star trek tng hollow pursuits

Hollow Pursuits (episode)

1.2 Act One
1.3 Act Two
1.4 Act Three
1.5 Act Four
1.6 Act Five
1.7 Log entries
2 Memorable quotes
3.1 Production history
3.2 Story and production
3.3 Continuity
3.4 Reception
3.6 Video and DVD releases
4.1 Starring
4.2 Also starring
4.3 Guest stars
4.4 Special guest star
4.5 Uncredited co-stars
4.6 Stunt doubles
4.7 Stand-ins and photo doubles
4.8.1 Other references
4.9 External links

Summary [ ]

Lieutenant Reginald Barclay , a new and brilliant engineer, relaxes in Ten Forward when Counselor Troi enters. Guinan , tending bar , warns Barclay that she doesn't want trouble here. Barclay questions why there'd be trouble, and she answers that wherever Barclay goes, trouble seems to follow. Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge enters and browbeats Barclay for being derelict; he's supposed to be on duty at this current moment. Barclay exhibits gross insubordination, tells La Forge to " take himself and his holier-than-thou attitude and get out of his life ", and shoves La Forge so hard he sprawls against a booth near the starboard wall.

" You're nothing but a pretty mannequin in a fancy uniform. "

Commander Riker approaches from the other end of the bar, strangely not looking shocked or angered, and tells Barclay that what he has just done is insubordination , to which Barclay toasts after glancing at Troi. Riker makes a grab for him, but Barclay reverses and suddenly has Riker in a choke hold. Barclay tells Riker that he's nothing more than " a pretty mannequin in a fancy uniform ", full of hot air. If Captain Picard has something to say to him, he should come and say it to Barclay himself. Barclay releases Riker hard, slamming him on the bar. As this happens, La Forge finally recovers from his sprawl and runs out of Ten Forward.

Troi, watching these events, seems worried over what she senses from Barclay. Indeed, as Barclay joins her, she says that she senses his confidence and arrogant resolve, and that it excites her. They're just about to kiss , when suddenly an unknown officer's voice pipes up on the intercom, and tells Barclay to report to Cargo Bay 5, now . Barclay tells Troi that it (whatever they were going to do) will have to wait until later, and annoyed, tells the voice he'll be right there.

" I feel your confidence. "

Then he stands near the entrance to Ten Forward, and says, " Save program, " and everything disappears, leaving the yellow hologrid of the holodeck . Barclay has been running a holodeck simulation of his delusions of grandeur, and his attitude as shown on his face indicates a far more timid, hesitant personality than the one he had put on display in the holographic Ten Forward.

In Cargo Bay 5, the real La Forge and Riker are overseeing the beam-in of several containers on the cargo bay's transporter pad. La Forge tells Riker that he is basically at his wit's end when dealing with Barclay, that he is always late and never gives his best effort, and questions how someone like Barclay could have even made it through the Academy . Riker says he'll speak to the captain about " Broccoli ", then explains that this is the nickname Wesley has given Barclay, and tells La Forge to keep it to himself; La Forge notes that the nickname is apt. Duffy , the officer working with the canisters has now placed them on an anti-grav sled , and informs La Forge that one of the canisters has a broken seal; indeed we see vapor pouring from the front middle canister. La Forge tells Duffy to destroy the broken canister, as the samples inside will be tainted.

Duffy with a leaking canister

The cargo bay doors open and finally Barclay arrives. Upon spotting his two superiors he moves behind several red barrels to try to hide, but they've seen him, and La Forge asks him if it is a problem to report to duty on time. Barclay makes up some lame story about having received a communique that required his immediate attention, but La Forge doesn't want to hear it. He cools off, though, and tells Barclay about the anti-grav platform's difficulty. Barclay moves to follow his orders, but Riker grabs his arm, and tells him he's tired of seeing him disciplined by his superiors; he doesn't know how things were done on Barclay's last posting, but here on the Enterprise , there is a different standard set for the crew. Riker walks out, casting dark glances back towards Barclay.

Act One [ ]

Despite Barclay's assurances that everything looks normal to him, the anti-grav platform falters after a few seconds and drops another canister. O'Brien moves to clean it up (it is spewing more vapor), and La Forge calls for more people from engineering. Barclay stammers that it shouldn't do that, and La Forge simply gestures, prompting Barclay to help with the cleanup. Barclay takes a panel off the unit and an isolinear chip out of the assembly, then inserts a testing device.

In his ready room , Captain Picard is looking over the several reports made against Barclay and notes that he isn't used to seeing a man under his command on report . Riker questions whether Barclay is Enterprise material, and Picard infers from La Forge's request for Barclay's transfer that the former thinks that the latter is not. La Forge adds that he thought he could work with anyone, until "Broccoli," who makes everyone nervous. Picard picks up on the nickname; Riker tells the truth, that it was an invention of Wesley's, and Picard orders that the nickname usage be stopped. Barclay has served competently in Starfleet for years; Picard notes what he's heard from Captain Gleason of the Zhukov , that Barclay performed quite brilliantly as an engineer. Riker wonders if Gleason wasn't shading the real truth of Barclay's performance, as he knew that the Enterprise was in need of a diagnostic engineer and was trying to rid himself of the neurotic officer. Riker also looked into Barclay's psychological profile and says he has a history of seclusive tendencies that was noted at the Academy more than once. Picard notes that despite Barclay's behavior, he chose this way of life and made the same commitment to Starfleet as everyone else. It is too easy to transfer a problem to someone else, and Picard denies the transfer request; instead, he assigns La Forge to work with Barclay and make him La Forge's pet project, despite La Forge's protests that he can barely stand to be in the same room with Barclay.

Barclay is late as usual

La Forge, looking like a cow being led to the slaughter, approaches Barclay, still examining the inner workings of the anti-grav unit in the cargo bay. La Forge does his level best to encourage Barclay and advises him to take his time with the unit's problems. La Forge tells Barclay that he would be a good addition to La Forge's senior staff meeting in the morning; Barclay positively squeals and asks what he should talk about, but La Forge assures Barclay that there's no pressure, just to be there. Barclay says he'll be on time, at 0800 hours. He looks a little stunned at La Forge's praise.

As the meeting in engineering starts, La Forge has the staff gather around the master systems display table , wishes them a good morning, and encourages them (including Costa , Myers , Duffy, and Wesley) to start their brains . The absence of Barclay is noted, however. He comes in just a hair too late, but La Forge doesn't call him on it. He immediately assigns engine work to Duffy and Costa, and assigns Wesley, on assignment to engineering as part of his training, to Myers, and jokingly instructs him to teach Wesley the difference between impulse and warp drive. La Forge next moves on to Barclay's preliminary report on the anti-grav failure, noting that there are some interesting theories he posited. Barclay is again somewhat lost, and La Forge has to prompt him to report to the staff. During his report, Duffy looks somewhat disdainful as Barclay stammers through some tech stuff on which Wesley immediately corrects him; Barclay looks quite abashed as the engineering staff moves off to accomplish their duties and follows at a distance.

" I am the Goddess of Empathy. "

In counseling with Troi, Barclay has regained his confident tone and swagger despite what he's saying and expresses his disgust with himself that he didn't know how to respond to Wesley at the meeting; " I should have told him to mind his own damn business. " Troi notes that Barclay is letting this incident get him much too upset; she asks why Barclay is so hard on himself; to help him relax, she gives him a passionate kiss. Barclay calls for a change of program, and the scene shifts to a warm, arboreal paradise, with Troi in a toga . She identifies herself as the " Goddess of Empathy ," encouraging Barclay to cast off his inhibitions and embrace love, truth, and joy. Barclay approaches, and again they kiss passionately.

In Ten Forward, the engineering staff is informally discussing the morning meeting. Wesley complains that La Forge criticized him for correcting Barclay, and that the staff meeting is supposed to be about discussing different approaches. Again, the nickname "Broccoli" is used. Data expresses confusion – first that Lieutenant Barclay is being clandestinely referred to as a vegetable , then that the assignment of a nickname is usually between friends, not as a pejorative . At this, Commander La Forge relays the captain's orders to stop using the nickname. Suddenly, Duffy discovers his glass is leaking; the structure seems to have been twisted from within.

Act Two [ ]

Data, scanning the twisted glass in engineering with a tricorder , determines that its atomic structure has been abnormally altered. It is not a problem with the replicator , as that would affect the liquid in the glass as well as the glass itself. Data surmises that the glass had been struck with electricity somehow, which means a complete workup of the power systems on the Enterprise – all four thousand of them. Barclay is assigned to the project, but he awkwardly states he was already going to look at the power systems anyway, to find out what went wrong with the anti-grav unit.

On the bridge , La Forge shows the glass to Riker, who asks if the ship may need to go to a starbase , something that will not be known until the power systems are examined by Barclay. Data points out that it was Barclay who first said that there could be a correlation between the glass and the anti-grav unit failure. Barclay exhibits his usual self-effacing mannerism, as Picard approaches the science stations around which they are all crowded. Picard asks Barclay if power should be affected during the tests; Barclay stammers his way toward saying he doesn't think so. Picard gives him an encouraging smile and says " Good. I look forward to your report, Mr. Broccoli. " The crew (except Barclay, of course) looks very amused in Picard's direction; Picard is shocked and appalled at his mistake and corrects himself quickly. It doesn't help Barclay's demeanor, and he takes his leave, looking mortified. Data chalks Picard's mistake up to metathesis , somewhat encouragingly; the others turn away, as Picard continued to look shocked and appalled, Riker quietly amused, and La Forge somewhat shaken.

La Forge talks to Guinan about Barclay. She doesn't see anything out of the ordinary with him; he just comes in, never talks to anyone, and just orders warm milk to help him sleep. La Forge is just trying to figure Barclay out, as he doesn't have the luxury of letting him be, as Guinan does. Guinan confides that Barclay is imaginative (" I just know "), and La Forge expresses doubt in an imaginative person's value as an engineer, or rather just Barclay's place on the ship; he just doesn't fit in. Guinan remembers the story of her uncle Terkim , the family misfit; she had grown very close to him when no one else did. She had picked up her own fear of fitting in from Terkim. She says that if everyone felt uncomfortable around her, she'd probably be always late and just as nervous as Barclay is. Guinan then moves off to serve another customer, leaving La Forge to his thoughts. Finally, he calls from his combadge for the location of Barclay, who is in the holodeck, as seems the norm these days.

La Forge opens the holodeck doors onto the idyllic arboreal paradise we saw before; he calls for Barclay, to no avail. He comes across Doctor Crusher and Wesley as holograms, only they are in 17th century clothing and enjoying a picnic . Dr. Crusher chides her son, saying that "Master Barclay" will spank him if he misbehaves. Dr. Crusher notes that "the boys" got into a bit of a scrap, but that boys will be boys. Suddenly, a great shout draws La Forge's attention, and he sees Barclay involved in a fierce fencing match with holographic duplicates of La Forge, Picard, and Data, all in period dress. Data offers Barclay the chance to yield since he is outnumbered, even though Barclay is winning; Barclay responds, " I shall speak with my sword, sir! " and continues the battle with two swords. Finally, left alone against Picard, Barclay responds admirably, and Picard is perplexed as to how Barclay learned to fight the way he does. Barclay claims he is self-taught, sardonically offers to teach Picard, and defeats him with his swords against Picard's throat. Picard mentions the real La Forge behind Barclay, who disbelieves him at first, but La Forge clears his throat. Barclay looks back and blanches; he's been found out.

Back in Ten Forward, Barclay sits at a table having a drink with La Forge. He offers to be transferred, but now La Forge won't hear of it. He's spent a few hours on the holodeck too and feels what Barclay does there is his own business. But La Forge doesn't understand why he's making copies of the ship's crew instead of original characters; Barclay claims it is to blow off steam, especially against one particular officer, and La Forge knows Barclay means him. Barclay couldn't, of course, tell La Forge off to his face, so he made the holographic La Forge and the others as a catharsis when he's fencing against them. La Forge strongly recommends Barclay have a talk with Troi about his holo-addiction , but Barclay's against it; he is far too nervous and afraid of forgetting little details that may turn others against him, but La Forge pulls rank on Barclay and orders him to counseling.

O'Brien calls La Forge to transporter room three, and reports that there's a major problem; O'Brien shows La Forge how he transports a pure duranium test cylinder from one pad , into the buffer , and onto another pad; no problem, but when he beams the canister back, it's broken and steaming. La Forge, in a bit of gallows humor, expresses his relief at the fact that he has no place to go at the moment.

Act Three [ ]

Riker, Picard, and La Forge in transporter room

" None of the other transporter rooms are malfunctioning. " " Yet. "

Picard examines the remains of the duranium canister on the transporter pad that fell apart during transport, along with Riker and La Forge; it's strange that no other transporter rooms are malfunctioning… yet. They will reach Nahmi IV in twenty-two hours, and Picard wants all transporters working by then. He orders a level-1 diagnostic across the board. Riker orders La Forge to summon Barclay to the bridge, but La Forge advises Riker to hold off until 1400 hours; La Forge has Barclay working on something. Riker agrees, and on his way out, orders O'Brien to cease maintenance on the transporters until further notice.

Barclay is in counseling with Troi – it is obvious now that it is the real Troi, as she's not acting amorous at all, purely as a counselor – and Barclay is as nervous as ever. He declines Troi's offer to help him feel more comfortable; he talks about his former counselor, who wasn't really a counselor. After turning the lights down, Troi leads Barclay in some relaxation exercises, and tells him to breathe slowly, in through his nose and out through his mouth. Troi places a comforting hand on Barclay's arm. Barclay embraces the technique, but breathing rapidly, and practices it while quickly and nervously making his way out of Troi's office. We can only imagine the horrible mixed messages that go through Barclay's mind and are picked up by Troi.

Troi goes up to the bridge and talks to La Forge at the science station; she describes her visit from Barclay as "very strange" – she's not sure what happened, as he left so suddenly. Riker leaves the ready room and asks Worf where Barclay is; La Forge calls for Barclay, to no avail; Riker learns from the computer that Barclay is in the holodeck again. He's fed up and goes with Troi and La Forge to get Barclay out of there.

La Forge warns Riker obliquely that Barclay is running "some unique programs", but Riker doesn't care what he's been running; he just ran out of patience with Barclay. Again, the holodeck opens onto the arboreal paradise of Barclay's fantasies; hearing raised voices somewhere, the three head off to find them. Troi is amused to find Data, Picard, and La Forge dressed as the Three Musketeers , but Riker is not.

Act Four [ ]

Riker, in an agitated voice, declares that crewmembers should not be simulated in the holodeck as a matter of protocol. La Forge notes that he does not believe there are any such protocols listed and Riker tells him that there should be. The Musketeers look up and notice Riker, but they don't respond. Riker calls to erase the program instantly, but Troi belays the order, theorizing that if the means by which Barclay responds to reality is removed suddenly, the psychological damage could be quite severe.

The "Number One" adversary.

Musketeer Picard opines on the disagreeable nature of the real crew members; the three stand up and prepare to have at them. Riker doesn't want to fight them, so the Musketeers call him a coward; then they summon the holographic Number One, a bumbling fool much shorter than Riker's actual self, who stumbles over to the crew and screams in a squeaky voice, " EN GARDE! " Riker asks his double where Barclay is; the hologram Riker assumes it is a personal grudge. He advises Riker to prepare for death, as Barclay is the greatest sword – " in all the holodeck ," grumbles Riker, to Troi's amusement. Troi remarks that Riker's height might threaten some people, which may be why Barclay designed Number One like this; Riker is terminally disgusted with Number One and erases him from the program. The Musketeers are in turn disgusted at Riker's poor sense of fair play; they simply turn their backs when La Forge asks again where Barclay is. Riker is doubtful as to the need to search through what could be a gigantic program, but Troi sees the opportunity to get valuable information about what troubles Barclay.

" There's nothing wrong with a healthy fantasy life, as long as you don't let it take over, " are the famous last words before Troi sets eyes on her counterpart, the Goddess of Empathy. Troi's jaw drops and steam nearly pours from her ears, so red is her face. The Goddess continues to spew soothing rhetoric, and Troi starts to erase the Goddess, but Riker stops her, turning her own words back on her with an amused grin. Troi seems fit to slap both Riker and La Forge when they agree that Barclay has a healthy fantasy life after seeing the Goddess.

Back on the bridge, the ship suddenly speeds up to warp 7.25, with no explanation but that the engines have malfunctioned. The speed is brought back to warp 7; Data explains the matter-antimatter injectors malfunctioned for a second. It is a mystery, and Picard calls on La Forge to solve it. La Forge, of course, isn't in engineering, but promises to return as soon as he finds Barclay. La Forge tells the Goddess of Empathy that they need to find Barclay now , but she is now hitting on all of them, including Troi, who advises a shocked Goddess to " muzzle it! " Then they start off again in search of Barclay. They find him, being tended by Doctor Crusher while he sleeps. Doctor Crusher shushes them, but they wake Barclay up and hurry out of the holodeck.

Troi looks like she's going to pummel Barclay, but La Forge rescues him by dragging him off to engineering as requested by the captain. La Forge and Barclay discuss the nature of his holo-addiction; La Forge relates that he fell in love in the holodeck once , but he knew when to turn it off. Barclay confides that the people he creates in the holodeck are more real to him than those he meets in real life… except maybe La Forge. La Forge reiterates his sincere need to have Barclay out in the real world, giving him a clap on the shoulder.

In engineering, Barclay suggests dropping out of warp to cure the non-responsive diagnostic systems, but now the engines will not respond. The injectors are physically jammed. Then the ship accelerates, right up to warp 9.

Act Five [ ]

Picard calls for red alert as the ship threatens to tear itself apart in about sixteen minutes; La Forge doesn't know what to do but he'll notify the bridge as soon as he does. La Forge calls for every idea to be thrown down on the master situations table; several technically-obscure solutions are offered, all shot down instantly as already tried. La Forge shouts that he needs to find a connection to the anti-grav unit failure, the twisted glass, the transporter malfunction, and now the jammed matter/antimatter injectors, just as the ship starts to tear; on the bridge, preparation for emergency saucer separation is made, but due to uneven plasma flow in the nacelles , Data announces to Picard that a saucer separation could rupture the warp field , which has now propelled them to warp 9.4.

Barclay finally blurts out an idea; what if one or more of the engineering crew is the connection to all the malfunctions? Someone could've picked up an untraceable substance and carried it around the ship. The common link is that both Duffy and O'Brien were in the cargo bay with the failed anti-grav, and one of them was present at each of the other malfunctioning equipment; they could be carriers. La Forge, with the help of the computer, narrows the list of suspected reactants – those that would not be picked up by a standard scan (15,525), exist in an oxygen atmosphere (532), and can modify the molecular structure of glass (5). He and the others then begin evaluating the five remaining substances one by one. Barclay eliminates jakmanite ; it has too short a half-life (fifteen seconds) to be spread around the ship. Wesley eliminates selgninaem and lucovexitrin ; both are too toxic for a person to carry around. Saltzgadum and invidium are the only ones left; and since virtually all of the affected technology was invented after both substances were phased out of use, the chance exists of one of them creating unexpected reactions. La Forge then remembers that invidium was once used in medical containment fields. Although Wesley replies that the Federation hadn't used it in over a century , Barclay counters that the Mikulaks, who gave the Enterprise the samples in the cargo bay, might still use it – and one of their canisters was broken. La Forge tells the bridge that the problem might be invidium contamination; they rush off to the cargo bay to confirm the hypothesis.

" Invidium has been confirmed. "

Barclay opens one of the medical containers; wearing gloves , he now dips his hand into the material in the canister, and La Forge scans it with a colored beam; switching colors, La Forge finally finds it when the beam is purple; swirly bits brighter than the glove material. Barclay states that if the invidium is cooled to −200 ° Celsius , it will become inert. La Forge orders gaseous cryonetrium to be flooded through the antimatter injectors to cool and neutralize the invidium.

The engine is pulsing rapidly as the injection of the cold gas commences; the injectors get steadily cooler and cooler, until finally the invidium goes inert. The matter injector responds immediately, while the antimatter injector responds after a power cycle through a ventral relay. The warp engines are shut down, and the Enterprise safely drops out of warp.

The immediate danger past, Picard cancels red alert; Riker congratulates La Forge and Barclay on their great work, but La Forge recommends setting course to Starbase 121 for a complete systems and bio-decontamination of all the invidium remaining on the ship. Picard agrees. La Forge is glad Barclay was out in the real world. A few smacks on the back later, and Barclay seems to have come to a decision.

Barclay arrives on the bridge and stands between Conn and Ops; he announces that he's leaving the crew; it is for the best, he says. La Forge assures Barclay he'll always be welcome on the Enterprise ; Picard tells Barclay it was a pleasure to serve with him; Troi wishes him good luck. Barclay says it has been fun... and then ends the program; he was announcing his goodbye to his holo-addiction. Barclay then deletes all of his programs except one, Program Nine and leaves the holodeck for hopefully a more balanced lifestyle from now on.

Log entries [ ]

Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), 2366
Chief engineer's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Good, I'll look forward to your report, Mr. Broccoli… (long pause) Barclay. "

" I'm just not accustomed to seeing an unsatisfactory rating on a member of my crew. "

" I mean I am the guy who writes down things to remember to say when there is a party. And then when he finally gets there, he winds up alone, in the corner, trying to look… comfortable examining a potted plant. " " You're just shy, Barclay. " (Pause) " Just shy… sounds like nothing serious, doesn't it? You can't know. "

" The idea of fitting in just… repels me. "

" If Barclay's having difficulty facing reality, to suddenly destroy his only means of escape would be brutal and could do considerable damage. "

" Computer, discontinue… " " Computer, belay that order! We want to get more insight into what's been troubling this poor man, remember? " (Looks at La Forge) " Quite a healthy fantasy life, wouldn't you say? " " Hmm. "

" Cast aside your masks, and let me slip into your mind. "

" Muzzle it! "

" Sir! You have no sense of fair play! "

" Glad you were with us out here in the real world today, Mr. Barclay. "

" It's been fun. Computer – end program. Erase all programs filed under 'Reginald Barclay'. (Pause) Except Program 9. "

Background information [ ]

Production history [ ].

Final draft script: 9 February 1990 [1]
Premiere airdate: 30 April 1990
First UK airdate: 25 March 1992

Story and production [ ]

This episode marks the first appearance of Dwight Schultz as Lieutenant Reginald Barclay . Schultz had been a Star Trek fan for a long time and had asked Rick Berman to consider him if the right part came along. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion , 2nd ed., p. 125) Schultz' official fan site claims it was Whoopi Goldberg who recommended him to the Star Trek producers. Schultz and Goldberg were working together in the 1990 film The Long Walk Home , during which he told her that he was a lifelong fan of both The Original Series and The Next Generation , in which Goldberg played Guinan . Realizing how great an actor Schultz was, Goldberg approached the producers with the idea of getting him cast in the series. He had no idea of her "actions" until they called him with the news that a guest role was written especially for him. Schultz was thrilled with the part of Lt. Barclay. [2]
The production staff noted that the show was not intended as a satire of obsessive Star Trek fans . Director Cliff Bole commented, " I didn't feel that, and I would have heard if it was intended. I certainly didn't approach it that way. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 196)
Likewise, Michael Piller remarked, " It really was not intended directly at Star Trek fans. It was certainly about fantasy life versus reality. More than any other character in the three years I have been at Star Trek , the character of Barclay was more like me than anybody else. My wife watched that show and saw what was going on, and said that's [me] because I'm constantly in my fantasy world. Fortunately, I make a living at it. I have an extraordinary fantasy life and use my imagination all the time. It's real life that I have the problems with. I was delightfully happy with the episode. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 196) In fact, Barclay's line about "[standing] in the corner, trying to look comfortable examining a potted plant" was taken near-verbatim from something that Piller himself said to Ira Steven Behr shortly after the latter joined the show's writing staff; Behr subsequently added the line to the script when he performed a rewrite on the episode. ( TNG Season 3 Blu-ray ; "A Tribute to Michael Piller")
Holo-Wesley's appearance in this episode was based on a famous painting by Thomas Gainsborough called " The Blue Boy ". His costume was copied in detail and references to the painter and the painting can be found in the script of the episode. [3]
The test cylinder props were actually US Navy sonar buoy transport cases. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion , 2nd ed., p. 125)
Barclay refers to a flux capacitor when in Troi's office. According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia , 4th ed., vol. 1, p. 277, this is a reference to the Back to the Future series of films. It appears the term Barclay was supposed to use was "flow capacitor", according to Wesley's dialogue in the previous scene.
The tune of " The Minstrel Boy " can be heard playing during the scene where Barclay is seen leaving the holodeck at the end of the episode.

