TNG S01E12, S01E13, S01E14

In this installment:
(viewed Tuesday, May 14th & Wednesday, May 15th)

Star Trek: The Next Generation, S01E12 - "Datalore"
Star Trek: The Next Generation, S01E13 - "Angel One"
Star Trek: The Next Generation, S01E14 - "11001001"

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"Datalore"

• This is one of my favorite episodes in the first season, and one of the few truly good ones.  We get to meet to of my favorite TNG antagonists:  Lore and the Crystalline Entity.
• I know that Data's quest for humanity is his big character arc and is endearing, etc. etc. etc.  But I've always found the moments when he's trying to mimic humanity (e.g. his attempt to learn to sneeze in this episode) to be tiresomely cheesy.
• The vessel that discovered Data on Omicron Theta was the USS Tripoli.  We're never given much more information about it, although the Star Trek Encyclopedia lists it as a "Hokule'a"-class cruiser.  It would later serve in the Dominion War.
  
  (The Hokule'a class starship is never seen on-screen, but Ex Astris Scientia's "Advanced Starship Design Bureau" has fan-created speculative designs that are pretty interesting.  "Hokule'a" probably refers to the Polynesian-style sailboat that made a voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti in 1976.)
• "If you had an off switch, Doctor, would you not keep it secret?"
• I think this is the most time we ever get to spend with Chief Engineer Argyle--the other, lesser chief engineer aboard NCC-1701-D.
• Brent Spiner clearly enjoyed getting to play Lore.  It's evident from the moment we meet the character, and his performance lends a significant measure of enjoyment to the episode.
• Pretty sure Lore just copy-pasted Data's regular cheek over top of his own facial tic.
• Nobody ever listens to Wesley.  SHUT UP, WESLEY.  SHUT UP, WESLEY.
• Ah, yes.  This episode also gives us our first example of Worf being completely emasculated by way of getting his butt kicked by Data (or in this case, Lore).

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"Angel One"

• If I remember correctly, this episode is the first mention of the Romulans in TNG.  While Troi and the away team are on the surface of Angel I negotiating with the matriarchal government, Picard instructs Worf to prepare the ship for a trip into the Neutral Zone because of reports of Romulan "battle cruisers" near Federation outposts.
• "On the Enterprise, Mr. Crusher, nothing just happens."
  
  Friends don't let friends hit the captain with a snowball.
• Riker, Troi and Yar explaining aphrodisiacs to Data almost turns into a really, really uncomfortable three-way.
• "Our library is far too complicated for a man to understand."
  "I'm a robot, lady.  Super-smart and everything."
• "I think I may sneeze."
  "A Klingon sneeze?"
  "The only kind I know."
• "In the interest of diplomatic relations, I will remain here with Mistress Beata while you conduct your search."
  
  Yeah.  Diplomatic relations.
• I guess we just get to see everybody's chest hair in this episode.
• USS Berlin, the other starship answering the alarm from the Federation outposts in/near the Neutral Zone, is an Excelsior-class starship which will be mentioned again in the episode "Brothers".

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"11001001"

• The title of this episode makes me think of the Clutch song "10001110101".
• Obviously a reuse of the Earth Spacedock model/footage, Starbase 74 is one of the larger starbases we see in any Trek series or film.
• This episode is the first mention of the 24th Century game/sport of Parrises Squares.
• "Rest assured, Commander.  We will be victorious, at whatever the cost."
  "Worf, it's just a game.  A friendly little competition.  You work up a sweat, you have a few laughs, and you make new friends."
  "If winning is not important, then Commander...why keep score?"
• "A blind man, teaching an android how to paint?  That's gotta be worth a couple of pages in someone's book."
  
  This is also the first time that Data paints.
• "Blonds and jazz seldom go together."  Oh yeah?  I'm going to call this "Riker's Law".
• This episode is also the first appearance of Minuet.
• I think this is also the first episode where Riker plays the trombone.  I guess there's all kinds of "firsts" here, some of them better than others.
• One thing we learn in TNG, everyone loves jazz and classic.  Very few surviving metalheads in the 24th Century.
• "Let's go, we've only got 41 seconds."  So let's just stroll into the turbolift.
• Need to reboot your planet's computer?  Steal a starship.  It's the 24th Century equivalent of an emergency boot disk, apparently.
• Also, you can get pretty much anywhere on a Galaxy-class starship in under five minutes.