In the series Episode #4.3 - 'Brothers', Commander Data (Brent Spiner) got to meet his inventor/father Dr. Noonien Soong, so it was only fitting, I guess, that he meet his 'mother' in this story. At least that was the basis of the plot here, although not all was as it seemed. Over the course of the story it was learned that Dr. Juliana Tainer (Fionnula Flanagan) was an android herself, created by Dr. Soong after his real-life wife passed away. Made in her exact image, Dr. Tainer left her husband when it became apparent that his work was more important than maintaining a marriage, so she moved on to become a scientist in her own right. Which is how she entered this episode, as a researcher who along with her new husband Pran (Bill Lithgow) sought help for their planet Atrea IV, threatened by extinction with their world's molten core solidifying and posing an existential threat.
As in the earlier story, Brent Spiner takes on a dual role by also portraying Dr. Soong in this one, when he engages in a holodeck simulation with his creator. References to Data's evil brother Lore were apparently at the heart of Dr. Tainer's reasoning when she and Dr. Soong escaped from the doomed planet Omicron Theta without taking Data, presuming that he might turn out demented like Lore. In his wisdom, or at least at the wisdom of the writers, Dr. Soong had equipped the android version of his deceased wife with a feedback processor that emitted a false signal to convince her of her humanity. That seemed like a stretch to me, but I guess I'll go with it.
Of course, the threat to Atrea IV was nullified when the Enterprise sent a phaser blast down to the planet's core with an infusion of plasma to liquefy the planet's core, thereby saving it from a global freezing fate. This came on the heels of the prior episode, 'Force of Nature', which also took a stab at saving a world from annihilation due to a man-made cause. Sound familiar?
As in the earlier story, Brent Spiner takes on a dual role by also portraying Dr. Soong in this one, when he engages in a holodeck simulation with his creator. References to Data's evil brother Lore were apparently at the heart of Dr. Tainer's reasoning when she and Dr. Soong escaped from the doomed planet Omicron Theta without taking Data, presuming that he might turn out demented like Lore. In his wisdom, or at least at the wisdom of the writers, Dr. Soong had equipped the android version of his deceased wife with a feedback processor that emitted a false signal to convince her of her humanity. That seemed like a stretch to me, but I guess I'll go with it.
Of course, the threat to Atrea IV was nullified when the Enterprise sent a phaser blast down to the planet's core with an infusion of plasma to liquefy the planet's core, thereby saving it from a global freezing fate. This came on the heels of the prior episode, 'Force of Nature', which also took a stab at saving a world from annihilation due to a man-made cause. Sound familiar?