Elaan of Troyius

E is for Enslaved by Emotional Elaan but who is she? Elaan is a spoiled princess played by Frances Nuyen who cries in Star Trek's classic episode "Elaan of Troyius." When the USS Enterprise escorts the beautiful Dohlman Princess of Elas all blazes breaks loose. The idea was to unite two wartorn worlds, Elas and Troyius with an arranged marriage union except her glory has other ideas. She doesn't want to get hitched fullstop.

The fun begins when a substance in Elaan's tears biochemically casts its spell on Kirk, who falls in love with her. The Dolhman's secret "weapon" specifically weakens the Captain's will and crumbles his resolve! You can't really blame Kirk for trying to teach her some manners, a task her tutor, Ambassador Petri despised totally.

Its true. Bones you've got to find me an antidote!

What will Spock and Dr McCoy try next? Can this lady killer really enslave Kirks heart forever? Will Dr McCoy find Kirk an antidote in time? How do you reverse falling in love with a beautiful babe?

Gul Dukat

D is for Dukat but who is he? In 2351, Gul Dukat played by Marc Alaimo rose to the position as Prefect of Bajor under Cardassian rule on Star Trek DS9. This guy ruled the Bajorian people with an iron fist while believing he was actually helping them.

Terok Nor later renamed Deep Space Nine was Dukat's base of operations where he chose to subjugate the Bajorian people at all costs. Offenders engaged in criminal activity were always declared guilty and sentenced to death in advance of a public show trial. To no end, Dukat personally instigated a counter uprising program to quell rebellious behaviour by instilling fear in his subjects. In an bizare twist though, he appoints the changeling Odo to investigate the murder of the stations chemist with surprising results.

In his quest for ultimate power Dukat has been many things, soldier, freedom fighter, despot, Prefect of Bajor, outcast, pawn, father and even ruler of the Cardassian homeworld but lost that status when he suffered a mental breakdown. One thing remains constant, Dukat is a supreme warlord fighting battles with Federations, Klingons and Bajorians to name a few. I have to admit DS9 is the darkest Star Trek show which ran for seven glorious seasons. When DS9's Jadzia Dax played by the wonderful Terry Farell departs the station, I realised Dukat is someone you don't want to meet in a dark lane way.

 Which Star Trek DS9 character is your favorite?

Live Long and Prosper, Trekkers.

Star Trek TNG Brothers

B is for "Brothers" which begins with the USS Enterprise-D being covertly diverted to Commander Datas home planet!

In this 77th episode episode of Star Trek TNG, Data takes over Captain Picard's ship when a malfunction in the androids programming summons him to a mysterious planet. Apparently all it took was a homing beacon to get Data, Lore and Dr Soong reunited in a cosy family get together.

A surprised Data meets his creator, his actual living father who hasn't been killed by the Crystalline Entity after all. Soong has created the perfect chip specially designed to allow Data experience human emotions for the first time! The real mind twister here is how will Data's Emotion Chip affect the android whom we have come to know and love.

 In a bizare twist, Data's evil brother Lore fools the old man. Lore gets the chip and in turn goes quite mad, assaults Dr Soong and runs away. What made this really unique is Spiner plays all three characters but when Soong touches Data's face, the hand belongs to a photo double.

 Brent Spiner candidly admits,

'I didn't have a clue as to who the character was, he was just a generic old man.' Four hours of ageing make-up later, 'People started treating me like I was an old man with so much more respect' 'The older I acted between scenes, the nicer people treated me, it was incredible.'

The brothers are soon at odds but when Soong interrupts to reveal he's dying, its like WOW. For a moment I actually believed Data's evil twin, Lore had a heart!

 'Brothers' was written by Rick Berman and directed by Rob Bowman. The element of jeopardy was suggested by TNG's Michael Piller who wanted Lore on the scene.

How many days of shooting do you think it took Brent Spiner to shoot this episode?  What did you think of Data fooling the computer by impersonating Captain Picard's voice? Who's your favorite character, Data, Lore or Dr Noonien Soong?