I’m really surprised at how little this is discussed considering how popular the Data character is. And I’m Barclay level weirdly into Data, so for my gage of how good/important an episode is heavily based on the Data content. So Ya, I was very into the Descent episodes. Prepare yourselves, cuz I’v been binge watching TNG for that last couple of weeks, and I’m super invested in the Data character arch.
There are definitely problems with these episodes, like the issue of Lore being flippantly disassembled even though he had no trail. but the more I think of that the more I realise that Starfleet kind of couldn’t put Lore on trial, cuz Lore isn’t a member of Starfleet, in essence Lore and Data are a civilization of 2 (at this stage) and anything to do with Lore is kind of Data’s responsibility and because of the prime directive, none of Starfleet’s fucking business. Only Data could decide to what was to be done with Lore, and Starfleet could assist him but could not overrule Data’s decision.
But here are some of the things that people hate about these episodes which I don’t think are that awful. Like one person somewhere said that it’s mental that everyone risked everything to save Data. But Dr.Crusher was worried about the crew left behind. Picard was worried about the threat of Data in the hands of Lore with the power of a Borg arm behind him. Also Picard would be feeling guilt over the fact that they kicked this whole individualistic Borg thing off, as the admiral reminded him. Data proved before that he could easily take over control of the enterprise (in the episode where Dr Sung calls him back to give him the emotion chip) and had probably all the information necessary for Lore to attempt a defeat of the Federation.
What I haven’t seen much of is talk about the effect of the emotion chip on Lore, he did seem genuinely different than before he had the chip. He was happy that he had Data back, he did want purpose and community. Although he was still an utter bastard, but also he was a more complex bastard. Also Lore had to keep the Borg under their hive mind setting because when they separated from the pack they started having the kind of feelings Hugh had that made him want to be an “I” and that made him make emotional attachments, and understanding that the things they were being told to do might not be cool. I don’t think the Borg were effected in the same way that Data was by Lore’s control.
Right so Data gets angry, I kind of believe (or hope) that this was Data, and not a proximity effect of Lore control over the Borg. I think Lore was controlling the Borg in the kind of way some people control others who are searching for meaning, the Borg were lost and utterly bewildered by their new impendence and Lore gave them meaning, a directive, the aspiration of becoming more like lore something more than just cogs in a machines, and also utilised their need for community.
And Data kills a Borg, and Data feels pleasure, and when he tells this to Troi, Troi’s all: omg Data’s evil. But fuck that, when your angry and you release that anger affectively you feel good, that’s like some basic survival shit deep down (and data has survival instincts). If Data did genuinely independently make the leap of feeling anger, during a fight, where one of his side was hurt and while his friends were in danger, and he too was mortally threatened. That makes sense in a way, especially considering Data recently started expanding himself inward with dreaming. But afterward he was more emotional, he seemed concerned at his actions and concern comes out of guilt. Guilt for the pleasure he felt in enacting violence. If he felt guilt, he utterly failed to recognise it (ignoring guilt: Human much?). Possibly because he was distracted by attempts to experiment on himself and produce more emotions. Which he did in such a Data not able to comprehend emotion way, “I’ll simulate all of the factors which are typically said to illicit emotion in humanoids”. But as Picard said in the “Birth right” episode, Data can be a culture of one, and it’s usually when he trusts in himself that he grows more human. Data did tests, he did not philosophically or even creatively try to understand the emotions. So Data did kind of drop the ball on that one.
So Data’s talking to the Borg in the cell and the Borg clicks his green Lore feelings emitter thing, (which I recon gives them that selfish empowerment that Lore has) and the Borg starts gabbing on about how feelings are so hot, and Data at this stage is trying to understand his feelings of anger and pleasure alongside his ethics, and the feelings he’s receiving of pride and something akin to greed or gluttony. And the Borgs like hey there’s this “one” that can give you emotion lets go meet him. Data on board with that idea which is following the mission parameters of seeking out new life and attempting to understand it, especially in a compromising situation like getting feelings for the first time which must be overwhelming and intoxication. He goes to investigate all be it with the ulterior motive of getting more emotions, going to see who is leading this Borg individualist offshoot. How they are getting all feely weely, and what kind of threat it poses. So he goes with the Borg, on the shuttle craft to the new Borg HQ, Data could have in all fairness told the enterprise that he had to check this situation out and that he may not be coming back, but again, he was intoxicated. Also we don’t know if Data went willingly, Picard says that the Borg could have taken the necessary information from Data, and that’s possibly why there was no response from the shuttle when it was hailed.
