Shelly is out of town, so last night I rented "Star Trek: Nemesis," a movie I know she has no interest in seeing. I think now I have seen all of the Next Generation movies, and there is some indication in the Special Material of the DVD that this is likely the last one they will make. Well, they went out in style.

I actually thought this was one of the very best written and directed Star Trek movies, ranking right up there with "First Contact," and probably even better ("First Contact" was mostly great, but committed an unpardonable sin when it created the character of the Borg Queen. The whole point of the Borg is that they are a collective, with no individual leader or head. That's what makes them so scary!).

I think the thing that makes "Nemesis" better than the average Star Trek movie is that it has themes that are far deeper than you would expect from a whimsical sci-fi epic. By giving both Picard and Data clones who are biologically or mechanically identical to them, but who have different ideas and motivation and goals, it plays up the themes of humanity and family. It goes far beyond the nature-nurture debate to the fundamental question of free agency. Shinzon is a clone of Picard, but he has chosen to be a force for evil, while Picard has chosen to be a force for good. Data cannot get through to his prototype brother, B-4, that he should aspire to be more than he is.

I think an interesting triptych is established by these four characters. On the one hand, you have Picard and Data, who both aspire to do good and to help people. Both of them even wish to sacrifice themselves for the safety of others--the ultimate gesture of love and reaching outside yourself. B-4, on the other hand, is perfectly content with who he is (a less-than-bright android), and is only curious about his immediate surroundings. As Data astutely points out, he does not aspire, he does not dream, he does not strive. That makes Data, another android, far more human than B-4.

But I think Data is wrong when he says that Shinzon is just like B-4. It's true that neither Shinzon nor B-4 strives to be better than they are, but Shinzon certainly does strive. He aspires to power, he dreams of liberating his people, and he has more grandiose ideas than his immediate surroundings. Shinzon is also truly human in that he chooses a path and pursues it. Picard and Data choose good, and Shinzon chooses evil. B-4, the non-human, does not choose a path. I suppose it's better to be a nonthreatening B-4 than a destructive Shinzon, but hopefully, if there is another sequel, B-4 can prove that he can be Data's equal, by learning to aspire to good, and to become human. Of course, Data has already taken that path and reached that destination throughout the Next Generation franchise.