did the one scene in his own office with Brent sitting down and Lore discussing what it's like to be human. He did one side, we shot through a double, then turned around, read it the other way and shot the other half of it. Those two characters in those scenes are different people... he really painted those characters differently."
• Goofs After Lore has been transported off and Picard addresses Data asking 'Data, you all right?'. Data answers, 'Yes, sir. I'm fine', yet Data is not supposed to be able to use contractions.

Wesley Crusher : Sir, I know this may finish me as an acting ensign, but...

Capt. Picard : Shut up, Wesley!

Doctor Beverly Crusher : "Shut up, Wesley"?

Capt. Picard : Doctor.

Wesley Crusher : And since I am finished here, sir, may I point out that...?

Doctor Beverly Crusher : Shut up, Wesley!

Wesley Crusher : ...that everything that I have said would have been listened to if it came from an adult officer. - Request permission to return to my quarters, sir.

Capt. Picard : Agreed. Doctor, go with him.

Doctor Beverly Crusher : You're putting *me* off the bridge?

Capt. Picard : [sotto voce] I'm asking you to keep an eye on your son during all of this, Doctor.

• Connections Edited from Alien (1979)
• Soundtracks Star Trek: The Next Generation Main Title Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage

User reviews 23

• snarky-trek-reviews
• Feb 18, 2021
• January 16, 1988 (United States)
• United States
• Official site
• Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (Studio)
• Paramount Television
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 46 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Star Trek's Writers Didn't Invent The Borg Queen – A Paramount Executive Did

When the Borg were first introduced on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (in the 1989 episode "Q Who"), they were terrifying. Clearly inspired by the works of H.R. Giger, the Borg sported tubes, servos, wires, and ineffable black machinery sprouting from their bodies. The Borg were made up of other species that had been kidnapped and assimilated into their collective, their minds wiped and replaced with a singular, terrifying machine consciousness. The Borg traversed space in outsized cube-shaped vessels, likewise crisscrossed with wires and ducts. They only had one goal: to grow. As Q (John de Lancie) described them, the Borg are the ultimate users. They look out at the universe and emotionlessly see nothing but raw materials to expand with.

The Borg returned periodically throughout "Next Generation," becoming one of the show's more impressive antagonists. The race of soulless machine people proved to be a great villain.

Naturally, when "Next Generation" moved into feature films, the Borg had to return. Jonathan Frakes' 1996 film "Star Trek: First Contact" featured the Borg traveling back in time to a vulnerable moment of Earth's history, hoping to alter events in their favor. In the past, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise discovered a new Borg wrinkle: they didn't have a group consciousness but were ruled by a sweaty, malevolent, emotional Queen (Alice Krige). Giving the Borg a "boss monster" was a silly twist that has, unfortunately, become a key part of "Star Trek" lore.

In the oral history book "The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams," edited by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, "First Contact" co-writer Brannon Braga revealed that the Borg Queen was invented by a Paramount executive named Jonathan Dolgen ... who thought the Borg were boring.

To elucidate: "Star Trek: First Contact" is about a Borg attack on Earth that is cut short by the tactical savvy of Starfleet and the Enterprise-E. Just before their ship is destroyed, the Borg send a small spherical vessel through a mysterious time portal. The Enterprise pursues, getting caught briefly in a "time wake" and for a moment see that history has been altered. The Earth's population is now nine billion Borgs. The Enterprise goes back to the year 2063 to prevent their timeline alteration.

Audiences finally meet the Borg Queen a third of the way into the film. Unlike the other Borgs, the Queen is individualistic, sexual, and emotional and claims to speak for the Borg. Uncharacteristically, she states very specific goals. She was a fun, slinky, terrifying movie monster, but she made the Borg less threatening; the previously single-minded cyborgs now had a leader one could negotiate with.

Which is how Dolgen wanted it. The exec said that the Borg were dull, amounting to little more than robot zombies. They needed a voice. Screenwriter Brannon Braga hastened to come up with a "fix." Braga recalled: 

"We did a substantial rewrite. Also, it was Jonathan Dolgen at the time who ran Paramount, the biggest cheese there was, and he was also a ravenous 'Star Trek' fan. Rick and I used to go into his office for meetings all the time, and he would say, 'Oh, I really like this episode and that episode.' I think he was the one who said the Borg are boring. They're just zombies, you need a voice. We thought, 'S***, okay, it's like a hive. Like a bee colony. Let's make a queen,' and it was probably the best invention we could have possibly come up with." 

A hive? Sure.

Assimilate this

Turning the Borg into a hive made the villains a lot less interesting. Instead of being an unreasonable machine intelligence, there was now a hierarchy on board a Borg ship, with a "captain" calling the shots and the "drones" taking orders. And if the Queen was sexual and emotional, she was suddenly prone to trickery and manipulation herself. Indeed, in the climax of "First Contact," Data (Brent Spiner) hoodwinks the Borg Queen; she is emotionally distracted enough to let Data (Brent Spiner) re-aim the ship's torpedos.

But Braga was just following orders from Paramount, and a Borg Queen was his most elegant solution. At least the change was demanded by a Trekkie with his own vision of the franchise, and not an ignorant moneyman looking for toyetic images.

Early in the scriptwriting process, it seemed that Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) was to be the hero. Braga realized that Picard should be the one to face off against the Borg again, saying:

"I don't think anyone realized by shuffling Picard and Riker around it would change things so monumentally, but I'm glad it did. Because it was the next movie, and it had been two years since you had last seen Picard, you kind of wanted to do big things with him. You wanted to have him fall in love and take a woman with him at the end. Actually, it was a good instinct on Patrick's part, because you want to see these characters in new situations. But this is an action movie. A romance? What a stupid idea. In the rewrite, the Borg meets the captain and he's our action hero."

"First Contact," despite its action film trappings , was a big hit, and is often considered the best of the "NextGen" movies. A Hive it is.

Datalore (episode)

• View history
• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 1.6 Act Five
• 1.7 Log entries
• 2 Memorable quotes
• 3.1 Production history
• 3.2 Story and script
• 3.3 Cast and characters
• 3.4 Production
• 3.5 Continuity
• 3.7 Reception
• 3.8 Remastering
• 3.9 Video and DVD releases
• 4.1 Starring
• 4.2 Also starring
• 4.3 Guest star
• 4.4 Uncredited co-stars
• 4.5 Stunt doubles
• 4.6 Stand-ins and photo doubles
• 4.7.1 Library computer references
• 4.8 External links

Summary [ ]

While passing by Omicron Theta en route to their next assignment, the USS Enterprise -D stops to investigate the site of Data 's discovery. However, Data is in his quarters practicing sneezing. Wesley Crusher walks in on Data pretending to sneeze in front of a mirror and asks him if he has a cold . Data has never heard of such thing (at least not in reference to an illness) so Wesley says " It's a disease my mom says people used to get. " Data acknowledges this fact, but presses that Humans sneeze for other reasons and he'd like to learn how to do it so he will better "fit in" with the crew. Wesley wonders out loud how Data could be practicing sneezing in a time like this; they're about to arrive at his home planet. Data clarifies that he is excited to see his point of origin, but that he is also interested in sneezing. They leave for the bridge . The crew learns of an entire Earth colony that disappeared from the planet twenty-six years ago , and the whole planet now appears dead. Riker leads an away team that beams down to the spot where Data was found by crewmembers from the USS Tripoli . For some reason, Data has been given the memories of all 411 colonists, and he is interested in learning why.

Act One [ ]

Very cleverly designed

The away team proceeds to the topographical site where Data was found; it is a hollow with a rock wall. He was found in the open, and was apparently activated by a marker beacon that detected the crews' presence. Geordi La Forge examines the rock wall with his VISOR and sees that it was man-made. He finds a hidden door in the wall that opens onto a passage that leads to an underground shelter. The away team goes down one of the corridors before coming to a door that leads to a laboratory, where Data recalls impressions of his basic functions being tested. There are children's pictures on the wall, all apparently of the same scene. Data doesn't know what they represent, only a sense that they refer to something dangerous.

