The "5 year mission" may still apply, but they don't make it seem like they can't return to civilization, so its quite easy they complete a "5 year mission" and then start another after an unknown time of shore leave. The only issue with that is....why wouldn't they film that shore leave.
33:02 No, that was a production mistake. Data had been using contractions (retroactively now out of character) since the start of the show. And the one at the end was a big one they missed, at, like, the worst possible moment. Oops.
@@busimagenI’m not just talking about the evil twin trope. Just look that how the story is structured for Alien Covenant. David is created first but more human like, Walter created later as more ethical android. David kills engineer colonists by bringing a dangerous Alien creatures to them just like Lore did to the human colonists. David then tries to lure humans and Walter into a being victims of Alien creature just like Lore.
30:27 I think they are trying to convey that Wesley did figure it at the moment but pretended he didn’t. He was alone with Lore. Data was unconscious on the floor. Wesley doesn’t know what Lore would do to him if he let him know he suspected him.
I have to push back on a little on one of the patreon's comments about the crew seeing through Lore immediately being the better idea. One, I like that our crew are composed of people we like, respect or whatnot, but that aren't infallible. Two, it makes Lore a more formidable opponent that he was able to fool our heroes. Three, it adds to Wesley's character that he suspects Lore when the main crew doesn't. The objection I have to the Mission Impossible series (other than it just being a spectacle vehicle for TC at this point), for example, is that no matter how behind the 8 ball the team is in (and, really, it's just Ethan Hunt at this point), he always outwits the villain. At this point in the franchise, there's no risk, no suspense, no real stakes b/c I know that Hunt's going to win in the same fashion every time. I get that that's the conceit of almost all Hollywood movies (and tv), but it's tired and well trodden. Yes, the Enterprise crew makes it through here, but only b/c they had Data, a Lore equivalent in a manner of speaking, to stand up to him and it showed that the crew wasn't infallible. People we respect, even admire can be fooled b/c none of us (and they) are perfect.
It’s not that S1 and S2 are “bad”. It’s that TNG gets so much better that these two seasons pale by comparison. Some of the finest hours not only of Star Trek, but of television itself, are ahead of you. I’m excited to watch you guys react to them as you get there. You have no concept yet of how truly good Star Trek can get. :)
@@miller-joel some of the best, actually. Just a different time, I guess. We’ve all seen the writing deteriorate in entertainment for decades. It took Michael Piller and the open-script policy of seasons 3-7 to get TNG really roaring. The original series writers brought very little to the show S1-2 on their second Trek outing.
TOS has been said to have 2 strong seasons with a lackluster third while TNG had lackluster inaugural and sophomore seasons with the third being a marked stop up and the indicator of how the rest of the series plays out. Since the first two seasons of TNG had a lot of the same writers as TOS (and had a lot of the recycled scripts from Phase 2) it could be said TNG was held back by the drop in quality from TOS. But I think there’s always strong scripts and strong acting with occasional missteps in all of Trek…except for Voyager, which I felt never lived up to the promising premise and just did a lot of randomness instead of an overall arc.
Worf was kind of a push-over until he actually worked out and learned how to fight. Getting one-shot by Lore, simultaneously knocked him out and woke him the f up.
Wesley was there, in part, for younger people to relate to... It didn't take long for the writers to figure out that they didn't want to see someone they could never be, they wanted to see someone whom they could aspire to become!
12:30 Where, exactly, did you get the imprssion that Data was one of many? I never, ever assumed that, and believed from the beginning of the show that he's unique. Some of the continuity of his backstory wasn't very well thought out (4+ years in Starfleet Academy and then other ships, and now on the Enterprise he's acting like he just met humans for the first time, sometimes). Riker's meeting him in the Holodeck in Episode 1 clearly indicated, to me, that Data was unique and people were not used to encountering or working with his type of "artificial life form."
This is a great episode. Brent Spiners' Data is my favorite character in TV\film fiction. Soooo much more of him coming, cannot wait for you all to watch it!
It's enormously satisfying for me to watch you guys watch these because, for the first time, I recognize someone else whose reactions to it are similar to mine! When these first aired, so many Trek fans I spoke to either rejected it outright or dismissed it because 'real' Star Trek had to have the old crew. Even some of the original cast seemed to express disdain for The Next Generation. Personally, I grew up with copies of the Star Trek Technical Manual and the Enterprise Blueprints, so every instance in which they showed new aspects of the world, such as what the shuttlecrafts look like, I was happy.
The name of Data's creator, Dr Noonien Soong, was based on a variation of the name "Khan Noonian Singh". I don't think they meant to imply a connection, they just thought it sounded cool.
Both Khan and Dr. Soong are named after an old war buddy of Gene Roddenberry whose name he put in his shows as an Easter Egg and as a way to perhaps rekindle their friendship after loosing track of eachother after the war.
@@targetaudienceAs chief medical officer, both McCoy and Crusher are part of the command staff. Just like how the chief engineer is. These are just people who happen to have two major work stations, but have to be kept in the loop and part of bridge crew in order to do their jobs effectively.
@targetaudience Dr. Crusher was most likely just happy to be on the Bridge able to sit near Jean-Luc but also doesn't have to deal with Troi taking that seat all the time when she really doesn't need to be on the Bridge like she owns that seat when she could do her job as counselor elsewhere and still be able to tap into the viewscreen and let them know if she senses deception wherever she is on board.
@@bradbarter8314Ships Councilors are also essential bridge crew. That is literally her station. Her job isn't just to chime in when they encounter aliens or other ships, it's to monitor the mental wellbeing and stability of command staff.
@@DigitalJediMaster Crazy late-80s/early-90s Hollywood thinking. That's the one thing that dates TNG more than anything else. Everyone was reading a bunch of pop-psych books. Of course, nowadays people want to replace cops with crisis counselors, so I guess some bad ideas are cyclical.
Data's lack of use of contractions only goes as far as the actor does, and Spiner definitely forgets from time to time. "I'm fine" being but one of many examples (as you continue your viewing.)
Patrick Steward has said in interviews he lived outta his suit case for awhile,because he thought TNG wouldn't last a year. And in the first year of production,their dressing rooms were old trailers with no air conditioning on the back lot of Paramount studios.
Even this early in the show, you can see now that Patrick is starting to settle in and get comfortable in the role. He was really uptight and on-edge for the first dozen or so episodes, always thinking he was going to get called to the office and sent home. So he was on eggshells the whole time. The cast kept trying to get him to lighten up but he was terrified of failing. He said that many times in interviews.