So when we meet up with Data again after an undisclosed amount of time, most likely a couple of hours. Anyway it appears to be plenty of time for Lore to close down the bothersome parts of Data’s personality (someone said how could lore be capable of this, how could he not? Data could fix himself, and Lore is as capable if not more capable than Data cognitively. Lore would be well able to alter Data’s personality programming, implant Lore’s own personality traits, arrogance, and self-righteous pride). Then Data would be just as easy to command as the utterly lost Borg members. Lore feeds Data emotions, Data doesn’t have his ethics and other personality programming to help him see the errors of his ways, Data’s new emotions and new purpose lead him to the same conclusions as the Borg and Lore, that they are superior in every way and the Federation is an enemy that will destroy them if they don’t do it first.
The most unappealing thing about Data when we meet him again is how Lore-like he is, which kind of proves my theory that Lore just plopped his own personality on top of Data’s (another hint is when Lore is messing around with Geordi’s visor and this doesn’t sit well with Data, Lore say’s Data needs to work on his humour, and in the next scene Data’s Lore-ing it up to a whole new level. Lore messed with Data’s programming again, cuz what Lore wants is another Lore, who is slightly subservient).
From the moment Picard & Co. manage to reboot Data with the kedion Pulse, Data changes, he’s no longer joking, but he was capable of lying (so it would seem as if the Lore programming is still there it just has to contend with Data’s own personality programming) so while in some ways Data has more ability to contemplate the crazy shit Lore’s trying to do Data also is kind of schizophrenic at this stage. He takes Geordi back to the cell, and picks up Picard. Data did like Data always did when he’s having trouble knowing what to do, he went to talk to Picard. Data and Picard obviously have a kind of father/son, mentor/pupil relationship, and it’s usually Picard who gives Data his most fulfilling talks (again referring to the “Birth right” dreaming episode) as Picard begins to do his thing and get Data to big up his ethic’s, Lore comes in and the contrast between Lore and Data is obvious, compared to Data’s almost parroting of Lore in the start of the episode. When Data refuses on ethical ground, Lore attempts to kill Data, then comes in Hugh all caring and stuff, and stops Lore. Someone questioned why would Hugh give a fuck about Data? well Data is exhibiting the concerns of the kind rebel group within this rebel group of Borg, when Ricker and Worf meet with Hugh there’s other Borg knocking around and they are not concerned with fulfilling Lore’s commands, their like that Borg that was brought to Lore because he wouldn’t connect with the others. They knew that this shit was wrong, and that by being separated from the mini hive mind lore was enacting, guilt begun to weigh on them personally. I think eventually the individualistic Borg’s would have gotten rid of Lore on their own, because Lore is obviously a dick, and the first realisation of “self” that Hugh felt was through friendship not subservience, and that’s what was spread throughout the Borg hive mind). I think the individualistic Borg would be good guys, and that’s why they were ultimately left to their own devices at the end of the episode in the prime directive tradition.
So the Hugh saves Data, the Borg start fighting amongst themselves (those who are outside the mini hive mind controlled by Lore, and those still under his creepy figure nail spell) Lore legs it cuz he’s a self-preserving coward. Data runs after him, cuz Lore is Data’s problem. They are a civilisation of 2.