Continuity [ ]

Geordi La Forge alludes to his relationship with a hologram of Leah Brahms from " Booby Trap ".
Miles O'Brien and Worf recall Barclay's holodeck antics in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " Image in the Sand ". Although neither character actually witnessed Barclay's holoprogram in this episode, La Forge and Barclay are both referred to by name in that episode.
The shot of a test cylinder being beamed away and back again will be reused in " Data's Day ".
Beverly Crusher only appears in this episode as a hologram .

Reception [ ]

Director Cliff Bole remembered: " Dwight Schultz is excellent. He really comes to work prepared and has direction. He did a great job. The fantasy part of it was fun, too. Technically, I had fun on that show. The fans enjoy it when we do an illusion within an illusion. They like those little period fantasies. I was happy with the episode. It was a good character study and a great fantasy within the illusion. " ("Cliff Bole – Of Redemption & Unification", The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine issue 17 , p. 31)
Jonathan Frakes enjoyed the episode. He recalled, " That was a riot, and the goddess of empathy… " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 196)
A mission report for this episode by Patrick Daniel O'Neill was published in The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine issue 14 , pp. 12-15.
This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling for a Series.

Video and DVD releases [ ]

Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 35, 20 January 1992
UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment ): Volume 3.7, 4 September 2000
As part of the TNG Season 3 DVD collection
As part of the TNG Season 3 Blu-ray collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

Patrick Stewart as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes as Commander William Riker

Also starring [ ]

LeVar Burton as Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf
Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi / Goddess of Empathy
Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data
Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher / Barclay's Blue Boy hologram

Guest stars [ ]

Dwight Schultz as Barclay
Charley Lang as Duffy
Colm Meaney as Miles O'Brien

Special guest star [ ]

Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan

Stunt doubles [ ]

Tom Morga as stunt double for Dwight Schultz
John Nowak as stunt double for Patrick Stewart
Brian J. Williams as stunt double for Brent Spiner
Unknown stunt performer as stunt double for LeVar Burton

Stand-ins and photo doubles [ ]

Doug Biery as photo double for Jonathan Frakes
Jeffrey Deacon – stand-in for Patrick Stewart
Nora Leonhardt – stand-in for Marina Sirtis
Tim McCormack – stand-in for Brent Spiner
Lorine Mendell – stand-in for Gates McFadden
Guy Vardaman – stand-in for Wil Wheaton & Dwight Schultz
Unknown actor as photo double for LeVar Burton

References [ ]

23rd century ; 2349 ; acceleration ; adversary ; ale ; ally ; anti-grav unit ; antimatter flow ; antimatter injector ; assault ; assignment ; atmosphere ; atomic ; attitude ; back ; bar ; Barclay Program 9 ; Barclay Program 15 ; Barclay Program 15 holograms ; best friend ; Beta Tottoro IV ; " blow off some steam "; brain ; breath ; broccoli ; Broccoli ; " Buttering our bread "; cage ; canister ; cargo bay 5 ; Celsius ; chance ; chemical compound ; choice ; cockatoo ; combat ; commanding officer ; computer ; computer control protocol ; confidence ; consonant ; corner ; Correllium fever ; counselor ; Cromarty whiskey ; cryonetrium ; cup ; cycle ; damage ; danger ; decade ; decontamination ; diagnostics ; diagnostic engineer ; diagnostic sweep ; diminutive ; discomfort ; " dismissed "; docking clamps ; duranium ; Earth ; emergency saucer separation ; empathy ; engine containment field ; engine core ; engineering ; engineering team ; error ; evacuation ; explanation ; eye ; face ; fact ; failure ; fight ; flow capacitor ; flow regulator ; flux capacitor ; fondness ; French language ; friend ; fuel inlet servos ; " full of hot air "; fun ; fusion pre-burners ; glass ; Gleason ; goddess ; graviton inverter circuit ; guest ; Guinan's mother ; half-life ; hand ; " here and now "; history ; " holier than thou "; holo-addiction ; holodeck 2 ; holographic image ; holographic program ; hour ; humor ; hundred ; idea ; imagination ; impulse ; impulse power ; " in God's name "; " in good hands "; information ; inhibition ; injector pathway conduit ; input ; insight ; insubordination ; internal scan ; invention ; investigation ; invidium ; jakmanite ; job ; joke ; joy ; kiss ; leak ; lesson ; level 1 diagnostic ; liquid ; love ; lucovexitrin ; magnetic capacitor ; magnetic field ; magnetic quench ; malfunction ; mannequin ; manners ; mask ; matter injector ; mechanism ; medical containment field ; metathesis ; Mikulaks ; mind ; minute ; mission ; mission briefing ; mister ; molecular structure ; mood ; morning ; mouth ; mystery ; nacelle ; Nahmi IV ; name ; nickname ; nitrogen ; nose ; " nucleosynthesis ; " Oh my God "; " on the table "; online ; order ; outbreak ; override ; oxygen ; party ; patience ; pattern ; phase transition coil ; physical substance ; plan ; plant ; plasma flow ; polarity ; polarity scanner ; power ; power source ; power system ; power transfer system ; preliminary report ; problem ; project ; pronunciation ; protocol ; psychological profile ; question ; radiation ; rapier ; rate of acceleration ; rating ; real world ; realignment procedure ; reality ; red alert ; replication ; replicator ; report ; room ; safety limit ; saltzgadum ; seal ; second ; secondary hull ; selgninaem ; senior officer ; sense of humor ; sensor ; sheep ; shipment ; solution ; sound ; spanking ; speed ; " split second "; standard scan ; starbase ; Starbase 121 ; starboard ; Starfleet ; Starfleet Academy ; Starfleet regulations ; station ; substance ; suggestion ; swirl dampers ; sword ; symptom ; synthehol ; systems analysis ; temperature ; Terkim ; test object ; therapeutic ; thousand ; Three Musketeers, The ; tissue sample ; toast ; toxic ; training duty ; transfer ; transfer coil ; transfer conduit ; transporter ; transporter malfunction ; Transporter Room 3 ; trick ; tricorder ; trip ; truth ; uniform ; vegetable ; velocity ; ventral relay ; violation ; visit ; voice ; vowel ; warm milk ; warp drive ; warp field ; way of life ; " what the hell "; work ; working theory ; " write the book on "; year ; yellow ; Zhukov , USS

Other references [ ]

Warp Core Diagnostic Systems: antimatter stream coil ; deuterium injector ; deuterium stream coil ; dilithium chamber ; warp core diagnostic system
Display of substances: agricultural sterilization agent ; Beta Tottoro IV ; biological containment vessel ; catalyst ; Central Plains Area ; industrial biochemical system ; KDA ; kelp ; kelp farm ; Klingon ; Qo'noS ; radioisotope ; Rigellian colonies ; virus culture ; yurium

External links [ ]

" Hollow Pursuits " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
" Hollow Pursuits " at Wikipedia
" Hollow Pursuits " at MissionLogPodcast.com
"Hollow Pursuits" script at Star Trek Minutiae
" Hollow Pursuits " at the Internet Movie Database
1 Bell Riots
3 Christopher Russell

Den of Geek

Revisiting Star Trek TNG: Hollow Pursuits

James looks back at one of season three's best Star Trek TNG episodes, introducing hapless Lieutenant Barclay...

Share on Facebook (opens in a new tab)
Share on Twitter (opens in a new tab)
Share on Linkedin (opens in a new tab)
Share on email (opens in a new tab)

This review contains spoilers.

3.21 Hollow Pursuits

The episode opens in Ten-Forward, where a character we’ve never seen before – Lieutenant Reginald Barclay – is causing a scene. He beats up La Forge, then Riker, then is about to sweep Troi off her feet when he’s interrupted and called to the cargo bay by… La Forge! Turns out he’s actually on the holodeck. Like M. Night Shyamalan if he directed an episode of The Twilight Zone , you did not see it coming.

When Barclay gets to the cargo bay he’s given a dressing down by Riker and La Forge for his lateness and generally neglectful behaviour. They lament how such a loser managed to make it onto the Enterprise anyway. Although a better question might be how he made it to Lieutenant when he’s basically incompetent. It certainly wasn’t his firm handshake. Meanwhile La Forge’s team discovers a seal on one of their canisters has broken, sewing mystery dry ice everywhere. It’s probably not important.

Ad – content continues below

Barclay is given the honour of repairing a malfunctioning anti-grav platform, while Riker and La Forge head up to Picard’s office to see if they can secretly get him transferred to a different ship. Given that the Enterprise doesn’t appear to be on a mission right now, Picard decides that they’ll deal with the problem rather than pass the buck. He insists that La Forge become Barclay’s best friend and help him out of his shell. It’s like a futuristic Pygmalion or something.

La Forge, clearly taking his task seriously, heads immediately back to Barclay, because it’s not like the Enterprise is on a mission right now so he basically can do whatever he likes. He invites Barclay to come along to the morning meeting of important staff members, which an anxious Barclay agrees to do. Of course he arrives late, but he starts to give his report before Wesley shuts him down. Barclay returns to the holodeck to deal with his anger, which involves getting weird with Holo-Troi (which is probably a shade less insane than repeatedly snapping a Holo-Wesley’s neck would be, admittedly.)

As the malfunctions stack up throughout the ship, Barclay’s investigation starts to become more urgent. After some helpful counsel from Guinan (I say helpful. It’s mostly about her.) he decides to give Barclay a change, only to find him on the holodeck fighting musketeer versions of Data, Picard and La Forge while an empathic-love-goddess version of Troi wanders around wearing nothing but a sheet.

When he’s found out, he’s suitably embarrassed and offers to leave, but La Forge tries to help him past it, referencing the time he fell in love with his own demented holo-creation (in the episode Booby Trap ). Barclay agrees to quit, but La Forge orders him into counselling anyway.

As you might expect, given how Barclay regards Troi, her counselling does not go down well and he runs off before she can help him with his problems in any serious way. The bridge is expecting Barclay to come and give a powerpoint presentation about his findings but he doesn’t show up. Annoyed, Riker, Troi and La Forge head to the holodeck, where they run into their own insulting holo-doubles and find Barclay asleep.

Barclay’s about to get in trouble, but the ship’s malfunctions start to get serious: the accelerator’s jammed in the on position, which will quickly tear the ship apart. La Forge needs his entire Engineering braintrust (never seen before or since) to help. They start trying to figure out solutions and eventually Barclay comes up with the leap that saves them: the problem isn’t systemic, it’s being transmitted from person to person. The canister from the start of the episode had some magic science in it that has caused all of the malfunctions. With the theory confirmed, they fix the ship’s broken warp drive and no-one has to die.

The final scene involves Barclay saying goodbye to the Enterprise bridge crew, explaining his decision to leave as they remind him he’ll always be welcome on the Enterprise. And then he says “Computer, End Program” and it turns out he’s on the holodeck, and he was saying goodbye to his holo-crew. That’s right! They used the same twist at the end of the episode as the start. Now that’s narrative circularity.

Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!

TNG WTF: One big question about this episode: why doesn’t the holodeck have any locks? Sure, it’s nice to see an episode where the holodeck doesn’t malfunction and threaten to kill everyone inside, but surely Barclay should be allowed his privacy even if he is using it normally?

Speaking of which, I find it funny that he just went to sleep in there. Is there a booking system for holodecks? Is it first-come, first served? Do people have to run for the sign-up sheet every second Monday? We need to know these important details.

TNG LOL: Basically all of Barclay’s holodeck fantasy is as brutally funny as Star Trek: TNG ever managed to be. The hammed-up musketeers. The diminutive Riker. The brat Wesley who spends the entire time stuffing his face. Troi telling Holo-Troi to “muzzle it.” There’s not a single part of it that isn’t downright amazing.

The actual funniest thing about the holodeck fantasy, though? No Worf. Barclay’s clearly just THAT scared of him.

Mistakes and Minutiae: Barclay refers to the “Flux Capacitor” instead of the “Flow Capacitor”. Deliberate reference, a mistake that got left in deliberately, or a mistake that wasn’t caught? Either way, if the Enterprise had one of those the series would be slightly different (only slightly, though. They already don’t need roads.)

Time Until Meeting: 6:54. La Forge and Riker have a HR meeting with Picard over Barclay’s failure to hit his quarterly targets for isolinear chip repair. Or something like that.

Who’s That Face?: Dwight Schultz! That’s Murdock from the original A-Team! He was basically a prototype for the style of character Jim Carrey would later perfect (or run into the ground, depending on your point of view).

Captain’s Log: Oh, Barclay. You may be the greatest secondary character in all of Star Trek . Not least because you’re exactly like the people watching: weird, socially maladjusted and more wrapped up in the Enterprise’s bridge crew that their own lives. But in the end you manage to sort yourself out just enough to keep from getting fired. A man after my own heart.

In fairness, I have a specific fondness for this type of episode, which focuses on the periphery of the main cast. It’s particularly interesting to see Riker through the eyes of his subordinate. Suddenly you realise that this uber-charming ladies’ man probably would be insufferable if he was your boss. Especially given how terse he is when you’re not his best mate.

It’s not at all surprising, given this episode, that Barclay returned again and again. It’s almost a shame that, given how familiar the character became, it’s hard to experience that opening scene in the manner it was intended. The majority of viewers come to this episode knowing that Barclay is not the hard-drinkin’, hard-fightin’ guy he’s pretending to be.

As episodes go, it’s probably one of the best yet. An interesting character study with plenty of good moments for everyone in the cast, an intriguing mystery with a satisfyingly non-obvious resolution, an original perspective on the show and more laughs than the rest of the series has had combined. Season Three undoubtedly has its misses, but when it hits, it hits big.

Watch or Skip? Watch!

Read James’ lookback at the previous episode, Tin Man, here .

Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here . And be our Facebook chum here .

More to Explore
Series & Movies

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Hollow Pursuits

Season 3, Episode 21

Star Trek: The Next Generation ; Season 3, Episode 21.

What’s The Viewscreen?
Donation Success!
Star Trek Movies I-VI Re-Watch Index
Star Trek: The Animated Series Re-Watch Index
Related Posts Index
Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch Index
Ten Forward
The Re-Watches
Privacy Policy
Star Trek Re-Watch Index
Laugh Treks

Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch: “Hollow Pursuits”

Season 3, Episode 21 Original air date: April 30, 1990 Star date: 43807.4

Mission summary

A lieutenant engineer we’ve never seen before, Barclay, is drinking in Ten Forward when La Forge reminds him that he’s on duty. Barclay blows off his superior, then wrestles even Commander Riker into submission and sends the two of them packing, while Counselor Troi looks on avidly. Just as she’s throwing herself at him, he’s ordered to report to one of the cargo bays. Guess they’ll have to pick this up later, which it turns out will be easy as easy as saying “Save program,” because he’s been playing out a fantasy on the holodeck.

Meanwhile, in Cargo Bay 5, the real La Forge is griping about Barclay’s unsatisfactory work ethic with the real Riker, who says it may be time to bring “Broccoli” to Picard’s attention. When Barclay finally arrives, he stutters an excuse and reveals his true self as seemingly bumbling and incompetent. A ruptured container of Mikulak tissue samples–needed to stop an epidemic on their planet–must be disposed of, and shortly afterward, an antigrav unit malfunctions with no discernible cause.

While Barclay tries to get to the bottom of the problem, La Forge and Riker bring their concerns to Picard, citing his worrisome history of “seclusive tendencies.” Picard insists that La Forge work harder to bring Barclay out of his shell and give him a chance, by becoming his best friend if he has to. The reluctant chief engineer gives Barclay more opportunities to show his worth, but the lieutenant continues to disappoint him. He’s shown up by Ensign Crusher in a staff meeting, which sends him back to his refuge in the holodeck, into the waiting arms of his Troi simulation, who in one program becomes his “goddess of empathy.” Ew.

A new mystery soon presents itself: Duffy’s glass starts leaking in Ten Forward. This is no prank–it seems that the molecular structure of the glass has somehow been altered. La Forge tasks Barclay with checking over the ship’s 4,000 power systems to see if they could have caused it, which he was already planning to do in his investigation of the antigrav failure. La Forge credits him with suggesting that the two events are somehow linked.

After Guinan lectures La Forge for judging Barclay because he doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the crew, he looks for the lieutenant, who he naturally finds in a holodeck. Barging into his program, La Forge discovers Barclay’s dirty little secret: another simulation in which he handily defeats Picard, La Forge, and Data in the guise of the Three Musketeers, with Dr. Crusher and Wesley watching on, decked out in Regency clothing.

Barclay is sheepish and ready to hand in his resignation, but La Forge knows a little something about unhealthy holodeck behavior, and they share a Moment.

LAFORGE: Now, as far as I’m concerned what you do in the holodeck is your own business, as long as it doesn’t interfere with your work. BARCLAY: You’re, you’re not going to tell anyone about this? LAFORGE: I don’t think everybody would appreciate your imagination like I do. It is kind of unusual, recreating people you already know. BARCLAY: Well, it was just– I needed to blow off some steam because one, one of the officers had been getting on my back. LAFORGE: Let me guess. BARCLAY: It was you, and I just couldn’t tell you what I wanted to tell you to your face, so it just sort of got out of control. LAFORGE: I don’t know. There’s a part of this that’s kind of therapeutic. Maybe you ought to talk to Counselor Troi about it. BARCLAY: It’s, it’s, I, when I’m in there I’m just more comfortable. You don’t know what a struggle this has been for me, Commander. LAFORGE: I’d like to help, if I can. BARCLAY: Being afraid all the time, of forgetting somebody’s name, not knowing what to do with your hands. I mean, I’m the guy who writes down things to remember to say when there’s a party. And then when he finally get there, he winds up alone in the corner trying to look comfortable examining a potted plant. LAFORGE: You’re just shy, Barclay. BARCLAY: Just shy. Sounds like nothing serious, doesn’t it? You can’t know.

La Forge looks into a brand new malfunction in one of the transporter rooms and orders Barclay to get some professional help from Troi. Barclay can’t get away from the actual counselor quickly enough; he runs back to his holodeck program, where he naps with his head lying in Dr. Crusher’s lap. And that’s where Riker, Troi, and La Forge find him a short while later. Troi confronts her goddess simulation and Riker encounters a shorter, scrappier version of himself that does not amuse. Awkward .

There’s no time to lay into Barclay for his extracurricular activities, because the matter-antimatter injectors are now malfunctioning and he and La Forge are needed in Engineering. Enterprise is accelerating to dangerous speeds that will tear them apart if they can’t get to the bottom of the shipwide failures in time.

The engineering crewmembers brainstorm possible explanations, but what could cause completely unrelated occurrences like a broken antigrav, a distorted glass, a wonky transporter, and the latest issue with the injectors? They’re baffled, until Barclay’s creativity sparks an unusual idea: The crew is the connection they’re looking for! He posits that they have been transmitting something from system to system that has been disrupting their functions, something the ship’s sensors doesn’t normally pick up.

Some quick work with the computer and they track down the foreign element, invidium, as well as the source: the broken Mikulak container from the beginning of the episode! Then it’s a simple matter of flooding the injectors with some cooling stuff that will freeze the invidium and render it inert–just in time to slow the ship down and save everyone aboard. Phew. “Glad you were with us out here in the real world today, Mr. Barclay,” La Forge says.

Having become a contributing member of the Enterprise crew, Barclay says good-bye to his holodeck Bridge crew and erases all his programs–except love program number nine.

I’m afraid I don’t have anything too insightful to say about this episode. I think it’s really only operating on a couple of superficial, but nearly contradictory levels: 1) Indulging your fantasies is bad, and 2) Don’t judge people at face value.

I have to say that I always used to like this episode, but the gags that entertained me when I was thirteen only make me wince now, which perhaps suggests that it’s also operating on a fairly juvenile level. (I’m primarily referring to the holodeck simulations of Deanna Troi, which are about as cringeworthy as anything Quark would have dreamed up in his holosuites on DS9. That isn’t a good thing.) I think many viewers are meant to sympathize with Barclay and his inherent awkwardness–and I remember liking his character, overall, especially in later episodes–but the way he has cast the women in his fantasies doesn’t speak well of him. Yes, it’s his fantasy, but I wish they weren’t so sexual and submissive.

But of course, here I am judging Barclay, just like the others do, and we’re none of us meant to see inside his head this way. So I assume this is part of the point, and it’s intended to make us feel uncomfortable.

So I worry that the message of this episode is that it’s better to live in the real world than a fake one, that there’s something wrong with being introverted and seclusive. This is a troubling takeaway for someone like me who spent a good portion of his childhood in fantasy worlds between the covers of books, not to mention watching shows like this. But it does seem more likely to me that the point, if there is one, is to exercise moderation–that the fantasies shouldn’t interfere with living your actual life, and perhaps there’s some value in that.

Barclay doesn’t delete his programs because there’s something wrong with them or with him, but because he doesn’t need them anymore; he’s finding his place outside the holodeck with the rest of the crew, and perhaps learning to respect his shipmates more, as demonstrated by his admission to Geordi: “The people I create in there are more real to me than anyone I meet out here, except maybe you, Commander.” And he isn’t giving it all up entirely, since he holds onto program nine, whatever that might be.

It’s also worth noting that this episode doesn’t paint the rest of the crew in the best light either, particularly with their nickname for Barclay and their lack of respect for his privacy. The cracks in Roddenberry’s perfect future are showing, and it turns out that the Enterprise officers are human after all.

The B-plot isn’t anything new either: Mysterious malfunctions on the ship that put them all in danger. Yawn. I don’t even think the reveal that the broken cargo container was responsible is much of a surprise, nor the plot development that Barclay comes through in the end, though the diagnosis and solution aren’t necessarily predictable.

In the end, this seems rather one-note and less enjoyable or interesting than it seemed before I grew up.

Eugene’s Rating: Warp 3 (on a scale of 1-6)

Best Line: PICARD: Broccoli? RIKER: Young Mister Crusher started that. I guess it’s caught on. PICARD: Let’s just get that uncaught , shall we?

Trivia/Other Notes: This was Dwight Schultz’s first of many TNG appearances as Reginald Barclay, a role he would even reprise on Star Trek: Voyager . He was a lifelong fan of Star Trek and was recommended for a part by Whoopi Goldberg.