" How many more Datas are there?! "

Riker presses him and asks if he can remember anything else about the lab. Data replies that he can remember one of the machines in a work area in the lab that was used by a Dr. Noonien Soong . La Forge recognizes the name of Earth 's foremost robotics scientist . He tried to create a positronic brain , but failed when he could not deliver on his grand promise and then disappeared. Now, they realize he went to Omicron Theta under a different name to continue his work. Data, La Forge, and Riker continue to search the lab, while Natasha Yar and Worf search the rest of the bunker. They find molds for making Data's skin, and Yar reports that the rest of the bunker is empty. Then La Forge comes across a storage area. Inside, they find another android identical to Data. Data is excited by the discovery and they decide to bring it back to the Enterprise for assembly.

Act Two [ ]

Back on the Enterprise , a team of engineers and technicians try to reassemble the android. Argyle confirms that "it" has the same body parts as Data, and asks if he can examine Data if he needs more information, comparing the internal circuitry, and Data agrees. He then joins Captain Picard , Commander Riker, and Geordi La Forge in the observation lounge to discuss the situation. Everyone seems to be tip-toeing around the subject so Picard stops the briefing momentarily to say " All right. Legitimate questions about any of this need not be asked apologetically. You feel uncomfortable on aspects of your duplicate, Data. We feel uncomfortable too… it feels awkward to be reminded that Data is a machine, just remember that we are merely a different variety of machine. " He concludes by stating that they should handle this situation like they would anything else and continue the briefing.

After asking and answering a few more questions, Data returns to Dr. Crusher . He shows Crusher where his off switch is located on his body, asking her to keep it secret. Then she and Argyle open him up and check his internal construction. After they close him up, Picard and Riker arrive in sickbay . The other android has been fully assembled, but he is still not active. Picard wonders aloud which was made first. Suddenly, the second android comes alive and says that Data was. He calls himself Lore , and says he was made to replace the "imperfect" Data.

Act Three [ ]

How to build an android

Data and Picard talk in the ready room . Data believes that both he and Lore have the same physical and mental capabilities. Picard then asks Data where his loyalties lie, and Data assures him that his loyalty is to Picard and Starfleet , completely. They go out onto the bridge where Wesley Crusher and La Forge are explaining the helm controls to Lore. Riker then says the first part of Pythagorean theorem , and Lore unthinkingly completes it, except the last word, "sides," which he claims he never really knew in the first place. While his face twitches, he says he enjoys pleasing Humans.

Data leads him off to show him the rest of the ship, telling him Riker tricked him into revealing he knew more than he let on. He warns him not to underestimate Humans, but Lore is dismissive. He tells Data not to be jealous of his ability. They go to Data's quarters, where Data checks up information about Dr. Soong. Lore calls him "Often Wrong Soong" and derides Data for the way he tries to mimic Humans. Data asks him again which of them was built first, and Lore admits he, himself, was built first. He says the colonists became envious of him and persuaded Soong to build a less perfect android – Data. Lore was too Human, understanding language and humor. Lore points out that he can easily handle speech and says " I use their contractions. For example, I say "can't" or "isn't" and you say "cannot" and "is not. " Lore then begins to sing " I say tomato and you say tomahto, " proving again how much more Human he is than Data.

Lore than states that he can help Data become more Human and Data says that he is obligated to report all of this – the lies Lore told Riker about his knowledge, the lie that he was built before Data, and every other lie he said since "waking up." Data leaves to go on duty and asks Lore to make a report to the captain about what happened to the colonists.

Act Four [ ]

Evil twin alert

On the bridge, Picard and Riker analyze Lore's report. The colonists were killed by a Crystalline Entity that feeds on lifeforms , and is capable of stripping all life from an entire world. The two androids survived because they were not alive when the entity attacked. Yar tells Picard that Lore has left his room to go to deck four, and Picard tells Data to check up on him. When he goes, Yar asks if he can be trusted, to which Picard replies that he trusts him completely. In Data's quarters, Lore mixes a pill into some Altairian Grand Premier champagne which he offers to Data when he enters. Data drinks the champagne, and realizes immediately something is wrong. He collapses, and Lore reveals that he learned to communicate with the Crystalline Entity, which he led to the colonists in order to get revenge.

The Crystalline Entity

On the bridge, Worf reports that a subspace communication is detected coming from Data's quarters, and Riker sends Wes down to check it out. Lore is communicating with the crystalline entity. He tells it to identify him as Data. Wes comes in and "Data" tells Wes that "Lore" attacked him and he had to switch him off. His face twitches and covers it up, saying he's been practicing Lore's facial twitch. Lore/Data says he's coming up onto the bridge, and after Wes leaves he uses a small tool and fixes his own twitch and causes one in Data.

Dr. Crusher walks over to the helm and asks Wes on the bridge what happened. Wesley tells her he shut Lore off, which makes her suspicious since it was their secret. "Data" arrives on the bridge when La Forge detects an unknown object approaching at high speed. It is the crystalline entity.

Act Five [ ]

" Careful of Lore. Good, he is still unconscious. "

Picard says they need to question Lore. Wesley loudly protests that he doesn't trust Data/Lore. Picard and Riker are both annoyed at his display and decide that Riker would go with Wesley and "Data" to see "Lore". "Data" approaches "Lore" and causes him to shake by using Data's activation switch to rapidly turn him on and off. He tells Riker and Wes to leave, saying he can't control "Lore". After they leave, he kicks Data in the head in anger, causing part of his "skin" on his temple to come loose and exposing the circuitry on his skull. On the bridge, Riker tells Picard what happens, but Wes is still not convinced. The Crystalline Entity brushes against the shields . "Data" rushes in and says he wants to talk to it. He tells it the Humans here are powerful. It backs off, and "Data" suggests beaming something like a tree out into space and destroying it in a show of force. Picard agrees.

Timing is everything

"Data" leaves, but Wes continues to protest. Wesley tries again to convince Picard that "Data" is really Lore, but the captain refuses to listen and dismisses him, telling him to " shut up, Wesley ." He still orders Worf to monitor what "Data" does, since it is unusual. Beverly, just as hurt as her son, repeats in shock, " Shut up, Wesley?! " Picard dismisses her also and orders them both off the bridge. Wesley, angered, starts to complain, but Beverly fearfully adds, " Shut up, Wesley " herself in an attempt to protect her son from further ridicule by the rest of the crew.

Worf steps into the turbolift with Lore, who knocks his phaser out of his hand and taunts him by asking the Klingon to show him " your warrior fierceness. " Lore then assaults Worf after he smacks him in the android's face and knocks him unconscious. Meanwhile, Wes has managed to convince Dr. Crusher to stop off at Data's quarters. She sees Data hurt on the ground and switches him on. He tells her he is not badly hurt, and they go to cargo bay 3 to stop Lore.

They sneak into the cargo bay and hear Lore talking to the Crystalline Entity. Lore spots Data and Wesley and threatens to kill Wesley. Beverly comes out from hiding and pulls a phaser on him, but she is too close and he grabs it from her after shoving his brother into her. He then tells her to leave and demands that Data cooperate with him or he will kill Wesley. Dr. Crusher hesitantly makes her exit, but not before Lore fires his phaser at her, igniting the sleeve of her blue lab coat. Taking his chance, Data knocks the phaser out of Lore's hand and they start to brawl. Data throws him into cargo containers and then onto the transporter pad where the phaser landed. Lore fires just as Wes is able to energize the transporter, beaming him out into space. Picard, Riker, Yar, and Crusher enter with phasers drawn to find that Lore is gone. With no way to reach the crew, the Crystalline Entity leaves; Picard orders Data to get rid of the twitch and to find a proper uniform as the Enterprise resumes course for a computer overhaul.