They put the money into those sets, and the ILM special effects. They may have had bad trailers, but putting the money where they did was the best investment they could make.
Wil Wheaton has said (something along the lines of) early on some of the writers didn't like the Wesley character and deliberately tried to write him poorly or maybe they didn't put any effort into developing him properly. I've mentioned before, how I felt Wesley had a lot to work with if they made him a bit resentful of Starfleet (considering the death of his father). If he resented having to live on a starship or disliked Picard because of his connection to his dad, then grew to slowly love Starfleet that would have been far more interesting then having him be all fanboy from the beginning. Let him be a little rebellious - let him be a teenager. Instead they made him a supernerd playing adult all the time.
As a kid I watched this and saw it from Wesley's viewpoint and the adults not listening to him. On a rewatch I saw that all the adults knew and didn't want Lore to know they knew and Wesley was the one f'kin it up by talking about it.
I'm curious as to why you guys were seemingly perplexed or shocked that Dr. Crusher was on the bridge when y'all just got done watching 3 seasons of TOS where it would almost be out of place for Dr. McCoy to NOT be on the bridge. On a side note... if McCoy and Crusher were fused into one being would their new name be "Dr. Bone Crusher"?
In TOS, it was out of place for Kirk to always beam down, or to let some rando be in command when Uhura would be the appropriate officer to do so. P.s. "Bone Crusher " 😂
Well, Bones and Kirk were best friends. So, if he didn't have something to do on his sickbay, he could visit his friend on the bridge. Crusher and Picard were friends because of her husband, but the military code here became stricter
@@Anthyrion 1. They were more than just "friends". 2. She was part of the command staff. Lastly 3. The character is part of the main cast, she needed to be there for plot development.
TNG had a big cast and even when it made a lot more sense for characters to be elsewhere they'd randomly shove them onto the bridge somehow just to get them in the episode, especially in the early seasons. The actors all had contracts to appear in a certain number of episodes. Even when the stories they wanted to do didn't make sense to include somebody like Dr. Crusher, contractually they had to put her into the plot somehow even if that meant putting her on the bridge to tell her son to shut up. If they were going to be paid for those episodes they might as well use them. Later on they got more comfortable filming them in their more realistic workplaces, and putting scenes off of the bridge. The conference room of course is the logical choice, along with Picard's ready room. The senior staff can get together and discuss situations in those places in a more natural-seeming way. They should have used those sets more often in season 1 but the writers were still figuring the show out (and there was a lot of turnover). They also eventually did more scenes over the communicators and ship intercoms, used the quarters sets, engineering, sickbay, and of course the new set they built for season 2, but it sure took a while. Really this situation is brought on by the plot-driven stories of the early seasons. When they shifted over to character-driven stories, it suddenly no longer made sense for every scene to be on the bridge, talking to whoever on the view screen, or discussing technobabble options. The bridge ceased to be the main set that everything had to happen on, it was more just a workplace that some of the characters would go to for their shifts, while living much richer lives elsewhere. The bridge is for plot. Everywhere else is for character.
Because it simply isn't Picard's style. He's more protocol oriented than Kirk. He'd rather drink tea alone in his ready room than chit chat. Kirk doesn't mind chit chat as long as nothing major is going on.
They never weee strict with the contraction part of data. But st least in the later episodes i always though was learning how to be more human and developed the ability to use contractions.
I really liked voyager and enterprise too. Hope you keep going. Never seen much of deep space, but that too has a good reputation. Newer stuff disappointed me, so I broke off it.
Brent Spiner's line of , "I'm fine" was one of the many continuity problems the first couple of seasons of TNG suffered from - more ironic in the fact this was the episode that specifically pointed out Data was incapable of using verbal contractions. These little mistakes often made it past the editors early on. Later seasons, once the actors really got a grip on their character's mannerisms and quirks, these errors became few and far between. Data's inability to use contractions will become a plot point in some future episodes, so it was definitely a mistake on Brent Spiner's part. Good catch that you noticed that.
He was playing two characters on a show that had time constraints and in Lore's clothes at the time. The confusion had to have been mind contorting. Or it was a tiny detail, intentionally there that the writing just ignored. Oh, who knows. After all, we're all.... only... Human.
The thing about him hating kids is tho it was said in the pilot, it seems like a completely out of character trait for him, he seems in every other respect the very type of older man that would be amazing with kids.
I forgot where the “Shut up, Wesley!” Came from, now a meme 😉 When it was planned to remaster ST:NG in high defenion, in 2011, to rescan all the film elements, sound, etc. Early use of CGI, like the Crystal Entity had to be remade, as new graphics. So many of the effects were models then, of course. (In time, view some of the documentary, how they had to reassemble TNG, on Blu’, likely on Paramount)
I hadn't really thought about it before but it's actually interesting how many members of the crew are essentially foundlings that got adopted by the Federation and eventually joined Starfleet.
Interesting take on how coming off fresh of TOS has given you more cravings to watch TNG vs those who waited 20 years. I’m right there with you guys with craving this show since this is also my first run through Star Trek as well! I’m really enjoying this season!
Honestly this episode is the start of the great stuff to come. The further in it gets the more risks they take and the better it gets. This episode for me os the start of that trend and honestly it only keeps getting better.
Definitely a highlight of the season and our first real opportunity to see Brent Spiner's great acting skills. Thanks guys - you will LOVE the rest of this series.
Yeah one of you guys compared Riker to Spock Galileo 7 was one of my favorite episodes of the original show It was Spocks first command mission Mccoy rubbed it in his face a few times And that a few people died It wasn't Spocks fault And how the hell are they gonna survive that mess But yeah Riker always seemed like he liked having some command power Spock never did He just put up with it is all
There were 2 either members of security or engineering yellow shirts behind Worf that heard Lore shout "emergency close" so they know something happened to Worf or he would've been found unconscious in the turbo-lift by someone. Security should've been alerted then and a greater response dealing with whom they would've at least suspected was Data to begin with or Lore but it was never followed up on. We never hear if Worf had been severely injured and was in sick bay.
They replaced all the ship security with counselors after a certain political movement in the early 21st century. This is especially funny if you know that the actresses for Troi and Tasha were originally swapped casting.