Wesley’s holodeck outfit was modeled after Thomas Gainsborough’s painting “The Blue Boy.”

Barclay mentions a “flux capacitor” to holo Troi, though he may have meant to say “flow capacitor.”

Geordi refers to his holoprogram of Leah Brahms in “Booby Trap,” and O’Brien and Worf will reminisce about this episode in DS9’s “Image in the Sand.”

Previous episode: Season 3, Episode 20 – “ Tin Man .”

Next episode: Season 3, Episode 22 – “ The Most Toys .”

About Eugene Myers

17 comments.

I’m a bit conflicted about this episode. In itself it isn’t all that bad (Warp 3 is probably fair), but Barkley just became worse and more embarrassing with every appearance, and that affects how I view this appearance. We talked a bit about Barkley at Ten Forward, though that was more of a Dwight Schultz vs. Brad Dourif thing. He’s really cringe-worthy, though here he presents a valid question. Later, you have to wonder how he got into the impossible to enter Academy in the first place.

Barkley’s various Trois are supposed to be over the top. The Goddess of Empathy version is really close to a lot of fan snark about the character at the time. This may actually be the point at which Deanna Troi turned the corner and started to improve as much as she ever would. That turning point also provides the episode’s most redeeming moment. After she gives Riker that little speech about his height being intimidating and so on after seeing his midget replica, she is suddenly confronted with her own version and snaps, “Shut it!” It’s hilarious and is almost an acknowledgement by the writers of what has been wrong with the character to this point.

Flux capacitor is nonsense, but it may be what was written in the script. It certainly became a standard piece of the technobabble. Or the name might have been retconned. It wouldn’t be the only time. Both the names of the Klingon ceremonial sword and the Cardassian name of the station that became DS9 were retconned because actors had problems pronouncing the original terms.

I think this episode rather tidily handles one of the more “clear and present dangers” of holo-deck technology. Some parts of this episode are downright cringeworthy, far worse than any “holo-monster” or “holo-mystery.”

It also handles what I presume is a pre-occupation of the writers at this point—namely that there is no “everyman” in Roddenberry’s universe. Where every one is special and spectacular, Barkley is an underachiever (still, a whiz). Here, they give us one. I do like how in the end, it appears Barkley’s confusion is not because he is particularly dull-witted but because the problem he’s working on presents a larger challenge beyond the scope of what he’s been tasked to do.

I guess what I’d say about this episode is, despite its hand-wavey denouement, TNG finally gets REAL.

“I told you that story to tell you this one.” (Bill Cosby) (back when he was funny)

Seriously, about the only thing I really like about this episode is that it establishes the character of Reginald Barclay and therefore set up the only really good episode he was in, “The Nth Degree”, which I really like. It’s not that “Hollow Pursuits” is bad exactly; if nothing else I like the idea of showing us a character who is flawed in a moderately believable way and who is allowed to come back in future episodes, so he’s not just some one-off aberration magically cured by the end of the episode so we never have to see him again.

What bothers me most about “Hollow Pursuits” is that it has no courage. There’s a deliberately sanitized feel to it. I’m reminded a bit of what happened to The Stepford Wives when it was adapted to the screen: William Goldman pointed out that if you’re sick enough to accept a robotic replica of a woman as a wife, you’re probably going to make that robot into a sex bomb who “look[s] like Bo Derek” (in Goldman’s words.) Instead the screenwriters, shying away from the true darkness of the premise, made the robotic women into simpering, sexless, suburban hausfraus who wouldn’t be out of play on “The Donna Reed Show”. The idea is not totally without merit but it’s still a bit cowardly.

Similarly, Barclay’s holodeck fantasies feel just a bit too cutesy and tame to be entirely believable. Someone who really lived for the holodeck and used it to invent versions of his crewmates, whether to satisfy lust or envy, would probably go quite a bit further with it than the essentially harmless Walter Mitty-ish inventions we see in “Hollow Pursuits”. Wasn’t there a “Voyager” episode that actually went the full length with this concept and gave us something truly unsavory?

A last comment: hearing Capt. Picard accidentally utter the word “Broccoli” in his impeccable enunciation was priceless.

I used to loathe this episode. I never took a shine to Barclay, I thought the holofantasies were weird and off-putting, and I didn’t get why this guy was even on the Enterprise in the first place. But I have to say that watching this now later in life, having had a lot more work experience, it reads VERY differently for me.

Both Geordi and Riker are TERRIBLE BOSSES. I really cannot emphasize that enough. They are too overbearing and too micromanage-y. They sigh and roll their eyes and display active contempt for their employee. They even set up Barclay to fail, by deliberately asking him to come to a meeting and then putting him on the spot to present something he doesn’t know a lot about, and not giving him a chance to answer as Wesley just leaps in. They are needlessly cruel to him behind his back to others, and they have no respect for his privacy or sensitivity to the crippling social anxiety that they’ve obviously contributed to.

I’ve been blessed to have had largely positive work experiences, but it just reminds me of every horrible work situation I’ve ever had, and it makes me seriously uncomfortable. People have a right to be treated with respect in the workplace, even if they’re not that good at their jobs (which isn’t even the case here). And a good manager will find out that person’s strengths and weaknesses and give him tasks he’s best suited to. A bad manager will use words like “poor fit” to deflect his own terrible management. Watching this is cringe-inducing to me today not because of Barclay, who is admittedly a sad sack, but because watching Geordi and Riker dismiss, insult, and belittle him is like watching kids bully kids (or worse, adults bully adults, which happens everywhere).

My biggest complaint with this story, though, is that it’s not just socially awkward weirdos who have problems with bosses. Normal people have to deal with this kind of crap all the time, and I think it belittles the severity of Geordi and Riker’s failures to have poor Barclay be the victim. Also, neither of them suffer actual consequences for the way that they treat him.

As for the holoprogram, I’m of two minds with this. On the one hand, telling off your boss and successfully flirting with people is probably at the top of most people’s fantasies. I remember in Minority Report , there’s a throwaway scene where the main character walks through the equivalent of Quark’s holostudios and it’s people 1) telling off people they hate; 2) getting praise from their bosses that they never get; and 3) having amazing sex. This 100% makes sense to me as plausible. And I’m firmly of the opinion that no one should be judging Barclay for it, either. It’s really important to vent frustrations about work, and since he has basically no friends, what else is he supposed to do? On the other hand, I think your coworkers’ actual likenesses should be off-limits, and Barclay in doing what he does isn’t respecting them as people either. I’d prefer the equivalent of a TV movie, with the disclaimer at the end that these are totally not meant to be real people but obviously are.

But you know, at least it did give me enough of a quick factor in both directions to get me thinking, which is more than I can say about a lot of these lukewarm episodes.

I’ll piggyback on what Torie’s said here: the thing that gets me with this episode is how much it fails to sympathize with, or even remotely understand, the “everyman” that it tries to create.

Look, I always had a certain affinity for Barclay. When this was on TV, it was because I was an awkward kid-then-teenager who’d moved around too much as a child to have or learn how to keep close friends. But now, as Torie’s said, it’s because of all the workplace dynamics that are on display here and which have never been seriously considered in Trek.

Even the most awesome job in the world is still a job, and you still have to do stupid menial tasks, and deal with petty social competition and politics, and jockeying for position with your coworkers, and your Performance Review, and blah blah blah. Barclay’s not invested in his job because, contra everybody else we ever see on the show, he’s doing stupid scutwork. For him, solving the problem isn’t as simple as pushing buttons to Run a Level One Diagnostic or asking the computer a huge broad research question; he actually has to take things apart and do some actual work. And that’s hard, and you can screw it up.

Younger-me sneered at Barclay’s lack of skill; but older-me knows from experience that bad management is precisely the reason that Barclay fails. He’s been set up to fail by a management team that terrorizes him, rendering him too nervous to work well. This team is run as a clique from which Barclay’s excluded, making him a perpetually low-status outsider: Wesley can talk over him precisely because Barclay knows himself to be the lowest-ranking individual in the group, and thus has to delay longer before speaking and yield the conch to any higher-status group member. Of course this prevents Barclay from getting credit for his good ideas and gaining status, too.

Meanwhile Geordi judges him on whether or not he’s a “go-getter” or whatever–armchair psychoanalysis being the refuge of the manager who has no idea how to set clear, objective metrics for judging workplace performance.

As a result, Barclay’s spending so much of his mental energy worrying about what other people think of him and how he can never seem to please his superiors that he literally does not have the focus left to do any of the rest of his job. I sincerely wish I didn’t know from experience exactly what that feels like.

The other part that all this makes blindingly obvious is how much all Our Heroes spend all their waking lives on the bridge, and barely ever sleep. How dare the show blame Barclay for not extending him the same magic power?

Strangely enough this episode put into my mind ‘The Tempest’ ARIEL …That if you now beheld them, your affections Would become tender. PROSPERO Dost thou think so, spirit? ARIEL Mine would, sir, were I human. I have also been fascinated by this exchange. A spirt, an alien intelligence shows real empathy for human’s suffering, and through it a human relearns his empathy even for his enemies. The stalwart crew of Enterprise D always are full of empathy for aliens and strange life-forms, but lack it utterly for one of their own. Like the wardroom of the Caine they made up nicknames for him, ragged him behind his back, and wondered why he went to pieces. I have always identified with Barclay in this episode. I am that person at the party looking at the plant. The analysis that this is an example of petty bosses and office politics is dead one. AND it has a friggin big plot hole. Tori is an empath, wouldn’t she known that Barclay is becoming attracted to her?

I always get the feeling watching this that I do when watching “the Cage/The Menagerie”. Too much indulgence in fantasy can be a bad thing. Of course, when “the Cage” was written there was no such thing as a “Trekkie”, but by the time of TNG, we were of course, well known.

Do you suppose this was a none-too-subtle message from the writers to the viewing public; ‘TV is fine once in a while, but there’s a world out there. Go out and do something’. Or as Vina said; “…it’s like a narcotic. Because when dreams become more important than reality, you give up building, travel…you just sit, living and reliving other lives left behind in the thought records.” Prescient words for the television / video game generation indeed.

I agree that Barclay is meant to be the “everyman” character, but I kept circling around the idea that he’s like a Mary Sue in fiction (or Gary-Stu, I guess?)–living out the dream of people like us getting to be on the flagship of the Federation, only no one likes him and he isn’t awesome. Sure, he ends up saving the ship in the end, but even though he feels more positive at the end and is ready to live in the real world, I wonder how much things will change for him. He and Geordi seem to be on the way to becoming friends, but does he end up being the guy that everyone only tolerates having around? This is depressing, and I’m even more depressed that the way he’s presented in the show is so skewed that *I* end up not liking him much either.

Even though the judgment goes both ways, most notably with Guinan chiding Geordi, the overall thesis is there’s something wrong with Barclay, not everyone else–and certainly not with the system that put him in this awkward position. Sometimes I worry that the people at my job think I’m antisocial or not a team player or something because I stay in my office and don’t have lunch with them more often or go out for drinks, when really, I just want to read a book in my limited free time or have to write on my lunch break. It can be exhausting for an introvert to be around people all the time, so I can see the appeal in napping in the holodeck or hanging out with holograms who don’t expect anything from you except what you’re willing to give.

On the other hand, I think your coworkers’ actual likenesses should be off-limits, and Barclay in doing what he does isn’t respecting them as people either.

I’m not sure I agree with that, since no one was ever supposed to see those programs! Is it wrong to fantasize about other people if it isn’t causing them harm? This is just an extension of that.

I sometimes wonder if the purpose of Barclay is to make people who identify with him feel better about themselves. I can certainly relate to Barclay’s shyness and awkwardness in social circles but I can’t see myself having fantasies about my co-workers if I had access to a holodeck. In that sense, I can always tell myself that at least I’m not that bad and use that as a foundation for the hope that were I lucky enough to serve on Enterprise then I’d be more successful socially.

So yeah, I always kind of liked Barclay, even if the acknowledgement of why makes me a little embarrassed. I may be screwed up but at least I’m not Barclay screwed.

Wasn’t the flux capacitor the power source for the time traveling DeLorean in Back to the Future?

@10 Dovakliina

Yes, indeed! I think he flubbed his line and they either missed it or decided to leave it in, because he pronounces it correctly elsewhere in the episode. Technobabble is hard.

If shy persons like Barclay are considered to have a pathology (shyness is now viewed as “social anxiety” — I’m with Christopher Lane on this) then the Federation and especially Starfleet ought to have accommodations in place to ensure that people like him can use their unique skills and do the job they want/were hired to do without being forced to be gregarious and social. Surely there’s a Federation Citizens With Disabilities Act.

A core idea in Star Trek is that in the future, people are accepted no matter how “different” they may be. The range of what is considered human normality will have been widened. Extremely. I know it is always a hazard when you’re portraying a 23rd century world in the 20th century, but the purpose of Star Trek has always been to think ahead and try to do just that.

In short, what happens to Barclay on the Enterprise is nothing but good old 20th-century bullying and it’s portrayed as being for his own good. And it’s none of anyone’s business what he fantasizes on the holodeck.

I don’t judge Barclay on his fantasies, and saying they “don’t speak well of him” seems unfair, because anyone with half a brain has indulged in some wild fantasizing in his or her life, including those that aren’t socially acceptable. That’s why they are fantasies.

I also don’t judge Barclay for including his co-workers in those fantasies. I’d be surprised if anyone here has never fantasized about someone they knew. We can be high and mighty and say we’d never privately bring those types of fantasies to life in a holodeck-type device, but that’s easy for us to do, because those devices don’t exist.

At any rate, it’s only an issue because no one seems to respect other people’s privacy in the 24th century. If you need to interrupt a holodeck program you should end it before you go waltzing in, and if you don’t, you shouldn’t complain about what you find. Like my mother used to say, if you eavesdrop on others, what you hear is your fault.

Barclay’s only problem is his punctuality, and that’s really just a symptom of his extreme social awkwardness, massively exacerbated by, as Torie and others have said, his bosses. Riker should be enforcing discipline, but he’s an ass about it from the very beginning of the episode. It might have played better if we’d seen him trying to work with Barclay before he ultimately loses his cool.

He and LaForge calling Barclay derogatory names behind his back is not only wrong but, in my opinion, glaringly out of character. I was glad to see Picard and Data put an end to that behavior, even if the captain later accidentally repeats the name with disastrous results. Given that this is how Barclay’s treated on board the Enterprise, it’s no surprise that he hasn’t been putting forth his best effort and chooses to spend as much time as he can get away with in isolation, as Guinan thankfully brings up.

I think this episode would have been better than average if they’d dropped the seemingly obligatory crisis and just focused on the character conflicts. It might have even been a neat idea if LaForge had secretly created a crisis for Barclay to solve, thereby giving him a chance to prove his worth in front of the rest of the engineering crew, though it would have had to be something less potentially catastrophic or there’d have been hell to pay.

P.S. They couldn’t find one sword fighting stuntman with a receding hairline?

Well of course nobody respects anybody’s privacy in the 24th century… Facebook has been around for what, 300 years??

A lot of excellent comments here. I found this episode to be compelling because of the social phobia obviously afflicting Reg [which I suffer from] and the incongruously ignorant behaviour of his colleagues, and had to find out what the name of it had been, and find a site to watch what I missed after falling asleep in the last 15 minutes.

A few quick points; Primarily, what separates a “socially awkward weirdo” from a “normal” person is degrees of confidence. They are not different in kind, only in degree.

For one commenter, to be ‘Barclay screwed’ [reduced to using fantasy to compensate for low status] is a thankfully avoided worst-case scenario. Here’s a worse one, which happens to be mine; horror of all the “petty social competition and politics, and jockeying for position with your coworkers” made me physically sick, so I’m out of the whole shit storm, on disability and miserable. Whether my life’s been ruined remains to be seen. All this because of social anxiety. I can categorically state from bitter experience that unfortunately terror looks to the un-anxious “weird” and is not only inexplicable, but unspeakable and unthinkable. What this means is that there is such a stigma on low status that there’s a systemic mechanism in place that finishes outsiders off completely in the end. As an old book title says, fear is the key.

If I were in his place, I’d be doing anything BUT indulging in fantasies involving my unwitting persecutors. I’d be watching therapeutic Star Trek on late night TV- wait though… this IS Star Trek…. maybe Star Trek staff in crisis could resort to 20th C shows like The Office. God help them.

@15. ; I may not suffer from he crippling social phobia you seem to have, but I can definitely identify and sympathize with your ‘horror” over ” all the “petty social competition and politics, and jockeying for position with your coworkers”.

I definitely hate all of that stuff and I’m sure my dislike of competition has held me back in life. I hope you are able to find something ( therapy, medication, etc. ) which can help you.

Best of luck.

@bedeebdeebdeebthat’s – I don’t have exactly what you have, but I am mildly autistic and can only take so much in-person social interaction, plus all the office politics I could never comprehend. That is one of many reasons I went into business for myself. I was also able to find a couple of jobs where I could work on my own and not have a lot of other people around. Have you considered taking distance learning classes and finding a career in some field where you could work from home? This is entirely possible today. Engineering drafting and architectural design, for instance.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me when new comments are added.

Recent Discussions in Ten Forward

Re: A data journalism approach to solving "best ST" debates? by: Kevin July 3, 2017, 19:02
ST Rewatch: The EMotion Picture (long) by: Guest October 18, 2015, 15:13
Re: Chaos on the Bridge by: Kevin September 3, 2015, 13:13
Re: Leonard Nimoy by: Kevin February 28, 2015, 15:13
"Shaka, When the Walls Fell" by: ecmyers June 19, 2014, 08:20

Favorite Posts

Uhura takes the first steps to becoming a crazy tribble lady.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who on the ship is meanest of all?

If you hit Forever, you went too far.

Wrath, like a seed, needs time to grow... in a Petri dish, best kept cold.

This week on Masterpiece Theater... Shakespeare’s Hamlet! In space.

June 2014 (1)
May 2014 (1)
January 2014 (2)
November 2013 (1)
October 2013 (1)
August 2013 (5)
July 2013 (2)
June 2013 (4)
April 2013 (3)
March 2013 (4)
February 2013 (4)
January 2013 (4)
December 2012 (2)
November 2012 (4)
October 2012 (3)
September 2012 (4)
August 2012 (4)
July 2012 (3)
June 2012 (5)
May 2012 (4)
April 2012 (4)
March 2012 (5)
February 2012 (4)
January 2012 (4)
December 2011 (5)
November 2011 (5)
October 2011 (6)
September 2011 (1)
August 2011 (7)
July 2011 (8)
June 2011 (8)
May 2011 (5)
April 2011 (6)
March 2011 (4)
February 2011 (5)
January 2011 (6)
December 2010 (5)
November 2010 (6)
October 2010 (6)
August 2010 (1)
July 2010 (3)
June 2010 (3)
May 2010 (6)
April 2010 (8)
March 2010 (4)
February 2010 (3)
October 2009 (2)
September 2009 (6)
August 2009 (1)
July 2009 (5)
June 2009 (8)
May 2009 (8)
April 2009 (9)

About Arras WordPress Theme

The Viewscreen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Hollow Pursuits

Cast & crew.

Dwight Schultz

Lt. Reginald Barclay

Charley Lang

Colm Meaney

Chief Miles O'Brien

Information

Accessibility

Internet Service Terms Apple TV & Privacy Cookie Policy Support

Show Spoilers
Night Vision
Sticky Header
Highlight Links

Follow TV Tropes

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E21HollowPursuits

Star Trek: The Next Generation S3E21 "Hollow Pursuits" » Recap

La Forge: You're just shy, Barclay. Barclay: Just shy... sounds like nothing serious, doesn't it? You can't know.

Original air date: April 30, 1990

We're introduced to Lieutenant Barclay, who's drinking in Ten-Forward when La Forge shows up to dress him down. After some tough talk worthy of a Dixon Hill story, Barclay shoves him ass-over-teakettle. Riker jumps up and confronts Barclay but gets more of the same. Barclay's overwhelming manliness has impressed Troi, and the pair start to romance each other, but then Barclay gets summoned to the cargo bay. What's going on? This whole sequence has been a wish-fulfillment fantasy on the holodeck. When Barclay arrives for work, he proves to be a meek, awkward, and unpopular officer. As Barclay fumbles with trying to move some canisters of volatile chemicals, during which a couple of them break ( remember this ), La Forge and Riker discuss how they just can't handle "Broccoli" (thanks for the nickname, Wesley), saying he isn't Enterprise material.

La Forge and Riker go to Picard with their concerns and suggest transferring Barclay off the ship. But Picard doesn't like the idea of giving up and foisting Barclay on someone else. He tells La Forge to stop calling the man "Broccoli" behind his back and start nurturing him to help him fit in. La Forge dutifully starts including Barclay on Engineering briefings and puts him in charge of solving some issues with odd malfunctions cropping up around the ship. La Forge comes to realize that Barclay is a smart, imaginative guy when he's not too shy to speak up. After stumbling into one of Barclay's escapist fantasies on the holodeck, in which Barclay is a badass swordsman against Musketeer doppelgangers of Picard, Data, and La Forge himself, La Forge has a heart-to-heart with Barclay and insists that he get some therapy.

Barclay's intense crush on Troi makes his first therapy session with the real counsellor too awkward. He ends the session abruptly before running off in embarrassment. Troi tells Riker and La Forge about the strange end to their session, causing the three of them to go looking for Barclay. He's fled into the holodeck, where the three officers discover yet another of his programs. Riker and Troi are not amused by the unflattering representations of them in Barclay's fantasy (or too-flattering, in Troi's case). Barclay is embarrassed to be caught once again and offers to resign, but La Forge won't hear it. He reveals that he himself once fell in love with a holodeck program , but it’s time for Barclay to knock it off and focus on his real-world responsibilities.

The malfunctions throughout the ship are getting worse to the point that the navigation controls stop responding, causing the ship to start accelerating out of control. If Engineering doesn't find a solution in 15 minutes, the engines will blow up. La Forge leads a brainstorming session with all his best engineers and Barclay . But Barclay is the one who realizes that if the problem isn't a systemic error, then it must come from one of the engineers spreading some foreign substance around the ship. La Forge and the rest of the team narrow down the culprit to invidium from the broken canister at the beginning of the episode. La Forge and Barclay rush to the cargo hold and confirm their theory, then recommend flushing the ship's engines to neutralize the compound. The ship is saved!

