User Reviews

This episode sees the Enterprise travelling to the planet Atrea IV where the core has started to solidify. Here they will work with local scientists to re-liquefy the core. That only turns out to be a minor part of the story though; one of the scientists tells Data that she is the ex-wife of his creator Dr. Noonien Soong and was involved in his creation… in effect she is his mother. Data unsure about her but they grow closer as she tells him about his early life and how his memory had been wiped after an awkward childhood and eventually admits that it was her choice to abandon him when the Crystalline Entity attacked their world. Eventually Data learns a shocking fact about his mother… something it turns out he suspected.

This is another character driven episode which gives us an interesting insight into Data's past. It also serves to remind us of things seen in previous episodes as Data tells his mother about Noonien Soong's death and shows her a painting of his 'daughter' Lal. As well as such touching moments there are some amusing scenes too such as when Data's mother assumes his visit to Troi is part of a romance and when she tells of how he refused to wear clothes when first activated. Fionnula Flanagan puts in a fine performance as Data's mother and as expected Brent Spiner is great playing both Data and a holographic representation of his father. Over all a good episode with some emotional moments and a good twist.

I liked that this episode kept me engaged. It could have been maudlin, or it could have been the story of a couple of con-artists. As it is, Data begins to accept his "mother" as worthy of that name. It seems, on the surface, that this woman was married to Dr. Soong privately, away from her parents. This secrecy is necessary to the plot. She was there at Data's inception, and even had to make a harsh decision to leave him to his fate in a crisis. She has always regretted this. There is a subplot where his mother and her current mate are trying to stabilize underground links on the planet. She seems to be smarter than her son when it comes to this technology. She also has an outstanding musical talent and plays a really difficult piece with Data. This episode is nicely played out and quite acceptable in the canon. It appears that the producers of the show decided to make this season about personal turmoil and inner awareness. This is certainly a positive.

This great episode is a great performance by the equally great Fionnula Flanagan as Dr. Juliana O'Donnell/Soong/Trayner.

As first, Data has reservations accepting her as his de-facto "Mother" but quickly finds a connection to her. He works well with her and he plays well with her, Spiner and Flanagan bounce off each other with Robotic Precision.

But Data discovers that the connection is more Positronic than Organic, Dr. Juliana Trayner is a little too fast when working with computers and even more so when playing music with him. This gives Data the false impression that she is also a Soong-Type Android, like he is.

But she is not quite the same - For one thing, she is not as sturdy as he is, and is damaged when Data pushes her off one of the many rock faces we see in Next Generation.

For all intents and purposes, she is the same person as the one she was built to replace, and even possibly an improvement on Data himself - She has emotions, she fools Medical Scanners into thinking she is Human, she has sweat glands, breathes, has tear ducts, and ages like any other "real" person. This episode also reveals that Data was built to "age" as well.

And, finally, Data knows beyond a doubt that he is no longer Unique in the universe. But he cannot share this discovery with Dr Trayner. Embedded in her Positronic brain is a holographic chip which Dr. Noonian Soong had put there in case anyone discovers her true nature - Particularly Data. And so this episode is the fourth and final "Data" episode, and the last TNG appearance of "Dr Noonian Often-Wrong Soong". It bookends Data's History with solid answers, now we know why and how he was left on a slab to be discovered by Starfleet on Omicron Theta- At least the reason the Juliana-Android stated. In Reality, the human version of her had been injured fatally by the Crystalline Entity.

Fionnula Flanagan is one of my favourite actresses, and I was pleased to see her here, and later in Deep Space Nine. I had seen her in all kinds of 80's television, but this was one of the best parts she had ever played. One of the best 7th season Next Gen Episodes.

ST:TNG:162 - "Inheritance" (Stardate: 47410.2) - this is the 10th episode of the 7th and last season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

When the Enterprise travels to the planet Atrea to help two scientists who are trying to avert an upcoming natural disaster, it turns out one of them is Juliana Tainer, who was once married to Data's creator, Dr. Noonien Soong. This makes her in essence, Data's "mother".

However, Data soon wonders why he has no memory of her and why she would never attempt to contact him. Soon, Data notices stranger things about his "mother", things that are all too familiar for him.

Trivia note: we see Dr. Soong again, this time as a middle-aged man (he was a young man in "Birthright" and an old man in "Brothers"). Lore and the Crystalline Entity are mentioned again here too, and we also see a painting of Data's "daughter", Lal. We also find out that Data ages (he has an aging program).

AND, Juliana mentions that there were 3 android prototypes before Lore (perhaps B4 from Star Trek: Nemesis was one of them).