I have never been one to think seasons one and two are bad. Indeed, there are some really great episodes found in them. And I'm glad you guys are discovering this on your own, and not letting the other comments against the season influence your receptiveness to the episodes. One reason I never dislike season one is because, ultimately, it's what got me into Trek. I watched plenty of TOS on TV over the years, but early 1988 (when we got it on VHS over here in the UK) when I first watched TNG I fell in love with it. Keep going, lads, so much goodness to come both in this season and in those that follow. - Andy Frankham-Allen.
This was a good episode thanks guys. Leonard Nimoy told Whoopie Goldberg in the Captains Summit interview with Shatner, Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes that he was told the Data character was to replace his character's functions and Roddenberry directed in the series "bible" that there would be no Vulcans in TNG.
I'm glad Roddenberry wanted to move beyond Vulcans and agreed somewhat with that, but it was his absolutism on the matter that was so problematic and perplexing. So I think it was a good move not to have a regular main cast character as a Vulcan and to branch out to other species on the bridge. But a bad move to avoid them so completely. Like why not a Vulcan as a regular background person with a name and maybe an episode early in S1 that has at least a Vulcan subplot?
Relative to other season 1 episodes, this one was very strong. As for plot problems, the biggest one is probably the “we’re out of time” ending where Picard just lets an alien entity known for destroying civilizations go. Another thing, you guys keep saying “evil Kirk” when referencing The Enemy Within. It’s a subtle difference but Kirk was divided into aggressive and docile halves, “evil” Kirk is no such thing, he’s still Kirk. Food for thought. This is the sort of nuance that comes from repeat viewings.
I also never got people recommending "Just skip it". To me the later episodes only work if you've seen the first two seasons, knowing where everyone come from. And imo they do a good job retconning some of it, where it becomes more meaningful. If you've already seen them, that's a different story. On a rewatch I might skip big chunks. But on a first time watch? Never.
I think it's a recognition of lower attention spans nowadays. There's so much great TV out there that it's hard to ask a friend to sit through 2 mediocre seasons to get to the good stuff. Plus TNG is so episodic that I think you can easily just show someone "The Enemy" or "Darmok" first to see if it's their thing. If I wasn't a trekkie and somebody showed me "Farpoint" it probably wouldn't get me coming back.
Even the most skippable episodes of TNG (with the exception of one episode that is universally despised and irredeemable), has some good scene or character interaction or character development in it. And there are some genuinely really good episodes scattered in the worst seasons of the franchise.
Enjoying your continuing reaction. To clarify, Data’s creator, Dr. Soong, was a Federation citizen from Earth, but Data was created on a remote Federation or Federation-connected colony (notice the lab utilized Federation tech). It’s just that he wasn’t created on Earth.
I love your intro, you guys are really approaching the series logically and organically whilst still staying true to yourselves in spite of feedback giving you alternate expectations. I predict you'll have a helluva lot of 10/10 episodes going forward through the seasons.
There are many truly classic episodes of TNG that are in season 1. The characters weren't as well developed, but often the plots and scifi concepts were quite good.
I don't know why I only just realized this, but the point of Lore's name is that the words 'data' and 'lore' are both words for 'information', but 'data' is information in a cold analytical context, and 'lore' is information in a more human literary context. So the word 'lore' is a "more human" version of the word 'data', just as the character Lore is a more human version of Data.
@15:56 Meme alert! And having just done a rewatch of TNG recently, there's not a lot i liked from season 1, but this is definitely one of the better episodes. Brent Spiner really is amazing and it's great to see him have a chance to show what he can do. Also many years later, Wil Wheaton posts on Twitter how he'll block anyone that says "Shut up, Wesley", only to have Sir Patrick Stewart reply with, "Shut up, Wil!" 😂
7:53 The reason why they say "Continuing Mission" instead of "Five Year Mission" is because by the time of TNG's time-line, the missions are now 10 year missions
This episode shows again how awesome the music was in these first 3 seasons. For example when they are walking along the hallway in the secret lair you can hear a clear Hommage of the composer to Jerry Goldsmiths Alien Score. That sets the spooky mood if the Episode quite early. Although the show in general will get better the music however goes downhill after season 4.
It should also be pointed out (if not already) that the special effects for this episode were amazing for their time. The split screen (2 characters on screen at the same time played by the same actor) is very commonplace now. But in 1987, it was extremely advanced and convincing for its time. I can’t think of another show operating on a TV show budget that had ever accomplished that effect earlier.
I thoroughly am of the opinion that season 1 really sucks bad but watching your reviews has given me cause to go back and revisit some of the episodes with a different mindset
The scene with Dr. Crusher's arm being on fire as she's running out of the cargo bay, was an accident. The sparks used for making it appear her arm was hit, caused the fire on her arm and wasn't planned for that stunt. Gates McFadden also did that stunt herself, and the part with Picard telling her to get treated, was his actual concern for her. Her arm had been slightly burned. There are a few other times where a stunt is done by one of the members of the cast, and they're hurt performing it. I never understood, and still don't, why so many give the first two seasons so much grief. They're perfectly fine and there are many great episodes in both seasons, this episode being one of them.
You’re right about the blue uniforms. For some reason, science division is all over the place throughout nineties-era Trek. Keep an eye on it while watching TNG and the subsequent series.
This is one of my favorite episodes of season 1. Now you have seen one of the most famous quotes, “Shut up, Wesley!” It always gets a laugh from me, but it was said so much to Wil Wheaton at conventions and stuff that he absolutely hates it and blocks people that say it to him online. Watching your faces be completely engrossed in the episode is what I’m here for. You have so many great episodes coming, and I’ll gladly be here for them all. I’m loving these reactions so thanks for providing some fantastic entertainment!
See, it's episodes like this which is why I never tell people to skip season 1. There are so many important episodes, even this early, that help develop the crew and introduce stuff. We now know so much about Data and his origin, his family, etc. Why would anybody want to skip this? And while I think season 2 is genuinely quite bad a lot of the time, there's still some really important character development that happens in that season, and some more good stuff gets introduced that pays off later on with better writers taking up the reins. I think many of the stories aren't particularly memorable (at least not for good reasons), but the characters start to find their footing. Of course, season 3 is where they take off running.
The split-screen work is so seamless that you don't even notice that Data and Lore do something you haven't seen people do in split screen: Lore puts the glass down, and then Data picks up the same glass. They simply changed the location of the split, but it's subliminally convincing that these are two characters in the same scene.
I have always appreciated their attention to detail. When Doctor Crusher is leaving the cargo hold, her right sleeve is on fire. The next time we see her, the sleeve is damaged. Some shows wouldn't pay attention to having the costume reflect what we, the audience, just saw happen.