Log entries [ ]

• Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), 2364
• First officer's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Shut up, Wesley! "

" Now, show me your warrior fierceness. "

" The troublesome little man-child. "

" If you had an off switch, doctor… would you not keep it secret? "

" AH… AH… CHOO! "

" How sad, dear brother. You make me wish I were an only child. "

"The troublesome little man-child. Are you prepared for the kind of death you've earned, little man?"

" Back off… or I'll turn your little man into a torch. "

" Make it so. " " Sir? " " Do it. "

" He was. "

" Lore's gone sir. Permanently. "

" Have you got a cold?" " A cold what? "

" Since I am finished here, may I point out that everything I said would have been listened to, if it came from an adult officer! "

Background information [ ]

Production history [ ].

• Original story outline ( titled "Apocalypse Anon"): 22 July 1987 ( Creating the Next Generation )
• Final draft script: 19 October 1987
• Revised final draft script: 26 October 1987 [1]
• Filmed: 28 October 1987 – 6 November 1987
• Storyboards for visual effects shots of the Crystalline Entity's pursuit of the Enterprise : 19 November 1987
• Score recorded at Paramount Stage M : 18 December 1987 ( Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Ron Jones Project liner notes [2]
• Premiere airdate: 18 January 1988
• UK premiere ( BBC2 ): 19 December 1990

Story and script [ ]

• Lore was originally planned to be a female android to provide a love interest for Data . Her job would have been to go out and repair dangerous situations. It was Brent Spiner who suggested the old "evil twin" concept be used instead. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 46)) The female android concept was later used in the third season episode " The Offspring ". However, the female android depicted there was Data's offspring, and not a love interest.
• This was the final episode of Star Trek on which Gene Roddenberry was a credited writer before his death on 24 October 1991 .
• An early story for this episode was named "Apocalypse Anon". In this story, the Enterprise -D was on a rescue mission at a planet. Part of the away team was a female Starfleet officer with the name Minuet , who fell in love with Commander Riker. Riker was shocked when he learned that Minuet was an android. ( Creating the Next Generation , p. 51)

Cast and characters [ ]

• Marina Sirtis ( Deanna Troi ) does not appear in this episode.

The three Data doubles

• The characters of Data and Lore were portrayed by four different people: actor Brent Spiner , photo double Ken Gildin , stunt double Brian J. Williams, and an unknown photo double . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 , p. 45)
• Director Rob Bowman commented on Brent Spiner's performance in the double role; " His ability to delineate those brothers… I felt like I had the best seat in the house, saying 'Action' and watching him do it […] I remember […] giggling at Brent's dexterity [during the shoot] . He was just unbelievable. " [3]

Production [ ]

• Concept drawings of the Crystalline Entity were produced by illustrator Andrew Probert . However, he found this was the only time when the TNG modelmakers didn't adhere to his designs, with the Crystalline Entity ultimately looking radically different from how he'd imagined and drawn it. ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 2, Issue 12 , p. 45)
• This episode was originally to have been directed by Joe Scanlan but the choice of director was changed to Rob Bowman just before the episode was scheduled to be filmed. " The script, or so I heard, was not in good shape and they got to a point in pre-production where they said they couldn't have the script ready in time, " Bowman recalled. " We were going to have to switch scripts. So, they switched 'The Big Goodbye' with 'Datalore', which I was then given […] Anyway, I took on 'Datalore' and said, 'Here's a show they don't think will work, so I'm going to make it work. I'm going to prove to them that they made a mistake.' The episode was a learning experience, and there were lots of discussions with Rick Berman and Robert H. Justman . In a sense of working technique, there are many visual effects and split screens. It was a technically difficult show to do, and we had an extra day to shoot it because of that. " ("Rob Bowman – Director of a Dozen", The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 10 )
• Bowman also enjoyed collaborating on "Datalore" with Brent Spiner. " We were both really keen on making that a special show, " commented Bowman. " We were like, 'Fine, 'The Big Goodbye' is going to be a fun script, but we're going to make this one even more popular if we can.' I remember that, and I remember feeling really good during the shoot. " [4]
• Chuck Courtney served as stunt coordinator for this episode. He was among the group of "one time" hired coordinators, prior to Dennis Madalone 's employment for the series. Courtney had appeared, twenty years earlier, in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode " Patterns of Force " as Davod , and he went on to assist Madalone in further episodes of TNG and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .
• This episode marks the first Star Trek appearance of stuntman Brian J. Williams as stunt double for Brent Spiner . Williams doubled Spiner throughout the run of The Next Generation , all four TNG films, and also in Star Trek: Enterprise . In addition, he performed stunts in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Star Trek: Voyager , and Star Trek: Enterprise .

Continuity [ ]

• Picard notes at the end of the episode that the Enterprise -D is overdue for a computer refit, which does not happen until TNG : " 11001001 " (two episodes later).
• When Riker makes his log entry at the beginning of act one, he uses the stardate 4124.5. This was no doubt meant to be 41242.5, as Picard's log entry in the teaser is 41242.4.
• Data's quarters are seen for the first time in this episode. The design changes significantly in later episodes.
• There is a costume blooper involving Data's rank. When the away team is examining the child drawings displayed in the lab, Data has a full commander's rank. Moments later, when talking about Dr. Soong's workstation, Data's rank returns to the proper lieutenant commander insignia.
• At the end of the episode, Data uses a contraction in his reply to Captain Picard asking Data if he is alright. Instead of saying " I am fine, " Data replies, " I'm fine. " This is even more noteworthy than "contraction slip-ups" in other episodes, since the use of contractions was the main method the crew used in this episode to determine whether they were talking to Data or Lore.
• Picard and Riker admonishing Wesley repeatedly is completely out of character given how Wesley has previously been treated like almost like a regular crew member for his contributions.
• The episode's score, composed and conducted by Ron Jones , was recorded on 18 December 1987 at Paramount Stage M . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Ron Jones Project liner notes [5] ) The complete episode score, totaling twenty-five minutes exactly, appears on Disc Two of the Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Ron Jones Project collection.
• The sequence where Lore is assembled contains a variation on Ilia's Theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture composed by Jerry Goldsmith .

Reception [ ]

• Rob Bowman was very pleased with how this episode ended up. " I thought it came off excellently, " he said. ("Rob Bowman – Director of a Dozen", The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 10 )
• A mission report for this episode, by Robert Greenberger , was published in The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 6 , pp. 43-46.