Lore’s all slimy and asks Data to run away with him, but Data, with both his own, and Lore’s programming understands that Lore is a skeese bag and Data fires on him, powers down his neural net, and turns him fully off. At this time data no longer has any emotions beamed at him. He is alone with the lifeless body of his brother, the emptiness of non-feeling and the rational and ethical realisation of what he has done over the last couple of days. Data logically purges the lore programme from himself. How utterly quiet and empty his head must have felt at that stage. Data knows what Lore and even the programme of Lore is capable of. He understands why Dr sung disassembled Lore in the first place, and as a civilisation of 1, he follows in his father’s footsteps and disassembles Lore. And then he’s just normal Data again, which seems a bit weird but it makes perfect sense that Data wouldn’t be wringing his hands over what had happened, he did the one thing that could remedy what he did in disassembling Lore.
For me what people hated about this episode was what made star trek quintessentially brilliant to me, things happened, questions left unanswered and I’ve been thinking about it all day. There were gaps in the story that we must conclude for ourselves what happened. Starfleet didn’t come in and put anyone to trail because it’s none of their fucking business, Prime Directive style. The new individualist Borgs do not pose a threat like the original Borg, Lore did not go to trial because one of his own (lifeforms which Starfleet are not joined with and are not beholden to Starfleet rules) killed him. Data could have possibly gone on trial for abandoning his post, assisting an aggressor and taking Starfleet officers hostage and torturing one. But he did this under outside influence like when he fucking stole the Enterprise in response to Dr.Sung’s return programme, or when he had that other guy in him. In both of those instances once Data had been restored to his old self those crimes where disregarded, which is fairly fucked up like, “oh Ya this is Data, he’s surprisingly easy to hack into and his both physically and mentally superior to us, but he’s sound” (I’m surprised there wasn’t some kind of clear up conversation where Geordi was like “ok, well that shouldn’t happen again” *places hair over flashing Digi brain*). But maybe this is because Starfleet sometimes don’t fully recognise Data for what he is, he’s like the Computer of the enterprise to them. The Computer regularly fucks up and creates all kinds of problems but it’s not reprimanded, and anytime other Starfleet officers come on board that’s how they treat Data, as just another tool which is an inconvenience when it malfunctions.
It’s not mad to say that the 6th season was pretty bad, and moved away from the most interesting principles of Star Trek which is pursuing the complicated ethics of dealing with “the other”. And there were a lot of caps and not particularly well thought out story telling in these episode. But in terms of the Data, and individualist Borg, story line of dealing with emotions and ethics, power and control, and self direction, this was a good episode for me.
There are definitely problems with these episodes, like the issue of Lore being flippantly disassembled even though he had no trail. but the more I think of that the more I realise that Starfleet kind of couldn’t put Lore on trial, cuz Lore isn’t a member of Starfleet, in essence Lore and Data are a civilization of 2 (at this stage) and anything to do with Lore is kind of Data’s responsibility and because of the prime directive, none of Starfleet’s fucking business. Only Data could decide to what was to be done with Lore, and Starfleet could assist him but could not overrule Data’s decision.
But here are some of the things that people hate about these episodes which I don’t think are that awful. Like one person somewhere said that it’s mental that everyone risked everything to save Data. But Dr.Crusher was worried about the crew left behind. Picard was worried about the threat of Data in the hands of Lore with the power of a Borg arm behind him. Also Picard would be feeling guilt over the fact that they kicked this whole individualistic Borg thing off, as the admiral reminded him. Data proved before that he could easily take over control of the enterprise (in the episode where Dr Sung calls him back to give him the emotion chip) and had probably all the information necessary for Lore to attempt a defeat of the Federation.
What I haven’t seen much of is talk about the effect of the emotion chip on Lore, he did seem genuinely different than before he had the chip. He was happy that he had Data back, he did want purpose and community. Although he was still an utter bastard, but also he was a more complex bastard. Also Lore had to keep the Borg under their hive mind setting because when they separated from the pack they started having the kind of feelings Hugh had that made him want to be an “I” and that made him make emotional attachments, and understanding that the things they were being told to do might not be cool. I don’t think the Borg were effected in the same way that Data was by Lore’s control.
Right so Data gets angry, I kind of believe (or hope) that this was Data, and not a proximity effect of Lore control over the Borg. I think Lore was controlling the Borg in the kind of way some people control others who are searching for meaning, the Borg were lost and utterly bewildered by their new impendence and Lore gave them meaning, a directive, the aspiration of becoming more like lore something more than just cogs in a machines, and also utilised their need for community.