@@hannesgroesslinger Right but they easily could have slipped her into a new coat, which other, less intelligent...I mean less concerned about continuity, shows would've done. Instead, they kept her in it for the follow-on scene and it adds another bit of verisimilitude to the concern about how she should go to sick bay.
If you pay attention to the expressions of some of the bridge crew when Lore is impersonating Data, its clear they are suspicious. Remember the part earlier when Riker tricked Lore into giving away that he was smarter than he was letting on? Lore thinks that humans are all stupid compared to his vast superiority, but he's constantly underestimating them. Picard snaps at Wesley not because he thinks Wesley is wrong, but because he's not following proper procedure. As Picard says, he'd asked for Riker's report. Its inappropriate for Wesley to keep interrupting, just because he thinks they don't get it. Wesley was actually guilty of the same thing Lore was - he thought he was smarter than everyone else and so was the only one who could have noticed. He needed shutting down because he was being insubordinate.
This one was I have to say in my top 2 or 3 when I saw it in 1987-88. Lore was a nasty Villain, the most evil & nasty one up to this point I think! Your Reaction to this was pretty Positive and maybe one of you will rank it in the top 3 like I did back then. Oh Boy, I knew you would love this one Alex! Data Lore has 2 meanings, a lot of lore from Data's past and Lore his Brother! Also, "Where's the Bad Episode?" Am I right guys? 😀🖖
Lore is definitely a Super Villian. Super smart, super strong, super tough, completely immoral and unscrupulous. He already destroyed one planet by the time of this episode so he’s had his personal Thanos moment.
Early on, an issue with the show was the lack of a permanent chief engineer. The actor who played Argyle spammed fans and friends to write in and lobby the studio to cast him as a permanent role, including saying how much they liked him in Datalore. The problem? They received these letters before Datalore had aired. Argyle was never seen again....
I always found the dislike of Wesley strange. He's a boy genius, I suppose that's a poor writing trope, but really... he was entirely correct here and yet most people take great satisfaction at him being shut down for no real reason. Like I said, quite strange. Imagine being Wesley, how frustrating that'd be.
It was not good writing. Wil Wheaton's performance contributes a little bit to the problem, but the main problem was the writing and the direction. WW is a good actor, but he couldn't rise above the awkward way Wesley was written, especially so far.
You mentioned Brent Spiner's stand in for the Data and Lore scenes. You will see the guy who plays Brent Spiner's stand in throughout many episodes to come. You'll see him operating the transporter or sitting somewhere on the bridge. Once you see him, you can't UN-see him.
Good catch on that final scene "I'm fine". Totally screwed the pooch on that one. I wonder if the scenes were shot out of order, and because he was in the Lore outfit, the editors in charge of catching that kind of inconsistency thought it was Lore talking.
As I recall, contractions actually slipped through in dialog several times. It was just one of those things that's hard to keep track of, and wouldn't have mattered as much in the days before streaming where people would replay these kinds of errors ad nauseum.
@@MKDumas1981I know I never noticed whether Data was using a contraction unless it was relevant to the plot. I didn't even know some slipped through until years later.
Watch our reaction to Star Trek TOS: The Enemy Within - ruclips.net/video/IYj9tqiW7II/видео.htmlsi=TVroFYSqqShYlRbv
The "5 year mission" may still apply, but they don't make it seem like they can't return to civilization, so its quite easy they complete a "5 year mission" and then start another after an unknown time of shore leave. The only issue with that is....why wouldn't they film that shore leave.
That "I'm fine" at the end was a hell of a mistake to leave in the episode lol
You’ve taken a huge step into the TNG world with one of the most famous lines ever.
SHUT UP WESLEY!
33:02 No, that was a production mistake. Data had been using contractions (retroactively now out of character) since the start of the show. And the one at the end was a big one they missed, at, like, the worst possible moment. Oops.
"It sucks because he's right, but it's nice for him to get yelled at." That's Wesley for you in a nutshell.
Whoever worked on the story for Alien: Covenant totally took inspiration from this episode.
@@busimagenI’m not just talking about the evil twin trope. Just look that how the story is structured for Alien Covenant. David is created first but more human like, Walter created later as more ethical android. David kills engineer colonists by bringing a dangerous Alien creatures to them just like Lore did to the human colonists. David then tries to lure humans and Walter into a being victims of Alien creature just like Lore.
Other shows did use it as well. But it is a fun trope...
@@probablysomeguy4806 @cookiedestroyer2801
Spiner is a treasure. Such a great actor
And a fantastic singer, the Ol' Yellow Eyes album was incredibly fun.
He was hilarious as Bob Wheeler on Night Court.
30:27 I think they are trying to convey that Wesley did figure it at the moment but pretended he didn’t. He was alone with Lore. Data was unconscious on the floor. Wesley doesn’t know what Lore would do to him if he let him know he suspected him.
That’s how I took it, but why didn’t Wesley immediately notify someone when he was free from Lore? And why be so coy afterwards?
@@DeanStrickson I guess being a kid and not having any proof, he was stilling mulling it over like how they mentioned on this reaction.
@@DeanStrickson Because they'd tell him to shut up... just as they did.
I have a feeling the contraction Data gave at the end was a blooper that they just did not correct.
Bwah ha hahahaha: 2:33 "Lore building"!!! So perfect.😅🤣👌
I have to push back on a little on one of the patreon's comments about the crew seeing through Lore immediately being the better idea. One, I like that our crew are composed of people we like, respect or whatnot, but that aren't infallible. Two, it makes Lore a more formidable opponent that he was able to fool our heroes. Three, it adds to Wesley's character that he suspects Lore when the main crew doesn't.
The objection I have to the Mission Impossible series (other than it just being a spectacle vehicle for TC at this point), for example, is that no matter how behind the 8 ball the team is in (and, really, it's just Ethan Hunt at this point), he always outwits the villain. At this point in the franchise, there's no risk, no suspense, no real stakes b/c I know that Hunt's going to win in the same fashion every time. I get that that's the conceit of almost all Hollywood movies (and tv), but it's tired and well trodden.
Yes, the Enterprise crew makes it through here, but only b/c they had Data, a Lore equivalent in a manner of speaking, to stand up to him and it showed that the crew wasn't infallible. People we respect, even admire can be fooled b/c none of us (and they) are perfect.