Tropes in this episode include:

Accidental Misnaming : People nickname Barclay "Broccoli," and then just after Picard has told them not to, he ends up using the name by accident .
All Girls Want Bad Boys : At least, the ones in Barclay's program do (with Barclay himself as the bad boy in question). Holo-Troi: I feel your confidence... your arrogant resolve. It excites me.
All of the Other Reindeer : Barclay's mistreatment by the main crew for much of the episode. Geordi realizes this through the episode's Whoopi Epiphany Speech .
Anti-Escapism Aesop : Barclay starts out spending most of his time in the holodeck, but with Geordi's support, he starts to cut down on his holo-fantasies.
Artistic License – Military : The scene where Picard is discussing Barclay's job performance has several issues. One, Crusher simply should not be there. Barclay outranks him, and for his chain-of-command (La Forge and Picard) to discuss his performance evaluation with Crusher is an extremely serious breach of procedure. Ensign is the lowest officer rank, and Ensign Crusher has no business being there or any input into the subject. If Barclay had found out, he would have been perfectly justified to go over Picard's head and file a grievance with Starfleet. In that event, both Picard and La Forge would have had some serious explaining to do. Also, La Forge stating that he'd nicknamed Barclay "Broccoli" and laughed about it with Crusher should have seen him getting his ass reamed out by Picard. Such behavior calls La Forge's fitness to lead into question, as ridiculing your subordinates instead of working with them is not the behavior expected from a supervisor. Lastly, Crusher ridiculing a superior officer is not allowed. In present-day armed forces, doing this can land you in front of a court-martial for insubordination.
Author Avatar : Barclay's party shyness is based on Michael Piller's own experiences verbatim.
Bait-and-Switch Character Intro : The Teaser is this for Barclay. He's a big tough guy on his holodeck program, and then when he goes to meet his superiors, he's so meek he actually hides.
Benevolent Boss : While Barclay being inadequate is the bottom line for La Forge and Riker, Picard isn't convinced, saying it's too easy to foist a problematic officer off onto another post, and insists that they take the time to get to know the man and find out why he's like this. Suffice to say, Picard's act of goodwill pays off.
The Big Damn Kiss : Barclay keeps having these on the Holodeck, with Holo!Troi of course. The kicker is that Barclay is a terrible kisser, looking like he's about to devour her whole head.
Big Eater : Holo-Wesley is always seen stuffing his face with pie like a naughty child.
Big "SHUT UP!" : Troi snaps at her holo-counterpart, "Muzzle it!"
Bookends : The episode begins and ends with Barclay in a holo-simulation involving the main cast before shutting it off — reluctantly the first time, willingly the second .
Call-Back : While lecturing Barclay about his Holodeck addiction, Geordi says he understands how easy it can be to lose oneself in it, admitting that he once fell in love while inside.
Chekhov's Gun : The broken medical canister from The Teaser turns out to be the cause of everything that goes wrong aboard the Enterprise .
Competence Porn : Once Barclay proposes the outside-the-box idea that the malfunctions are caused by someone spreading some kind of contaminant, Geordi and the rest of his engineers put their heads together to figure out exactly what the contaminant is and how to deal with it.
Cringe Comedy : Riker, Troi and La Forge walking in on Barclay's holodeck program. Even before they find him, things get pretty awkward.
Death Glare : When Data tries to reassure Picard that his Freudian slip with Barclay's nickname was an understandable case of metathesis, Picard silences him with a glare. Data: Metathesis is one of the most common of pronunciation errors, sir. A reversal of vowel and consonant, Barc to Broc— (sees Picard glaring at him and suddenly becomes very interested in a nearby console)
Dual Wielding : Barclay vs. Musketeer Picard, Geordi, and Data.
Subverted in that his nickname becomes a much friendlier, much more innocent and no less informal "Reg", which fits perfectly with Data's definition of a nickname.
Exact Time to Failure : True to form, the computer tells everyone exactly how many seconds are left before the Enterprise flies apart.
Fantastic Drug : The holodeck, sort of, as this episode introduces the concept of holoaddiction.
Five-Second Foreshadowing : When O'Brien tries to demonstrate the transporter test to Geordi, the first transport of a duranium canister shows it to be slightly charred after transport. The second transport is what reduces the canister to a pile of goo.
Flynning : Barclay's swordfight with his holographic enemies is pure cinematic swashbuckling, since it's a fantasy after all.
Ham-to-Ham Combat : When Barclay fights the holo-Musketeers, it's not just their swords that clash. Musketeer!Data: You are outnumbered, Mister Barclay! Say you will yield and it ends here! Barclay: I shall speak with my sword, sir!
Her Code Name Was "Mary Sue" : Barclay becomes an In-Universe Marty Stu with his holodeck programs, complete with plenty of Character Shilling from the Musketeers.
Indulgent Fantasy Segue : The episode opens with Barclay telling Geordi to take his holier than thou attitude and get out of his life after he chastises him for hanging out in Ten Forward while being on duty, then pushing him away. When Riker tells him that it's insubordination, he raises a glass and states "Here's to insubordination," and so things continue until he is interrupted by a comm message calling him away and he declares "save program," ending the holodeck simulation. A couple of other simulations are presented this way later in the episode, though with the expectation that the audience should be able to figure it out, given what they've already seen.
Internal Deconstruction : Star Trek at this point was about Starfleet officers who were Consummate Professionals at their job and the Federation utopia meant all personal needs were accounted for. Barclay was the first Starfleet character who displayed severe social anxiety where his work suffered as a result. This resulted in the other characters having no frame of reference on how to deal with him, as the very concept of mental health impacting job performance seemed like a foreign concept.
The Internet Is for Porn : In this case, it's the holodeck, which is being used by Barclay to invoke his various fantasies, including Troi being the Goddess of Empathy and his love interest. Luckily, his fantasies are all safe for network television (what we see of them, anyway).
Jaw Drop : Troi's reaction upon seeing Barclay's "Goddess of Empathy" simulation of her.
Jerkass Ball : Riker, Wesley, and Geordi all grab onto it hard in this episode with their childish teasing of Barclay, especially with their nastily referring to him as "Broccoli" . Picard, Guinan, and Data (see Jerkass Realization below) call them out on it, and thankfully Geordi at least learns and starts being kinder to Barclay.
Jerkass Realization : La Forge, Duffy, and Wesley chuckle over their nickname for Barclay until Data notes that nicknames are supposed to be friendly rather than insulting. That kills all the humor from the joke and makes the others realize they're being dicks. Data: Pardon me, but why is Lieutenant Barclay being referred to clandestinely as a vegetable? (Duffy barely stifles a laugh) Wesley: It's a joke, Data. You know, a nickname. Data: (thinks for a moment) Nicknames generally denote fondness, a diminutive shared between friends. Geordi: Data's absolutely right. The nickname stops here and now. Captain's orders.
Kicked Upstairs : Subverted. Picard and Riker suspect that Barclay's former CO had given him glowing performance evaluations specifically to bait another captain into requesting him. This turns out to be an unfair assessment. Barclay is indeed a skilled engineer, but has serious issues with anxiety that prevent him from interacting with others properly. Once Picard and Geordi take the time to nurture him, Reg more than comes into his own.
All three holo-musketeers. Musketeer Picard: (re Geordi, Riker, and Deanna) They are quite disagreeable, aren't they? (draws his sword along with his comrades) Shall we... have at them? Musketeer Data: Deeee-lighted! Musketeer Geordi: We shall thrrrash them!
Barclay himself is the cock of the walk while he's in the confines of the holodeck. When his fantasy is interrupted, however, he's immediately back to being a Shrinking Violet , in true escapist fashion.
Look Behind You : Barclay thinks that Musketeer Picard is pulling this trick, until Geordi reveals that he's right behind Barclay .
Lower-Deck Episode : An early and partial example. The focus of the episode is half on lowly officer Barclay and half on how the main characters deal with him. We also get more time with some of La Forge's otherwise anonymous direct reports.
Lust Object : Holo-Troi exists purely for Barclay to smooch, especially as the Goddess of Empathy.
Meaningful Echo : When Guinan tells Geordi about Barclay, she mentions how imaginative he is. Later, after seeing Barclay's choice of holodeck programs, Geordi admits that he appreciates Barclay's imagination. Guinan gives a subtle look of approval.
Nervous Wreck : At his worst, Barclay is this. Watching him try to be assertive is pretty painful.
Off-the-Shelf FX : The test cylinder props were actually U.S. Navy sonar buoy transport cases.
Picard's utterly mortified facial expression when he realizes he's accidentally called Barclay "Broccoli."
Barclay then has a moment of this when he sees that Geordi has just walked in on one of his holo-programs.
Other Me Annoys Me : Unlike Geordi, Troi and Riker are not amused by the holographic versions of themselves that Barclay has cooked up. Riker is a pipsqueak, while Troi is "the Goddess of Empathy."
Out-of-Character Moment : Played for Laughs ; Troi coldly tells her holographic self to "muzzle it."
Out of Focus : Worf only has five lines in the episode.
Percussive Therapy : A variation involving swords instead of fists, but it's the same idea as it allows Barclay to vent in private.
Proscenium Reveal : The episode starts in Ten Forward, where we first meet Barclay. He displays gross insubordination to both La Forge and Riker, who both act like wimps in response, then flirts with Troi, who's been slinking around in a blue dress—then he is called to the cargo bay. His whole demeanor changes as he stands up and says, "Computer, save program."
Reasonable Authority Figure : Picard becomes the first person we see to give Barclay a chance at succeeding. Rather than pawn him off on someone else (as Riker suspects his previous CO did), Picard orders Geordi to be more patient and friendly with him in hopes of bringing him out of his shell.
Riddle for the Ages : What do you suppose is on Barclay Program 9, the only one he doesn't delete at the end? (Judging by a conversation between Worf and O'Brien on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , it's possibly the "Three Musketeers" program.)
Ron the Death Eater : Happens In-Universe , as the male main crewmembers, especially Riker, are all portrayed as arrogant idiots, whereas the female crewmembers Troi and Crusher are portrayed as loving and gentle figures (although Troi's not very happy to see her holographic counterpart ).
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy : Because Barclay feels like no one wants to be around him, he's always late and nervous. Because Barclay is always late and nervous, no one wants to be around him.
One of the systems that malfunctions is the flux capacitor . However, in the previous scene, it's referred to as a "flow capacitor," making this either a script error or a flub on Dwight Schultz's part.
Barclay's middle name is Endicott, a nod to the character of Clayton Endicott III on Benson , played by René Auberjonois , who would later play Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .
Shrinking Violet : Barclay has some serious social anxiety. He literally hides from Geordi when first arriving for duty.
Stealth Pun : That title could also be heard as "holo pursuits."
Swing Low, Sweet Harriet : Holo-Beverly is on a swing in one of Barclay's programs.
Take That, Audience! : When it was broadcast, some viewers took this episode as a slap in the face, considering Barclay to be a shallow parody of Star Trek fans. However, Barclay's nuanced characterization (within this debut episode as well as subsequent appearances) wound up winning the crowd.
Techno Babble : Quite a lot of it when Geordi heads a brainstorming session trying to figure out why the ship is malfunctioning.
Teleporter Accident : One of the rare times when nobody gets hurt—just a piece of metal gets melted. When reconfiguring transporters, it's apparently standard procedure to beam chunks of metal from pad to pad to check for such problems. (Better than testing it on the nearest Red Shirt .)
That Came Out Wrong : "I look forward to reading your report, Mr. Broccoli." Poor Barclay can't get out of that meeting fast enough, and Picard clearly feels like a total jackass for that little flub.
There Are No Therapists : For all the posturing the Federation does about tolerance and progressiveness, their stance on mental health is somewhat lacking as shown by how many of the Enterprise's command staff are willing to pawn Barclay onto another crew and be rid of him rather than address the root of the problem. Downplayed since they (other than Troi, of course) aren't therapists and their main responsibility is to keep the ship running smoothly.
There Should Be a Law : When Riker sees Barclay's "Musketeer" program. Riker: This is a violation of protocol. Crew members should not be simulated on the holodeck. Geordi: Commander, I don't think there's any regulation against— Riker: Well, there ought to be .
This Is Gonna Suck : When Riker goes to the holodeck to deal with Barclay, Geordi knows that he won't like what he sees and invites Deanna to come along.
Riker doesn't raise his voice at all during the episode, but he radiates cold fury anytime he's near Barclay or in Barclay's holo-program.
Deanna is just as coldly furious at Barclay after meeting the Goddess of Empathy. Deanna: We have a lot to talk about, Mr. Barclay.
Twist Ending : Mildly. Barclay telling the crew of the Enterprise that he's feeling better about himself and no longer needs their support. Turns out he's telling their holodeck versions that he doesn't need them anymore.
Warm Milk Helps You Sleep : Barclay's drink. Guinan says this word-for-word when Geordi chuckles at it. Guinan: Warm milk helps you sleep, LaForge . You should try it.
Whoopi Epiphany Speech : Guinan gives one to Geordi on how best to work with Barclay. Guinan: The idea of fitting in just... repels me. Geordi: Maybe I didn't make myself clear. Barclay, he's always late, he's nervous, nobody wants to be around him. Guinan: If I had the feeling that nobody wanted to be around me, I'd probably be late and nervous too.
You Look Familiar : In-Universe —Riker's doppelganger says he has a "familiar bearing" upon meeting the real deal.
Star Trek: The Next Generation S3E20 "Tin Man"
Recap/Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation S3E22 "The Most Toys"

Important Links

Action Adventure
Commercials
Crime & Punishment
Professional Wrestling
Speculative Fiction
Sports Story
Animation (Western)
Music And Sound Effects
Print Media
Sequential Art
Tabletop Games
Applied Phlebotinum
Characterization
Characters As Device
Narrative Devices
British Telly
The Contributors
Creator Speak
Derivative Works
Laws And Formulas
Show Business
Split Personality
Truth And Lies
Truth In Television
Fate And Prophecy
Image Fixer
New Articles
Edit Reasons
Isolated Pages
Images List
Recent Videos
Crowner Activity
Un-typed Pages
Recent Page Type Changes
Trope Entry
Character Sheet
Playing With
Creating New Redirects
Cross Wicking
Tips for Editing
Text Formatting Rules
Handling Spoilers
Administrivia
Trope Repair Shop
Image Pickin'

Search this site

Star Trek: The Next Generation

“Hollow Pursuits”

Air date: 4/30/1990 Written by Sally Caves Directed by Cliff Bole

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan

Review Text

At long last, here's welcome evidence that there are screw-ups in Starfleet. Given how the Enterprise is so often a testament to the hopelessly elite, it's refreshing to get a story about lowly Lt. Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz), a guy who's always late, awkward in groups, inexplicable to his shipmates, unable to fit in, and addicted to his fantasies in the holodeck.

Geordi is fed up and frankly doesn't want to deal with him anymore. Picard's approach is more proof of his Picard-ness: Rather than abandon this officer and transfer him out, he asks Geordi to make more of an effort to reach out and get to know the guy. It's not an easy task. Barclay's shyness reaches a level of social paralysis, and it makes him ineffective as a communicator in a workplace setting. Meanwhile, he spends all his free time in the holodeck.

The episode is probably best remembered for its amusing holodeck sequences featuring Barclay's overactive imagination and depictions of real crew members — including a uniquely hilarious opening scene where Barclay's overconfident alter ego (and it's a complete alter ego) struts into Ten-Forward and pushes Geordi and Riker around. Later, there's swordplay, which features a version of Riker that Barclay has digitally shortened. Troi finds it all to be amusing and therapeutic — until she sees the digital version of herself that Barclay has created (the "Goddess of Empathy").

But the heart of the episode is in deconstructing a man who doesn't fit in or feel comfortable. Guinan's sympathy for Barclay's situation is commendable. And Geordi makes a real effort to break down his defenses. Of course, the hilarious moment when Picard slips and calls him "Broccoli" is a classic, comic worst-case scenario. After all of Geordi's efforts, the captain accidentally sets everything back a step.

Does the episode need its overplayed jeopardy premise involving the malfunction that causes the Enterprise to race out of control? And does the jeopardy have to come down to terse, last-minute warnings from the computer that the ship is about to be destroyed? No and no. But I do like the way the engineering team swiftly deconstructs the problem with simple logic to find the solution. These are smart people working a problem intelligently. The episode's closing joke is Barclay's goodbye scene — to the holographic crew. Barclay is a welcome rough pebble among all the Enterprise 's polished pearls.

Previous episode: Tin Man Next episode: The Most Toys

Like this site? Support it by buying Jammer a coffee .

◄ Season Index

Comment Section

142 comments on this post.

None of the comments mention Hollow Persuits? Barclay is one of my very favorite recurring guest characters on TNG (and Voyager). Anyway it's pretty surprising how season 3 managed to turn everything around for the series, considering how awful season 2 was. Good thing the show survived long enough for us to see 5 more seasons.

Although I agree with Jammer that Hallow Pursuits was an entertaining hour of tv, the one thing that bugged me about the show that he didn't mention was the ease in which anyone can walk in while the holodeck is occupied. I can easily imagine far more embarassing uses to which such incredible tech can be used! I mean, isn't there any kind of security with the thing? Barclay's use of the holodeck made me wonder too about its availability in Federation society in general. If there was such a thing in real life, I'm afraid society would simply collapse as, human nature being what it is, most people would become so addicted to living out their fantasies on a holodeck that society would simply collapse. It reminds me of an experiment I read of where mice were allowed to press a button that stimulated their pleasure centers and they ended up starving to death because they couldn't bear not being stimulated.

^ yeah, in "Our Man Bashir" Julian claims that entering a holodeck that is in use is "illegal".

PeteTongLaw

Watching this episode today the thing that struck me was that Geordi senior team in Engineering is all men. Definitely would not be cast that way now.

I've always liked Barclay, and I'm impressed by how well this episode presents a balanced look at what it means for a social misfit to be in the workplace both for said misfit and for his superiors. It's easy to fall into Barclay's perspective, and the episode earns our sympathies partly by aligning him with the fans. Michael Piller has said that Barclay's holodeck simulation wasn't meant to be a commentary of fans and fanfic, but whether Piller realized it or not that is part of the effect: the episode contrasts the desire to be an idealized version of oneself, hanging out with and being superior to one's own heroes, with the reality of what walking alongside such giants would mean. And Barclay's opinions of his crewmembers often align with fans'. Troi is *hot* and Barclay imagines seducing her; Wesley is obnoxious and Barclay imagines him as a brat who gets threatened by his mother with spanking*. Still, we are shown Geordi's perspective as well, and Barclay's spending all his time on the holodeck and inability to communicate properly are not just funny impediments but genuinely serious ones. Somewhat unfortunately, I think that the jeopardy premise maybe was necessary for the episode to work within the standalone episode format. Part of what the episode needs to do is to establish why Barclay ultimately *is* a worthwhile crewmember to have around in spite of his considerable flaws, and it needs to make clear that while there is a large portion of pity and willingness to try to make anyone feel welcome in the crew, Barclay actually is more than just a charity project. Saving the ship is a somewhat truncated way of showing that Barclay, should he gain enough confidence to contribute to the Engineering staff and the crew at large, is good for the ship. If TNG had a greater devotion to ongoing storylines, it could potentially have a more realistic storyline in which Barclay gradually turns around and so the dividends from Picard, Troi and Geordi's investment in Barclay come more gradually. However, that is still hard to pull off with a secondary character, to say the least. Having Barclay be both a competent officer and use his imagination and thinking-outside-the-box mentality to save the ship is the way in which the episode doesn't merely send the message that any officer can get away with incompetence; the point is rather that Barclay's ability to contribute to the team is in somewhat nontraditional ways that require some effort on the part of his superiors to find his niche. All that said, this probably could have been accomplished by having the problem be serious but not a ship-threatening one; something that could require the ship need to shut down for a few weeks or some such without requiring that Every Person On The Ship Die if it's not solved right away. On that level, I like very much that the central idea Barclay suggests -- that it's a person who is infecting the various engineering systems -- is both outside the box of normal thinking, and also something that doesn't require a genius-level intellect, the way something Wesley might have done in s1. I have seen the episode *before* and I didn't remember that it was carried by people, and I didn't think there was any way this mystery could have a resolution that would not just be tech. Barclay's creativity, which Guinan notes should be valuable to an engineering team, and which is the thing that keeps him disconnected from other people (since he lives in his Secret Life of Walter Mitty fantasy world), is the thing that is useful, should he be able to apply it to his job. The episode is still merely good and not great, because the fantasy sequences, while memorable, get repetitive after a while, and the jeopardy premise, while probably necessary for the episode to work as I said above, still wins Barclay's entry into the fold a little cheaply, and also relies on a lot of tech. As Jammer says, hearing the Engineering team work through the problem logically is a total delight, however. I also appreciate how the episode's end teases the probability that Barclay will be leaving the ship in a way that suggests that the Enterprise and Geordi and Barclay himself will not have to deal with any of the difficulties that the episode suggests. But, no, Barclay is here to stay, and he's merely leaving his fantasies behind. In keeping with the show's genuine attempt to imagine a better humanity, it's not so much that people are cured of social dysfunctions like what Barclay has, but that society has grown and adapted so that it's possible to find a place to let unusual and imperfect humans be the best they can be. High 3 stars.

I regret learning that Dwight Schultz is a wacko racist conspiracy believing tea bagger nutjob. I can't enjoy the Barclay episodes now.

@Sintek: While I have no idea if what you said about Schultz is true, I don't see why it has to affect your enjoyment of his performance if he did well. Bobby Fischer is an excellent example of this: his victories over his fellow GMs (Grandmasters) in chess were just inspired - he defeated a GM 6-0 in a candidate's match and that just wasn't done! But he clearly was anti-Semite, had paranoi, and had hate issues. In other words, his chess was brilliant but he wasn't so stellar a person. If you so choose, you can do the same - enjoy a performance without liking the actor. To each is own though. As for the episode, I enjoyed seeing the main characters in fantasy, as surely the characters ARE in fans' fantasies. In odd sort of way, it mimics real life. I too, like Jammer, enjoyed seeing a less than perfect human on the Enterprise, and liked seeing Picard refuse to just transfer problems to other starships rather than just deal with them. 3 stars for me as well.

I am not a fan of Holodeck episodes. They always make me cringe a little bit because they are so awkward. I watched this one with a TNG virgin and I'm almost sure this person never wants to watch another TNG episode, no matter how many times I tell them that there are much better episodes. I don't agree with Jammer's review here. To me this is a one-star episode.

I just got done watching this episode, and it was a hoot! However, the comment above slandering Dwight Schultz as racist, and a "tea bagger" is anything BUT a hoot. (And if don't you know how that latter epithet came about, let's just say that is tremendously sexually crude). Right at this very moment, I'm listening to a podcast from Dwight Schultz (from this September), and he sounds like a guy who both occasionally talks with a wacky voice (like you'd expect a voice actor to do), and has not uttered anything racist or "nut job" in any way. Please don't slander people, on the right or on the left. If someone says something you find disagreeable, state what actually was said, don't just slap a label on them in an internet forum.

SkepticalMI

On Sintak's comment I will only say this: it doesn't surprise me but does dismay me that so many people who undoubtedly consider themselves enlightened, tolerant people feel it is ok to slander, insult, and feel such incredible hatred towards people who happen to have a different political philosophy. It's just another outside group that the inside group can be intolerant towards in order to feel superior. As for the episode itself, it was great fun. TNG gets some flack (and deservedly so sometimes) for being too invested in character insights or dealing with moral or philosophical issues to the detriment of a good story. Here, though, it's a character episode, but one that is entertaining and relatively fast moving as well. It's funny at times, serious at times, mysterious at times, and indulgent at times. I didn't feel the holodeck scenes dragged on too long. It helped that the first two weren't obviously on the holodeck, and that the latter three involved actors we like hamming it up for all they're worth. And Barclay, well, great character. Is his neurosis a bit too exaggerated? Maybe a bit, but I've known some people who were pretty close to that. And as an introvert myself, there were moments that were pretty realistic... And the episode is pretty fair when exploring these issues. Geordi and Riker come off as a little bit nasty in their harsh treatment of Barclay, and yet completely justified and understandable too. Picard's defense of Barclay may seem too tolerant for someone as immature as Barclay, but he has a point too that Barclay has had a reasonably successful Starfleet career so far and thus could be a valuable member of the crew. Essentially, the message is that socially inept people should be given a fair amount of leeway, but in return it better not cause problems with their work or other people. The different reactions to Barclay's holodeck adventure were nice touches too. It makes sense that LaForge was the most sympathetic, as 1) he has no place to talk (and kudos to the writers for calling back to Booby Trap), and 2) he didn't see the more controversial characters (the goddess of empathy and mini-Riker) until later. I also don't care that the "ship in danger" plot was used. The episode needed to show two things: that an addiction to a fantasy life can be rather crippling to one's real life, and that socially awkward people are people too. The 10 seconds to destruction plot managed both of them nicely. Because Barclay was spending too much time on the holodeck and not doing his job, a thousand people nearly died. And because LaForge put in a bit of effort to make Barclay feel a part of the team, a thousand people didn't die. Hurray! The only quibble is that time was running out and the two of them were still walking around everywhere. You'd think the no running in the hallways rule could be a bit relaxed in those situations... PeteTongLaw, you think the all-male senior staff was the most alien part of that scene? How about the fact that a staff meeting only lasted 2 minutes? Now that's an unrealistic utopian future!