Remastering [ ]

• On 11 April 2012 , Director Robert Meyer Burnett confirmed and released the first image of the remastered Crystalline Entity for the Blu-ray edition of TNG Season 1 . [6]

Video and DVD releases [ ]

• Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 7 , catalog number VHR 2398, 5 November 1990
• UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment ): Volume 1.5, catalog number VHR 4646, 6 July 1998
• As part of the TNG Season 1 DVD collection
• As part of Star Trek: The Next Generation 25th Anniversary Event
• As part of the TNG Season 1 Blu-ray collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard
• Jonathan Frakes as Commander William T. Riker

Also starring [ ]

• LeVar Burton as Lt. Geordi La Forge
• Denise Crosby as Lt. Tasha Yar
• Michael Dorn as Lt. Worf
• Gates McFadden as Doctor Beverly Crusher
• Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data
• Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher

Guest star [ ]

• Biff Yeager as Argyle

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

• James G. Becker as Youngblood
• Darrell Burris as operations officer
• Dan Campise as operations officer
• Dexter Clay as operations officer
• Jeffrey Deacon as command officer
• Lorine Mendell as Diana Giddings
• Brent Spiner as Lore
• Guy Vardaman as Darien Wallace
• Command crewmember
• Female command crewmember
• Female medical technician
• Female operations officer
• Operations officer
• Sciences officer
• Three civilians
• Three operations crewmembers
• Three sciences crewmembers

Stunt doubles [ ]

• Al Simon as stunt double for Michael Dorn
• Brian J. Williams as stunt double for Brent Spiner
• Unknown stunt performer as stunt double for Gates McFadden

Stand-ins and photo doubles [ ]

• James G. Becker – stand-in for Jonathan Frakes
• Darrell Burris – stand-in for LeVar Burton
• Dexter Clay – stand-in for Michael Dorn
• Jeffrey Deacon – stand-in for Patrick Stewart
• Susan Duchow – stand-in for Denise Crosby
• Ken Gildin – photo double for Brent Spiner
• Tim McCormack – stand-in for Brent Spiner
• Lorine Mendell – stand-in for Gates McFadden
• Guy Vardaman – stand-in for Wil Wheaton / photo double for Brent Spiner
• Unknown actor – photo double for Brent Spiner

References [ ]

2338 ; 2341 ; 2345 ; 2348 ; 2360 ; " a bit "; ability ; accuracy ; adult ; alarm clock ; " all right "; " a lot of "; Altairian Grand Premier ; ambition ; amusement ; android ; android assembling tools ; antiseptic ; apology ; appointment ; area ; Isaac Asimov ; assignment ; " at all "; " at fault "; attack ; " at this point "; away party ; B., John ; bed ; birthplace ; body ; bogey ; bridge ; bridge crew ; brother ; category ; Cargo Room 3 ; case ; champagne ; child ; Chinese language ; choice ; circle ; class M ; close parking orbit ; cold ; colonist ; " come in "; computer ; consciousness ; construction ; contraction ; corridor ; creature ; cruiser ; Crystalline Entity ; custom ; danger ; day ; deactivation switch ; death ; debriefing ; deflector shield ; degree ; designer ; desire ; desktop monitor ; dimension ; disappearance ; discovery ; disease ; drawing ; dream ; duplicate ; dust ; Earth ; Earth colony ; electrochemical ; electromagnetic spectrum ; ensign ; entity ; epidermal mold ; event ; experience ; experiment ; eye ; farm / farmland ; father ; fear ; fibroid-like connection ; finger ; floor ; " for example "; frequency ; friend ; Galaxy class decks ; genius ; gift ; grammar ; gratitude ; hailing frequency ; heading ; heating device ; helm control ; home ; home planet ; " home sweet home "; hour ; Human ; Human form ; Human language ; Human quality ; humor ; hypotenuse ; idea ; ID signal ; identity record ; image ; imagination ; importance ; impression ; information ; " in other words "; inquiry ; insect ; instruction ; " in the open "; " in time "; jealousy ; joke ; Josh ; " keep an eye on "; kindness ; knowledge ; laboratory ; landing party ; language ; lie ; lieutenant ; life ( lifeform ); life force ; loyalty ; M., Jae ; M., Josh ; machine ; main phaser ; main viewer ; macrotool ; meaning ; measurement ; medical tricorder ; memory ; mental ability ; message ; meter ; micro-circuitry ; micro-miniature work tool ; microscope ; Milky Way Galaxy ; million ; mind ; minute ; mirror ; mister ; moon ; motherhood ; " move away "; " my God "; mystery ; name ; nature ; number one ; observation lounge ; o'clock ; " of course "; off switch ; offense ; ointment ; Omicron Theta (planet); Omicron Theta (star); Omicron Theta colony ; Omicron Theta moons ; Omicron Theta star system ; only child ; " on the nose "; opinion ; pain ; painting ; parent ; pattern ; payment ; permission ; photon torpedo ; physical strength ; place ; positron ; positronic brain ; potato ; promise ; proof ; Pythagorean theorem ; quadratanium ; quarters ; question ; ready room ; reason ; recording signal ; red alert ; refit ; report ; reputation ; research ; respect ; right angle ; right triangle ; ritual ; robot ; robotics scientist ; rule ; science ; secret ; security team ; senior officer ; sensor ; ship's store ; sickbay ; signal device ; sneeze ; snowflake ; soil ; soil bacteria ; Soong, Noonien ; Soong-type ; sound ; Southern Vineyard ; space duty ; specialist ; speech ; standard orbit ; Starfleet ; Starfleet Academy ; Starfleet uniform ; starship ; storage area ; subspace channel ; subwarp ; sweet ; switch ; syntax ; tangent ; teaching ; terrain ; thing ; thousand ; tic ; Timon of Athens ; toast ; tomato ; topographically ; torch ; training ; transporter ; tree ; tricorder ; Tripoli , USS ; Tripoli landing party ; Tripoli log ; turbolift ; turbo-sensor ; type I phaser ; type II phaser ; unconscious ; unnamed plants ; value ; vegetation ; viewscreen ; VISOR ; warrior ; weapon ; word ; work area ; world ; year ; yellow alert

Library computer references [ ]

NCC-1700 ; Argelius II ; Bayard's Planet ; concussion ring ; Constitution -class ; Constitution II -class ; deflector ; Diana ; Excelsior -class ; Galileo ; Greyhound , USS ; hangar deck ; impulse drive ; impulse subsystems ; Jewel Stars, The ; light year ; Martian insect ; Muleskinner , USS ; phaser bank ; Phi Puma ; primary hull ; secondary hull ; sector ; sensor array ; supernova ; Type 7 shuttlecraft ; Wanderer -class ; warp nacelle ; warp subsystems

External links [ ]

• "Datalore" at StarTrek.com
• " Datalore " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " Datalore " at Wikipedia
• " Datalore " at the Internet Movie Database
• " Datalore " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
• "Datalore" script  at Star Trek Minutiae
• 2 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

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Lower decks' cancelation: is star trek is afraid to bodly go to new frontiers.

With the rise of adult animation, such as Rick and Morty , on streaming services, it may surprise many Star Trek fans that their adult animated show has been canceled by Paramount +.

However, there is some good news about the show.

Season 5 will still be released, the show's final season.

Many fans of the show and Star Trek fans do not understand why Paramount + has decided to cancel the show as the Star Trek universe seems to be on the rise.

We'll explore why.

What is Star Treks: Lower Decks Animated Show?

Before we examine why the Star Trek: Lower Decks animated show was canceled, let's talk about what it is about and how it fits into the whole Star Trek lore.

Star Trek: Lower Decks takes place in the year 2380, around ten years after the Next Generation series ended in the Star Trek universe.

It's named after one of the episodes from Star Trek: The Next Generation and focuses on one of Starfleet's least essential starships, the USS Cerritos.

The USS Cerritos was a 24th-century Federation starship that was a second contact and support ship. Captain Carol Freeman (Daenn Lewis) was the ship's captain. 

Star Trek: Lower Decks focuses on the support crew of the USS Cerritos.

There is Ensign Marniner (Tawny Newsome), Ensign Brad Boilmer ( Jack Quaid ), and Engisn Tendi (Noel Wells).

The show follows the crew as they deal with anomalies and situations but with more adult humor.

It also has well-known Star Trek actors such as George Takei, Wil Wheaton, Marina Sirtis, and Jonathan Frakes .

There are also other quite famous guest stars and recurring voice actors who join the list of characters on the deck of the USS Cerritos throughout the show.

Why Was 'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Canceled?

Even with the star-studded list of voice actors and guest stars lending their voices to the show, Paramount+ will cancel it after the next season.

This cancelation from Paramount+ may follow the trend of networks and streaming services canceling adult-themed cartoons for various reasons. 

Adult animations or adult-themed cartoons used to be edgy with witty and adult-geared humor that distanced themselves from kid cartoons .

