Star Trek: Nemesis
Director: Jonathan Frakes
Cast: Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Dina Meyer, Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Tom Hardy, Ron Perlman, Shannon Cochran,
Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) diverts the starship Enterprise from its scheduled trip to Cmdr. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Troi's (Marina Sirtis) wedding to negotiate a peace treaty with the Romulans. Picard is shocked when Shinzon (Tom Hardy), the new Praetor of the Romulans, admits to being a clone of him. When the crew members discover a break-in on their computer, they are forced into a life-or-death battle to stop Shinzon's Warbird before it can destroy the Earth.
There is an intriguing duality of identities represented in the characters of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Lt. Commander Data and the android lookalike that the crew finds stranded on a desert planet, known only as B-4. Unlike Data, who is highly sophisticated as an android, and has his own unique identity, friendships, values, dreams, and a richly detailed identity, B-4 is almost childlike in his nature. Even with Data’s memory engrams, B-4 does not yet have a unique identity. His memory is a blank page, yet to be written on. A story that was never completed to the end.
Another duality links Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Ambassador Shinzon and they are magnetic opposites as well. When the Enterprise is invited to Romulus, one of the most dangerous systems in the galaxy,
When they arrive at Romulus, it is immediately clear that Shinzon has tight control of the situation. He forces Captain Picard and his crew to wait for him to acknowledge their presence. He does not respond to their hails of friendship. He does not invite their ship and crew to join him and learn why they were invited to Romulus. Like Picard said, Shinzon is a predator, lying in wait, patiently hunting his prey, and almost toying with Picard. This game will be played at Shinzon’s command and at Shinzon’s leisure. Meanwhile, on the Enterprise, we see that Shinzon’s show of power has had its desired effect in unnerving Captain Picard’s crew, but Captain Picard remains ever steady and patient. He is impressed by Shinzon’s show of power, but he is not threatened by it. Picard shows this wise caution when ordering Worf not to raise shields when the Romulan warbird decloaks in front of them. When he finally chooses to reveal himself to Captain Picard, Shinzon does so with an impressive display of power, his ship decloaking like a panther stalking prey, heavily armed and fortified…. And still Shinzon does not reveal his full hand. Not yet. He sends a message to Captain Picard, first. Verbally, his viceroy hails Captain Picard after a lengthy and silent delay, and orders them gruffly to come to the designated coordinates to meet Shinzon. Silently, Shinzon is saying that this is his turf, and they are playing by his rules, and he will only reveal himself to Picard when he is ready to do so. When Picard leaves for this meeting, it is not surprising that he brings his best and most trusted officers with him in the landing party… showing his own display of power and telling Shinzon that while he is impressed, he is not afraid. Not surprisingly, when the away team enters Shinzon’s meeting chamber, it is dark, and they are initially alone. We see Shinzon watching the group through the mesh in the staircase, and when he first addresses them, he does so without revealing himself to increase the drama. He then addresses Picard, first by his title of Captain and then by his full name, Jean-Luc Picard… as if he is toying with Picard as a cat would a mouse just before he is eaten. He then goes on to address each of Picard’s crewmates by name, clearly establishing that he knows exactly who they… and especially Picard, are, while they still know nothing of Shinzon’s character or motivations. They are walking into a trap, literally and metaphorically in the dark. When Shinzon gets to Counselor Deanna Troi, this is the first subtle change we see in his character… going from threatening to intrigued that Counsellor Deanna Troi is female. When Shinzon reveals how intimately he knows Deanna’s character and appreciates her beauty and femininity, we see Commander Riker instinctively moving to Deanna’s side, protecting his Imzadi from this threat. We also see Picard protecting Deanna by getting to the point of the meeting, his no-nonsense tone reflecting patience and wisdom from Picard and making it clear that he is on guard, as well. Shinzon responds by illuminating the chamber and finally revealing his face. Shinzon’s final power play is telling Jean-Luc a shocking truth… that they are, in fact, identical. Shinzon confirms this by identifying the rare disease that he and Picard share, and then he invites Jean-Luc to dinner on Romulus and withdraws with one final power flourish, giving Picard a sample of his blood as proof of his claim.
When Picard and Shinzon are having dinner, we learn that Shinzon was created, as an exact clone of Jean-Luc Picard because the Romulans planned to replace the real Captain Picard with their clone to infiltrate Starfleet and destroy the Federation from within… a clever plan. While they are genetically identical, the characters of Picard and Shinzon could not be more different. Shinzon was created as a genetic clone of Picard. He did not have the same opportunities in his life that Picard had. He was enslaved in a spice mine during his childhood and could not even see daylight for ten agonizing years. Shinzon’s character was shaped by hard knocks and learning to survive on his own, with only his hatred and rage to fuel him. He was created to serve a greater purpose and when that purpose became moot, he was sentenced to die, as a child, in the spice mines because Romulus was afraid that if Starfleet discovered Shinzon, there would be war. Shinzon was rescued from slavery by his Viceroy, who provided him with a new family, identity, and sense of purpose. Now, he wants to save Remus from darkness and destruction.