Sooooooo nobodys even going to bring up how absolutely CREEPED out Troi had to have been to find out Barclay was having sex with her doppleganger on the holodeck? Can you just imagine if it had been for real? lol Barclay would be fired and possibly jailed, Troi would SUE Starfleet for not having security on her pattern, just thinking of the all implications bowls me over. Thank God it's in the Star Trek universe, lol. Oh and around 12 minutes in I swear I heard Barclay talking about the "flux capacitor" lol swear, go see!

Now, 3 stars seems about right for this one :) I like that this episode addresses the big elephant in the (holodeck) room: with tech good enough to imitate life, what's stopping anybody to create their own personal version of people they know in real life? Picard seems to engage in Dixon Hill fantasies every now and then, Riker and Geordi created a fake woman to spend time with, and even Data enjoys playing as Sherlock Holmes, but what separates Barclay from the main characters is that the latter know when to stop. I thought it was due time to see a holodeck episode that deals with social issues instead of malfunctions. It's not a classic episode by any means, but it's both fun and interesting. And Barclay is a great character and I'm glad to read he's coming back later. Funny though, now that it's been more than a year since I've watched the episode, all I remember is Barclay's awkwardness and holographic adventures (and his trouble with the real people) but totally forgot about the critical situation of the week.

213karaokejoe

Perhaps I notice it more in this episode than in others, but I laugh at Guinan's hat flopping around as she counsels with Geordi.

Reading through all the comments I don't see the feeling that I get from the episode. It seemed that the ship in danger part of the episode was meant to show that some people have a different way of thinking and that can be an advantage when we are encouraging to them. As a school teacher, I am trained to see that angle.

Stviateur, that lack of privacy protection was also odd, if not worse, for Worf's program in "The Emissary" (as a guest rather than senior officer, who could have done some quick override we didn't see, could enter); it seems like there's no protection because there's an ideology of non-judgment but the characters don't always follow it. I jeopardy plot was a bit standard but I liked how gradually it was introduced and how the solution was both surprising yet came out of what we'd already seen.

Susan, Your ears did not deceive you. When Barclay went to the holodeck to vent to his fantasy Troi about being interrupted by Wesley, he spoke this little gem: "I knew about the flux capacitor, but I didn't need to hear about it from some 17 year-old kid." In the prior scene when Wesley interrupted him, he asked Barkley if he had checked the flow capacitor. Perhaps Dwight Shutz had recently watched BTTF, and just slipped up during the scene. I was surprised that they left it in there though. You'd think that someone would have noticed, and had them reshoot the scene.

jay: "in 'Our Man Bashir' Julian claims that entering a holodeck that is in use is 'illegal.'" I'm guessing something happened between here and there to lead to some rules being put in place. Susan: "how absolutely CREEPED out Troi had to have been to find out Barclay was having sex with her doppleganger on the holodeck? Can you just imagine if it had been for real? lol Barclay would be fired and possibly jailed, Troi would SUE Starfleet for not having security on her pattern" Yeah, like that. Honestly, I think this *is* a classic episode. It addresses some real psychological and social issues, in the ship/Starfleet environment generally and with hologram tech specifically; it does this through a great new character that we'll see again; it makes a reasonable story use of a jeopardy situation (OK, so another just-in-time salvation isn't really necessary) that is integral but subordinate to the character story; and it totally works as a comedy too! We get to see our familiar characters embarassed, rather than be embarassed ourselves as with some of the 'comedy' misfires elsewhere. Not the 'biggest' kind of episode, but one that absolutely accomplishes everything it sets out to do. Four stars.

Lol. This episode is awkward and funny. Data in that musketeer's outfit was the freakiest thing I've ever seen.

Once you realize the holodeck is a metaphor for compulsive jacking off, the episode makes perfect sense.

todayshorse

'Mr Brocoli' as said by Captain Picard just sums up this episode. And the 'Ha!!!' by the musketeers. Brilliant!!.

What can I say about "Hollow Pursuits"? Well, first off - I love the character of Reginald Barclay, probably because I see so much of myself in the quiet, socially awkward guy who yearns to be more accepted and socially gregarious. Barclay is such a welcome relief from the supremely super-confident people we usually spend time with in Trek. The closest we've had to someone like this is LaForge with his problems with women (but that isn't because he's socially awkward, far from it). This episode isn't without problem however. First, why are so many people so critical of Barclay, Riker especially. Geez, is it so much of an oddity for these people to encounter a timid person that they just don't know how to deal with it? Second, I think this episode is where the inherent problems with the Troi character really come into focus. In the scene where Barclay actually goes to her for counseling, she fumbles the ball so hard it's laughable. You have a guy here who is painfully socially awkward and timid and what does she do? She turns the lights off, tells him to close his eyes and sit back and then sits so close to him that they're practically touching. Good grief! Could she have misread his problems any more thoroughly? And given the fact that she's an empath, how did she miss Barclay's obvious nervousness? Also, this is a prime example of why she should wear a standard Starfleet uniform. Wearing whatever it is she usually wears to counseling sessions isn't very helpful, especially with a patient who is already extremely nervous around women. Still, "Hollow Pursuits" has several things going for it - a wonderful new character, legitimately funny comedic bits and very nice reactions to Barclay from Guinan, Picard and LaForge. Even the tension at the end with the ship seconds away from ripping itself apart is enjoyable because it gives Barclay his chance to shine. 7/10

I also have a problem with the crew ignoring Barclay's right to privacy. Geordi making the mistake the first time gets a pass (but underscores how perfect this society apparently is that no one else does anything embarassing on the Holodeck). But he should have known better than to go back a second time and bring Riker and Troi along. Everyone is entitled to their fantasies, and though Barclay's got out of hand, that's no excuse.

Diamond Dave

TNG talks directly to its core audience by saying that socially inept people crippled by shyness and living a fantasy existence cut off from the real world can actually be appreciated members of society - and even heroes no less... It's to the episode's credit though that while Barclay is ridiculed, there is at least an attempt by his management structure to address his problems. As such it is a fairly sensitive reading of the issue - that Barclay contributes to the solution but that the solution is a team effort shows that the goal of integrating him with his colleagues is a success. Of course, we also get a lot of fun holodeck scenes - foppish Riker being a particular favourite, along with Troi's reaction to her Goddess of Empathy portrayal - and Picard's wonderfully awkward "Lieutenant Broccoli" moment. 3 stars.

This is one of my favorite episodes so far. From the opening scene, to Picard's slip-up, to Geordi, Riker, and Troi walking in on Barclay's fantasy, it was hilarious. Good writing, good acting. Troi was actually useful, and Wes wasn't completely obnoxious. I have nothing to complain about, except I, too, thought they should have been running to Cargo Bay 5 (with only 3.5 mins to destruction) instead of taking a Sunday stroll. Also, "Haha, he said flux capacitor!"

Let me be blunt.. La Forge's behavior early in the episode was completely unprofessional and unsuited for anyone in command. It is unnacceptable for a manager or commander to sit with his subordinate staff and make fun of one of the other staff. A leader will attempt work with everyone; not bully and mock him and throw his arms up in the air in front of the guy's coworkers. Picard saying Broccoli was a disgrace as well and he never got called out for it. Troi will confront him on all sorts of private thoughts but didn't confront him about that. This is the 24th century and allegedly humanity has improved. Yet, they treat a guy with mental illness with mockery, scorn, and bully name calling. Just a disgrace all around. I get the writers did this in the late 80's and were not enlightend, maybe that is why. But this show is supposed to depict our amazing future where we all get along and are not greed and don't make war. A guy with social anxiety or depression should not be made the butt of jokes. I hate how the senior staff treated this man.

Why should Troi call Picard on it?? He was mortified. He's the one who told LaForge to cut it out and slipped his tongue in front of Barclay. What should Troi say? That horrible thing you did that you're mortified about and know was horrible is horrible? I suppose that would at least be in character for her.... Total agreement on the rest of the staff though.

@Dave Considering how much danger the Enterprise is in every week, I don't blame La Forge at all for being pissed at Reg. And for his credit, La Forge was extremely kind and patient with Reg after speaking to Picard, even defending his holodeck antics while the other COs reactions came off as livid.

Additionally, La Forge is NOT a model boss. His social skills are actually not much better than Barclay's, which is part of the point -- Geordi lacks the proper social graces to deal with a socially anxious staff member. Geordi's (undiagnosed) social difficulty mostly does not interfere with his work, but it is also a problem.

Sorry, I meant that Geordi's social difficulties haven't interfered with his *engineering* work, and even much of his command work, as long as those under his command don't require particular finesse. I think that part of Geordi's breakthrough here is to recognize that he and Barclay actually have similar problems. Geordi has successfully prevented his social difficulties from impacting his work until now -- it is mostly only a problem when it comes to romance, where he is terribly racked by uncertainty and fear and cannot set the proper boundaries. When he recognizes that Barclay suffers from this all the time, it's a little easier to see what Barclay is going through.

Being pissed is one thing... being a commanding officer and making fun of him with his co-workers is very poor. I don't like how the writers did it and I understand I can't expect a script written in the 80's to be as socially understanding towards mental illness and bullying... I am just point it out that an evolved 24th century humanity should have got past that. They push Barclay further into his holodeck because he knows that everyone in the real world is mocking him and doesn't value him as an officer. They are part of the problem here.

And Wesley of all people; with all his quirks and annoyances, should not be making fun of anyone for their social skills. Just weird writing all around.

@Dave I don't think any Star Trek series tells us Barclay is ill; he's just painfully shy. He's also a bit of savant, but his personality is what people have trouble with. And please don't treat him so pitifully, he passed the Star Fleet entrance exam that even Picard failed once. He's clearly very capable when puts his mind to it. I thought that was the point of the episode, at least...

^^ Yeah, to show that you can be a bit 'off' and not only contribute to solving a problem or issue you can excel at it ^^. In some ways I think it was a love letter of sorts to the many legions of people who've watched Trek over the years. That's what I get outta' it at least.

What I liked about this episode is that the the villain (or antagonist) becomes the hero. By "villain" I don't suggest that Barclay had any evil intentions, but merely that, in his initially presented role as a screw-up, his presence was detrimental to the crew's function. He somehow managed to accomplish tasks, but not without aggravating his co-workers and commanders. He clearly becomes the hero when the pressure of the dire situation forces him to overcome his shyness and propose the creative idea that leads to the solution. One point about his holodeck programs: I would have thought that there would be restrictions on who could be created; the computer would be prohibited from making versions of real crew members, out of respect for those crew. It could possibly consider violation by proxy, and as such, would be disallowed.

Picard's akward "Broccoli" mistake was just fantastic - so unexpected and so brilliantly acted by P. Stewart. It's a shame such a great moment was wasted on a forgettable episode like this. Like one of the previous commenters, I found Guinan's flopping hat to be a distraction. And did it bother anyone else that with minutes to go before the ship explodes, Geordi and Barclay are casually walking instead of running?

@ Jor-El, "And did it bother anyone else that with minutes to go before the ship explodes, Geordi and Barclay are casually walking instead of running?" To be fair you have to assume such things are an aesthetic and directoral means of showing movement and action in order to create a pace and dynamic for what's being shown. People running 'feels' different from people walking, and so this plays into the scene texture the director wants. If the characters are feeling a sudden emergency (someone's been shot, there's an intruder, the core is breaching, etc.) they tend to show running, while during scenes where they're thinking over a problem the tone is more constructed and somber to show that they are not thinking chaotically. These are all storytelling tools. If you wanted to be literal and suggest what 'should' really happen then you'd have to just forget most of what happens in Trek and realize that in any emergency people would be constantly beamed all over the place to remove travel time. This would be storytelling death, however, and so the narrative uses travel as a part of the story rather than as means of explaining to you how they're getting from point A on the ship to point B.

RandomThoughts

Hello hello It eventually got to be mildly irritating to me when I would see members of the crew walking to the emergency. Beaming point-to-point notwithstanding, if time was of the essence, they would race there, not walk while discussing options with the clock ticking... Just my take on it... RT

I'm just watching random episodes and settled on this one tonight. When this series is in its stride the writing is just so good. While your average TNG episode doesn't tend to evoke powerful emotion like a "Duet" from DS9, at the same time the dialogue is so crisp, the actors so much fun, and the nuance is at times is more important than the larger plot. Here we're introduced to Lt. Barclay, who, rather than merely being presented as the odd man out with 'a problem', is instead fleshed out in very short order and rendered as a very human, and also humorous, character. And I don't mean humorous on account of the gags that Schultz managed to work in; I mean that he's actually funny when you get to know him. And that's amazing, because it feels like we do get to know him, and that we actually have to get to know him before we can judge. And for an episode to pull that off in 20-25 minutes is amazing. Also amazing to me is how the writing never loses sight of the real issue, which is Barclay's suffering. What might have devolved into making fun of his holodiction instead serves as a vehicle for us to ironically laugh at the rest of the cast. Each of them is made to look foolish in the episode. When the real crew encounters their facsimiles and become outraged they somehow come off looking even more foolish. Riker not only fails to keep his dignity in the face of the clown-Riker, but in fact he succumbs entirely and we can see that the shell of composure the crew can put on that Barclay can't may not be as solid as they would like everyone to think. Even Picard is made to look foolish when he accidentally pronounces "Mr. Broccoli." Guinan herself takes Geordi down a peg when he tries to dismiss Barclay's problems. In an episode about a man who feels small, it's amazing that the writers decided to find a way to show how everyone can feel small if they're out of their comfort zone. The difference is that Barclay is always out of his comfort zone. Barclay's talk with Geordi in Ten-Forward is especially well done, as the writing homed in on the fact that even what we in the audience see Barclay go through is only a glimpse at his discomfort, and when Geordi claims to get it and Barclay says "you *can't* understand," he's quite right, and is indirectly speaking to the audience as well. We feel entitled to judge him because the show's about him, but he tells us clearly we are not equipped to judge what we don't understand. That's as Trek as notion as I can think of. Special props to one particular line in the show where even Marina Sirtis missed the double meaning. At the start of Deanna's counseling session with Barclay she asks him "Have you ever been with a counselor before?" The phrasing would be odd except that the line is deliberately awkward in order to allude to the fact that Barclay had clearly been having sex with the various incarnations of Deanna in the holodeck. Rather than merely being random fantasy element, it's fairly clear that he is infatuated, or at least attracted to, her specifically. When you listen to the text of the scene it's easy to realize that the entire scene's tension and Barclay's panic are meant to have been caused by that one line, because in asking whether he's "been" with a counselor before, to which he answers "Yes...well no" it's clear that in his mind he's mixing up fantasy with reality and knows he can't keep it straight well enough to interact with her properly. The rest of the scene, rather than being merely a vaguely nervous scene with a man afraid of counselling, is obviously supposed to be Deanna further and further doing things that the holo-Deanna probably had already done with Barclay, but as romantic preludes - turning down the lights, telling him to close his eyes, etc. It's all ambiguously sexual enough to make Barclay go nuts. By the end we should know exactly why he needs to get the hell out of there, and although the scene is decently funny as it is it should have been drop dead hilarious. The writing certainly is, but both the director and Sirtis missed it. Pity. It shouldn't come as any surprise that another episode I find myself admiring greatly is one of Cliff Bole's, who apparently could masterfully write for many styles and bring out character nuances few other writers ever did.

Peter, great analysis and I agree that this episode is great. I love the point that the episode finds ways to show how everyone does badly outside their comfort zone, and that for Reg this is all the time (for the moment). Just an aside -- Cliff Bole is the director, not the writer. That his episodes tended to be strong does suggest that while (like most television) Trek is mostly writer-driven, a strong hand behind the camera does add quite a bit.

Crap. You're right, Bole is the director and not the writer. In which case I've inadvertently critiqued his direction of the counselling session instead of praising him. Ah, to hell with it, he's awesome and he did a great job with the episode.

I'm not sure why people are comparing Barclay's holodeck addiction with Geordi's holodeck fantasies. They're completely different - Geordi invited a real woman into the holodeck with him in "Booby Trap". Later, he was attracted to Leah Brahams but that was not intentional - he was running a simulation and trying to save the ship. By the way, why was every cast member re-created in the holodeck except Worf?

@ David, "By the way, why was every cast member re-created in the holodeck except Worf?" Because he is not a merry man. That was too easy.

I love thinking about the creative spark behind this episode. I imagine a bunch of writers, noticing that all the characters are just too damned perfect, decide to explore what happens when an imperfect guy is inserted into the mix. To their credit, they gave him an imperfection that's truly relatable to the world at large, but maybe especially so to many in the ST fan base. The light touch in the writing is admirable. Barclay is very sympathetic and has a hero turn at the end showing that he's valuable - but because of the comedic slant to the show, I didn't feel clobbered over the head by a message-of-the-week. And the comedy walks the line of having crew members making fun of Barclay a bit, which could be really uncomfortable to see, except that the tables are frequently turned and other crew members are also put in uncomfortable places at times. Especially Riker, who has that cocky thing going, and can only be improved by being occasional cut down to fun-size. As an aside: This is one of three times I can remember that Guinan has slightly harsh words for Geordi. She shuts him down witheringly when he's badmouthing Ro in the eponymous Ro episode, and she gives him a pretty harsh response in the flesh-and-blood Leah Brahms episode, when he moans to her that Brahms is not acting like his fantasy woman. I don't remember Guinan smacking down any of the other crew members - so it gives the impression that she thinks Geordi's brand of immaturity requires a little tough love. Or maybe she just plain dislikes him and thinks he's a pain in the ass?

About Worf not being duplicated: perhaps Dorn lacks the range needed to play one of Barclay's goofy characters? Dorn is great at playing the serious, put-upon, straight-man, but maybe he doesn't have it in him to play a goofball? The closest I can think of him coming to such a character was the baseball player in DS9, and even that character was relatively serious, if notably less serious than Worf.

Barclay has to be one of the most relatable characters for me in Star Trek, I suffer from a similar social anxiety although not as bad as Barclays, so his character relates to me quite well compared to the heroic, outgoing and commanding bridge crew we always see. It's a shame we don't see more of Barclay though considering hes basically a genius underneath despite being restricted by his crippling anxiety. Also Wesley's being a dick in this episode as usual, not only was it obnoxious to point out the obvious to a Starfleet Academy trained adult with a higher rank and far more experience but Barclay hadn't even finished his sentence and giving him an insulting nickname? I wonder if Wesley would have appreciated being called "Willy Sucker" instead of Wesley Crusher or just see Barclay say at one point "Where's your Dad? Oh wait." and see his expression.

Definitely a change of pace episode - good to see some human resources issues being dealt with on the Enterprise. Also good to see that someone isn't perfect although the heavy-handed nature exaggerates Barclay's flaws. It was almost as painful to watch Barkley's discomfort enacted as it must have been for what the character is supposed to be feeling. I genuinely cracked up when Picard called Barclay Mr. Broccoli. One of the funniest scenes in TNG for sure. And then Data tried to explain the common mistake, Picard gives him one look and shuts him up. I have to wonder if they have sign-up sheets for holodeck use. I'm surprised anybody can just enter another person's holodeck program. This results in a highly embarrassing situation for Barkley and some entertaining moments. The episode suffers from heavy technobabble in terms of what causes the acceleration and what the solution is. And of course Barclay has the outside-the-box solution. This part seemed highly contrived in a way to arrive at a happy ending. I'd rate "Hollow Pursuits" 2.5 stars - a good but not great episode - kind of typical for TNG when it wants to shine a spotlight on a non-sci-fi situation, that of different types of people in the workplace and the issues they may face. Some heavy-handedness, a bit extreme acting but perhaps makes the lesson to keep trying to work with the person suffering the discomfort or mental illness which has become very topical in today's society.

John Hellier

I do agree that series 3 episodes are sharper and whole character driven and a step forward although I still think series 2 is really undermined I think there was some really good episodes and it was a shame in some respects that it went a bit too far in the current episodes and lost some drama No doubt that the best TNG series were 2 3 and 4and four after that I think it lost it in many respects

I want Program 34

Sintek : How exactly is Dwight Schultz a wacko, racist, or nutjob??!!

Startrekwatcher

-3 stars. Somewhere in that range The episode was decent not great. It was interesting idea for shy introverted people like Barclay taking their daydreaming of being more assertive from one's imagination into the holodeck allowing him to act out what he was too shy and timid to ever do in the real world. The episode did a good job also of its characterization. Barclay's relating to Geordi in Ten Forward on what it's like to be a shy person in social settings was spot on. The jeopardy plot with ship malfunctioning generated genuine suspense and tension I do question though the right of the crew to enter barclay's private program. To me that's an invasion of his privacy And Wesley starting the nickname for Barclay was a very poor reflection on his character. And one would think him being a smart kid that he'd have been victim of such things himself.

Oddly enough this may be my favorite Next Generation episode. I empathize with the character quite a bit, though he's the most exaggerated version of my own insecurities I could imagine. I actually like all of the writing in this episode including the jeopardy plot but really it's the character that makes me love this (and every Barclay episode).

Barclay is a great character. Although written as just painfully shy I wonder whether Dwight Shulz was trying to suggest someone on the low end of the autistic spectrum. Anyway his awkward interactions in the early scenes permit us to see what an utter thug and bully Riker is-grabbing his arm in the cargo bay and threatening him. In the modern workplace Riker would be suspended for that. If the stone age commander got away with that his sexist behaviour later in the holodeck would get him the sack for sure. Did I say that Riker is my least favourite TNG character?

"Although written as just painfully shy I wonder whether Dwight Shulz was trying to suggest someone on the low end of the autistic spectrum." Funny, I mentioned Barclay's character as a comparison to Tilly in another thread. Still, I'm not sure it's autism, as there could be many social anxiety disorders that could explain Barclay's condition. Or maybe he's just a quirky guy.

