The Schizoid Man

DVD, TNG S2 (The Schizoid Man)

I'm not sure what Riker's last comment means - he asks Data if he remembers wrestling with a Klingon Targ, but if it was a joke he says it with a remarkably straight face! Otherwise, the episode is a chilling mirror on the affable Commander Data, and his potential for evil. Brent Spiner's face somehow flits between the reassuringly blank-but-also-alert expression we're used to seeing, and a more human one, but also more passionate in a greedy way. The face sneers, the eyes bulge, the teeth grimace, and these changes stretch the artificial construction to emphasise it's unreality - Data seems less human in many ways.

His strength becomes horrific, the dreams he has for eternal achievement at the expense of any around him... Like Lore, this shows starkly what Data might have been, if power and desire gripped him. The story isn't a new one; there were several in the Original Series that dealt with androids, and specifically humans wanting their conciousness housed in them forever. But that cold, violent scheme for life takes away the very life they think they are preserving. The warmth and duty is replaced by selfishness and the will to do whatever they want. It gives Picard the opportunity to show the bravery, care for his crew, and diplomatic skill with words, that he became famous for, even if it did earn him a smack round the chops. It's one of the examples of the connection between Picard and Data, that would be summoned for the films.

Ira Graves (played by W. Morgan Sheppard, in the first of several Trek roles, including a Vulcan in 'Star Trek XI' I believe), was another in a long line of Trek geniuses, who usually turn out to be bad news. While Gideon Seyetik (of 'Second Sight'), or Dr. Soong, turned out to be good people with flaws, Graves definitely comes under the 'danger to Starfleet' category. At first the episode appears to be a Dr. Pulaski episode, which we haven't explored yet, but she's soon forgotten, although we get Suzie Plakson's first appearance, in the form of Vulcan Lieutenant Selar.

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