Masks

I noticed the low rating before watching it, and therefore was primed to skip to the next episode, but it held my interest all the way through.

Highlights for me were Brent Spiner's various characters; he is definitely the best actor in this series and I enjoyed watching him dip into his repertoire of faces and voices. Also, the conversation about symbols used by ancient civilizations I found interesting.

I understand that this isn't enough for a lot of people, and I don't imagine I'll ever watch it again. If you're not a big Data fan you might want to give it a miss.

This may not have been a ten out of ten plot/story-line, but it certainly was a engaging episode. The one thing I truly loved about this episode, was that it gave Brent Spiner the ability to truly demonstrate his acting ability.

Any actor that can portray multiple personalities, and do it in a way where you believe that each persona is a unique and different individual, truly is a great actor. The emotional struggle, between the competing personalities was also portrayed in a believable way.

It's been a while since I have watched this episode, so I can't go into more detail about the story-line... but reading the negative reviews, I felt I had to say something in its defense.

Spiner's performance in this episode has always stayed with me!

Just guessing but I assume that most people that review this episode are fans of series and would rate higher than an independent reviewer. But if we can be honest about this particular episode, then this show was lacking in so many ways. And after watching the episode on two occasions, this was more about the many acting abilities of Brent Spiner than an entertaining view by the public.

When the Enterprise investigates a passing comet they find inside a mysterious religion facility deep inside the comet. Somehow the passing facility invades the Enterprise's computers plus Data's computer mind making the facility able to communicate with the crew by means of several strange characters that are projected through Data's computer brain. While the Enterprise is being transformed into a ancient alien city, Data's computer mind will hold the key to how Captain Picard can communicate with the forces that are holding the Enterprise.

Brent Spiner did his best at playing several characters but it was not enough to make the story interesting. In fact it was distracting seeing Data change into so many characters in which some had no relevance to the on-going problem the crew was facing.

Thinking I may have missed some important information during my first view, I watch the episode for a second time. Much to my chagrin the second viewing was worse than the first. Nothing had been missed. This was an uninteresting and confusing story that had little action and even less sense. Even being a fan of the series, this was one of the poorest offerings in the entire collection.

Somehow, an Aztec-like culture invades the enterprise. They start by transporting artifacts and then use Data as a conduit to express their purposes. Why go through this whole complex procedure. Why not just do their will. Data begins to exhibit multiple personalities and Picard carries on discourse with him in an attempt to figure out what is going on. At least the Captain has been shown to be a true student of archaeology, a cosmic interpreter of mythology, an intergalactic Joseph Campbell. This gives him some sort of credibility. However, the whole thing bogs down when the creature/creatures become true forces. The solution is so simplistic. The conclusion is the worst of any episode I've seen. Watch at your own risk, although Brent Spiner is quite wonderful with his use of voices and his physicality. His Commander Data is one of the most entertaining and creative characters in all of science fiction.

Patrick Stewart once said that Brent Spiner was the best actor he ever worked with. This episode is one shining example of why he said that. The trope of "imported multiple personalities" has been used in virtually every sci fi series in memory, but few actors are as capable of pulling it off. He is.