This one gets three stars if only for the depiction of Wesley as Blueboy

@Borusa: Starfleet is akin to the military, not a private company workplace. Therefore, it is not out of place for Riker to forcibly grab Barclay's arm and reprimand him. And Riker has every reason to express displeasure at Barclay's level of performance. @PeteTongLaw: you're right, it is unfortunate that the engineering staff is depicted as all men and wouldn't be cast that way nowadays but interestingly this was already a step back for TNG because the first season depicted a female chief engineer in only the second episode, and the second season featured Ensign Sonya Gomez prominently in a couple of episodes as part of Geordi's staff and she was intended to be a reoccurring character. At least by 1995 we had a main cast chief engineer with B'Elanna Torres on Voyager. Yes, it was dickish of Wesley to also be a bully to Barclay when his character is the type that in the real world would also be made fun of for being a know it all child prodigy but it also makes sense in a way because it's not uncommon for those that want to fit in and be accepted to follow group think even if it's something negative like bullying another person. Wesley probably just wanted to be part of the group and be in on the joke though it was nasty. That rang true to me. Anyway, this was a good, entertaining episode that is also thoughtful for one, addressing the issues of holodeck use privacy and the recreating of actual people to use however you want, and two) portraying a less than standard heroic Starfleet officer type who is socially awkward and struggling to fit in. That struggle and the efforts of his shipmates to reach out in various methods was really fascinating to watch. The Ron Jones conducted orchestration was excellent work. Same with the costuming. The humor was so good and you can tell the actors are just having so much fun playing their holodeck counterparts. Barclay is also an interesting complex character and Dwight Schultz really brought him to life. I also enjoyed the misdirection at the end of the episode that you think the character is leaving the episode for good and I remember the first time watching as a kid thinking how disappointing after really enjoying this unique character and then being delighted that it was just another holodeck re-creation. The save the ship dilemma did feel forced but I did at least like the reasoning and deduction used to figure out the solution. The one thing that I've never liked at all and I've never seen pointed out by anyone else is the lame end of Act One/cut to commercial when the officer's drinking glass has a leak in it and the officers in Ten Forward make this huge dramatic deal over it and the music swells ominously. I mean c'mon, your glass springs a leak and then the mood of the episode is supposed to become grim and dangerous and the audience is supposed to go "Oh no!" It was a bit over the top. I guess the writers couldn't figure out a smoother way for an act break. But still overall, very good episode. Also, reading these comments was the first I've ever heard of Schultz being some kind of nutjob which would be shocking if true. In fact, the guy wanted to do Star Trek and got connected with the role on the show because he worked with Whoopi Goldberg on the movie "A Long Walk Home" and asked her if he could get on the series. Fun fact!

Correction: Dennis McCarthy did the wonderful score.

I think Worf wasn't included in Barclay's holodeck recreations because Barclay didn't interact with Worf in the real world, so he had no need to do so in the holodeck. I also think Wesley was just being a normal kid in making up the "Broccoli" nickname - right or wrong, it's what kids do (and not only kids, actually). Every time I watch this one and hear Barclay say "you CAN'T understand..." boy, can I relate. I was that shy, awkward person most of my early life. LOVE the quick reverse of sense of humor when Riker and Troi see the Goddess of Empathy!

Interesting episode, although I find the scenes in holodeck embarrassing. Should there not be some protection built in;-) . Lt Barclay is a quite recognisable person. I guess many of us can find some similarities. What I really like is that Picard really recognises the problem and does not try the simple solution. Geordi does not like the task but takes it on seriously and realises that it is ok and that her also appreciates the qualities of Lt Barclay. Yes, young Crusher is a self important man who compensates his young age , and also lack of mature social abilities, with a small bullying tendency. But also here, although I do not like his personality, he does also contribute. People are different and it is mostly a good diversity of a team that makes it successful.

Sean Hagins

@PeteTongLaw: THAT's what you took from this episode??? I really liked this one! Sadly, in real life, people would probably use the holodeck for much more perverse and immoral pursuits. But still, in a good family show like this, it shows the dangers of addiction. It actually reminds me of the way many are addicted to their phones and other devices today! I was never shy, but I had friends who were. It's amazing to me how they change from "normal" when they are around me and other close friends, to completely quiet when around others! But we all have different imperfections and insecurities. I feel for Barclay and am glad he made progress

Peter Swinkels

Nice episode with some very funny moments and nice bits of psychology. Nitpick: why didn’t they remove those canisters from antigravity sled before testing it?

Loved it. One of the highlights of S3 for me. I don’t know why a lot of people seem to hate holodeck episodes. I love them. Can’t get enough.

The more I rewatch this show the more I feel that it's straightjacketed by its genre conventions, which sacrifice interesting drama for rote ship / crew in peril action. I was really enjoying this episode right up until the point that the technobabble problem and subsequent solution revealed itself. Past that point I just switched off and started playing with my phone, waiting for the episode to come to its inevitable conclusion. I know this show can do better, and it's great when A and B stories successfully meet, but this was not one of those times.

Sarjenka's Little Brother

Impressed me more in 2018 than in the 20th century. I think the issues of technology addiction and how socially awkward people are treated are more in the forefront now, so I appreciate the handling of them. And I love when Picard puts the onus on Geordi to address the issue.

REG _ GIE! REG -GIE! REG- GIE! REG- GIE! Social outcast who is mercilessly picked on by the crew exacts his revenge holodeck style. Oh, and he saves the ship too. 5 stars

A lot of people commenting on the privacy issue but every time someone went into Barclay’s holodeck program, he was supposed to be working. Both Dereliction of duty and being AWOL can be court martial offenses. Instead of personally getting him, his commanding officers could had just sent security personnel to drag his butt to the brig pending disciplinary measures that could have included rank reduction, confinement or getting kicked out of star fleet. He was basically a wanted criminal when Geordi and Riker went looking for him. He didn’t have any right to privacy at that point.

Roger W Norris

If you think wild things are going on on the Enterprises 'holodeck, check out Quarks! There should be an easier solution to the energy problem, though. Matter and antimatter meet to create energy. One of those streams won't cut off, creating the problem. Just cut off the matter stream! There will be nothing to mix, and no energy! Will that leave a bunch of dangerous antimatter floating around? I don't know. But it sounds much easier. Unfortunately, that would get rid of a good part of the show.

Prince of Space

@Sintek (June 7, 2013): Your comment is so preposterous that I think I see why you like Star Trek. You need a comfy and safe world where disagreements are only of the most minor significance. Everyone in Jammer’s site that has read your comment is now dumber for it. May Q have mercy on your soul. @Corey (July 9, 2013): Because this is the 2000’s, we have social media now. One no longer has to even consider any other views. Friend the ones that agree, block the ones that don’t. Voila! Your worldview has 24/7 validation and woe be to the fools that don’t step in line. @SkepticalMI (February 6, 2014): Agreed. It’s spooky the ease with which people will read a blurb on their website of agreeing choice, and with little to no research just adopt what they’ve been spoon-fed as the gospel truth. Worse is how they’ll regurgitate it with dripping vitriol in a crusade to bolster their ideology. As if it’s like rooting for a sports team or something. It’s mind-boggling that the advent of such amazing technology and access to information has served only to make many more ignorant. @213karaokejoe (June 15, 2014 x 2): Without a doubt, the floppy hat is chuckle-worthy. So is your comment, “As a school teacher, I’m trained to see that angle.” Alright, settle down Agent 213... 007 is still on the job, we’ll call you if needed. ;-) @Dave (February 22, 2016): That was definitely pretty blunt. A tad bit over-the-top, but very nicely blunt. Consider decaf. @RandomThoughts (September 10, 2016): Most definitely. ANY time there’s an emergency I chuckle at the fact that instead of just beaming there, they “hurriedly” go through the corridors, take turbo-lifts, stop and make small-talk... I get that the beaming special effects can probably be costly, but at least make them RUN. haha... oh well, what are ya gonna do. It’s Star Trek, and even with all its quirks I love it. @Sean (November 10, 2017): Agreed. Barclay kinda makes the episode as he also seems like a huge magnifying glass on my own real (or perceived) shortcomings. @CodyB (Not that far up there, scroll up ya lazy chowderheads!): Same here! Some of my most favorite episodes involve the holodecks. But you know how the *true* Star Trek fans can get about them... so it’s best not to poke them and make them venture forth from their enlightened hovels. ;-) @Roger W Norris (Right above): Any relation to Chuck? OK... that was lame. Lemme try again. Um... your idea to cut off the matter stream seems perfectly logical. Nicely done, and I’m proud to take over the most recent comment on this episode from you, sir. *salute*

Todayshorse

Just re-watched this, and found myself rewinding and rewatching the 'musketeers' scene just for Picards 'HA'. Utterly brilliant. A great episode? Most definitely.

Hello Everyone! @Prince of Space Thanks for the comment. I was just watching "The Hunted" with my Wife the other night, and decided not to say "They are walking to the emergency", as Worf and a crewman were in no particular hurry to get to the escapee. It would have broken her immersion, and I'm having a hard time getting her to like the show anyway. :) Regards... RT

I really enjoyed this episode. How refreshing to not have the superhuman bland crew for once. Hurray for Guinan for speaking up for Reg.

This episode has aged really well. We get some good Guinan scenes, Troi is used well, the comedy is great, the holodeck scenes are witty/funny, and Picard's management skills are showcased to good effect - he brings the awkward Barclay into the fold - though this requires the contrivance of Georgie and Riker becoming heartless, tactless brutes for an episode. And while the episode degenerates into another "forced action climax", it's an interesting one, and for once the engineering team seem like actual engineers working sequentially through a tough problem. With the rise of virtual realities, machine learning AIs, smart phones and face swapping and deep faking technology, TNG also seems quite prescient about tech addiction. With this episode and The Game, you have some of the most chaste, innocuous, but pin-point precise science fiction tales about modern techno-sexual fantasies/fetishes/addictions.

A well done episode for the most part - the last part, full of technobabble as they try to figure out what's wrong, was kind of tedious. The plot line was weak - definitely a character-driven episode. Schultz does a good job as the hapless Barclay, and Sirtis is excellent and amusing as the various versions of Troi (goddess of empathy!). I think the ep might be drawing parallels between the way the invidium was being spread around the ship causing damage, and the way rumors and name calling (Broccoli) was being spread around the ship, causing damage. Contact with others, can be good or bad, depending on what they're "spreading." I loved tiny Riker with his short little sword. Lots of nice little touches. Enjoyable ep overall.

@ Springy, "I think the ep might be drawing parallels between the way the invidium was being spread around the ship causing damage, and the way rumors and name calling (Broccoli) was being spread around the ship, causing damage." Yes, I think that's right. The engineers couldn't figure out the problem because they were looking for something wrong with the ship; but it was the crew that was spreading it. Likewise, I think we're supposed to understand that when looking at someone like Barclay we're thinking there's something wrong with him, whereas in reality the problem is with the crew. He's only weird because they're put off by someone like him; if they were somehow more understanding of his issues he would no doubt be a lot better off. Now to an extent this may seem a bit pat, because yes, someone with anxiety issues like he does really does have to also learn on his own how to address them, but I think the issue is less whose fault it is and more that what might be a minor setback in life turns into a catastrophic obstacle that risks turning into an addiction problem for him. In real life it would be pills or alcohol instead of the holodeck. If they're saying what I think they're saying, it's that it's everyone's job to avoid spreading anxiety around if someone different is present, and I'm down with that.

The reveal that it was a person who was the root of the plot problem and not the tech also suggests that at the root of Reg's holodiction is interpersonal problems, not the holodeck tech itself. (More generally, it's generally not the chemical effects of the drug that are the root of the problem, but the usually-social problems that cause a person to take it in the first place.)

@Peter G, @William B Good thinky thoughts. Of interest, the definition of invidious: "Calculated to create ill will or resentment or give offense; hateful: invidious remarks. " Our harmful compound is invidium.

@Springy, great catch on invidium!

Brilliant episode, this one. Very clever. A really terrific performance by Dwight Schultz. The only complaint for me is that the drama and suspense at the end relies on a tried and tested formula; the 'ship in grave peril with only minutes to find a technical solution' chestnut. Apart from that this episode is a welcome and original diversion from the usual tropes. Some strong humour, as well. I hadn't seen this one for many years and was watching the scene where Riker, Troi and Geordi turn up on the holodeck through my fingers. I was half expecting them to find the holographc Deanna with her underwear round her ankles, up against a tree.

Can't understand all the nitpicking for such a great episode. You can tell a lot of care went into this one. Funny thing is, the first-run trailer gave you absolutely no clue as to the real focus of the episode. (Check it out on Youtube.) Upon seeing this trailer, the plot seemed lame and I even thought about skipping Next Gen. for the week. As luck would have it, I just happened to be in front of the TV when this debuted and was blown away. Barclay's depiction cut a little too close to home for this awkwardly shy high school student. Great acting and writing. Thought the disaster plot line was very necessary for the story. Genuinely surprised by the cause of the malfunctions and by Barclay's theory which proved to be true. Even that last scene had tricked me. Thought the episode was ending by having Barclay leave the Enterprise (going the way of so many one-off guest characters) when in fact, he was just leaving his fantasy world. When this one comes up in reruns, I always stop and watch and think fondly of those first run viewing memories from my high school years.

Jeffrey Jakucyk

The lack of privacy protocols for the holodeck doesn't surprise or bother me in any way because as depicted on the show, it's still quite new and relatively unexplored technology. Remember that in Encounter at Farpoint and Code of Honor it was limited to simple landscapes and "soulless" defense training. In The Big Goodbye Troi mentions to Picard "you've been looking forward to the upgrade of the holodeck" where we get people with actual characters. The Bynars upgrade it again shortly thereafter in 1100100 to create Minuet, which may or may not have culminated in the computer's ability to create Moriarty in Elementary Dear Data. So it's not until the last year or two (in-universe) that the holodeck has even been able to replicate people in any meaningful way, as far as we know. Yes there's some of Gene's "evolved humanity" nonsense on display here as none of the rest of the crew had ever conceived of using the holodeck in the way Barclay has, but doesn't that explain why they wouldn't think to put any sort of privacy protocols in place? It's not until several years later in DS9 and Voyager that they mention such things, so it's likely the Federation has been scrambling to catch up with a quickly evolving technology. It's not unlike the similar struggle to define the rights of artificial intelligence we see with Data and later the Doctor in Voyager, except the legal ramifications of holodeck use just aren't worth dedicating any screen time to.

Oh one other thing. Simply turning off the matter stream to the warp core wouldn't work because as suggested, it would leave an ever increasing pool of antimatter in the middle of the warp core. The fuels are deuterium and anti-deuterium stored near absolute zero to stay in liquid form, and they're essentially squirted from the top and bottom of the warp core into the reaction chamber at Main Engineering level where they annihilate each other and the energy is shot out the back as plasma to the warp nacelles. The warp core itself is basically a tube of magnetic rings that keeps the antimatter from touching anything, because it will still react with any matter it touches. So if you shut off the matter stream but the antimatter stream kept going, then it would just fill up the warp core until there was too much for the magnetic constrictors to resist and some of it would touch the inside of the core and boom.

Lovely to see this again, in my covid 19 lockdown inspired voyage through long past StarTreck. It's a great episode and Barclay has long been one of my favourite characters. One gem I'd forgotten was Data's incisive intervention when he shut down the Brocolli infection and the "just joking" excuse for it by analysing them. That's how to do it, a far more effective way of countering that kind of talking and acting than by denouncing them as being offensive. And I liked the way he reacted to Picard mis-speak of "Brocolli" - treating it as a matter of language rather than attitude. In some ways Data could be an excellent Ship's Counsellor than Troi. (So would Guynan of course, and in practice that's what she is. I liked the floppy hat - it looked like a halo, making he some kind of resident Angel on the Enterprise.)

I have a hypothesis about why Worf isn't included in the fantasies. Barclay recreates people in the holodeck who threaten or stress him in the real world. But Worf wouldn't be threatening or discomforting to a person like Barclay at all. Worf is a loner who devotes himself to duty. Worf has no potential to Barclay as a friend or a mate and is always purely professional, so there is no social dimension there. Having experienced some of the issues Barclay did I know I would have been far more comfortable around someone like Worf - a pure professional - than with a clique of colleagues who are also friends - not to mention beautiful women like Deanna. Then again Data and Picard areincluded in the fantasy so maybe I am off base. By the way regarding the illegality of walking in on a holodeck program keep in mind this isn't a civilian installation like Quark's bar - this is a Starfleet vessel, basically a military installation and Barclay is an officer. And even then no one walks in on this lightly - Barclay is late for a shift and in one case there is a shipboard emergency. The Picard broccoli scene is such gold - it's this awkward moment that just goes on a little too long. Just perfect.

@Jason "The Picard broccoli scene is such gold" Seeing Picard having an out of body experience. It's a treat.

Part of me absolutely despises Barclay but to be honest it's probably because he reminds me of who I was when I was younger. I still have trouble with people and get a bit too involved in escapism but I'm not Barclay bad. When Picard says mr. Broccoli and the smile just melts off his face is the realest moment I've seen in Trek. I could *feel* it in my stomach. Great scene, it made me physically ill.

This episode fills me with so much rage. The idea of Barclay is awesome. FINALLY someone who isn't just the best at their job 24x7. But because this is TNG we can't have that expressed through nuance or evident over time we have to have a giant, bumbling, nervous mess of a man whose inability to properly express something as simple as the results of a test to his engineering peers would render him a completely unacceptable candidate for a menial posting let alone the FLAGSHIP. That and three of the bridge crew casually flipping through his browser history and judging him for it. Are you seriously going to try to convince me that Riker doesn't just absolutely coat that holodeck with bearded sperms every time he goes in there? To just casually waltz into someone's private fantasy time and then judge them for it - it makes me so mad, fellas. No, seriously. I mostly joke around about this show making me mad but this episode makes me want to call the police to press charges against the writers.

"This episode fills me with so much rage." Do keep the time period this was made in mind. In 1990 the internet as we know it today had only been launched a year prior, and most people didn't even have computers at the time, let alone internet access. So things like "browser history" and "online privacy" and such were completely unheard of at the time. I give the writers a pass. I do agree that Barclay's portrayal is awfully ham-fisted. He gets better in later episodes, but we don't need him to be a bumbling fool to see that.

I don’t think it’s fair to say they were looking through his browser history. It is fair to criticize them for just barging into Barclay’s private holodeck time. Seriously, do these people not know how to knock on a door? Or use a doorbell? They do it every time they want to enter the Ready Room or someone’s quarters. Or are the writers saying it was okay to just storm in because Riker was upset at Barclay for being late for work? If so, would it be okay for Riker to just push his way into Barclay’s quarters if that is where he happened to be instead? Of course it wouldn’t. On the other hand - seriously Reg, lock the freaking door! Or do the holodeck doors not have locks? If not, why (in the name of God!) don’t they? That’s what angers me about this set-up. The writers didn’t put much thought into it and so Riker ends up coming across as a bully who disrespects other people’s private lives. But then, it’s not even a problem with just this episode. How many times (in TNG, DS9, and VOY) do people just enter someone else’s holo-program without permission? I can see how other fans find it aggravating.

IMO the issue is that holodecks are not treated as private spaces at this point in TNG. If Reg was in Ten-Forward instead of at work, would anyone criticize Riker for barging in to look for him? OK, so people probably book holodeck time in advance usually. 1. Barclay probably doesn't do so in this case, because he's supposed to be at work; 2. if Barclay reserved a seat at a restaurant or mini-golf course or library or Mott's barber shop or something on the ship, Riker barging in would still not seem inappropriate, again keeping in mind that he's supposed to be at his job and it's a tiny community of just over a thousand which is also a Starfleet vessel. As far as whether the holodecks should be private, that's maybe a different matter, but the technology is still in its relative infancy (they're new as of "Encounter at Farpoint"), and so that they haven't developed norms around expectation of privacy in what is essentially a tech/service publicly available to the crew and civilians onboard isn't surprising to me. Finally, at this point that holodecks could be used for, er, non-wholesome reasons (not counting holodeck malfunctions) hasn't really been explored much, to my recollection. It seems to be mostly for doing PG holonovels, various planet settings, stand-up comedy practice, combat training, engineering help from designers, etc. Worf and K'Ehleyr used it for sex but that seems to have been more an impulsive Klingon drives thing than an indication that it's assumed in general that people are going to be doing things that need privacy. And again, I'm not saying that people shouldn't have a right to privacy, but some places in our society -- shops, libraries, restaurants, etc. -- are largely public and there isn't an expectation of privacy. I think the crew treats the holodeck like a kind of reading room in a library, or a study room at a college or something. Perhaps as people get more used to the holodeck and the awareness that it is likely to be used for things people would rather keep to themselves the norms will modify, or people will make explicit petitions to have rules in place to protect their privacy, but I think it's just that new technology often doesn't automatically come with a set of fully-worked-out codes of conduct that match the codes that will eventually develop. Regarding the over-the-top portrayal of Barclay, we know that he got along better with his last crew, so the issue seems to be that something went wrong early on between Barclay and the others, and then his nervousness compounded the issue, and this made the crew start to treat him badly, which made him more nervous, creating a cycle that we are now walking in on a fair amount in. Yes yes, by the 24th century people should be past lots of things, but I think the basic dynamic is very familiar to me and I've seen similar things happen to people (in fact, I've seen worse), and I think we are seeing Barclay at a low point after things have progressively worsened.

I subscribe to William B's interpretation of the holodeck as a public/common space. Perhaps they can be reserved, like a pavilion at a public park (especially if you're the captain or other high-ranking officer), but that's probably not always the case, like here, where Barclay is supposed to be on duty. Perhaps this is also why DS9 called it a "holosuite" rather than a "holodeck," to indicate a more private space.

I think it's also reasonable to remember that these are military officers, and Barclay has failed to report for duty. Under such conditions, I expect that when ignoring the comms is happening all person privileges are waived and a senior officer is fully within his rights to barge in anywhere to retrieve the wayward crew member. And especially being an officer, Barclay is pretty far out of line. I doubt that even in the future peacekeeping military a senior officer needs to knock politely when a junior officer is awol. It's more like Barclay is lucky he didn't get in bigger trouble. Now since we know Barclay a bit already we are (I think) rooting for him, but all the same I wouldn't expect his privileges (of which privacy is one) to remain in effect while missing from his post. Kirk would have been even more cross than Riker if Sulu was off playing games instead of at his post on the bridge.

"But I do like the way the engineering team swiftly deconstructs the problem with simple logic to find the solution. These are smart people working a problem intelligently." Yes (although it was weird for a show like Star Trek that the engineering team was 6 white dudes) - it makes sense to have a highly-qualified staff working together to solve a problem. Unfortunately it makes all the other times when Geordi and/or Data has to work out a difficult technical solution all on his own. Where did all the other engineers and scientists go when Geordi had to call up Holobrahms for assistance instead?

"although it was weird for a show like Star Trek that the engineering team was 6 white dudes" I don't think casting directors in the 80's were all that focused on hiring with diversity as an overt goal. It's arguable that given the mission statement of the show they had the opportunity to be ahead of the game in that respect, but it's hardly "weird" that they didn't. We are talking about a business, after all, and they no doubt did their weekly casting in the standard manner. And I think you're doing TNG a disservice to mention this point, in light of the fact that the *head* of this engineering team is not a white dude. Geordi may be a minority numerically, but his position says a lot. "Unfortunately it makes all the other times when Geordi and/or Data has to work out a difficult technical solution all on his own. Where did all the other engineers and scientists go when Geordi had to call up Holobrahms for assistance instead?" This is a budgeting issue primarily.

I'm getting a little tired of seeing comments that reduce people to their skin color ("6 white dudes"). If you're that fixated on race, YOU'VE got a problem.

So when people were pointing out that there were only heterosexuals on TNG they were actually heterophobic?!

Isn't Geordi the Chief Engineer? He's both African American AND blind. Some people just want something to complain about.

"Isn't Geordi the Chief Engineer? He's both African American AND blind." In season 2. Before that it was LT. Cmdr. Argyle. Poor Geordie only started as a LT. junior grade, as did Worf. Like with Sisko starting as commander. I think there was some bigotry going on. "Some people just want something to complain about." so true. :)

Now I'm reading a little on memory alpha. Dorn was hired because "Dorn's stage training, as well his lack of a "street accent", were some of the factors which led to Dorn securing the role." Burton, in the original writer/director guide:"His "specialty" aboard the Enterprise was the "starship school for children"." Another thing. it was also Gerrold who thought up the idea that Geordi La Forge be a black man. "I suggested that we didn't have any black people on the ship in terms of our regular characters,..."

