Star Trek: Picard's Soong Villain Makes Data's TNG Story Better
As Brent Spiner's Adam Soong dashes his hopes of winning «Father of the Year» in Star Trek: Picard season 2, Data's character journey becomes all the sweeter. Star Trek: The Next Generation continued Gene Roddenberry's barrier-breaking approach to sci-fi by featuring an android among the Enterprise-D's main crew. Named Data, this synthetic being's quest for humanity spanned all the way into Star Trek: Picard season 1, and his ultimate (for real, this time) death. As well as the monster, Brent Spiner also played Star Trek's very own Dr. Frankenstein, Noonian Soong — the man who co-created Data alongside his wife, Juliana.
Members of the Soong clan tampering with advanced science is nothing new, and Star Trek: Picard's past timeline sees Jean-Luc encounter Adam Soong in 2024. Obsessed with genetics (the Soongs hadn't yet shifted onto synthetic studies), Adam created a procession of cloned daughters, the final and most successful being Kore, who survives until adulthood but remains unable to venture beyond her sterilized bedroom bubble. Kore discovers her true nature in Star Trek: Picard season 2, then rages at the man she previously called father, accusing Adam Soong of loving her only as an experiment — not as a daughter.
Related: Picard: Star Trek Has Finally Delivered On First Contact's Borg Tease
Many parallels can be drawn between the mistakes Adam Soong is making here in Star Trek: Picard's past, and the mistakes Noonian Soong will one day make in Star Trek: The Next Generation's future. Both men were obsessed with their scientific endeavors, pushing human acquaintances away in an unintentionally ironic mission to create realistic human life. Adam was rejected by his peers and disgraced; Noonian's marriage to
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