Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 31: The Schizoid Man [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The bonding of human knowledge and technology serves as the basis for "The Schizoid Man." Unfortunately, this intriguing premise turns out to be not as fully developed as it could have been.

The Enterprise-D responds to a distress call seeking medical help for the dying Doctor Ira Graves (W. Morgan Sheppard). Graves is seriously ill but develops a bond with Lieutenant Commander Data (Brent Spiner) before he passes away. Unbeknownst to the crew and Graves' former assistant, Kareen Brianon (Barbara Alyn Woods), the brilliant cyberneticist actually transferred his mind into Data before expiring. When he learns what has happened, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) confronts the android and demands that Graves leave his body.

If you enjoy watching episodes where Data behaves abnormally, then "The Schizoid Man" is your cup of tea. However, the "switching bodies" plot is seriously underdeveloped and contributes nothing that you have not already seen in this type of story. You also have to wonder about the soundness of Graves' idea to transfer his mind into Data. If there is anything one has learned from watching the original series of Star Trek, it is that any plan involving the transfer of a human consciousness into an android body always manages to go awry. Apparently Graves did not bother consulting the research of the countless other eccentrics who tried to do the same thing before him.

The Enterprise is sent to render urgent medical assistance to Dr. Ira Graves, the greatest living expert on artificial intelligence and androids. He is the academic father to the man who created Data, so he is in some sense Data's grandfather. They arrive to find him cantankerous, but resigned to the death of his body. Graves insists that Data call him grandpa and they begin some detailed discussions, where Graves reveals his plans to have his knowledge and experience transferred into a computer. However, Data informs Graves that he has an off switch, which piques his interest.
Shortly after this, Graves dies, the crew returns to the Enterprise and Graves is given a space burial. However, Data begins acting strangely, speaking absurd phrases that are more the product of a disturbed mind rather than that of an android one. He also begins showing uncontrollable emotion, demonstrating a great deal of jealousy for Graves' beautiful assistant. Dr. Crusher determines that there are two distinct personalities inside Data, Graves and Data. As time goes on, the Graves personality is growing stronger and soon will be the dominant one. However, after a series of "accidents" Graves voluntarily leaves Data and his essence enters a computer.
This is one of those episodes where Brent Spinner shows his immense talents as an actor. At various times he bounces between the staid android and an emotionally and psychologically unstable human. These changes take place in a matter of seconds, which had to be a significant challenge. Some of the dialog the "Graves inside Data" character states is pretty absurd, but it works. The incongruity of "Data's" statements makes the circumstances all the more believable, as it would have been less effective if the dialog has been only slightly out of the Data character.
There are many episodes in the second season where Data is the prime focus, often to the diminishment of some of the others. This is one such episode and it is well done. Like the other members of the Enterprise, I could not help grinning at the absurdity of the dialog of Data/Graves.

Data's Grandfather

Dr. Noonien Soong had a mentor; the great Dr. Ira Graves. He must have taught Soong the technical dilemma of creating a sentient machine. For those of you who don't know Soong created our favorite android. In this episode, the doctor who is dying wants to transplant his soul into Data to live forever. The Data/Graves personality attempted impress Kareen; his assistant. He had romantic feelings that he could not act upon because of his age difference. If he used Data's body he felt he had a chance. Overall this episode stands out as one of those human dramas that don't have any phaser battles. However, it was interesting to see Data develop his social skills as a sentient machine.