In Season 1, there was also a middle-aged female Chief Engineer. Let's not erase facts to create some kind of retroactive Trek-is-ignorant narrative.

Argyle, MacDougal. I guess it had to be scottish. "Let's not erase facts to create some kind of retroactive Trek-is-ignorant narrative." She was white, though. I'm not arguing that it was ignorant. Just a little too monochromatic to be called groundbreaking. TOS was. DS9 was too.

TNG had two black people in the main cast. It also had Guinan as a recurring character. There were also recurring Asian characters Alyssa Ogawa, Keiko (and Molly) O'Brien and Admiral Nakamura. There was plenty of diverse representation with the show's casting, much more so than most contemporary programs of the same time period.

I’m reminded of a quote from the 1987 movie “Overboard” with Kurt Russel and Goldie Hawn. I’m starting to think that because of all the nonsensical lock-downs and Corona restrictions some people around here are.... “so god-damn bored you got to invent things to bitch about”.

A more relevant question to me is how different would the racial representation of TNG be from your average American military unit? I don't imagine it would be that different, though I could be wrong. If the show really wanted to be forward thinking it would have included ethnicities not known for participation in the late 20th century US military, and showed them fitting in perfectly. TOS did more (for its time) by including a Russian at a time when collaboration would have been unthinkable, giving us a sense of a united future Earth.

@Dave They course corrected after season one in several aspects. I don't know the two other women but Keiko for some reason became the most hated character on Star Trek. Also Ogawa, Nakamura and Keiko are all Japanese. I guess Indians and Chinese all died in WW3. :) @Luke Oh I have serious Corona brain. In Germ any we are in lockdown for month now, messed up the vaccination so badly that the conservatives will be wiped out next election. One should mention though that German conservatives are very different from American conservatives. They would be leftist in many ways in the US. I guess the social democrats (junior partner) would be communists and the left party would be so left Americans wouldn't have a name for it. @James A more than 100 planets spanning galactic Federation should be a little bit more diverse than a US military unit or even earth. I agree with the rest of your points.

EmpressHoshiSato

This was a fun episode. Some of Barclay's holo programmes were interesting to say the least. I do wonder as to how many of the crew had a "Counsellor Troi" programme. It does bring up the case of privacy in terms of people just being able to walk in on your holodeck time. I get that Barclay had not turned up to a pre-arranged meeting though. Would have taught them a lesson had they walked in on him running a simulation of the engineering problem with holographic simulations of Albert Einstein, Spock and Data. I mean what was to have prevented them from walking in on the guy in the middle of a Menage a Trois with two holographic Trois? Good episode overall and good introduction of the Barclay character. I fully agreed with Picard and Geordi about the nicknames of him would stop immediately. To me that was the one thing that seemed odd since humans were meant to be above such petty snide behaviour - especially STARFLEET OFFICERS. If Riker was doing that, he should be dismissed as well. That's basically bullying. And Picard was ultimately right. Barclay did go on to prove himself a most able and capable Starfleet officer as per later episodes (even if we don't include Voyager). Had Picard actually not encouraged this, one wonders what would have become of the poor chap. Though I guess he had a career in holographic novels.

Chief O'Brien

Why is everyone going off on the lack of a lock on the holodeck? There's only like 6 of these on the entire Enterprise. It's not meant to be a private fantasy experience - it's a commonly-shared resource. Just like you wouldn't want some relieving themselves in a public pool. I'm sure their private quarters can be locked for their more intimate pursuits.

Frake's Nightmare

Which 'lee' do you prefer ? The Bark or the Wes?

The Bark. This episode has a proper Wesley moment, but by this point, the writers are aware and doing it deliberately. It's not just that Wesley was first season insufferable, he was downright rude.

@Dave in MN “ I'm getting a little tired of seeing comments that reduce people to their skin color ("6 white dudes"). If you're that fixated on race, YOU'VE got a problem.” HEAR HEAR.

I've always loved this episode , but there are so many highs and lows in it! Highs: - having someone who's not the model of Academy 'droid perfection, but someone who despite his social shortcomings, deserves to be in the crew for his own brilliance and expertise - the hilarious holodeck sequences: the initial fights with Geordi and Riker (which certainly had me fooled the first time I saw it) - "I am the goddess of Empathy"!! - the fact that the holodeck characters are not autonomous like Data, but simply perform their simple programmed roles to perfection Lows: - the ridiculously over-the-top scenario involving the Enterprise being 30 seconds from destruction. SO unbelieveable! - the 90s "how to deal with a difficult employee" advice thrown around, that's straight out of a company HR manual and some thoughts on the holodeck... - surely, NO-ONE should enter a holodeck in use unless specifically invited by the crew member in there? Or only - as in the second instance where Riker, Troi, and Geordi can't raise Barclay on the communicator - by invoking a manual override which would announce itself clearly to the crew member inside. I mean, if someone is engaged in a romantic or even initimate program, their privacy would be grossly violated by such an incursion. - and Riker was quite right: there should be a protocol preventing anyone from creating facsimiles of other crew members. Indeed, the computer should be programmed to prevent it, except on the authorisation of - for example - two senior officers. However, I did enjoy the episode , and agree it's a 3-star.

One reason Barclay was such an enduring, beloved character is, a lot of atypical people can see something of themselves in him. There is much to admire in Roddenberry's futuristic utopia, but it's often rammed through a contemporary American lens, and thus the diversity of humanity is rarely seen as it might have been. Groundbreaking though Star Trek is, nervous network execs and times being what they were meant we often only saw token representation of traditionally marginalized people, and even that was largely by ethnicity. It took 6 series to arrive at anything like credible LGBTQ representation, and by that time, most mainstream entertainment media had surpassed Trek. So, comparatively, having a (likely) neuro-atypical character on TNG was a blessing, and many atypical people loved that Barclay struggled to "fit in," they way they did/do. Obviously, there were missteps and misrepresentations, and the way he was treated was at times pretty cruel, but there he was, on the Enterprise, a Starfleet Officer who was intelligent and capable (when given the chance to work through the challenges he faced). It's a shame that Dwight Schultz himself can't be the kind of hero to those people his character is, but if it's possible to divorce an artist's flaws from their work, Barclay can stand as a great example that being atypical, in the face of misunderstanding and even cruelty, doesn't mean you don't have value, or can't contribute to society, or the workplace, or whatever you might wish to do.

OmicronThetaDeltaPhi

@Randall "It's a shame that Dwight Schultz himself can't be the kind of hero to those people his character is..." It's funny how half a dozen people here said this over the years, yet nobody could provide any evidence. Sounds like baseless slander to me. Meanwhile, in the past year or two, many other veteran Trek actors became toxic loudmouths whose rhetoric is downright frightening. From Kate Mulgrew to Marina Sirtis to Patrick Stewart to... Well, let's just say that if we had a problem seperating an artist's flaws from their work, then Dwight Schultz would be the least of our problems. I do agree that Barclay is a great character though.

Pamellllaaa

From what I understand, Schultz is very "conservative": http://www.ontopmag.com/article/8156/Dwight_Schultz_Suggests_Obama_Will_Force_Him_To_Alter_His_Sex http://www.answeringmuslims.com/2012/09/dwight-schultz-is-howling-mad-about.html http://www.redstate.com/diary/kjl29...alks-about-being-a-conservative-in-hollywood/ I can't find what he used to say on his "Howling Mad Radio" show because I can't be bothered to look. Sintek is entitled to his/her opinion. However, he/she certainly could have expressed it in a manner that actually made people respect such opinion, instead of dismissing it out-of-hand for being boorish. I admit when I find out an actor I really admire has political views so different from mine I am quite disappointed. Does that make me stop watching him/her? Usually not, but to each their own in that respect. All of that aside, I enjoyed this episode despite some of the flaws discussed above. Add me to the "I was very shy growing up" list (and still am in some situations) so I can identify with the social-awkwardness expressed in this episode.

"I admit when I find out an actor I really admire has political views so different from mine I am quite disappointed. Does that make me stop watching him/her? Usually not, but to each their own in that respect." I've got to admit this kind of opinion never fails to alarm me. Sure, I get it if someone is a literal neo-Nazi and you just don't want anything to do with them. But if the issue is that someone is 'so different' from you, then I've got to tell you something: most artists are so much more different from you than you realize that a mere political difference in opinion is just the tip of the iceberg. If the expectation is that artists will have a point of view of life in common with you then I would suggest you might want to switch to reading books and playing backgammon. Just for the record, the 'you' in the last paragraph is not necessarily Pamelllllaaa, but more a general statement. Artists are typically *so* different from other people that an apples-to-apples comparison is really not realistic.

I just love how the phrase "having political views that are very different from mine" has become the worst accusation you could possibly direct at a person. Yeah. How does an actor dare to disagree with me on political issues? It's like he thinks he has a mind of his own or something. The nerve of some people... ;-) @Peter "If the expectation is that artists will have a point of view of life in common with you then I would suggest you might want to switch to reading books and playing backgammon." Book authors aren't known to be any saner or less controversial than actors. Backgammon it is, then.

@Peter G. I was specifically referencing actors I really admire, and I think it's only natural if you really admire someone's art you want to admire that person as well. So yes, I am taken aback when I find such an actor has very different political views (have made no expression as to what mine are) than I do. I really don't see how this is alarming (which is a rather provocative word) to you given I have limited it to politics. I find the comments on this website are often very political (subtly and not so subtly). I never said or implied to any extent that I expect "artists will have a point of view of life in common" with me and I think you read way too much into my post to come up with that one (yes, you tried to direct it to others as well, but it seems it was directed mainly at me). I never even said that they have to share my political views, just that I am disappointed when they are "so different from mine." Hell, my sister has political views so different from mine and I have every right to be disappointed about that. I am. I'd expect she feels the same way about me. Do I refuse to talk to her? Cut her out of my life? No and no. Granted, I know her personally and I don't these artists, but I don't think people apply vastly different standards to people they know and people they don't know, nor can they realistically be expected to. If you are implying "people should never judge others" I would laugh and say this isn't the 24th century and maybe it's time to beam back to reality. Judging is done to form opinions and we all have them. It's when those opinions cause us to discriminate and treat some people differently than others that it becomes a problem. With art it's tricky because it's usually about how we choose to spend our time and money. For example, is someone discriminating if they refuse to see a Tom Cruise movie because they don't like his religion? Do you find this alarming? What if they believe, rightly or wrongly, that this religion has actually done harm to many individuals and society as a whole? That by paying to see this movie they are de facto supporting this religion? Just as an FYI I came across that list of links on a different website and copied it over because there were may comments about the actor's politics, but no substance behind them on this thread. I thought people should have something to look at to decide for themselves. You can be alarmed that people are interested in and may be disappointed in or pleased by his politics, but in this current climate politics seem to touch everything. I don't see that changing anytime soon so those alarm bells of yours will probably never stop ringing. @OmicromThetaDeltaPhi I would say as accusations go mine was pretty lightweight and I assure you I can throw much worse accusations at people... I certainly never said or implied that an actor shouldn't "dare to disagree with me on political issues." That's utter nonsense. Many do, many will and that's life. It does happen that when I learn an artist that I really admire has views I really don't admire, I go through a "say it isn't so" period and have to adjust my thinking. I assure you this can all happen in an instant because I really have plenty of other things to occupy my time. However, I am hoping I do find the time to take up backgammon.

One final point, when I find out an actor I really admire has political views very similar to mine, I am chuffed and do a little happy dance in my brain. I guess that's alarming too....

"Hell, my sister has political views so different from mine and I have every right to be disappointed about that." You have the "right" to be sure but the question is: why are you "disappointed" by the fact that not everyone, including your sister, has the same views as you? "If you are implying "people should never judge others"" He is not implying that at all. He is merely suggesting that it is unhealthy to view a difference of opinion, even over something important, as some reason to cut people out of your life or as some kind of threat to your personhood. To your credit, you seem to value a relationship with your sister more than your disappointment over her views. But so what, if you found out your mailman had bad opinions, you'd suddenly be uncomfortable with him delivering your packages? He'd need to be fired from his job then? I have met a ton of people, some with whackadoodle views that I think are actually harmful (rabid anti-vaxxers, woke people, religious fundies...) but it never occurred to me that I needed to cut them out of my life or terminate my relationship with them because of their views. I am not "disappointed" by their views. Their views aren't a threat to me. Why the fuck are people so damned intolerant? If someone's views makes them dangerous to me, then sure I am going to protect myself. But beyond that when did "live and let live" become such a controversial thing? If I find out that the barista who served me coffee is a Nazi, so freaking what?

“If I find out that the barista who served me coffee is a Nazi, so freaking what?” You might consider reevaluating the tip you give them.

@ Pamellllaaa, "I really don't see how this is alarming (which is a rather provocative word) to you given I have limited it to politics." Interestingly, the fact that you limit it to politics is more 'alarming' to me than if it was a general statement. I say this because of the current state of politics in North America. "I never even said that they have to share my political views, just that I am disappointed when they are "so different from mine."" I would like to at least suggest to you that the reason art is valuable is precisely because we experience life through a point of view different from our own; and ideally *very* different from our own. No one who looks at a Monet should think "yes, I like this because it accords with how I see things." Rather the reverse is almost invariably true: wow, this is a unique expression of reality, one so alien to me that I need to expand my mind to even appreciate it rather than just see it as a bunch of splotches on canvas. Now sometimes you do that experiment and you do appreciate it, and sometimes you find it doesn't speak to you anyhow. The real issue here, I suppose, is whether mass-produced media like certain types of film and TV should really be considered as 'art' rather than just 'product.' That's a debate I've had many times, and while my default is to consider them all as art, there is a certain truth that to an extent many of them have no real point of view (or 'soul') beyond what makes dollars. So that's a discussion to be had. Viewing Trek as art, and the role of Barclay (let's say) as performance art, I personally default to actually hoping to get something outside of my experience that is exciting and new. And there is really no disentangling the artist from the art, so naturally in a field practically fueled by the people involved being uniquely expressive, weird, even bizarre, there should be no expectation that they are normal in any conventional sense. It shouldn't surprise or disappoint; it's a feature, not a bug. Does that make my point a little clearer? @ Jason R, "He is not implying that at all. He is merely suggesting that it is unhealthy to view a difference of opinion, even over something important, as some reason to cut people out of your life or as some kind of threat to your personhood." It's true that I would take this position, but in my message to Pamellllaaa I was especially focusing on the fact of hoping for artists to be 'like you' in some regard is a really counterproductive thing to hope for. If they were like you they wouldn't have much to contribute as artists and the world would be a really dull place. It is much more reasonable, by contrast, to hope for people from the same religious community as you, or maybe dinner party circle as you, to have views common with yours, since these are groups at least partially self-selected for desired traits.

Oh, sorry about a confusing typo. 2nd paragraph above to @ Pamellllaaa should read: "I would like to at least suggest to you that the reason art is valuable is precisely because we experience life *via that art* through a point of view different from our own; and ideally *very* different from our own.

@Peter G. I respect your well thought out and expressed comments, even if I don't agree with some of what you say or think some if it is too idealistic to be realistic. I don't have time for a detailed response right now, but liking when someone shares my political views (such as voting for the same person for president that I voted for) and expecting them to be like me are not the same thing at all. My political views make up such a small portion of who I am and who most people are. I don't pretend to "know" anyone based on their political views, but when people share similar views it's something they have in common. What in the world is wrong with liking that? It doesn't mean that I close my mind to other views at all. It doesn't mean that my mind is closed to change and growth. I think it's a natural human reaction and emotion to have. @Jason R. You go too far in your comments and are actually making points that digress so far from what I have stated as to be nonsensical: ""If you are implying "people should never judge others"" He is not implying that at all. He is merely suggesting that it is unhealthy to view a difference of opinion, even over something important, as some reason to cut people out of your life or as some kind of threat to your personhood." First of all, I said "If," second of all, I don't think Peter G. needs you to explain what he said or means, and third of all, I never said a difference of opinion gives me a reason to cut people out of my life (though sadly I know too many families where just that has happened). Nor do I think I ever implied that it threatens my personhood. "To your credit, you seem to value a relationship with your sister more than your disappointment over her views. But so what, if you found out your mailman had bad opinions, you'd suddenly be uncomfortable with him delivering your packages? He'd need to be fired from his job then?" Again, this strays so far from my original point that I don't even know who you can think it is relevant to what I stated. I stated when "an actor I really admire has political views so different from mine I am quite disappointed. Does that make me stop watching him/her? Usually not, but to each their own in that respect." To jump from that to me caring about the views of the postal worker who delivers my mail is absurd. Some people might care, but it was neither stated nor implied in my post. You then go on with: I am not "disappointed" by their views. Their views aren't a threat to me. Why the fuck are people so damned intolerant? It is a huge jump for me to use the word "disappointed" when I find out that the views of actors I really admire are so different from my own (or later, that I am chuffed when I find they are very similar) for you to conclude I am threatened by them and am so damned intolerant. Disappointment to me would never equate to feeling threatened or being intolerant. Disappointment is an emotion one feels, a reaction to an event or discovery. It is often a short lived emotion but can be longer in duration as well. To deny it or to argue against it is akin to telling a person when they should and shouldn't feel sad (which is one element of disappointment). No one has sought clarification as to what I mean by "usually not", but instead jumped to some strong opinions about me and my character. I didn't originally add clarification as to when I may decide to stop watching an actor because it would force me to reveal my political views, which I really don't want to do in this context (quite happy to in others). I think it would color people's interpretation of what I am saying. I'll just say that it would have to be an extreme case of political views that I believed were harmful to society, especially given that actor's potential to influence others, for me to consider not watching them. Some may have a different standard than that and I don't tell them if it's right or wrong. I think in some respects a boycott like that is a small way of protesting those views, just like when someone won't buy products from a company that donates to political groups they disagree with. I guess that's not allowed either in a "must be completely tolerant, no difference of opinions allowed to be expressed or felt" society?

@Jason R one last point. You state: "Hell, my sister has political views so different from mine and I have every right to be disappointed about that." You have the "right" to be sure but the question is: why are you "disappointed" by the fact that not everyone, including your sister, has the same views as you?" I am not disappointed that not everyone has the same views as me and I never stated or implied that. On the other hand, let's take an extreme example and say for the sake of argument that my sister is extremely racist and has no respect for any religions save her own. I do think this "difference of opinion" could actually lead me to not wanting her in my (or my son's) life. Especially as I am married to a man of a different race and religion.

@Pamellllaaa I read more into your comment than was warranted. Sorry.

Apology accepted. :)

(Captain Needa)

@Peter G I expressed I may give a more detailed reply when I had more time. Here is an imaginary conversation with my son. It’s tongue and cheek, but gets my message across and then some: Son: Mom, I was disappointed today when I learned that kid I really admire because he is such a great basketball player hates cats. Me: Why did that disappoint you? If he hates cats has nothing to do with his basketball playing. Son: I know, but I just love cats so much and my cat in particular. I just felt a little disappointed. Me: Well, you aren’t allowed to feel disappointment about something like that. You have to stop it. Son: How do I stop an emotion, when I felt it right away? Me: Somehow you must learn to. It isn’t allowed. Son: So when you said you were disappointed to learn that the owner of that company gives lots of money to that political group you don’t like and you weren’t going to buy any more products, was that wrong too? Me: Yes, that was wrong. I’m not supposed to feel disappointment about something like that. Therefore I have no right to stop buying products because of it. Son: And that artist whose work you really like, then you were disappointed to find out that he belongs to a political group that believes women should not have jobs or get educated, that was wrong? Me: Yes, that was wrong. We have to admire Artists no matter what they believe or support and can never feel disappointment about their political beliefs (or anything else for that matter). It is because they are Artists and should never be subject to any difference of opinion at all about their beliefs. We must admire and learn from their work no matter what because they are Artists. Son: I’m not sure I can turn off my emotion like that when I learn something new. What if I just feel disappointment for a minute or a few seconds even? Me: Sorry, you still aren’t allowed to feel disappointment because people may find it ALARMING and we may be judged to be people of poor character who don’t accept other people’s differences. So you must learn to turn off that emotion permanently, just to be safe. We don’t want the emotion police to come barging into our home, they are very mean to people who dare feel disappointment about others. Son, crying: No, we don’t want that. I’m so sorry I ever felt disappointment about someone. I’ll never do it again. Mom, hugging him: I won’t either my sweetheart, I won’t either. THE END, almost… Son: Mom, I’ve been thinking, would it be okay if I felt happy if I learned that basketball kid loved cats? Or is that wrong too? Mom: I’m not sure, but it’s probably safer if you don’t feel anything about him except admire that he plays basketball so well. THE END

@ Pamellllaaa, I think your example is right about the idea of telling a young child they should feel what they feel. Saying that might be a bit counterproductive depending on their age. But saying that to an adult is a whole different story. Take the well-known case in retail of the customer demanding something outrageous from the floor staff or person at the cash, and when they don't get it they get angry and start berating them for 'bad service.' This is quite common. To such a person I think we can probably all agree we ought to say that the feeling of upset and disappointment they feel at not getting what they want is entirely inappropriate. Now in principle they could offer the same answer as you mention in your dialogue: "are you telling me I should curb all my feelings and not have reactions to things that bother me?" But I think we can see that this cannot universally be a decent answer. To the guy yelling at the cashier, we should definitely insist that he needs to alter his perceptions about what he expects out of life, and whether certain reactions are in fact a problem. You may not want to pretend in a given instance you're not feeling something, but it might well be proper to take steps to change oneself so that you won't feel it any more. The guy going into the store might want to stop thinking of the staff there as their servants that must bow before their monarch; or maybe the change of attitude has to come from the increased understanding that even if something is legitimately wrong in the store, the staff aren't the actual ones at fault for it. So a change of perspective or wisdom. No doubt it depends on the individual in question to suppose which element of their life needs an adjustment. So fundamentally I disagree with the proposition that "these are my feelings, so therefore they are legitimate." I don't think that is right at all as a general rule. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Now how much any of this applies you to would, I suppose, but up to you, since I'm not trying to make it my business to judge you or anything like that. If your hypothetical child said they're excited when someone else likes a cat, that sounds innocuous; and if it's disappointment that someone else doesn't like a cat, maybe equally so. But what if the words coming out of the child's mount instead are "I'm sad that I find out my friend is a Muslim." Suddenly we're in a much more serious situation, and that feeling may not be ok at all. Or what if the feeling is greater in severity, and instead of being a little sad about someone being a Muslim (or a Republican, or whatever) it's that they're really angry about it, or feel the urge to hit them over it. You get the idea. The type of feeling, the severity of the feeling, and the context of the feeling, all matter. You may be right that it's natural in a way to feel pleased when you meet a kin in spirit, and disappointed when someone isn't what you hoped for, but I'm at least proposing that in theory this is not self-evidently a good attitude *to foster*. It may be normal to have it by default, but many times the default feeling is something that requires working on changing it (as is often argued about racism, for example). Please remember I'm not actually arguing that you're bad, or really anything about you since I don't know you. These are general propositions. All I'm reiterating is that in a 'cancel culture' where there really is huge anger and retribution against people who are different, it can't be taken in a vacuum when I hear someone say they are disappointed when someone has very different political views. For you it might be only 'disappointed', and for the next person it might be 'appalled', or even 'outraged'. Maybe worse. Jason R implied that wanting the person to be fired could be the next step, and I agree you never said that. But many people do say that, and unfortunately that's the social context we're dealing with. I think I got why Jason R made the quick conclusions about the end-result of hostility about political opinions, even though it doesn't apply to you.