Eyes play an intriguing role in both pairs of brothers. When Data and Geordi are studying the android recovered in the desert, Dr. Crusher tells Data that she believes he has nicer eyes than his clone. Ironically, the eyes are one characteristic that Picard and Shinzon share that Picard does recognize as his own. While Data and B-4 are identical reflections of each other, time and different life experiences have caused Picard and Shinzon to age differently. Shinzon’s eyes are colder than Picard’s, crueler and more calculating and lacking all emotion or humanity (which is what I believe Dr. Crusher saw shining in Data’s eyes, but not B-4’s eyes. Data had a soul at that time and B-4 did not. His eyes were lifeless.
The irony of the bond shared between Captain Picard and Shinzon is that while they share a unique connection in that they are the same person in the physical sense, they are quite different individuals in a moral sense. Captain Picard lives by a code of moral integrity. His empathy for his crew, and even for Shinzon, himself, is what makes Picard an honorable man. While Shinzon is a man of extraordinary power, his mortal weakness is that while he wants to take Captain Picard’s identity as his own, he can never truly replace Picard. Although he needs Picard’s blood in order to ensure his own survival, Shinzon’s desire to destroy those who sought to oppress him has extinguished the fragile essence of his humanity and transformed him into an entity of darkness.
Although his initial purpose in the film is to aid Shinzon in stealing Picard’s identity, what makes Commander Data’s counterpart, B-4, different from Shinzon is that unlike Shinzon, B-4’s moral character…his “soul” so to speak…is able to be restored. Because B-4 had no memories of his life before he was rescued, Commander Data gives B-4 his own memory engrams to help shape his identity… and in a sense, Data becomes both father and brother to B-4 and he is able to share some of his humanity with B-4. When Data sacrifices his own life to save the life of Captain Picard and the rest of the Enterprise crew, his memories are allowed to live on through B-4. When Picard re-activates B-4 to tell him of Data’s tragic demise, he tells B-4 what kind of man Data was… and that in Data’s quest to find humanity, he taught them all what being human truly meant… that while Data was not human, his curiosity and desire to explore every facet of humanity allowed his family to see the best parts of their own humanity. There is a moment as Captain Picard leaves, where B-4 begins humming a song that Data sang at the beginning of the film. While it is never clearly established that B-4 has undergone a positive character transformation, there is a certain comfort in knowing that the possibility of Data infinite goodness living on through B-4 is there.
Director: Jonathan Frakes
Cast: Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Dina Meyer, Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Tom Hardy, Ron Perlman, Shannon Cochran,
Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) diverts the starship Enterprise from its scheduled trip to Cmdr. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Troi's (Marina Sirtis) wedding to negotiate a peace treaty with the Romulans. Picard is shocked when Shinzon (Tom Hardy), the new Praetor of the Romulans, admits to being a clone of him. When the crew members discover a break-in on their computer, they are forced into a life-or-death battle to stop Shinzon's Warbird before it can destroy the Earth.
There is an intriguing duality of identities represented in the characters of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Lt. Commander Data and the android lookalike that the crew finds stranded on a desert planet, known only as B-4. Unlike Data, who is highly sophisticated as an android, and has his own unique identity, friendships, values, dreams, and a richly detailed identity, B-4 is almost childlike in his nature. Even with Data’s memory engrams, B-4 does not yet have a unique identity. His memory is a blank page, yet to be written on. A story that was never completed to the end.