These shows presented more opportunities for more imagination with fewer budget restrictions. 

For example, an entire armada space battle is far easier to animate than produce with live-action. 

So, why was it canceled? 

If you look closely at the animation style of these shows, such as Lower Decks, Inside Job, Solar Opposites, and Hoops, they all copy or are influenced by Adult Swim's Rick and Morty Show.

This may be because studios know fans are familiar with the art style, and clearly, it's a popular option. 

You can also see this trend in other successful adult cartoons that copy the Simpsons, like Family Guy and American Dad.

The reason for cancelation for the cancellation also encompasses these other tender points. 

Firstly, Star Trek: Lower Decks is a departure from other Trek shows of the past, which were monologue-heavy and had serious tones, like Deep Space Nine. 

This animated show is more slapstick, like Rick and Morty. 

Secondly, much of the fan base is older. With Star Trek being a legacy brand, its fan base is primarily adults who had difficulty connecting with the show's ADHD-esque presentation.

The animated series didn't grab critics attention like other shows, even though the reviews it did receive were good. It has a 92% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

However, lackluster viewing times and a fan base who were not ready for this new Star Trek show surely helped along its cancellation.

Star Treks: Lower Decks was a big step forward for the franchise to tread some new ground -- a step that Paramount+ and Star Trek fans didn't want to take. 

Star Trek's Future in Animation

It is not all doom and gloom regarding Paramount+ and animated shows.

The studio may be afraid to continue its adult-style animated show, but it has a second animated Star Trek show on Netflix.

The show is called Star Trek: Prodigy and is meant for kids. This may be great for some older fans, but it can feel slightly weird watching children-themed shows as the storylines are very basic and very much for kids.

Even Star Trek: Prodigy, which started on Nickelodeon, had a tough time finding its footing before its move to Netflix.

You can not fault Paramount+ for taking the risk of making an adult-themed Star Trek show.

But it is safe to say the Star Trek universe is in safe hands with the current set of heavy-hitting albeit live-action shows such as the now-completed Picard series, Strange New Worlds, and the upcoming Starfleet Academy show.

But it would be nice to get a new, more mature, animated Star Trek show to enjoy. It doesn't need to be a show about vulgar topics; it just needs to have a bit more mature and adult comedy in it.

So whether you are upset or not about the cancelation of Star Trek: Lower Decks animated series, it can also allow other new Star Trek shows to come out.

Plus, who knows if Paramount+ may bring back the show if it sees a demand.

What do you think? Was the streamer right to cancel Lower Decks? 

Jason Collins is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. You can follow him on X .

Boimler: Romulan whiskey is against regulations! Mariner: Yeah, because it's awesome. Permalink: Yeah, because it's awesome. Added: August 05, 2020

First contact is a delicate, high-stakes operation of diplomacy. One must be ready for anything humanity is interacting with an alien race for the first time. But we don't do that. Our specialty is SECOND contact. Still pretty important. We get all the paperwork signed, make sure we're spelling the name of the planet right, get to know all the good places to eat... Boimler Permalink: First contact is a delicate, high-stakes operation of diplomacy. One must be ready for... Added: August 05, 2020

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Screen Rant

Star trek confirms dark link between federation & the cardassians.

Although it may seem to fly in the face of accepted Star Trek wisdom, there is a dark link between the Federation and the Cardassians.

• The Federation and the Cardassians share a dark link, challenging Star Trek's portrayal of peace and freedom.
• Ro Laren indicts the Federation, equating them with the Cardassians, showing a darker side of Star Trek.
• The federation's high moral stance is questioned by Section 31, the Maquis storyline, portraying a more complex picture.

Warning: contains spoilers for Star Trek: Defiant #14!

Although the Federation and the Cardassians are bitter enemies in the Star Trek universe, a dark link between the two exists. Star Trek: Defiant has not shied away from exploring the darker corners of the franchise. The Federation, the “good guys” of Star Trek , portray themselves as peaceful and freedom-loving. However, in Star Trek: Defiant #14, Ro Laren makes a less than kind connection between the Federation and the Cardassians.

Star Trek: Defiant #14 is written by Christopher Cantwell and drawn by Angel Unzueta. B’Elanna Torres, a former Maquis and a member of Worf’s crew, has been infected with a parasite. The infected Torres fights Ro Laren, another former Maquis. Under the influence, Torres tells Ro “you will submit or perish.”

The Bajoran, Ro Laren, tells her the Cardassians said the same thing when they came to colonize their world.

Finally, Ro indicts the Federation as well, equating them with the Cardassians, saying they hate having their supremacy questioned.

Star Trek's Federation Only Glitters on the Surface

Agencies like section 31 shows how low the federation can go.

Such a statement may seem to fly in the face of accepted Star Trek wisdom. The United Federation of Planets and Starfleet are often portrayed as noble and morally upright. In an early episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation , Wesley Crusher declared, in a moment of naïveté, that Starfleet did not lie. Beginning with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , however, the veneer started to come off the Federation. The Maquis storyline was one of the first to call the Federation’s high moral stance into question. Later developments in the show, such as Section 31, continued this trend.

Ro Laren’s viewpoints in relation to the Federation are jaded, informed by growing up on colonized Bajor and later by bad experiences in Starfleet. This may seem to take credibility from what she said about a connection between the Cardassians and the Federation. However, numerous episodes of Deep Space Nine, as well as subsequent “nu-Trek” shows have demonstrated the Federation is not above playing dirty to get what it wants. This puts them in league with the brutal and colonizing Cardassians. However, according to critics, the Federation puts on a much more positive and happy spin on what they do.

Star Trek Names The One Society More Brutal Than Cardassians

The federation does not seem to learn from its mistakes, the federation is more benign in their imperialism.

In Defiant’s sister title: Star Trek, the Cardassians are poised for a new beginning, one that could take them down a better path. The Federation, on the other hand, is destined to continue its trend of morally questionable decisions. In season one of Star Trek : Picard , the Federation was in danger of losing its values thanks to an unfair ban on synthetic life. Although they seemingly learned from this mistake, the fact it nearly got to that point is alarming. The Cardassians and the Federation have both made horrible decisions, but somehow the Federation comes out looking respectable every time.

Star Trek: Defiant #14 is on sale now from IDW Publishing!

• April 29, 2024 | Preview ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Episode 506 With New Images. Trailer And Clip From “Whistlespeak”
• April 28, 2024 | Interview: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Writer Carlos Cisco On Unmasking The Breen And Revisiting The ISS Enterprise
• April 26, 2024 | Michael Dorn Wanted Armin Shimerman To Play The Ferengi That Worf Killed In Star Trek Picard
• April 26, 2024 | Podcast: All Access Gets To Know The Breen In ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ 505, “Mirrors”
• April 25, 2024 | Prep Begins For ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 3 Finale; Cast And Directors Share BTS Images

Interview: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Writer Carlos Cisco On Unmasking The Breen And Revisiting The ISS Enterprise

| April 28, 2024 | By: Anthony Pascale 28 comments so far

The fifth episode (“ Mirrors “) of season 5 of Star Trek: Discovery was co-written by Carlos Cisco, working with Johanna Lee. Cisco joined Discovery in season 3 as a writers’ assistant, moved up to staff writer during season 4, and is now a writer and story editor in season 5.

In our SPOILERS interview, TrekMovie had a chance to talk to Cisco about getting a chance to expand on some big pieces of Trek lore in “Mirrors” and more.

Can you give a bit of background on your fandom and how you came to work on Discovery ?

