After reading a few of the other reviews here, it came to my attention that none of them mentioned the faults that I think ruined this episode. The episode reminded me of current, bad horror films in which the characters are so stupid that it seems that they have no brain to think with.
I enjoyed this episode greatly up to the point where Lore disguises himself as Data; the initial search on the planet and the interesting story behind Data and Lore was enjoyable and interesting to watch.
However, the irrationality of the crew (particularly Picard) lacked consistency with their normal behaviour. After Wesley suggested that Lore might be disguising himself as Data, Picard seemed furious at Wesley's disrespect in talking to a senior officer. That by itself seems quite normal of Picard, but the failure to even consider in the slightest the possibility truth in Wesley's warning does not make any sense. Perhaps if Wesley was a troublemaker "boy who cries wolf" character, I might forgive Picard's overlook; but the fact that Wesley has only ever shown complete devotion to the ship combined with his obvious intelligence gives no rational reasoning behind Picard.
With any reasonable thinking, we realize that the simple inspection of Lore's body to confirm that it is Lore and not Data far outweighs the potential security risks of letting Data, who may be Lore, wander the ship freely without question. Yet, this inspection does not occur until far later when Wesley and his mother are kicked off the bridge rudely by Picard.
"Shut up Wesley!" yells Picard after Wesley suggests the possibility of a security breach. Is it not part of any star fleet officer's duty to report such possibilities? Picard even makes this sort of claim earlier in the episode to the security chief!
I do not buy the idea that Wesley was not listened to because of his age - even if the crew and Picard were so ignorant to his repeated proofs of his ability, the potential security risk could not be ignored in any rational mind.
To top off the episode with annoyance, Wesley and his mother follow Data to confront Lore at the end. While I openly consider the possibility that there was no time to call the security team, I still find it far fetched and silly. And if that was the case, how does Picard and Ryker and Tasha Yar come in afterwards ready to fight before any other security guard!?
Otherwise, the episode was well done including Data and Lore's superb acting, so I give this episode a 6/10 rather than 3/10.
I enjoyed this episode greatly up to the point where Lore disguises himself as Data; the initial search on the planet and the interesting story behind Data and Lore was enjoyable and interesting to watch.
However, the irrationality of the crew (particularly Picard) lacked consistency with their normal behaviour. After Wesley suggested that Lore might be disguising himself as Data, Picard seemed furious at Wesley's disrespect in talking to a senior officer. That by itself seems quite normal of Picard, but the failure to even consider in the slightest the possibility truth in Wesley's warning does not make any sense. Perhaps if Wesley was a troublemaker "boy who cries wolf" character, I might forgive Picard's overlook; but the fact that Wesley has only ever shown complete devotion to the ship combined with his obvious intelligence gives no rational reasoning behind Picard.
With any reasonable thinking, we realize that the simple inspection of Lore's body to confirm that it is Lore and not Data far outweighs the potential security risks of letting Data, who may be Lore, wander the ship freely without question. Yet, this inspection does not occur until far later when Wesley and his mother are kicked off the bridge rudely by Picard.
"Shut up Wesley!" yells Picard after Wesley suggests the possibility of a security breach. Is it not part of any star fleet officer's duty to report such possibilities? Picard even makes this sort of claim earlier in the episode to the security chief!
I do not buy the idea that Wesley was not listened to because of his age - even if the crew and Picard were so ignorant to his repeated proofs of his ability, the potential security risk could not be ignored in any rational mind.
To top off the episode with annoyance, Wesley and his mother follow Data to confront Lore at the end. While I openly consider the possibility that there was no time to call the security team, I still find it far fetched and silly. And if that was the case, how does Picard and Ryker and Tasha Yar come in afterwards ready to fight before any other security guard!?
Otherwise, the episode was well done including Data and Lore's superb acting, so I give this episode a 6/10 rather than 3/10.