The Schizoid Man

The Enterprise rushes to the aid of ailing cybernetics expert Ira Graves, who lives online on his own planet with his young assistant Kareen. Upon learning that he is dying, Graves embarks on an extraordinary journey to cheat death - by transferring his consciousness into the unknowing body of Data.

Not a bad premise, as episodes go but the crew fail to figure out what's happened until long after the audience has understood which makes for a frustrating watch. The ending felt rather sudden as well. However, Spiner is excellent as Data turns to the dark side and delivers a performance we haven't seen since Lore. Not a bad episode but probably one for Data fans more than anyone else.

Enterprise visits an eccentric scientist to provide medical care.

This is an entertaining episode with a silly premise but a number of humorous character moments from Data and Dr Ira Graves.

The plot is predictable and lacks plausibility but contains some good dialogue between Data and Graves. Graves character has some classic lines before and after death. It also contains some decent themes on what defines existence, as in several Data focussed episodes and is a good presentation of personality disorder.

I did not find anything to be particularly cinematic, as for me the enjoyment comes from the outrageous displays of arrogance, misogyny, jealousy and general character assassination of Graves by the actors and writers.

Performances are mostly strong, such as Brent Spiner and W Morgan Sheppard. Unfortunately Barbara Alyn Woods is so terrible as Kareen I found her to be quite distracting.

This is a 6.5/10 for me but I round upwards.

I enjoyed this episode. We got to see Brent Spiner shine more which was great. I like possession stories, or mind control ones because they tend to have more tension and this one was interesting. I think it may have helped Data develop more, he is one of the best characters. Each show had a character that wasn't human and usually struggled with emotions and tng's character was Data.

Our favorite Android finds a worthy companion in Dr. Graves, one of the most brilliant beings in the galaxy. He has a masterful scientist, actually being the mentor of Data's creator, Dr. Soong. Unfortunately, his great career is about to end. He has an incurable disease that is fatal. In a comic, but touching scene, the old man insists that date refer to him as "Grandpa." They talk for long periods of time. The acerbic old goat is condescending and sarcastic and will not go gentle into that good night. He refuses to recognize the illness but it has obviously taken a foothold in his body. Things get interesting when Graves dies and his demise is announced by Data. From this point forward, Data changes completely. He becomes an android Graves. A hilarious scene is when they have the burial service and Data delivers a eulogy that is hilarious. However, the new android/Graves begins to become dangerous and could also be compromising Data's programming. Violence begins to dominate, not the seeking for knowledge that Grave's imagined, particularly when it comes to a young woman that he has raised and loved his whole life (a May/September situation). This whole episode is played with aplomb and is very entertaining.

This was a quite enjoyable episode and I must say it was nice seeing the Lovely Lieutenant Selar M. D. grace the screen.

Aside from that the story is quite intriguing it Brent Spinner was his outstanding self as always in this episode.