I am a huge fan now, but I wasn’t always that way because I didn’t have TV growing up in the ’90s. I had seen some of the original movies, a handful of Next Gen episodes and the J.J. Abrams movies before coming onto Discovery . It was intimidating because didn’t know the franchise really well but I love sci-fi and genre. Once I started on season 3, I began to watch Next Gen episodes and when it became clear we were dealing with Andorians and Orions, our then-staff writer Brandon Schultz suggested I watch Enterprise because that is when they were the most featured and I really came to appreciate it. I had been a huge fan of Jeffrey Combs before any knowledge of Trek, and to find how deep he was in Trek was a delightful surprise. So I watched Enterprise all the way through, I watched all of Next Gen , DS9, TOS, I got up to season 4 of Voyager …

So you did an almost complete binge of the franchise during your first year as a writers’ assistant?

Yeah, I was watching like two to four episodes a day. It was a lot. I am an extremely online person and understand how fandoms work and understand that Trek is the fandom that created the sort of framework for all modern fandom. I also love researching things. I love fake histories of and diving into the lore of something. So yeah, I went through all of it and eventually finished up Voyager during the pandemic and kept on, I am current with all the Trek shows.

Was this just extra obsessiveness because it was your job, or because you were you getting into it?

I really enjoyed Next Generation . Deep Space Nine is among my favorite TV series of all time and the one I go back and rewatch the most because it’s just that good, I love it. I will go back to other ones like if we are referencing it in the room.

Carlos Cisco beamed to the set of Star Trek: Discovery

So having watched it all so recently, did you find yourself as one of the quasi-experts in the room?

Yeah. I would have upper level writers texting me asking like, “What’s something I can inject in here?” Yeah, I became one of the experts in the room. I feel like the most passionate people about a religion are the recent converts, and that became one of my positions in the room. So I was always trying to push how could we recontextualize Trek canon for the 32nd century? How can we better worldbuild each season? That was something that was important to me.

For an episode like “Mirrors,” it must occur to you that you are about to double the page on Memory Alpha for the Breen and also the Kelleruns and even the Mirror Universe. Do you find that exciting or terrifying?

Both. Trek fans, they know their shit. It’s a really terrifying and great responsibility to get to be that additive to canon. The Breen were one of my strongest pushes for the season. Early on a couple of us who were really into the lore were asked for ideas on the season big bads and [staff writer] Eric [Robbins] was pushing for the Vidiians and I was like we should do the Breen.” Because, A: They’re not going to have horrible makeup, and B: We can just put a bunch of big guys in suits and they don’t need to talk. Being mindful of the COVID protocols, the suits and masks would be really great. And then there were all the possibilities for the Breen because in every season Discovery is trying to do something we have never seen before. And getting to unmask the Breen was a really big privilege.

“Mirrors” showed how there was more to just unmasking them with the two faces. Can you talk about the look and inspiration behind that?

I don’t remember where in the process we landed on “gelatinous” but when we hit the art team with that they came back to us with deep sea fish like the Barreleye Fish with a see-through head. We got really excited about that. So we started talking about what is this species? Why do they wear the suits? So, the thing we landed on is they have this soft gelatinous form and also a hardened form. Our thinking was that the Breen came up on a very harsh planet with a harsh environment. So they developed a way to protect themselves which was hardening their outer shell into basically a skin, but that takes an immense amount of concentration and energy, making them slower, more sluggish, less intelligent, basically. Over time, they compensated for that by creating the refrigeration suits. Then culturally, it became anathema for them to display that solid face, especially to outsiders, because it was essentially a sign of weakness.

L’ak in his gelatinous state

This idea of a taboo reminded me of episodes like “The Outcast.” So L’ak is part of a segment of Breen society that chose to go against this norm?

Yeah, I think that the Breen that would do that would be outcasts in their society. We still wanted to leave a lot of mystery with the Breen. One of the most appealing parts of being a writer in Trek, is you can see something that was mentioned once in Trek and go, “I’m going to build a whole episode about this, or a whole character arc that explores this.” The Breen started as a single line in TNG and then got one of the most important arcs in DS9. Getting to build and expand off that of that was really cool.

One quick question: Is this the same Breen ship we saw next to the destroyed Federation HQ in the future in the time travel episode?

Yep, that big honking thing next to Federation HQ is the Breen ship. It’s not a space station, it’s a ship. That was one of the things I was super proud of pitching. I had been looking at Breen ship designs, including the Star Trek Online ones, which were these colossal, city ships that could house entire armies and fleets inside of them. And again, talking about what haven’t we seen and what could we have as our adversary. Like, Osyraa’s ship was big in comparison to Discovery, but we wanted to do something – this thing was just a behemoth. Like a Discovery-sized ship could fly into its shuttle bay.

Using the ISS Enterprise was a way to sort of visit the Mirror Universe again. What came first: a creative way of using the available Strange New Worlds set in Toronto, or the decision to revisit the Mirror Universe?

We were given access the sets so we could pitch ideas that could take place on those sets, whether it is the Enterprise or not. There were a few pitches, like one with an old science vessel from the 23 rd century stuck inside a planet of liquid mercury. And one pitch was it was a Mirror Universe ship sort of trapped like a ship in a bottle, which became the pocket of dimensional space. We even considered fluidic space, trying to bring in one more little reference [laughs]. So once it was settled to do the Mirror ship, the opportunity to define what happened to the ISS Enterprise after the events of “Mirror, Mirror” was really cool.

Was there any talk about also bringing in some Mirror characters?

We had considered Ethan [Peck] as Mirror Spock early on but there might have been availability issues, I don’t know.

Burnham and Book on the ISS Enterprise bridge

So you say you are the lore guy, so how about a nitpick speed round? Starting with: The Breen aren’t supposed to bleed, right?

They don’t have a circulatory system, it’s just the jelly spilling out. I know they don’t bleed! Come on. [laughs]

The solution to open the wormhole was to replace the photon torpedoes with antimatter, but aren’t photon torpedoes anti-matter torpedoes?

I think they were adding more, okay? [laughs]

Final sort of nitpick: Owo and Detmer were tasked with taking the ship back to HQ, but the warp drive was disabled.  We don’t see it go to warp, so are they not going to show up at HQ for years?

In my headcanon, they are being met by a Federation tug, the 32 nd century version of the California-class like the Cerritos. They are heading off to meet them and it will tug them to spacedock. [laughs]

ISS Enterprise leaves for Starfleet HQ

We have talked a lot about lore, but season 3 was a way for the show to kind of jump past all of Star Trek canon. Now in season 5, it feels like the show is reembracing the lore, is that by design?

Yeah, I think the studio and Secret Hideout, [co-showrunners] Alex [Kurtzman] and Michelle [Paradise] all wanted this season to sort of connect Discovery back to the greater body of Trek a little more. That didn’t mean we had to really dig into canon, but there was a greater desire to see what we are familiar with from the past and what it looks like in 32 nd century and how it’s different or how it’s not different, and why. Obviously, this is a season that has focused on an episode from the 24 th century [TNG “The Chase”] and so naturally because of that, every episode focused on the clues is going to be focused on the whims of a 24th-century scientist. So that is naturally going to have more connections back to what people would consider classic Trek.

Discovery is ending and the writers room wrapped up a while ago. Are you hoping to return to the franchise? If there is a second season of Academy , are you hoping to get back to the 32 nd century?

I’d love to, if they’d have me. But if this is the last episode I get to write of Star Trek, I’m very proud that this is my final contribution. I’m hoping to pitch some games to the franchise and stuff like that as well down the line. I’m a game designer on the other side of my career. But yeah, I would love to come back and write for Trek, anytime. We’ll see if that happens.

Finally, last year you played a big part in organizing for the WGA strike, which included rallying Trek writers. Can you talk about that?

