Brent Spiner’s Data finally achieved the ultimate upgrade in Star Trek: Picard season 3, as the personalities of Data and his evil brother Lore merged into one. For seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Lt. Commander Data sought to learn about humanity from the people around him on the USS Enterprise-D. Data’s journey to become human became one of the best story arcs on TNG, and Data became one of the show’s most beloved characters. While Data’s journey may have taken a couple of steps backward in the TNG movies, Picard season 3 beautifully fulfilled the android’s ultimate dream.
Moderated by Jonathan Del Arco and Kayla Iacovino, TrekTalks 3’s Star Trek: Picard season 3 panel reunited showrunner Terry Matalas with actors Jeri Ryan, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Michael Dorn, Todd Stashwick, and Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut to raise over $109,000 for the Hollywood Food Coalition. The actors spoke about their experience filming Picard season 3, and Brent Spiner was asked what it was like to play a new version of Data, one that combined the personalities of Data and Lore. Read his answer and watch the full panel at the 5:04:40 time stamp below:
I really saw them as two different characters, and that made them easy to play… I could distinguish between the two very clearly. I knew when I was being Lore and I knew when I was being Data. They were completely different things. It was an exciting experience. That sequence was particularly exciting. As Jonathan had that experience [directing himself], I got to work with my favorite actor. Chris Monfette and I had toyed with the scene again and again… trying to get it right and I think ultimately, it worked out nicely. Now Data is not just Data. He’s many things in one. Hopefully, he’ll destroy the world one day.
10 Ways Data Was Human Before Picard Season 3
Though Data was finally given a more human body and emotions in Star Trek Picard season 3, he was already human in all the ways that mattered.
Data’s TNG Desire Was Finally Fulfilled In Star Trek: Picard Season 3
Will the newly upgraded android return?
Data may not have technically become human by the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but he had achieved a kind of humanity in all the ways that mattered. Throughout TNG, Data participated in various hobbies, made friends, and learned more about himself and the people around him. Data’s friends never treated the android as anything less than human, and although Data cared about them in his own way, he still wanted to experience human emotions. Picard season 3 finally gave Data that chance, with a new synthetic body and organic emotions.
Data remains the dominant personality in this new synergized form, but the personalities of Lore, B-4, Data’s daughter Lal (Hallie Todd), and Dr. Altan Inigo Soong have also been incorporated into this new version of the android. Before Picard season 3, Data had died twice, his life coming to a tragic end with his ultimate dream seemingly unfulfilled. Not only did Star Trek: Picard season 3 prove that Data had always possessed the best of humanity, but it also brought him closer to being human than he ever thought possible.
- Seasons
- 3
- Writers
- Terry Matalas
- Network
- Paramount
- Streaming Service(s)
- Paramount+
- Franchise(s)
- Star Trek