And Data kills a Borg, and Data feels pleasure, and when he tells this to Troi, Troi’s all: omg Data’s evil. But fuck that, when your angry and you release that anger affectively you feel good, that’s like some basic survival shit deep down (and data has survival instincts). If Data did genuinely independently make the leap of feeling anger, during a fight, where one of his side was hurt and while his friends were in danger, and he too was mortally threatened. That makes sense in a way, especially considering Data recently started expanding himself inward with dreaming. But afterward he was more emotional, he seemed concerned at his actions and concern comes out of guilt. Guilt for the pleasure he felt in enacting violence. If he felt guilt, he utterly failed to recognise it (ignoring guilt: Human much?). Possibly because he was distracted by attempts to experiment on himself and produce more emotions. Which he did in such a Data not able to comprehend emotion way, “I’ll simulate all of the factors which are typically said to illicit emotion in humanoids”. But as Picard said in the “Birth right” episode, Data can be a culture of one, and it’s usually when he trusts in himself that he grows more human. Data did tests, he did not philosophically or even creatively try to understand the emotions. So Data did kind of drop the ball on that one.
So Data’s talking to the Borg in the cell and the Borg clicks his green Lore feelings emitter thing, (which I recon gives them that selfish empowerment that Lore has) and the Borg starts gabbing on about how feelings are so hot, and Data at this stage is trying to understand his feelings of anger and pleasure alongside his ethics, and the feelings he’s receiving of pride and something akin to greed or gluttony. And the Borgs like hey there’s this “one” that can give you emotion lets go meet him. Data on board with that idea which is following the mission parameters of seeking out new life and attempting to understand it, especially in a compromising situation like getting feelings for the first time which must be overwhelming and intoxication. He goes to investigate all be it with the ulterior motive of getting more emotions, going to see who is leading this Borg individualist offshoot. How they are getting all feely weely, and what kind of threat it poses. So he goes with the Borg, on the shuttle craft to the new Borg HQ, Data could have in all fairness told the enterprise that he had to check this situation out and that he may not be coming back, but again, he was intoxicated. Also we don’t know if Data went willingly, Picard says that the Borg could have taken the necessary information from Data, and that’s possibly why there was no response from the shuttle when it was hailed.
So when we meet up with Data again after an undisclosed amount of time, most likely a couple of hours. Anyway it appears to be plenty of time for Lore to close down the bothersome parts of Data’s personality (someone said how could lore be capable of this, how could he not? Data could fix himself, and Lore is as capable if not more capable than Data cognitively. Lore would be well able to alter Data’s personality programming, implant Lore’s own personality traits, arrogance, and self-righteous pride). Then Data would be just as easy to command as the utterly lost Borg members. Lore feeds Data emotions, Data doesn’t have his ethics and other personality programming to help him see the errors of his ways, Data’s new emotions and new purpose lead him to the same conclusions as the Borg and Lore, that they are superior in every way and the Federation is an enemy that will destroy them if they don’t do it first.
The most unappealing thing about Data when we meet him again is how Lore-like he is, which kind of proves my theory that Lore just plopped his own personality on top of Data’s (another hint is when Lore is messing around with Geordi’s visor and this doesn’t sit well with Data, Lore say’s Data needs to work on his humour, and in the next scene Data’s Lore-ing it up to a whole new level. Lore messed with Data’s programming again, cuz what Lore wants is another Lore, who is slightly subservient).