It’s not that S1 and S2 are “bad”. It’s that TNG gets so much better that these two seasons pale by comparison. Some of the finest hours not only of Star Trek, but of television itself, are ahead of you. I’m excited to watch you guys react to them as you get there. You have no concept yet of how truly good Star Trek can get. :)
On the other hand, TOS did not take a couple of seasons to get good. It had solid episodes from the beginning.
@@miller-joel some of the best, actually. Just a different time, I guess. We’ve all seen the writing deteriorate in entertainment for decades. It took Michael Piller and the open-script policy of seasons 3-7 to get TNG really roaring. The original series writers brought very little to the show S1-2 on their second Trek outing.
TOS has been said to have 2 strong seasons with a lackluster third while TNG had lackluster inaugural and sophomore seasons with the third being a marked stop up and the indicator of how the rest of the series plays out. Since the first two seasons of TNG had a lot of the same writers as TOS (and had a lot of the recycled scripts from Phase 2) it could be said TNG was held back by the drop in quality from TOS.
But I think there’s always strong scripts and strong acting with occasional missteps in all of Trek…except for Voyager, which I felt never lived up to the promising premise and just did a lot of randomness instead of an overall arc.
@@dr.juerdotitsgo5119 Season 1 and Season 7 are far superior to anything that came after 2005. Picard Season 2 is the worst of all TNG.
Season 2 has one of my favorite episodes. No spoilers, but you probably know which one I’m talking about.
2:20 And speaking of Lore building
Worf was kind of a push-over until he actually worked out and learned how to fight. Getting one-shot by Lore, simultaneously knocked him out and woke him the f up.
Wesley was there, in part, for younger people to relate to...
It didn't take long for the writers to figure out that they didn't want to see someone they could never be, they wanted to see someone whom they could aspire to become!
12:30 Where, exactly, did you get the imprssion that Data was one of many? I never, ever assumed that, and believed from the beginning of the show that he's unique. Some of the continuity of his backstory wasn't very well thought out (4+ years in Starfleet Academy and then other ships, and now on the Enterprise he's acting like he just met humans for the first time, sometimes). Riker's meeting him in the Holodeck in Episode 1 clearly indicated, to me, that Data was unique and people were not used to encountering or working with his type of "artificial life form."
This is a great episode. Brent Spiners' Data is my favorite character in TV\film fiction. Soooo much more of him coming, cannot wait for you all to watch it!
The “planet set” was referred to by the cast as Planet Hell because of some of the crazy ways is was dressed for a particular episode
It's enormously satisfying for me to watch you guys watch these because, for the first time, I recognize someone else whose reactions to it are similar to mine!
When these first aired, so many Trek fans I spoke to either rejected it outright or dismissed it because 'real' Star Trek had to have the old crew. Even some of the original cast seemed to express disdain for The Next Generation.
Personally, I grew up with copies of the Star Trek Technical Manual and the Enterprise Blueprints, so every instance in which they showed new aspects of the world, such as what the shuttlecrafts look like, I was happy.
The name of Data's creator, Dr Noonien Soong, was based on a variation of the name "Khan Noonian Singh". I don't think they meant to imply a connection, they just thought it sounded cool.
Both Khan and Dr. Soong are named after an old war buddy of Gene Roddenberry whose name he put in his shows as an Easter Egg and as a way to perhaps rekindle their friendship after loosing track of eachother after the war.
13:05 - Argyle got a name back in "Where No One Has Gone Before".
Kind of funny that you ask why Dr. Crusher is on the bridge "you don't work there", but meanwhile McCoy hung out on the bridge all the time.
I feel like he didn’t really, also if he was there and Kirk told him to leave he wouldn’t get offended. Considering he’s the doctor.
@@targetaudienceAs chief medical officer, both McCoy and Crusher are part of the command staff. Just like how the chief engineer is. These are just people who happen to have two major work stations, but have to be kept in the loop and part of bridge crew in order to do their jobs effectively.
@targetaudience Dr. Crusher was most likely just happy to be on the Bridge able to sit near Jean-Luc but also doesn't have to deal with Troi taking that seat all the time when she really doesn't need to be on the Bridge like she owns that seat when she could do her job as counselor elsewhere and still be able to tap into the viewscreen and let them know if she senses deception wherever she is on board.
@@bradbarter8314Ships Councilors are also essential bridge crew. That is literally her station. Her job isn't just to chime in when they encounter aliens or other ships, it's to monitor the mental wellbeing and stability of command staff.
@@DigitalJediMaster Crazy late-80s/early-90s Hollywood thinking. That's the one thing that dates TNG more than anything else. Everyone was reading a bunch of pop-psych books. Of course, nowadays people want to replace cops with crisis counselors, so I guess some bad ideas are cyclical.
This episode really gets me excited for when you get to Measure of a Man
I was thinking the same!
Masterpiece
It's a good episode but don't spoil things for them.
What spoilers?
Data's lack of use of contractions only goes as far as the actor does, and Spiner definitely forgets from time to time. "I'm fine" being but one of many examples (as you continue your viewing.)
23:42 The writers after the Producers added in a Mary Sue teenager
Patrick Steward has said in interviews he lived outta his suit case for awhile,because he thought TNG wouldn't last a year. And in the first year of production,their dressing rooms were old trailers with no air conditioning on the back lot of Paramount studios.
Even this early in the show, you can see now that Patrick is starting to settle in and get comfortable in the role. He was really uptight and on-edge for the first dozen or so episodes, always thinking he was going to get called to the office and sent home. So he was on eggshells the whole time. The cast kept trying to get him to lighten up but he was terrified of failing. He said that many times in interviews.
They put the money into those sets, and the ILM special effects. They may have had bad trailers, but putting the money where they did was the best investment they could make.
Wil Wheaton has said (something along the lines of) early on some of the writers didn't like the Wesley character and deliberately tried to write him poorly or maybe they didn't put any effort into developing him properly. I've mentioned before, how I felt Wesley had a lot to work with if they made him a bit resentful of Starfleet (considering the death of his father). If he resented having to live on a starship or disliked Picard because of his connection to his dad, then grew to slowly love Starfleet that would have been far more interesting then having him be all fanboy from the beginning. Let him be a little rebellious - let him be a teenager. Instead they made him a supernerd playing adult all the time.
Gotta wonder about the other side of that story.
Kids father gets unalived under picard....then he starts boning Doc Crusher.......
Spiner saying "I'm fine, sir " was a joke by him on purpose to see if anyone on set caught it. No one noticed so it stayed in.