Yeah, one of the proudest things I’ve contributed to the franchise didn’t even take place while I was employed on Star Trek. Or [employed] at all. I was a lot coordinator and strike captain. Followers of the strike might remember we did theme days to boost morale and turnout. I, along with fellow captain and Strange New Worlds writer Bill Wolkoff was one of the architects of the Star Trek strike day in May. It was one of the first theme days, and we didn’t advertise. But the turnout from franchise was immense. We had actors, writers, and designers from every single Trek TV show attend. It was, as a fan and a writer, an immensely emotional day and an incredible few hours where folks who worked on the show could fan out on other folks whose shoulders we stand on. There were reunions that hadn’t happened in years and it was a really joyful celebration of the shows we all put our blood, sweat, and tears into.

Carlos Cisco (highlighted) at Star Trek-themed picket day in May 2023 (Photo: JW Hendricks)

The fifth and final season of Discovery debuted with two episodes on Thursday, April 4 exclusively on Paramount+  in the U.S., the UK, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, and Austria.  Discovery also premiered on April 4 on Paramount+ in Canada and will be broadcast on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada. The rest of the 10-episode final season is available to stream weekly on Thursdays. Season 5 debuted on SkyShowtime in select European countries on April 5.

Note: The interview has  been edited for brevity and clarity.  

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I’m not sure I like the reveal. To me, this is one of those things like the Klingon headridges where I think the mystery was more interesting than the answer they came up with. I so wish Enterprise had not explained the headridges and Worf’s “we don’t discuss it with outsiders” joke in DS9’s “Trials and Tribbleations” was the end-all be-all for it.

Also, the behind-the-scenes thinking and explanation for the Breen doesn’t fit with DS9.

Their idea that the Breen come from a harsh planet and harsh environment is directly conflicted in dialogue by Weyoun, who states the environment of the Breen homeworld is actually normal. In DS9, it gave the Breen a mysterious quality that I think made them stand out.

Good point. Pretty much everything about this episode was badly done.

Frankly, given what a disappointment Discovery seasons 3-5 have been, I truly hope Carlos Cisco and Johanna Lee are not invited back. They just aren’t good writers.

as all Disco writers are…

You dislike all the writers on all current trek shows. Not actually sure what you consider a “good” writer.

Just to be sure, it would be nice if we can put all Disco writers in one big box and ship them to Antartica.

DS9 built up a real mystique about the Breen. To find out that they are really green jello people was a bit anti-climatic.

but on the other hand, who trusts anything Weyoun says?

The Typhon Pact books dug into the Breen in an interesting way, and this doesn’t stray too far from that (in some respects) which is refreshing to see.

Two unnecessary reveals in one episode.

Anyone who says DS9 is their favorite show is already alright in my book!

However I did have a lot of problems with this episode. The whole MU connection and it also being the Enterprise just felt beyond a stretch and very unnecessary. And he confirmed what I think a lot of us assumed and that they were able to use the Enterprise sets and just came up with a story around it instead of the opposite and came up with a story first that warranted it. I really wish it was just another Constitution class ship from the prime universe instead of the ham fisted stuff they came up with that added really nothing to the story.

As for the Breen I do like they are using them again since this is a species many fans wanted to see again. I’m torn with the head reveal but OK with it. But would’ve been fine if they didn’t show them.

I also like the idea of using the Vidians too although IIRC weren’t they already cured by the end of Voyager? But this is why it’s fun to go so forward in the future because now you can use species from any part of the galaxy.

And I suspect we will see a lot more of them in the Academy show.

Agreed on all fronts.

agree on everything ;)

Yeah, I don’t think every mystery or open question needs to be answered by our franchises. I don’t understand the compulsion to answer every open question from past series or movies.

Things like the Breen and Bobba Fett were cooler with less said.

yes. for sure. let the secrets be secrets, don’t explain them, create new ones!

The shame of it all, though, is that this just wasn’t a good episode. It was badly written, L’ak and Moll were really boring, and the Breen’s other face was cheesy-looking. This may have been the worst episode of DISCO since the ship left the 23rd century. What a disappointment this season has turned out to be; after two really fun opening episodes, it’s gone downhill fast and has turned into the same padded schlock that was seasons three and four.

You literally complained about the first two episodes when they aired and now you are saying that were great? And you’re making sweeping judgements about a season being disappointing even though you haven’t seen it all? There’s a word for this: trolling.

That’s nonsense, and you know it. I don’t know why you have a bug up your butt about me, but if you don’t like my posts, stop replying to them. I’m clearly not a troll. I’ve been an active member of this group for years.

Also, I just looked up my comments about the early episodes on this board.

Episode 1: “Now THAT was good.”

Episode 2: I made no comment at all.

Episode 3: “Oh, boy. After two stellar episodes, this was one of the worst in the show’s history. If this is setting the tone for the rest of the season, I’m frankly worried.”

So, M1701, when exactly did I “literally complain about the first two episodes when they aired?” It’s pretty clear which one of us is the troll. So get off my back. You don’t out-rank me and you don’t have pointed ears.

I don’t know. I thought it was a very good episode. The pacing was great. I like the added backstory to Moll and L’ak. I found it added depth and meaning to their characters. And I did love that the MU ship was the Enterprise. As a long-time fan of Trek and loving “Mirror, Mirror” – I often wondered what happened to the ISS-E. This was quite satisfying to me to know where she ended up. Being a writer myself (I wrote several episodes or ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK and other series from time to time), I quite enjoyed the story telling here and in this season. I work more in the technical field now but I still write from time to time. Funny enough, I did write a fan fiction years and years ago that find the ISS-E in the future with Mirror Spock at the helm.

Oh neat I used to watch AYOTD when I was a kid good show.

This awful story is what you get when you assign a novice to write this episode. No offense to Carlos Cisco, but the ‘Mirrors’ episode is a huge mess.

The ‘no offense’ made a huge difference indeed… LOL

“Representation in the writers room” though amiright?

What they should’ve done with the extra pages they got in the end (to wrap up the series) is go back and ‘fix’ certain things they would’ve done, had they known it was their last episode. Like bringing in Ethan for at least a cameo or recorded log scene and Lorca in the previous one. Would’ve fixed the ‘talk in stead of show’ issues.

Guess we can add the Breen to the list of things the First Splinter did better (a list that already includes the MU).

I still hate the 32rd century, the entire thing completely destroys world building in the Star Trek Universe to me.

If it was the late 25th century or early 26th century, just a difference in Number really, the jump in tech capabilities would be entirely reasonable and no more than from the late 23rd to the late 24th century. All of the things that happened in the meantime, the burn, the reunification of vulcan etc would have all been much more plausible in a shorter period of time and honestly opening the possibility for many more interesting stories to tell. Even the federation continuing on as a shadow of its former self, the way it is presented in the show, would make much more sense if the burn had been just, say, 30 years ago – and not over 100!

Look at how our real world changed just within the last 80 years since WW2, how a society such as Korea could evolve into two completely different cultures, how entire populations were displaced in Europe, yet that reality became totally normal now. In star trek, on the other hand, somehow progress and change completely ground to a crawl, apparently, following the 2400s.

Again, that baffling decision completely destroys world building and plausibility of the events in Disco for me. Such a minor thing as the number of the date has have such profound ramnifications towards the plausibility of the story (which was probably only chose because it was beyond ANY mentioned events in Canon) and it is just so disappointing that this decision has been apparently been made on a whim.

And now they are doubling down with SF Academy. Just leave it in peace and call it an “alternate Timeline/split timeline” or whatever.

This. I just can’t even bring myself to watch Disco anymore (stopped after season 2). Have seen every episode of every other series excluding Prodigy (am getting to that one), but Disco just doesn’t feel like the same universe, and I’m simply not interested.

This episode was damn fantastic and I find Trekmovie’s comments section for this article a bit more wearying than most.