From the moment Picard & Co. manage to reboot Data with the kedion Pulse, Data changes, he’s no longer joking, but he was capable of lying (so it would seem as if the Lore programming is still there it just has to contend with Data’s own personality programming) so while in some ways Data has more ability to contemplate the crazy shit Lore’s trying to do Data also is kind of schizophrenic at this stage. He takes Geordi back to the cell, and picks up Picard. Data did like Data always did when he’s having trouble knowing what to do, he went to talk to Picard. Data and Picard obviously have a kind of father/son, mentor/pupil relationship, and it’s usually Picard who gives Data his most fulfilling talks (again referring to the “Birth right” dreaming episode) as Picard begins to do his thing and get Data to big up his ethic’s, Lore comes in and the contrast between Lore and Data is obvious, compared to Data’s almost parroting of Lore in the start of the episode. When Data refuses on ethical ground, Lore attempts to kill Data, then comes in Hugh all caring and stuff, and stops Lore. Someone questioned why would Hugh give a fuck about Data? well Data is exhibiting the concerns of the kind rebel group within this rebel group of Borg, when Ricker and Worf meet with Hugh there’s other Borg knocking around and they are not concerned with fulfilling Lore’s commands, their like that Borg that was brought to Lore because he wouldn’t connect with the others. They knew that this shit was wrong, and that by being separated from the mini hive mind lore was enacting, guilt begun to weigh on them personally. I think eventually the individualistic Borg’s would have gotten rid of Lore on their own, because Lore is obviously a dick, and the first realisation of “self” that Hugh felt was through friendship not subservience, and that’s what was spread throughout the Borg hive mind). I think the individualistic Borg would be good guys, and that’s why they were ultimately left to their own devices at the end of the episode in the prime directive tradition.
So the Hugh saves Data, the Borg start fighting amongst themselves (those who are outside the mini hive mind controlled by Lore, and those still under his creepy figure nail spell) Lore legs it cuz he’s a self-preserving coward. Data runs after him, cuz Lore is Data’s problem. They are a civilisation of 2.
Lore’s all slimy and asks Data to run away with him, but Data, with both his own, and Lore’s programming understands that Lore is a skeese bag and Data fires on him, powers down his neural net, and turns him fully off. At this time data no longer has any emotions beamed at him. He is alone with the lifeless body of his brother, the emptiness of non-feeling and the rational and ethical realisation of what he has done over the last couple of days. Data logically purges the lore programme from himself. How utterly quiet and empty his head must have felt at that stage. Data knows what Lore and even the programme of Lore is capable of. He understands why Dr sung disassembled Lore in the first place, and as a civilisation of 1, he follows in his father’s footsteps and disassembles Lore. And then he’s just normal Data again, which seems a bit weird but it makes perfect sense that Data wouldn’t be wringing his hands over what had happened, he did the one thing that could remedy what he did in disassembling Lore.
For me what people hated about this episode was what made star trek quintessentially brilliant to me, things happened, questions left unanswered and I’ve been thinking about it all day. There were gaps in the story that we must conclude for ourselves what happened. Starfleet didn’t come in and put anyone to trail because it’s none of their fucking business, Prime Directive style. The new individualist Borgs do not pose a threat like the original Borg, Lore did not go to trial because one of his own (lifeforms which Starfleet are not joined with and are not beholden to Starfleet rules) killed him. Data could have possibly gone on trial for abandoning his post, assisting an aggressor and taking Starfleet officers hostage and torturing one. But he did this under outside influence like when he fucking stole the Enterprise in response to Dr.Sung’s return programme, or when he had that other guy in him. In both of those instances once Data had been restored to his old self those crimes where disregarded, which is fairly fucked up like, “oh Ya this is Data, he’s surprisingly easy to hack into and his both physically and mentally superior to us, but he’s sound” (I’m surprised there wasn’t some kind of clear up conversation where Geordi was like “ok, well that shouldn’t happen again” *places hair over flashing Digi brain*). But maybe this is because Starfleet sometimes don’t fully recognise Data for what he is, he’s like the Computer of the enterprise to them. The Computer regularly fucks up and creates all kinds of problems but it’s not reprimanded, and anytime other Starfleet officers come on board that’s how they treat Data, as just another tool which is an inconvenience when it malfunctions.
It’s not mad to say that the 6th season was pretty bad, and moved away from the most interesting principles of Star Trek which is pursuing the complicated ethics of dealing with “the other”. And there were a lot of caps and not particularly well thought out story telling in these episode. But in terms of the Data, and individualist Borg, story line of dealing with emotions and ethics, power and control, and self direction, this was a good episode for me.