Another duality links Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Ambassador Shinzon and they are magnetic opposites as well. When the Enterprise is invited to Romulus, one of the most dangerous systems in the galaxy,
When they arrive at Romulus, it is immediately clear that Shinzon has tight control of the situation. He forces Captain Picard and his crew to wait for him to acknowledge their presence. He does not respond to their hails of friendship. He does not invite their ship and crew to join him and learn why they were invited to Romulus. Like Picard said, Shinzon is a predator, lying in wait, patiently hunting his prey, and almost toying with Picard. This game will be played at Shinzon’s command and at Shinzon’s leisure. Meanwhile, on the Enterprise, we see that Shinzon’s show of power has had its desired effect in unnerving Captain Picard’s crew, but Captain Picard remains ever steady and patient. He is impressed by Shinzon’s show of power, but he is not threatened by it. Picard shows this wise caution when ordering Worf not to raise shields when the Romulan warbird decloaks in front of them. When he finally chooses to reveal himself to Captain Picard, Shinzon does so with an impressive display of power, his ship decloaking like a panther stalking prey, heavily armed and fortified…. And still Shinzon does not reveal his full hand. Not yet. He sends a message to Captain Picard, first. Verbally, his viceroy hails Captain Picard after a lengthy and silent delay, and orders them gruffly to come to the designated coordinates to meet Shinzon. Silently, Shinzon is saying that this is his turf, and they are playing by his rules, and he will only reveal himself to Picard when he is ready to do so. When Picard leaves for this meeting, it is not surprising that he brings his best and most trusted officers with him in the landing party… showing his own display of power and telling Shinzon that while he is impressed, he is not afraid. Not surprisingly, when the away team enters Shinzon’s meeting chamber, it is dark, and they are initially alone. We see Shinzon watching the group through the mesh in the staircase, and when he first addresses them, he does so without revealing himself to increase the drama. He then addresses Picard, first by his title of Captain and then by his full name, Jean-Luc Picard… as if he is toying with Picard as a cat would a mouse just before he is eaten. He then goes on to address each of Picard’s crewmates by name, clearly establishing that he knows exactly who they… and especially Picard, are, while they still know nothing of Shinzon’s character or motivations. They are walking into a trap, literally and metaphorically in the dark. When Shinzon gets to Counselor Deanna Troi, this is the first subtle change we see in his character… going from threatening to intrigued that Counsellor Deanna Troi is female. When Shinzon reveals how intimately he knows Deanna’s character and appreciates her beauty and femininity, we see Commander Riker instinctively moving to Deanna’s side, protecting his Imzadi from this threat. We also see Picard protecting Deanna by getting to the point of the meeting, his no-nonsense tone reflecting patience and wisdom from Picard and making it clear that he is on guard, as well. Shinzon responds by illuminating the chamber and finally revealing his face. Shinzon’s final power play is telling Jean-Luc a shocking truth… that they are, in fact, identical. Shinzon confirms this by identifying the rare disease that he and Picard share, and then he invites Jean-Luc to dinner on Romulus and withdraws with one final power flourish, giving Picard a sample of his blood as proof of his claim.
When Picard and Shinzon are having dinner, we learn that Shinzon was created, as an exact clone of Jean-Luc Picard because the Romulans planned to replace the real Captain Picard with their clone to infiltrate Starfleet and destroy the Federation from within… a clever plan. While they are genetically identical, the characters of Picard and Shinzon could not be more different. Shinzon was created as a genetic clone of Picard. He did not have the same opportunities in his life that Picard had. He was enslaved in a spice mine during his childhood and could not even see daylight for ten agonizing years. Shinzon’s character was shaped by hard knocks and learning to survive on his own, with only his hatred and rage to fuel him. He was created to serve a greater purpose and when that purpose became moot, he was sentenced to die, as a child, in the spice mines because Romulus was afraid that if Starfleet discovered Shinzon, there would be war. Shinzon was rescued from slavery by his Viceroy, who provided him with a new family, identity, and sense of purpose. Now, he wants to save Remus from darkness and destruction.
Eyes play an intriguing role in both pairs of brothers. When Data and Geordi are studying the android recovered in the desert, Dr. Crusher tells Data that she believes he has nicer eyes than his clone. Ironically, the eyes are one characteristic that Picard and Shinzon share that Picard does recognize as his own. While Data and B-4 are identical reflections of each other, time and different life experiences have caused Picard and Shinzon to age differently. Shinzon’s eyes are colder than Picard’s, crueler and more calculating and lacking all emotion or humanity (which is what I believe Dr. Crusher saw shining in Data’s eyes, but not B-4’s eyes. Data had a soul at that time and B-4 did not. His eyes were lifeless.
The irony of the bond shared between Captain Picard and Shinzon is that while they share a unique connection in that they are the same person in the physical sense, they are quite different individuals in a moral sense. Captain Picard lives by a code of moral integrity. His empathy for his crew, and even for Shinzon, himself, is what makes Picard an honorable man. While Shinzon is a man of extraordinary power, his mortal weakness is that while he wants to take Captain Picard’s identity as his own, he can never truly replace Picard. Although he needs Picard’s blood in order to ensure his own survival, Shinzon’s desire to destroy those who sought to oppress him has extinguished the fragile essence of his humanity and transformed him into an entity of darkness.
Although his initial purpose in the film is to aid Shinzon in stealing Picard’s identity, what makes Commander Data’s counterpart, B-4, different from Shinzon is that unlike Shinzon, B-4’s moral character…his “soul” so to speak…is able to be restored. Because B-4 had no memories of his life before he was rescued, Commander Data gives B-4 his own memory engrams to help shape his identity… and in a sense, Data becomes both father and brother to B-4 and he is able to share some of his humanity with B-4. When Data sacrifices his own life to save the life of Captain Picard and the rest of the Enterprise crew, his memories are allowed to live on through B-4. When Picard re-activates B-4 to tell him of Data’s tragic demise, he tells B-4 what kind of man Data was… and that in Data’s quest to find humanity, he taught them all what being human truly meant… that while Data was not human, his curiosity and desire to explore every facet of humanity allowed his family to see the best parts of their own humanity. There is a moment as Captain Picard leaves, where B-4 begins humming a song that Data sang at the beginning of the film. While it is never clearly established that B-4 has undergone a positive character transformation, there is a certain comfort in knowing that the possibility of Data infinite goodness living on through B-4 is there.