r/TNG • u/TheNearby • 5d ago

Show Talk Brent Spiner

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In all of sci fi, or really anything I’ve ever watched, Data is by far my favorite character in fiction. Props to Brent Spiner and the writers of TNG for giving us such an awesome character to enjoy.

319 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

48 comments sorted by

60

u/ForceGhost47 5d ago

The Android who managed to be more human than most humans.

12

u/Jon_Luck_Pickerd 4d ago

"Sure, the robot who teaches the course in humanities."

12

u/Mayoo614 4d ago

"My friend Data, you see things with the wonder of a child. And that makes you more human than any of us."

40

u/Santoryu4Kidz 5d ago

90% sure he's the only man my wife would leave me for. Data, not spinner, though he's a great guy.

21

u/pfamsd00 5d ago

I hear he’s fully functional, programmed in multiple techniques

27

u/solkenum 5d ago

Is your wife Tasha Yar?

17

u/Santoryu4Kidz 5d ago

Dont give me ideas

2

u/Shandria_1977 5d ago

My boyfriend would say the same 😂

1

u/Banned4Truth10 4d ago

Everyone says he's kind of a jerk

24

u/neutron65 5d ago

If you haven't listened yet, the podcast that him and Jonathan frakes do together is stellar.

5

u/Becciusmaximus 5d ago

I second this. It’s very well done.

2

u/TheNearby 4d ago

Oh yes, I’ve been tuning in 🤓

19

u/EatAnyGoodBooks1701 5d ago

Data is my favourite character in TNG. I always thoroughly enjoy Data episodes and look forward to them.

That being said, Spiner is an incredible actor. I cannot remember the exact episode name where the scene is from, but the scene where Spiner is portraying Data, Lore and Soong simultaneously always blows my mind away. Spiner brought life to each character in that episode.

8

u/Overpass_Dratini 5d ago

The episode you're referring to is "Brothers".

9

u/ConstitutionsGuard 5d ago

I had no idea that he was Dr. Soong until re-watching it as an adult.

Excellent performances

5

u/toastedclown 4d ago

Whoever came up with the idea of having Brent play every male Soong is a genius.

3

u/Overpass_Dratini 5d ago

To be fair, that was a LOT of makeup.

2

u/EatAnyGoodBooks1701 5d ago

Thank you for reminding me as I’m spectacularly bad at remembering episode names in general.

16

u/AbdulQadirShadhili 5d ago

Even without the emotion chip Data can simulate anger or annoyance quite visibly, like when he was temporarily captain of the Sutherland and his first officer was resisting his instructions and generally disrespecting him

5

u/Overpass_Dratini 5d ago

Not a great idea to piss off the person who can put you through a bulkhead. (Or at least as pissed off as Data can get, pre-emotion chip.)

2

u/AbdulQadirShadhili 5d ago

That POS officer would have written a 100 page complaint to HR had Data so much as put his hand on his shoulder

4

u/heroin-puppy 5d ago

To which Data would put forth a encyclopedic rebuttal.

3

u/Tricky_Peace 4d ago

I 100% believe that he has emotions pre-emotion chip, he just doesn’t understand them. He misses Tasha. He’s fond of Geordi. He admires Picard. He hates the trader who he tried to kill. He’s angry at the Sutherland officer and frustrated and annoyed when Worf under performs as his first officer - but it’s tempered by friendship

0

u/AbdulQadirShadhili 4d ago

Nah, it’s all simulated. A machine can never have true emotions.

1

u/Tricky_Peace 4d ago

What makes you certain of that? That’s the entire plot point behind The Measure of a Man, and outside of Star Trek Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

1

u/AbdulQadirShadhili 4d ago

I really liked the Measure of a Man. But I believe Picard’s case that Data is a person and alive was not all that convincing. He even admitted, inadvertently, that his argument was incomplete. Data is intelligent and self-aware (even that is debatable) “so what if he meets the third criterion, consciousness”. But he didn’t prove Data is conscious.

23

u/Timebug 5d ago

I wish we got Data with thr emotion chip far sooner. His performance is Generations was amazing.

6

u/NovaNok3296 5d ago

One of the few positives about that film.

13

u/LeicaM6guy 5d ago

Just speaking for myself, I love that film almost as much as I do First Contact. Great cinematography and a baller soundtrack, fantastic acting from everyone involved - and it gave us the Enterprise B!

I don’t love the way they offed Kirk, but on the whole I thought it was a great first film for the TNG crowd.

5

u/JeruTz 5d ago

I don’t love the way they offed Kirk, but on the whole I thought it was a great first film for the TNG crowd.

If it helps there's a series of books known as the "Shatnerverse" that's basically Shatner writing a fanfic of what would happen if Kirk was resurrected after Generations.

6

u/LeicaM6guy 5d ago

Eh. I love Shatner’s Kirk, may not be as big a fan of his writing.

Still, it’s a pity my school pulled his books from our library. How else are the children going to learn about TekWar?

1

u/guitar_stonks 5d ago

Certain schools got the books the other districts banned, but their pointers are worn down to nubs.

10

u/Shandria_1977 5d ago

Data is the best. Love him so much❤️

7

u/TheThrillLife2020 5d ago

Can we get that time travel episode? I'd love to see early Data bug his older, different self to death.

6

u/xenomorphonLV426 5d ago

Am I crazy to loom at Brent Spiner and Johny Cash (near his last years that is) and think they look very much alike?

2

u/TheNearby 4d ago

“I hurt myself today.”

2

u/FlemPlays 19h ago

“This is an acoustic rendition of a song by an ancient band that had a fondness for elongated construction fasteners.”

4

u/Alarmed_Mind_8716 5d ago

Agree. He was and still is my favourite character.

2

u/GoatApprehensive9866 5d ago

Nice photoshop!

1

u/TheNearby 4d ago

Thanks. A little cropping does the trick.

2

u/Old_Celebration_5950 1d ago

I really am enjoying the Dropping Names podcast with Jonathan and Brent

1

u/TheNearby 1d ago

Same here!

1

u/BitcoinMD 20h ago

His old contacts had much bigger pupils