Friday, May 26, 2023

Star Trek: Inheritance

Episode: "Inheritance"
Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 7, Episode 10
Original Air Date: November 22, 1993

via Memory Alpha

Data meets his mother!  The Enterprise visits Atrea IV where the planet core is cooling, threatening the long-term habitability of the planet.  One of the geologists who comes aboard the ship is Dr. Juliana Tainer, former wife of Dr. Noonian Soong, Data's creator.  Dr. Tainer claims to have assisted in Data's construction.  After some investigation, Data accepts this truth.  But something is still amiss.  Dr. Tainer, while earnest in her desire to reconnect with Data, is not quite what she appears.

"Inheritance" is an important Data story.  We learn a lot about his history, elements of which bear relevance in his narrative 30 years on.  It is equal parts sweet and sad.


Acting Notes

via Memory Alpha

William Lithgow played the role of Dr. Pran Tainer, Atrean geologist and husband to Dr. Juliana Tainer.  Lithgow was born August 7, 1939 in Los Angeles.  Before Trek, he had appearances on TV movies The Fantastic Seven and Drop-Out Father.  Big screen credits include Dead in the Water, A Beautiful Life and The Inner Circle.  He also taught at Stella Adler.

As far as I can tell, he is not related to actor John Lithgow.

4 comments:

  1. Wow, interesting about Data and his mother's history.

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    Replies
    1. It's a nice episode. In general, I tire of Data stories but this one is meaningful.

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  2. I enjoyed this story about Data. :)

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