As a kid I watched this and saw it from Wesley's viewpoint and the adults not listening to him. On a rewatch I saw that all the adults knew and didn't want Lore to know they knew and Wesley was the one f'kin it up by talking about it.
This is my favorite episode in the 1st season
I'm curious as to why you guys were seemingly perplexed or shocked that Dr. Crusher was on the bridge when y'all just got done watching 3 seasons of TOS where it would almost be out of place for Dr. McCoy to NOT be on the bridge.
On a side note... if McCoy and Crusher were fused into one being would their new name be "Dr. Bone Crusher"?
In TOS, it was out of place for Kirk to always beam down, or to let some rando be in command when Uhura would be the appropriate officer to do so.
P.s. "Bone Crusher " 😂
Well, Bones and Kirk were best friends. So, if he didn't have something to do on his sickbay, he could visit his friend on the bridge. Crusher and Picard were friends because of her husband, but the military code here became stricter
@@Anthyrion 1. They were more than just "friends". 2. She was part of the command staff. Lastly 3. The character is part of the main cast, she needed to be there for plot development.
TNG had a big cast and even when it made a lot more sense for characters to be elsewhere they'd randomly shove them onto the bridge somehow just to get them in the episode, especially in the early seasons. The actors all had contracts to appear in a certain number of episodes. Even when the stories they wanted to do didn't make sense to include somebody like Dr. Crusher, contractually they had to put her into the plot somehow even if that meant putting her on the bridge to tell her son to shut up. If they were going to be paid for those episodes they might as well use them. Later on they got more comfortable filming them in their more realistic workplaces, and putting scenes off of the bridge. The conference room of course is the logical choice, along with Picard's ready room. The senior staff can get together and discuss situations in those places in a more natural-seeming way. They should have used those sets more often in season 1 but the writers were still figuring the show out (and there was a lot of turnover). They also eventually did more scenes over the communicators and ship intercoms, used the quarters sets, engineering, sickbay, and of course the new set they built for season 2, but it sure took a while.
Really this situation is brought on by the plot-driven stories of the early seasons. When they shifted over to character-driven stories, it suddenly no longer made sense for every scene to be on the bridge, talking to whoever on the view screen, or discussing technobabble options. The bridge ceased to be the main set that everything had to happen on, it was more just a workplace that some of the characters would go to for their shifts, while living much richer lives elsewhere. The bridge is for plot. Everywhere else is for character.
Because it simply isn't Picard's style. He's more protocol oriented than Kirk. He'd rather drink tea alone in his ready room than chit chat. Kirk doesn't mind chit chat as long as nothing major is going on.
For me one of the highlights of the first season.
Us as well! (So far)
Agreed, and I'm generally not a fan of the first season! But this one is a real standout.
They never weee strict with the contraction part of data. But st least in the later episodes i always though was learning how to be more human and developed the ability to use contractions.
I just discovered y'all and rrrrrrrrrrr!! I can't wait for later episodes
I really liked voyager and enterprise too. Hope you keep going. Never seen much of deep space, but that too has a good reputation. Newer stuff disappointed me, so I broke off it.
I liked Picard well enough...even the first two seasons which apparently many did not. Third season seems to be more overall liked.
What are you guys looking forward to or hoping to see in future seasons?
20:50 - Good thing they don't have belts on those outfits, they'd take it off and whoop Wesley with it right there on the bridge LOL
Look for "star trek tng sing" let it snow"
It's a funny Christmas song cut from scenes with the "Shut up, Wesley" in it 😂
Everyone signed contract extensions to do season 8, then Paramount pulled the plug, thinking movies would mean more money.
Brent Spiner's line of , "I'm fine" was one of the many continuity problems the first couple of seasons of TNG suffered from - more ironic in the fact this was the episode that specifically pointed out Data was incapable of using verbal contractions. These little mistakes often made it past the editors early on. Later seasons, once the actors really got a grip on their character's mannerisms and quirks, these errors became few and far between.
Data's inability to use contractions will become a plot point in some future episodes, so it was definitely a mistake on Brent Spiner's part.
Good catch that you noticed that.
He was playing two characters on a show that had time constraints and in Lore's clothes at the time. The confusion had to have been mind contorting. Or it was a tiny detail, intentionally there that the writing just ignored. Oh, who knows. After all, we're all.... only... Human.
29:57 Don't forget the androids of 'I Mudd'.
Picard's "shut up Wesley" cracks me up every time. It seems out of nowhere and a bit out of character, until you remember that Picard hates kids.
Even his own? 😂
He hates kids on the bridge.
The thing about him hating kids is tho it was said in the pilot, it seems like a completely out of character trait for him, he seems in every other respect the very type of older man that would be amazing with kids.
I forgot where the “Shut up, Wesley!” Came from, now a meme 😉
When it was planned to remaster ST:NG in high defenion, in 2011, to rescan all the film elements, sound, etc. Early use of CGI, like the Crystal Entity had to be remade, as new graphics. So many of the effects were models then, of course.
(In time, view some of the documentary, how they had to reassemble TNG, on Blu’, likely on Paramount)
I think there r quite a few times where Data uses a contraction.
Just a writing error.
The same people who say skip the entire first season are the same people who say Deep Space Nine is boring.
Because it is 😂😉
@@MikePhillips-pl6ov Incorrect.
Don't forget to wait 6 months between part 1 and part 2 of Best of Both Worlds. Absolutely key.
I hadn't really thought about it before but it's actually interesting how many members of the crew are essentially foundlings that got adopted by the Federation and eventually joined Starfleet.
I didn’t remember that it was so early in the seasons.
Interesting take on how coming off fresh of TOS has given you more cravings to watch TNG vs those who waited 20 years.
I’m right there with you guys with craving this show since this is also my first run through Star Trek as well! I’m really enjoying this season!
Honestly this episode is the start of the great stuff to come.
The further in it gets the more risks they take and the better it gets.
This episode for me os the start of that trend and honestly it only keeps getting better.
We are excited!
33:25 - My interpretation is that Data can use contractions, but he simply does not.
Just to F with people.
Definitely a highlight of the season and our first real opportunity to see Brent Spiner's great acting skills. Thanks guys - you will LOVE the rest of this series.