@Peter G. That's interesting, and I agree that with children (and even adults) feelings often need to be explored. Such as asking "why are you sad that your friend is a Muslim?" so the root cause of such feeling can be discovered and dealt with. However, I would argue that feelings are experienced and cannot really be "controlled". With a statement such as your example, I wouldn't try to teach my son to control that feeling as I don't think that would change how he actually felt deep down. He would just be burying it. I would try to understand why he has that feeling so we can work it through and change it. The goal would be the next time (or the time after that) his feeling would be different. This could take time and certainly would take effort. Also, extreme feelings would need to be dealt with such as "I was so mad at the boy for not liking cats that I felt like killing him." Again, the root cause of such a feeling would have to be explored. But I don't think anyone really learns to control feelings, especially those as quick and natural as happiness, sadness, disappointment, etc. What we can learn to control is the behavior that follows feelings/reactions. What we learn as adults (though many airline passengers seem to be be forgetting it lately) is that while we have many feelings during the day, we can't just behave any way we see fit due to those feelings. We are responsible for our behavior. To some extent I think you are treating feelings and behavior as one and the same. So, if my son said he was disappointed that this kid hate cats and then he started yelling at and cursing said kid, I would quickly teach him that while his feeling is understandable, his behavior was not acceptable. This teaching would include an exercise in understanding why that behavior was not acceptable and may include an apology to the boy, loss of some privileges at home, etc. Even young children learn that there is a difference between feelings and behavior. They are taught that it's okay to be frustrated/sad/disappointed that mommy wouldn't buy them the toy in the store, but it's not okay to have a tantrum about it. I would go so far to say we can examine our feelings if we don't like our reaction to something, and we can try to change those feelings in the future. We have to get behind the feelings and the reasons why we are having them. If necessary, there are courses we can take to help us (or we can be forced to take if our resulting behavior is illegal). Maybe that's what you mean by control, but I don't consider it the same thing. When all is said and done I still believe being disappointed in an artists political views is an acceptable feeling, but my behavior that follows may not be acceptable. If I jump on the internet and start spreading lies about this artist or worse, or try to find where they live so I can damage their property, both are unacceptable to me and society. If I decide not to go to the gallery that is displaying a collection of such artists work (or to not see a movie they are in, etc.) I believe this is acceptable behavior that follows an understandable feeling. I do not feel a need to change that feeling of disappointment I had or and I don't consider it to be of concern. You disagree with that, and that is your prerogative.

(standard disclaimer: this discussion is about general propositions and current social trends. It is not about any specific poster). @Peter "So fundamentally I disagree with the proposition that 'these are my feelings, so therefore they are legitimate.' " I would have no problem with this proposition, as long as we agreed to apply it universally. The world would certainly be a better place if people took the feelings of others into account more often. What I can't agree with, is the "principle" that says: "The feelings of my folks are legitimate and deserve an infinite amount of consideration and understanding, while the rest of you subhuman scum can go screw yourselves". Unfortunately, these days, it is this hypocritical version that people are following when they make this proposition. And another thing to think about: Just because something is "legitimate" does not mean that it is healthy or mature or practical. Yes, you are certainly *allowed* to be disappointed by every single person who doesn't fit your exact expectations. But just because you're allowed to do it, doesn't mean that it is a good idea...

Oops.... I was 100% sure that I wrote "it is this hypocritical version that *most* people are following...". Not sure how that word disappeared. I did not mean to imply that every single person who makes the proposition in question is being hypocritical. And I *definitely* did not mean to imply that Pamellllaaa is doing this. Sorry.

Dork Norkem

I just saw this episode for the first time, and it’s a fantastic piece of television. The character of Broccoli—I mean, Barclay, quit that joke now (not)—is such an honest look into the kind of person I’d imagine a lot of Star Trek fans are like. Or maybe not, I have no idea, but at least the stereotype fits. For myself anyway, looking back on my life it almost felt like I was looking into a mirror at times. The dude wishes he could say the things he really means, but as soon as he’s in front of other people, he instantly becomes meek and quiet, and the nervousness just leads to one awkward scenario after the other. The friendless dude who never fit in, so he just sits by himself, on his computer all the time. Wow sounds exactly like me in high school. The Holodeck in this episode is obviously a metaphor for spending too much time playing video games (and probably watching porn). Well I’ve always seen the Holodeck as a stand-in for video games, since they’re both virtual reality essentially, but the Troi fantasy wouod indicate it’s also a metaphor for another common activity for males (especially those with social anxiety issues since they’ll never get any attention from real girls). Some people in this webpage call Riker too stern, but I think this directing is intentional. The episode is a Geordi-centered one, and it’s really from the point of view of La Forge and Barclay. To Barclay, his superior officers appear intimidating, irritating, always on his case, etc. Geordi is his immediate boss who cares (after Picard instructed as such), and Riker is akin to upper management wanting to crack down. It works well for him to play this role. Geordi’s assessment of Holodeck use is sound to me: what you do on your time is your business, so long as it doesn’t affect your responsibilities. Of course the crew members aren’t going to be delighted to see what Barclay does with their image, but that’s really kind of the point, isn’t it? That’s why it is a private fantasy, where you can let off steam without letting the darker side bleed into real life. It really *is* therapeutic for him. Of course there are other, arguably healthier, forms of release as well, but I’m with Geordi that the dude’s private life is no one else’s concern. Everyone points out the lack of privacy on the Holodeck, but let me frame it this way: to continue the metaphor of a video game, think of the Holodeck as a corporate computer lab. Obviously the system administrator can monitor and gain access to it. You don’t get real privacy when it’s not really your property to begin with. They don’t explicitly say as such, but I assume that the Holodeck is typically locked and privacy reserved, but the system admins (in this case senior staff) can unlock it if they choose, which they do because they need Barclay right now since there’s an emergency. Otherwise I don’t think a social anxiety freak like Barclay would dare dream of doing his fantasies in a public place. That’d be like jerking off to porn in a public library. I would think he would be terrified of getting caught, and his anxiety would shoot that down straight away—just see how he couldn’t bare to even be in the same room as Troi out of shame. As for the pussies in the comments crying about bullying, c’mon, really? Broccoli? That’s not even a pejorative! I half expected the man to become proud of the nickname by the end, a sort of ironic twist whereby he wears it like a badge of honor once he becomes more friendly with the coworkers. Obviously it was inappropriate to talk that way as the boss, and he does get reprimanded for that by Picard, and he tells those under him to quit immediately thereafter. I don’t think Geordi or anybody else acted out of line. Their reaction to the weak job performance and reclusivity of the man is perfectly understandable. (Also, social anxiety is not a sign of mental illness, for Christ’s sake. People love to over-diagnose everything today, it’s why so many kids allegedly have ADHD because they’re kids who naturally don’t want to focus in school) The ending was sweet, and it’s the Hollywood way of ending things, with the misfit having gained confidence from his usefulness in a time of crisis and actual praise from his boss for once, and on his way to becoming a more well-adjusted member of the crew. Realistically though, I think him leaving the ship would probably have been the more likely option. The guy really just did not fit in on a starship...you have to ask yourself what you’re doing here if you don’t like it, and nobody around you wants you either, why stay? But this is tv, and the character growth/resolution is justified, so I like the happy ending. As a final thought, it must have been fun for the actors to break character and play those outlandish Holodeck versions of their characters. I’d give it a full 5 / 5 stars. Science fiction storytelling can often go into the most abstract philosophical ideas about the meaning of life, etc. yet often the most compelling narratives are the simplest ones, the ones closest to the ground. This one really cut deep because it is such a fundamentally human-focused episode. I think anyone can find it relatable, no matter which side of the fence you align more with (the management or the disgruntled worker).

Great review for a great episode. Barclay is such a great character, I wish he had more feature episodes

Almost gave up on this one before I got to even the halfway point. Between dumb holodeck nonsense (fencing with Picard? why not jousting, squash, or lion fighting?) and Caryn "Whoopi Goldberg" Johnson, it was too much to take. Luckily, the main(?) story was interesting enough to keep me going. I'm glad it did. It was a pretty good episode after all, despite the above and despite that ultra-annoying "OMG WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE IN 30 SECONDS!!!!!!!! . . . Never mind, found a solution, LOLZ!" trope.

This is a great episode and one I was looking forward to seeing again on my rewatch of the entire series. Barclay I find is very relatable. His problems fitting in with the crew is a very interesting way to phrase a story about how the crew need to work together. It's not enough that you live with these people on the Enterprise but you must find a way to work together. Afterall, if one cog in the machine isn't well oiled, the entire machine will not run as smoothly. Really the hero of this episode is Picard. How many times has Barclay been palmed off by captain to captain, ship to ship? Picard takes the initiative to try and fix the problem rather than pass it on. Despite the fact he slips up and calls him broccoli (in easily one of the funniest laugh out loud moments in the entire series which includes Data's follow up comments) he is the one who tells the other officers to nip the nickname in the bud. He is the one who tells Geordi to put his personal feelings aside and learn to find common ground with Barclay. If it wasn't for Picards insistence on doing the right thing, Barclay wouldn't have come out of his shell enough to suggest the solution to the problem and ultimately save the Enterprise from destruction. I did find the holodeck scenes a bit cringey but in an enjoyable way. I think my problem with the holodeck is that it's essentially a giant room. When they're looking for Barclay and moaning about how hard it would be to find him, or having to ask the hologangers (holographic dopplegangers) where he is, it would be easier and more efficient to just end the program. He would be a few feet away from them, being essentially in the same room. I agree that it would be an invasion of privacy to walk in on someone else's holo-exerience, it's just that he was in there when he should have been at work. Them barging in to find him is perfectly justified in this scenario and the only contrivance is them not stopping the program immediately. It must've been too intriguing to physically see his fantasies come to life. Almost like a modern day freakshow. Barclay reminds me of the sort of person who ruins something for everyone. The people in the 24th century are so puritanical that they couldn't even contemplate someone would use the holodeck to live out their own sick desires? If that's the case, if they didn't have rules before about replicating people they know, they will after this incident. Whereas if he kept his head down and was on time for work, nobody would know about his fantasies and everyone could just go on creating whatever programs they wanted. I reckon he gets a pass because he was integral in essentially preventing the Enterprise from blowing up and killing everyone. Another thought I had about the holodeck, because Barclay is an engineer, perhaps he has knowledge to write programs that the lay person doesn't. For example, Picard playing Dixon Hill is just an extension of something that already exists. Whereas Barclays programs seem like they are hand programmed by himself. So creating facsimiles of people he knows may not be something everyone can do because it requires specific programming skill. Not the same as say Riker creating Minuet, as she wasn't someone he new, she was just a computer approximation of a set of criteria. Just a thought. Overall 3.5 star episode.

This one really brings back some memories. I remember when I first watched it, I was in my early twenties, and I was *more* socially nervous than Barclay, so I definitely had a lot of sympathy for him. I read through most of the comments, and there are some good points. I really like the double meanings and the symbolism pointed out. I don't know if anyone mentioned this, but I would certainly characterize cruelty to a socially awkward person as a hollow pursuit. And Data nailed it on shutting down that kind of nonsense. I loved Picard's order to Laforge to "make him your best friend." A very Picard order. A best friend will tell you the truth, and not feed your fears or illusions. I also liked that counselor Troi was doing some standard therapeutic procedures to help him; but I don't think the chest-hugging dresses are very good for a therapy session. And I thought it was a little weird that she didn't at least consider that he might have a lot of sexual tension, obviously her empathy superpower was taking the day off. Still, I've always liked Troi and we have similar personalities, I just wish that she had been a little bit more tactful. (I can certainly understand where why Barclay would have a crush on Troi, I sure did when I was in my twenties. It seems very silly now.) Guinan's scene is one of my favorites. It really hit home for me when she said that the idea of fitting in repulsed her. It was very inspiring for me at one time to hear that. Instant love for that character. My biggest criticism is one that I've seen far too much in American television: the setup where there's one introvert amongst a group of extroverts and everyone thinks the introvert is strange or defective. A little education will easily dispel this. It does seem a little bit ignorant for Starfleet officers. That doesn't excuse his dereliction of duty, but I would have liked to have seen handled a little bit more maturely. Troi's reaction to the Goddess of Empathy is good enough to watch at least twice. The special effects are flawless, and the entire scene is hysterical. I always remember this as the "four foot tall Riker" episode. I didn't even recognize Riker because Jonathan Frakes changed his voice so much in the holo version. Nice job, Jonathan.

Great watch for sure. Dirk, I concur that Picard's admonishment of members of the crew (including senior officers!) of the habit to name call Barclay was excellent as was his encouragement to help this crewman realise his potential. It was actually surprising in the 24th century utopia that certain characters were in effect bullying this officer and behaving extremely unprofessionally. Whilst Barclay should not be late for duty repeatedly, and not in the Holodeck during his Duty time, I do agree with a comment above that it was incredible that the Holodeck is apparently "open" for entry despite already being in use. One would have thought at the very least that some sort of emergency situation would be required for the Computer to grant external access to an outsider into someone's personal programme, let alone whilst in use, or else require a senior officer officially using their command code to open the doors which would be noted on the official computer log. Does the Federation Charter not include the Right to Privacy? Troi's Goddess of Empathy was simply fabulous. Excellent taste. The reaction by the real Troi was also superb. The actual therapy session with the two in the real world seemed all right to me on repeat viewing. The show always seemed to show some sort of rapport between Troi and Barclay (e.g. the Nth Degree) which was interesting. If people can walk into other people's private Holodeck time on a whim, then it is surprising that Troi hasn't walked into more Holodecks that are in use and stumbled upon Troi versions of "Goddesses of Empathy", or Tatooine Troi slaves, more often. Reminds me of the FG skit with Troi going "That's not Lemonade!" when reading Picard. Would have actually been interesting if Riker and company actually found Barclay working on a simulation to solve the actual work problem that they were going to talk about at the meeting. Overall a very enjoyable episode that introduced a good character. Special effects were top notch in this one. Guinan's remarks about fitting in were excellent.

Dwight Schultz seems indeed to be a political wacko, reading his posts. Going on about Obama's fake birth certificate. Outright anti-Muslim. Pro trump. Fully into conspiracy theories. Being critical about that isn't being critical about 'political views'; it is being critical at someone who goes head deep conspiracies and lies and spreads them; which is a dangerous thing. https://web.archive.org/web/20180625103924/http://www.dwightschultzfansite.nl/engnotes.php On topic: I do like this episode. The Picard/Brocoli incident was just perfect.

My detective brain was at work listening to the episode again tonight. There are some things hidden in the text that I found interesting; maybe more so since I've never noticed them in umpteen viewings. This first one is a bit of a reach, but here goes anyhow: GUINAN: I don't want any trouble here, Barclay. BARCLAY: Trouble? Why would there be trouble? GUINAN: Because wherever you go, trouble follows. Could this be a subtle foreshadow at the plot resolution, since the system malfunctions were indeed caused by trouble following where the infected crewmen went? Then there are the repeated mentions that Barclay is always late. But why would his social anxiety make him late for meetings? Is he afraid to attend, and in the time it takes him to muster up the courage he becomes late? That seems extreme, even for him. Could he be in the holodeck every single time he's late? Again, that seems extreme, and in this episode we tend to see him there when something's gone wrong and he needs to 'blow off steam'. So here's an idea: GUINAN: Yes, I know him. He comes in. He stands at the bar. He doesn't say much. He orders a warm milk. LAFORGE: Figures. GUINAN: Warm milk helps you sleep, La Forge. You should try it. [...] LAFORGE: Maybe I'm not make myself clear, Guinan. Barclay, well, he's always late. The man's nervous. Nobody wants to be around this guy. GUINAN: If I felt that nobody wanted to be around me, I'd probably be late and nervous too. I suddenly realize, Barclay probably suffers from insomnia. He doesn't order warm milk because he's a dork (as Geordi initially supposes) but because he needs it. Now I suppose he could just get that in his own quarters, although maybe not every officer has a replicator in their quarters? Anyhow having trouble sleeping because of his anxiety would make perfect sense, and moreover it would all by itself explain very nicely why he's always late. Supposing Barclay was always late to meetings at 0800, Geordi might not notice and would just assume he was 'always' late. Being on just a few hours' sleep would definitely explain lateness to early morning meetings. I don't know why I didn't see this before, it's almost handed to us. Now here's a big one: TROI: Why are you so hard on yourself? BARCLAY: You don't know. It's hard out there. TROI: I understand, but let go of it. You're here now. BARCLAY: You're right, of course. TROI: Of course. Let me help you relax. (She starts massaging his shoulders) BARCLAY: I'd like that. TROI: I knew you would. (They kiss) BARCLAY: That's nice, but I'm in the mood for someplace a little more unusual. Computer. Run Barclay programme fifteen. You might have to go back and listen to how he says the line or watch his face, but I am almost 100% certain he means he wants the sex that is about to follow to happen in a different setting. Something about how he says "I'm in the mood for" distinctly sounds like more is going on than just wanting a nature setting for relaxation. It's subtle enough that younger viewers would never get wind of this, but present enough that adults might at least perceive that more is going on than rated G roleplay. That's crafty fence-straddling in the writing and execution. And if you don't believe me, listen to this (and I mean *listen* to it): TROI: I know this is difficult for you. Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable? BARCLAY: No. TROI: Have you ever been with a counsellor before? BARCLAY: Yes. No. TROI: Which one? BARCLAY: Yes, but she, it wasn't. It wasn't really a counsellor. TROI: Most people find a counsellor intimidating at first. It's okay if you feel that way toward me. BARCLAY: Not at all. She asks "have you ever BEEN with a counsellor before?" And he instantly answers yes, because of course he has, many times. Skeptics might say that what he meant was that he's had counselling sessions with fake-Troi in the holodeck before, so yes, he's been in therapy before. But frankly I don't really think his holo-sessions in Troi's office had anything to do with therapy. If he was seeking actual therapy from a holo character why would he still be so messed up talking to real Troi about it? So I think these were fantasy roleplay scenarios. And I don't think his inadvertent 'yes' was because he's had fake therapy, but rather because he had an ongoing relationship with a fake-Troi. If you hear this quick exchange as him accidentally admitting to his pornographic fantasies with her, I think it becomes evident why he's so freaked out after this and why he hurries out in such a flurry. Troi suggests counsellors may come across as intimidating, sure, but more so than Cdr Riker or Geordi? And Barclay can stay in the same room with them. But here he's more freaked out than we've seen him. I think it's the weirdness of facing up to the real person after having been using their likeness for so long. So there's more than just anxiety here, but shame as well. The holodeck stuff is great fun, watching Troi's look of shock when she sees the Goddess of Empathy, Riker chaffing at seeing short-dorky-Riker, and there's idiot-boy Wesley of course. But rather than this being about a holo-addiction, I think I see it more clearly now as a parallel to pornography addiction, and all that implies. It actually makes Barclay's problems more pitiable in the sense that it wouldn't just be embarrassing, but utterly humiliating to the core to have to face others when they become aware of it. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this observation before, but I also really like that the problem with the ship's systems isn't the ship but the engineering crew. It parallels nicely to Barclay's problem, because everyone is looking at him to figure out what's wrong with him, when I think the episode is suggesting that the problem is everyone around him not making him feel accepted and respected. His holodeck fantasy seems to not only help him blow off steam, but specifically to have Troi and Crusher console him, while the men admire him. It's not just that he kicks their butts, but that they think he's the best. He seems to actually want them to be his friend, rather than just his victims in revenge. Note the familiar "Jean-Luc" when he's addressing Musketeer-Picard. It sounds more like friendly familiarity (albeit from a superior position) than talking down to someone he doesn't like. The only holodeck character he seems to actually not like is Riker. But otherwise he's the D'Artagnon to the others, the best of them, rather than their nemesis. I think that says a lot about his secret desire to be included. All in all there's a lot to unpack in a viewing, and it's awesome that I'm still finding new stuff.

^^ Fantastic analysis, Peter G! I just watched this so the episode is fresh in my mind, and the insomnia is dead on. Barclay even looks sleepy half the time, and his drowsiness absolutely amplifies his already stammering speech patterns. I know Dwight Schultz is a nutjob, but he is superb in this episode. The awkwardness he embodies is so complete that you feel awkward watching him.

@Sung I think, actually, that's why I find Barclay episodes kind of hard to watch, progressively more so as the character's arc carries into Voyager. The portrayal of mental illness (and let's face it, that's what it is) is so convincing that I really feel for the character's suffering, and it doesn't seem Starfleet has done him or anyone else any favors by continually putting him in settings he can't handle in healthy ways. In a place where he has unfettered access to a holodeck, he becomes a danger to himself and others.

I'm with Jammer and many of the commenters: good but not great, three stars out of four. @stviater (2011): "Although I agree with Jammer that Hallow Pursuits was an entertaining hour of tv, the one thing that bugged me about the show that he didn't mention was the ease in which anyone can walk in while the holodeck is occupied." Yeah, I assumed they were able to do that because they were high-ranking officers. I have zero problem enjoying Barclay the character without any concern with what the actor is like. I might have to think about it a little more if it were the writer of the episode, but an actor? Nah.

Submit a comment

Hollow Pursuits Stardate: 43807.4 Original Airdate: 30 Apr, 1990

<Back to the episode listing

Star Trek ® and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc . Copyright © 1966, Present. The Star Trek web pages on this site are for educational and entertainment purposes only. All other copyrights property of their respective holders.

Why I'm Boldly Going
What's Going On Here
Generic Ensign

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Tng: hollow pursuits.

12 comments:

Thinking about you as Barclay makes me wonder: when you start watching/writing about Voyager, you will do something really heroic?!

If the opportunity presents itself... you never know!

:-) Great post!

Thanks, Katie!

You know, I guess I never really analyzed why I love Barclay so much, but you're definitely right - he's a lot like me. Granted, these days I have much more of a life than I used to, but back when I was growing up and in high school, my fictional life was much more interesting to me than the real world.

Oh man, my life is still pretty much exactly the same as it was then... except now I don't actually have to go out in the real world very often. So, I guess I'm even more like Barclay. I would totally have a holo-addiction if I lived in the future.

I loved Barclay best in his Voyager appearances. The character had evolved, but he was still the same insecure guy you wanted good things to happen to. Truthfully during "Hollow Pursuits" I realized how much I didn't like Geordi for a long time. I realize he came around, but he was pretty mean and impatient with Barclay. Though, it was pretty entertaining when even Picard called him Mr Broccoli.

I completely agree. It's weird to see Geordi be so impatient and snippy with Barclay through most of this episode. He does come around eventually but I think, for a while at least, they had a hard time pinning that character down. And, yes, the moment when Picard calls him "Mr Broccoli" makes me laugh/facepalm every time. It's well-directed too because the look on Riker/Geordi's faces is priceless!

Hi there. Sally Caves here. Thanks for writing this. When I said so many years ago in an interview that it was a "satire" of fandom, I meant to include myself as well, writing for ST:TNG: in other words, throwing myself into the Star Trek "sandbox" and then having to control what I wrote, in the same way that Barclay was encouraged to delete his more satiric depictions of his fellow crew members (the Goddess of Empathy? