Brothers (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
"Brothers" | |
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Star Trek: The Next Generation episode | |
Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 3 |
Directed by | Rob Bowman |
Written by | Rick Berman |
Featured music | Ron Jones |
Cinematography by | Marvin Rush |
Production code | 177 |
Original air date | October 8, 1990[1] |
Guest appearances | |
| |
"Brothers" is the 77th episode of the
Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. In this episode, Commander Data (Brent Spiner) aborts an emergency mission and hijacks the Enterprise in response to a homing command from his "father".
Plot
A misguided prank between two young brothers exposes the younger of them to a toxic
Data finds himself in the home of his creator, Dr.
The crew of the Enterprise find a way to beam down an away team to the planet, where they discover the dying Soong and the deactivated Data. After Data is reactivated, he cannot recall any of what he did on the Enterprise to arrive at this planet, until Soong reveals to him where he can find that information stored in his memory files. Data apologizes to Soong that he will not be able to grieve for his loss, but Soong tells him he will grieve in his own way. After Soong states that he wishes to die on the planet, the Enterprise leaves and returns to its course to the medical facility, where the sick boy is successfully treated. Data observes the brothers at play after forgiving each other for the accident, contemplating his own relationship with Lore.
Production
Rick Berman's initial story did not involve Lore. The character was added at Michael Piller's suggestion, who believed the story needed an additional jeopardy element. Piller recalled:
We were standing around going through Rick's story and my feeling was that after reading his first draft that the idea of Data going back to see Dr. Soong and the story of the child who was hurt in the practical joke were not enough elements to hold up the episode. Once Data goes back to see Dr. Soong, it's basically a chat and without some jeopardy or another event to go on I was afraid it was going to be flat. We talked about what we could do and, ultimately, the obvious thing was that we bring Lore back. ..I knew from the moment we came up with it that Brent Spiner in three roles was going to make for an unforgettable episode and I think it was.[2]
Reception
Empire ranked "Brothers" 19th in the 50 top episodes of all Star Trek in 2016.[3]
In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter rated "Brothers" the 76th best television episode of all Star Trek franchise television shows prior to Star Trek: Discovery including live-action and animated series but not counting the movies.[4] And they ranked "Brothers" as 21st of 25 of the top episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 2016.[5]
In 2020, GameSpot recommended this episode for background on the character of Data.[6]
Home video
On February 27, 1996 "Brothers" & "Family" were released on LaserDisc in the United States.[7] "Brothers" was released in the United States on September 3, 2002, as part of the Star Trek: The Next Generation season four DVD box set.[8]
See also
- Abdul Abulbul Amir
- "Borderland" (Star Trek: Enterprise) (Brent Spiner plays Noonien Soong's ancestor Arik Soong in this episode, as well as in "Cold Station 12" and "The Augments")
References
- ^ "Brothers". CBS studios. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
- ^ Gross, Edward; Altman, Mark A. (October 1995). Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages. Little Brown & Co.
- ^ "The 50 best Star Trek episodes ever". Empire. July 27, 2016. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
- ^ "'Star Trek': 100 Greatest Episodes". The Hollywood Reporter. September 8, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
- ^ Couch, Aaron; McMillan, Graeme (September 21, 2016). "'Star Trek: The Next Generation' — The 25 Greatest Episodes". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ "Star Trek Picard: 10 Next Generation Episodes That Will Catch You Up On Data". GameSpot. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
- ^ "Star Trek Next Generation #077/78: Brothers/Family [LV 40270-177]". LaserDisc Database. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
- ^ Ordway, Holly E. (September 9, 2002). "Star Trek the Next Generation – Season 4". DVD Talk. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
External links
- "Brothers" at IMDb
- "Brothers" at Memory Alpha
- "Brothers" reviewed by Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club