Yeah one of you guys compared Riker to Spock
Galileo 7 was one of my favorite episodes of the original show
It was Spocks first command mission
Mccoy rubbed it in his face a few times
And that a few people died
It wasn't Spocks fault
And how the hell are they gonna survive that mess
But yeah Riker always seemed like he liked having some command power
Spock never did
He just put up with it is all
"I'm fine." ... What?!?
Good catch, there.
There were 2 either members of security or engineering yellow shirts behind Worf that heard Lore shout "emergency close" so they know something happened to Worf or he would've been found unconscious in the turbo-lift by someone. Security should've been alerted then and a greater response dealing with whom they would've at least suspected was Data to begin with or Lore but it was never followed up on. We never hear if Worf had been severely injured and was in sick bay.
Starfleet security at its finest
They replaced all the ship security with counselors after a certain political movement in the early 21st century.
This is especially funny if you know that the actresses for Troi and Tasha were originally swapped casting.
I have never been one to think seasons one and two are bad. Indeed, there are some really great episodes found in them. And I'm glad you guys are discovering this on your own, and not letting the other comments against the season influence your receptiveness to the episodes. One reason I never dislike season one is because, ultimately, it's what got me into Trek. I watched plenty of TOS on TV over the years, but early 1988 (when we got it on VHS over here in the UK) when I first watched TNG I fell in love with it. Keep going, lads, so much goodness to come both in this season and in those that follow. - Andy Frankham-Allen.
13:22 - McCoy: "I'm a doctor, not an engineer."
Crusher: "I'm a doctor."
Argyle: "I'm an engineer."
This was a good episode thanks guys. Leonard Nimoy told Whoopie Goldberg in the Captains Summit interview with Shatner, Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes that he was told the Data character was to replace his character's functions and Roddenberry directed in the series "bible" that there would be no Vulcans in TNG.
Roddenberry was a hopeless sloppy drunk at this point. I believe after season 1, Roddenberry was relegated to consultant.
I'm glad Roddenberry wanted to move beyond Vulcans and agreed somewhat with that, but it was his absolutism on the matter that was so problematic and perplexing. So I think it was a good move not to have a regular main cast character as a Vulcan and to branch out to other species on the bridge. But a bad move to avoid them so completely. Like why not a Vulcan as a regular background person with a name and maybe an episode early in S1 that has at least a Vulcan subplot?
Relative to other season 1 episodes, this one was very strong. As for plot problems, the biggest one is probably the “we’re out of time” ending where Picard just lets an alien entity known for destroying civilizations go.
Another thing, you guys keep saying “evil Kirk” when referencing The Enemy Within. It’s a subtle difference but Kirk was divided into aggressive and docile halves, “evil” Kirk is no such thing, he’s still Kirk. Food for thought.
This is the sort of nuance that comes from repeat viewings.
I also never got people recommending "Just skip it". To me the later episodes only work if you've seen the first two seasons, knowing where everyone come from. And imo they do a good job retconning some of it, where it becomes more meaningful.
If you've already seen them, that's a different story. On a rewatch I might skip big chunks. But on a first time watch? Never.
I could never start a show on season 3
I think it's a recognition of lower attention spans nowadays. There's so much great TV out there that it's hard to ask a friend to sit through 2 mediocre seasons to get to the good stuff. Plus TNG is so episodic that I think you can easily just show someone "The Enemy" or "Darmok" first to see if it's their thing. If I wasn't a trekkie and somebody showed me "Farpoint" it probably wouldn't get me coming back.
Even the most skippable episodes of TNG (with the exception of one episode that is universally despised and irredeemable), has some good scene or character interaction or character development in it. And there are some genuinely really good episodes scattered in the worst seasons of the franchise.
Enjoying your continuing reaction. To clarify, Data’s creator, Dr. Soong, was a Federation citizen from Earth, but Data was created on a remote Federation or Federation-connected colony (notice the lab utilized Federation tech). It’s just that he wasn’t created on Earth.
Great episode. Remember laughing as well at the "Shut up Wesley".
I love your intro, you guys are really approaching the series logically and organically whilst still staying true to yourselves in spite of feedback giving you alternate expectations. I predict you'll have a helluva lot of 10/10 episodes going forward through the seasons.
Or this might be their favorite season!
This ep is in the first season?? No way!! The Data/Lore stuff is some of my favorite in TNG.
There are many truly classic episodes of TNG that are in season 1. The characters weren't as well developed, but often the plots and scifi concepts were quite good.
I don't know why I only just realized this, but the point of Lore's name is that the words 'data' and 'lore' are both words for 'information', but 'data' is information in a cold analytical context, and 'lore' is information in a more human literary context. So the word 'lore' is a "more human" version of the word 'data', just as the character Lore is a more human version of Data.
I had never thought of it that way. Great observation.
@15:56 Meme alert!
And having just done a rewatch of TNG recently, there's not a lot i liked from season 1, but this is definitely one of the better episodes. Brent Spiner really is amazing and it's great to see him have a chance to show what he can do.
Also many years later, Wil Wheaton posts on Twitter how he'll block anyone that says "Shut up, Wesley", only to have Sir Patrick Stewart reply with, "Shut up, Wil!" 😂
Ya just gotta love Alex's laugh!
Always trust Data, not Lore
Watching Walter and David in Alien: Covenant, all I could think of was the relation between Data and Lore.
7:53
The reason why they say "Continuing Mission" instead of "Five Year Mission" is because by the time of TNG's time-line, the missions are now 10 year missions
This episode shows again how awesome the music was in these first 3 seasons. For example when they are walking along the hallway in the secret lair you can hear a clear Hommage of the composer to Jerry Goldsmiths Alien Score.
That sets the spooky mood if the Episode quite early. Although the show in general will get better the music however goes downhill after season 4.
Great background in this episode for sure.
13:35 "Better in some ways, Sir!" Just ask Tasha.
It should also be pointed out (if not already) that the special effects for this episode were amazing for their time. The split screen (2 characters on screen at the same time played by the same actor) is very commonplace now. But in 1987, it was extremely advanced and convincing for its time. I can’t think of another show operating on a TV show budget that had ever accomplished that effect earlier.
I thoroughly am of the opinion that season 1 really sucks bad but watching your reviews has given me cause to go back and revisit some of the episodes with a different mindset
Klingons are like 3 times as strong as a human, but the Data droids are like 10 times stronger, Worf never had a chance
i dont know if i can wait two-six days between star trek episodes. faster fellas! faster!
