YMMV / Star Trek: The Next Generation S1 E12 "Datalore"

• Applicability: Data finding it insulting of his crewmates to use "it" instead of "he" for Lore may resonate with trans and nonbinary viewers. They, too, are sometimes referred to as "it" even when their pronouns are different, which is both hurtful and insulting. Especially as some people start misgendering someone they disagree with (like some crewmates using "it" for Lore again after his true intentions are revealed, as a sign they don't respect him as a person), or because some people make an effort to use correct pronouns for friends and acquaintances, but "it" for other people (like the crew at the start calling Data "he" and Lore "it", despite both being masculine-looking androids).
• Discredited Meme: For many years, Wil Wheaton joked that people have put their kids through college with how much money the fans made selling homemade t-shirts emblazoned with "Shut up, Wesley!". However, in 2016, Wil said that he insta-bans people who write "Shut up, Wesley!", even if it's done ironically.
• He Really Can Act: The episode served as one to much of the show's own crew regarding Brent Spiner. Not only does he pull off the tricky task of playing two characters who spend time pretending to be each other, but they also had to deal with a body double for the split screen shots who was way too into playing a robot even knowing he wouldn't actually appear in the episode. As Wil Wheaton later quoted from one crew member in his episode review, it's pretty hard to properly appreciate Spiner's portrayal of an emotionless robot, until you see someone doing it badly.
• Suspiciously Similar Song: The background music that plays while the landing party are exploring the desolate Omicron Theta bears more than a little resemblance to Jerry Goldsmith's theme from Alien.
• Take That, Scrappy!: Probably unintentional, but many people cheered when Picard delivers the line "Shut up, Wesley!" Ironically, at a point when Wesley isn't being obnoxious and actually has a good point. Wil Wheaton later described this as causing a wave of cheering across the country as "an episode that was nearing "The Last Outpost" territory suddenly has redeeming value."
• Visual Effects of Awesome:
  • The split-screen which allows for Data and Lore to be on-screen together is completely seamless.
  • The Crystalline Entity is still impressive over 30 years later. The HD remaster made it even better.

---