In episode 6 of the second season of Star Trek: Picard, geneticist Adam Soong reveals his true face, and actor Brent Spiner even draws a direct connection to Data’s twin brother Lore from “Spaceship Enterprise: The Next Generation”.
Brent Spiner has previously appeared in the Star Trek franchise not only as Android Data, but also as its human builder Dr. Noonian Soong and other members of the Soong family. After Spiner impersonated Noonian Soong’s son Altan in Season 1, he now plays with geneticist Adam Soong in Season 2 an ancestor of the well-known Soong many years in the past.
But for Spiner, the mere relationship is not the only connection that can be drawn from his latest “Star Trek” role to the sci-fi cult series “Starship Enterprise: The Next Century” aka “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, in which Data and Co. once made their debut…
ADAM SOONG AS THE ORIGIN OF LORE
As Brent Spiner explained in an interview with the Hollywood reporter, the character Adam Soong provides further insights into the equally brilliant and complicated Soong family, which turns over generations sometimes to a good side, sometimes to a dark side: “[Adam Soong] is much more complex, Spiner told THR, “He’s displacing who he really is, a classic narcissist. I think it’s his DNA that led to the dark side of the Soong family, all the way to Lore. The bright side, on the other hand, is later embodied by Noonian. Data is that bright side.”
For Brent Spiner, this is a huge arc of character traits spanning several centuries and thus explains in a way why Data’s android twin brother Lore turned out so vicious and feels superior to humans. Although Lore was also built by Noonian Soong (and, unlike Data, endowed with emotions), he has incorporated the peculiarities and memories of a long line of Soong’s. His sinister nature is therefore deeply rooted in the history and ambivalent nature of the Soong family, possibly beginning with Adam Soong.
As the current sixth episode of the second “Picard” season shows, Adam is apparently less the worried father than he was perceived in episode 5. Instead, his (possibly cloned?) Daughter Kore (Isa Briones) is for him rather an important experiment, which he now wants to lead to success at any cost after many failed attempts, even if he has to go over corpses for it.