The scene with Dr. Crusher's arm being on fire as she's running out of the cargo bay, was an accident. The sparks used for making it appear her arm was hit, caused the fire on her arm and wasn't planned for that stunt. Gates McFadden also did that stunt herself, and the part with Picard telling her to get treated, was his actual concern for her. Her arm had been slightly burned. There are a few other times where a stunt is done by one of the members of the cast, and they're hurt performing it. I never understood, and still don't, why so many give the first two seasons so much grief. They're perfectly fine and there are many great episodes in both seasons, this episode being one of them.
I think the second season is under-rated. Not the best of TNG, but better than people think of it.
It has my favorite episode of Trek in it, by any measure.
@@michaelpapp5518 that is one of many great episodes in the season; sure there are others not as good, but... that happens with most series
There's good episodes in even the worst seasons of the Star Trek franchise. But for me, season 2 is more miss than hit.
You’re right about the blue uniforms. For some reason, science division is all over the place throughout nineties-era Trek. Keep an eye on it while watching TNG and the subsequent series.
It's a two-for-one intro episode! Not just Lore but we get to meet a giant crystal space tree.
And the first utterance of "Shut up, Wesley"
This is one of my favorite episodes of season 1. Now you have seen one of the most famous quotes, “Shut up, Wesley!” It always gets a laugh from me, but it was said so much to Wil Wheaton at conventions and stuff that he absolutely hates it and blocks people that say it to him online.
Watching your faces be completely engrossed in the episode is what I’m here for. You have so many great episodes coming, and I’ll gladly be here for them all. I’m loving these reactions so thanks for providing some fantastic entertainment!
Appreciate that Brian!
21:40 Best. Reaction. Ever. 👍
See, it's episodes like this which is why I never tell people to skip season 1. There are so many important episodes, even this early, that help develop the crew and introduce stuff. We now know so much about Data and his origin, his family, etc. Why would anybody want to skip this?
And while I think season 2 is genuinely quite bad a lot of the time, there's still some really important character development that happens in that season, and some more good stuff gets introduced that pays off later on with better writers taking up the reins. I think many of the stories aren't particularly memorable (at least not for good reasons), but the characters start to find their footing. Of course, season 3 is where they take off running.
This episode had some literal lorebuilding
The split-screen work is so seamless that you don't even notice that Data and Lore do something you haven't seen people do in split screen: Lore puts the glass down, and then Data picks up the same glass. They simply changed the location of the split, but it's subliminally convincing that these are two characters in the same scene.
I have always appreciated their attention to detail.
When Doctor Crusher is leaving the cargo hold, her right sleeve is on fire.
The next time we see her, the sleeve is damaged. Some shows wouldn't pay attention to having the costume reflect what we, the audience, just saw happen.
That's because apparently her sleeve did catch fire by accident. Her costume really was burnt.
@@hannesgroesslinger Right but they easily could have slipped her into a new coat, which other, less intelligent...I mean less concerned about continuity, shows would've done.
Instead, they kept her in it for the follow-on scene and it adds another bit of verisimilitude to the concern about how she should go to sick bay.
This episode is packed with Data lore.
What's up with the TNG reviews, guys? Not showing on your channel. The only time I see them is when they pop up on my home page the day you post them.
Not sure what’s causing that for you, nothing wrong on our end.
@@targetaudience Must be RUclips acting up. I had that with The Big Goodbye for a short while, then it re-appeared.
Fans were scared about trying something new. Could lighting strike 2x? Many didn't think it was possible.
If you pay attention to the expressions of some of the bridge crew when Lore is impersonating Data, its clear they are suspicious. Remember the part earlier when Riker tricked Lore into giving away that he was smarter than he was letting on? Lore thinks that humans are all stupid compared to his vast superiority, but he's constantly underestimating them.
Picard snaps at Wesley not because he thinks Wesley is wrong, but because he's not following proper procedure. As Picard says, he'd asked for Riker's report. Its inappropriate for Wesley to keep interrupting, just because he thinks they don't get it. Wesley was actually guilty of the same thing Lore was - he thought he was smarter than everyone else and so was the only one who could have noticed. He needed shutting down because he was being insubordinate.
Reminds of David and Walter from the Alien franchise
This one was I have to say in my top 2 or 3 when I saw it in 1987-88. Lore was a nasty Villain, the most evil & nasty one up to this point I think! Your Reaction to this was pretty Positive and maybe one of you will rank it in the top 3 like I did back then. Oh Boy, I knew you would love this one Alex! Data Lore has 2 meanings, a lot of lore from Data's past and Lore his Brother! Also, "Where's the Bad Episode?" Am I right guys? 😀🖖
Lore is definitely a Super Villian. Super smart, super strong, super tough, completely immoral and unscrupulous. He already destroyed one planet by the time of this episode so he’s had his personal Thanos moment.
Early on, an issue with the show was the lack of a permanent chief engineer. The actor who played Argyle spammed fans and friends to write in and lobby the studio to cast him as a permanent role, including saying how much they liked him in Datalore. The problem? They received these letters before Datalore had aired. Argyle was never seen again....
haha very funny
I always found the dislike of Wesley strange. He's a boy genius, I suppose that's a poor writing trope, but really... he was entirely correct here and yet most people take great satisfaction at him being shut down for no real reason. Like I said, quite strange. Imagine being Wesley, how frustrating that'd be.
It was not good writing. Wil Wheaton's performance contributes a little bit to the problem, but the main problem was the writing and the direction. WW is a good actor, but he couldn't rise above the awkward way Wesley was written, especially so far.
one of two. That is interesting.
You mentioned Brent Spiner's stand in for the Data and Lore scenes. You will see the guy who plays Brent Spiner's stand in throughout many episodes to come. You'll see him operating the transporter or sitting somewhere on the bridge. Once you see him, you can't UN-see him.
Comment for the Comment God
14:04 - If you had an On switch, you'd tell everyone! 😂
Oh, you're half way there, wha-oh, Trekkin' on a prayer...
Good catch on that final scene "I'm fine". Totally screwed the pooch on that one. I wonder if the scenes were shot out of order, and because he was in the Lore outfit, the editors in charge of catching that kind of inconsistency thought it was Lore talking.
As I recall, contractions actually slipped through in dialog several times. It was just one of those things that's hard to keep track of, and wouldn't have mattered as much in the days before streaming where people would replay these kinds of errors ad nauseum.
@@DigitalJediMaster: "It's me!"
@@MKDumas1981I know I never noticed whether Data was using a contraction unless it was relevant to the plot. I didn't even know some slipped through until years later.