It's always a joy to watch Brent Spiner do such an incredible job playing two characters.
It makes sense that Wesley will be the one to realize that Lore has replaced Data but they wrapped that up with pure nonsense in both how Wesley tries to warn the crew and how Picard responds. Spoils what should have been an excellent episode.
Lore calling the crystalline entity to kill the villagers and Enterprise doesn't make a lot of sense. That the entity couldn't get through the shields is suspect, especially because it doesn't even try. Picard agreeing to a show of power by blowing up a tree was bizarre. That Picard doesn't question how "Data" can communicate with the entity is out of character. (So, is Picard a buffoon or a superb thinker. The writers flip back and forth on that.)
They can't stay consistent. Lore tells the entity that the shields will drop in order to beam the tree (Where is the tree anyways?) so it should attack the moment the shields drop. Even if it could be automatic, surely that's coordinated with the bridge (at least my recollection from other episodes), so how does Wesley initiate beaming Lore off the ship when the shields are up? And why didn't the entity attack?
Why would they simply leave Lore in space, until picked up by some vessel that he will no doubt commandeer for evil?
Why did the entity suddenly leave? Did it grab Lore? If it did, wouldn't Lore want to attack the ship that just ejected him?!
It's SciFi entertainment so we accept a lot of necessary nonsense but many of these problems that annoy viewers are fixable. This could be so much better. Just think, to really pit the strategy of Lore against the crew could be far more interesting than a quick fight in the the transporter room.
It makes sense that Wesley will be the one to realize that Lore has replaced Data but they wrapped that up with pure nonsense in both how Wesley tries to warn the crew and how Picard responds. Spoils what should have been an excellent episode.
Lore calling the crystalline entity to kill the villagers and Enterprise doesn't make a lot of sense. That the entity couldn't get through the shields is suspect, especially because it doesn't even try. Picard agreeing to a show of power by blowing up a tree was bizarre. That Picard doesn't question how "Data" can communicate with the entity is out of character. (So, is Picard a buffoon or a superb thinker. The writers flip back and forth on that.)
They can't stay consistent. Lore tells the entity that the shields will drop in order to beam the tree (Where is the tree anyways?) so it should attack the moment the shields drop. Even if it could be automatic, surely that's coordinated with the bridge (at least my recollection from other episodes), so how does Wesley initiate beaming Lore off the ship when the shields are up? And why didn't the entity attack?
Why would they simply leave Lore in space, until picked up by some vessel that he will no doubt commandeer for evil?
Why did the entity suddenly leave? Did it grab Lore? If it did, wouldn't Lore want to attack the ship that just ejected him?!
It's SciFi entertainment so we accept a lot of necessary nonsense but many of these problems that annoy viewers are fixable. This could be so much better. Just think, to really pit the strategy of Lore against the crew could be far more interesting than a quick fight in the the transporter room.