It's an interesting idea to consider ---- If you could imprint the memories of a loved one who died into an android and have them believe they are human --- would you?

There is a unnatural quality about that idea that I find puts me on edge but it certainly goes well with the eccentric personality of Dr Soong.

This episodes succeeds thanks to a wonderful performance by Juliana Trainer. The story itself was 'alright' but nothing riveting --- especially with this being an episode I have watched before and I know what it is coming. What held my attention was watching the nuances of Juliana Trainer.

I think Data made the right call in not revealing the truth to Juliana ---- That would have been a existential nightmare and most certainly would have ruined her relationship with 'alien guy' who is not a big fan of machines. I just hope we are not all living in some holographic construction in some twisted alien science experiment.

I also enjoy when TNG (and trek in general) shows classic music some love. Trek at it's best is the 'classical' music of television. Classical music seems to be timeless and is an art form that will likely still be appreciated 1000 years into the future long after current music trends have been buried. Keep it classy.

On a visit to Altrea IV, the Enterprise encounters a scientist who tells them she is Dr. Soong's wife and, in effect, Data's mommy! Not surprisingly, most of the episode involves Data and Dr. Juliana Soong getting to know each other and Juliana filling in blanks that Data was missing regarding his creation and Dr. Soong. She also talks about Lore and mentions that there were other android projects. However, as they continue to get to know each other, Data notices some inconsistencies--making him wonder exactly WHO she really is.

This is a decent episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation"--as are most Data episodes. While it's not nearly as much fun or exciting as the Lore episodes, it is interesting and well worth seeing.

It's a great episode to learn more about data and life before star fleet. Only one thing kinda got me questioning about the writing in this episode

Spoiler:

While data reviews the data storage device and speakers to the hologram of dr. Soong, Dr. Soong mentions that she enters up leaving him.

How could he have this information to give data, that she leaves him, but the disk had already been installed? 🤔

I would think she would know pretty soon after creation that she wasn't human. I don't think Androids eat, drink or have to go the bathroom. And no bleeding.

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?

The final season of Star Trek, the Next Generation gave us some splendid episodes and also a fair share of stinkers. Everyone knew by this stage that they would not be renewed and attempts were made to wrap up various story lines before they said their final goodbyes. There is still a great deal to be enjoyed.

Here we meet Data's long-lost mother, or rather Juliana, an android woman who was modelled on the woman who used to be married to his creator and then retrofitted to believe it/she had been around when the original colony was destroyed by the crystalline entity. Oh, and as well as being able to fool all sorts of medical future-tech into believing she/it is human, her/its outer appearance "ages"* to mimic the lifespan of an actual human.

In the service of a better storyline this might have been more acceptable but, as it is, watching it nowadays is just another uphill struggle. Fionnula Flanagan as the putative Mum, injects a certain amount of personality into this otherwise embarrassing piece and will return to Star Trek in Deep Space Nine but the best bit of this episode has to be the fake violin playing. During a string duet between Data and Juliana the two actors outperform each other for some wonderful close-ups while professional players, who's arms don't quite match up to the actors' torsos, fiddle away for all they are worth.

Brent Spiner also has a go at playing a middle-aged Dr Soong, complete with Chinese-style tunic, no less. This is in contrast to his young Dr Soong in Fantasms and his old Dr Soong in Brothers but still with the same annoyingly squeezed vocal inflection. Alas, this is not a seventh season valediction because the character will return in Enterprise ten years hence.

(* Dr Crusher also mentioned that she aged "like Data" - first and last we ever heard of that!)

Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5.

The Atrean Government have requested assistance in averting a natural disaster. Two geologists have come aboard the Enterprise, one of whom is human, one who isn't. One of whom has Ferengi ears. Fortunately, Geordi and Data have figured out a way of drilling down into the planet core's pockets which should trigger a chain-reaction, which will reliquefy the magma. That could avert any disaster.

Data doesn't know who Dr. Juliana Tainer... Doctor Soong's wife and in a way, you could say, she's Data's mother.

Well, my heart sank. Having recently dealt with La Forge and his attempts to rescue his mother and all that having a mother means to him, we are now about to set sail on the same journey again, only this time with Data.

Is Doctor Juliana really who she said she is? Data is trying to unravel the mystery. It's a bit like going out with your friends, and your mother sitting in with the group and regaling everyone with stories about your childhood. Embarrassing. The secondary story regarding the planets magma flow gets the odd look in here and there. But nothing that would interrupt the ongoing family reunion between mother and youngest son.

This episode must be among Kryton's (Red Dwarf) favourite episode. It's 100% android soap-opera.

This Episodes Clue: Enina Tandro.