5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Inheritance", We Meet Data's Mom, March 1, 2000
This review is from: Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 162: Inheritance [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This episode (Actually #262 on the STTNG lists) is one in which Data meets up with a woman who claims to be his "mother". Juliana O'Donnell-Soong-Trainer was once married to the man who created Data, and was there when he (and his brother Lore) were brought to life. Although Data is gratified to find this link to his past, he cannot help but suspect that there is something not quite "Human" about Juliana. He later learns that she is NOT Human -- she's another Soong android -- but she doesn't know that. Data is then faced the dilemma of whether he should reveal to Juliana that she isn't what she seems to be. This episode features excellent character acting throughout. And fans of Brent Spiner get a sort of "double dose", as he plays both Data and a holographic Dr. Soong. It's a wonderful episode.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Just pretend it never happened, August 5, 2002
This review is from: Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 162: Inheritance [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I hate this episode. Not only is the premise of both story threads based on very dodgy science, it blows continuity to smithereens.
The Enterprise has arrived at a planet to help reliquefy its core, thus preventing an environmental disaster. Sure, we all believe a planet's molten core can solidify within a matter of months and be reliquefied with the injection of some plasma, don't we? One of the geologists, Juliana Taner, turns out to be Dr Soong's wife - hitherto never before referred to in any way, shape, or form. She introduces herself to Data, and we learn all about Data's childhood, and the relationship between Juliana and Dr Soong and the various androids they created together. But Data's suspicions are aroused, and an accident reveals the truth: Juliana is an android, created by Dr Soong to replace the real Juliana, who died after spending months in a coma after they had fled Omicron Theta. In the end, he decides not to tell her the truth, and he and his "mother" part happily.
The idea that an android could be passed off as human for years on end with no-one ever suspecting what she is just beggars belief. What about her weight? How does she go through the transporter? Why does she never get ill? How do the materials in her body go undetected? There is no good explanation of why Dr Soong and Lore never mentioned Juliana; and Dr Soong's character as established in previous episodes to my mind precludes him having a colleague, or any interest in anything other than his work. There's also a rather nasty set of attitudes displayed in this episode - it is made clear, yet again, that artificial life is considered inferior to biological life, even (or especially) by those who create it and profess to be friends with it.
The actress who plays Juliana, Fionnula Flanagan, does a poor job in an annoying role. The character is portrayed as almost completely self-centred, with an annoyingly proprietal attitude towards Data and very little respect for him or interest in getting to know him as he really is, rather than as she remembers him.
The one saving grace in "Inheritance" is Brent Spiner. He turns in excellent performances as Data and as a holographic Dr Soong. By the seventh season, Spiner is making it subtly clear that Data has evolved over the years. It was a wonderful stroke of luck that the producers found such a fine actor for this vital character.
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