Star Trek: Discovery's Commander Rayner Is The New Riker

WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5, "Mirrors "

• Rayner in Star Trek: Discovery shows reluctance to lead, akin to Riker in The Next Generation, emphasizing the importance of strong leadership dynamics.
• Similar to Riker on the USS Enterprise-D, Rayner's style proves valuable in solving critical issues in "Mirrors" episode.
• Burnham's mission and leadership choices parallel Picard and Riker dynamics, showcasing a balance of risk-taking and bold decision-making in Star Trek lore.

Star Trek: Discovery 's new Number One, Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) has a lot in common with Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) from Star Trek: The Next Generation . In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5, "Mirrors", written by Johanna Lee & Carlos Cisco and directed by Jen McGowan , Rayner has to reluctantly take the center seat while Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is on an away mission. Rayner's reluctance to take the conn, and his insistence that he lead the away mission in Burnham's stead, draws similarities between him and Will Riker.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5 , "Mirrors" reveals that Rayner, formerly the captain of the USS Antares, is unsure that his style will gel with his new crew. However, by bringing the Discovery's bridge crew together, Rayner is able to solve the problem of how to drag the ISS Enterprise out of interdimensional space . With Burnham back on board, Rayner is back to being the USS Discovery's Number One, but satisfied that he can lead from the center seat, much like Riker at the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation season 4, episode 1, "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"

Jonathan Frakes Is In Star Trek: Discovery Even If You Dont See Riker

Star trek: discovery's commander rayner is reluctant to be captain - like riker in tng.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation , Riker turned down several opportunities to become captain, preferring to stay aboard the USS Enterprise-D as second-in-command to Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). However, Riker was often placed in charge of the starship Enterprise , most notably when Picard was assimilated by the Borg Collective. After rescuing Captain Picard from the Borg, and saving the Federation from the Collective, he was happy to step down from Captain to Commander Riker, satisfied that he'd proved his worth as a captain. For Riker, serving as Number One on the Federation flagship was just as huge an achievement as his own command .

Riker finally accepted a promotion to captain of the USS Titan in Star Trek: Nemesis .

Rayner in Star Trek: Discovery was demoted from Captain to Commander in season 5, episode 2, "Under the Twin Moons". The USS Discovery is Rayner's last chance, which is presumably why, like Riker in TNG , he's keen not to chase promotion. His reasoning is different to Riker's because Rayner had already been a captain for years before becoming Burnham's Number One . Rayner is reluctant to take charge in "Mirrors" because it's not his crew, and his command style is very different to Burnham's.

Commander Rayner Is The Riker To Burnham's Picard In Star Trek: Discovery

One of the reasons that Rayner gives for not wanting to take the conn is that Burnham's away mission is " too risky " for the captain of the USS Discovery . Riker leading the away missions in Star Trek: The Next Generation became such a trope that Picard jokes about it in his Star Trek: Nemesis wedding toast . Burnham explains why she and Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) are the best crew members to take on the mission, forcing Rayner to concede that she's right. Picard would do the same in later seasons of TNG as he took a more active role in away missions.

Discussing Riker's replacement aboard the Enterprise, Commander Data (Brent Spiner), Picard jokes: " I will be training my new first officer. You all know him. He's a tyrannical martinet who'll never, ever allow me to go on away missions! "

When Burnham offered Rayner the role of second-in-command in Star Trek: Discovery she made it clear that she didn't want a " yes man ". Picard didn't want Riker to be one either, which is why he was so impressed by his fierce opposition to Captain Robert DeSoto (Michael Cavanaugh) leading an away mission on Altair III. Riker risked court martial to convince DeSoto that his away mission was " too risky " for the captain of the USS Hood, something that ultimately led to him becoming the second-in-command of the USS Enterprise-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation .

Star Trek: Discovery streams Thursdays on Paramount+

All episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation are streaming now on Paramount+

Star Trek: Discovery

Star Trek: Discovery is an entry in the legendary Sci-Fi franchise, set ten years before the original Star Trek series events. The show centers around Commander Michael Burnham, assigned to the USS Discovery, where the crew attempts to prevent a Klingon war while traveling through the vast reaches of space.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation is the third installment in the sci-fi franchise and follows the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew members of the USS Enterprise. Set around one hundred years after the original series, Picard and his crew travel through the galaxy in largely self-contained episodes exploring the crew dynamics and their own political discourse. The series also had several overarching plots that would develop over the course of the isolated episodes, with four films released in tandem with the series to further some of these story elements.

Star Trek’s Michael Dorn Wanted Worf To Kill A Popular Deep Space Nine Character In Picard Season 3, And I’m Glad This Didn’t Happen

I'm breathing a sigh of relief.

Although Star Trek: Picard Season 3 reunited most of the Star Trek: The Next Generation starring actors for the first time since 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis , they didn’t all show up at once. In the case of Michael Dorn’s Worf , his first scene in the episode “Disengage” saw him rescuing Michelle Hurd’s Raffi Musiker from the crime lord Sneed, and he beheaded the Ferengi on his way out. But if Dorn had his way, he would have killed a different Ferengi instead: Quark, one of the other major characters from S tar Trek: Deep Space Nine , and I’m glad this didn’t happen.

Armin Shimerman, who played Quark for the entirety of Deep Space Nine ’s seven-season run, shared this tidbit of information while appearing on TrekMovie ’s All Access Star Trek podcast. Dorn came aboard Deep Space Nine at the beginning of Season 4 following The Next Generation’s conclusion, so he and Shimerman spent a lot of time together in the mid-late ‘90s, but decades later, the latter wasn’t particularly enthused about the former wanting to slice Quark’s head off. As he recalled:

Dorn called me up and said, ‘I’m doing an episode of Picard where I kill off a Ferengi. Wouldn’t it be great if it were you?’ I said, ‘Michael no, it would not be great.’ I told him just to forget about that idea altogether.

Jonathan Frakes , who was also a guest on this episode, speculated that Michael Dorn didn’t know Worf would be cutting Sneed’s head off, but Armin Shimerman told the William Riker actor and longtime Star Trek director that, at the very least, Dorn was aware Worf was going to kill a Ferengi. In the end though, it was Sneed who met this fate, with the character being played Aaron Stanford, who previously worked with showrunner Terry Matalas on the 12 Monkeys TV show.

Star Trek: Picard's Showrunner Reveals The True Purpose Of The Show's Ending, And It Actually Makes Me Optimistic About A Follow-Up

Star Trek: Picard Wrapped Up The Story For Patrick Stewart’s Character, But Now He May Be Getting A New Movie, And I Have Mixed Feelings

I am so relieved this Quark idea for Star Trek: Picard never came to fruition. Worf killing off a Ferengi criminal lord mere minutes after we meet this character is one thing, but for him to behead a character that not only is beloved by many Star Trek fans, but whom Worf had known for many years is another. Granted, as Dr. Julian Bashir once said, Quark was definitely not Worf’s “favorite person,” and he tried to steer clear of the bar owner whenever possible. But not only do I not believe that Quark would ever become a crime lord on Sneed’s level, I also don’t buy that Worf would have just killed his former… associate without blinking an eye.

If the day comes that Armin Shimerman reprises Quark in live-action, the character needs to be treated with the proper respect and not just be killed off for shock value. Star Trek: Lower Decks had the right idea, as Shimerman voiced Quark for a meaningful role in the Season 3 episode “Hear All, Trust Nothing.” The fan-proposed Star Trek: Legacy would be the best place for that to happen, though there’s still no word if that project stands a chance of becoming one of the upcoming Star Trek TV shows .

Picard , Deep Space Nine and all the other Star Trek shows (except for Prodigy , which is now at Netflix ) can be streamed with a Paramount+ subscription . Discovery is currently in the midst of its final season, and Lower Decks ’ final season will follow sometime afterwards on the 2024 TV schedule .

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Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.

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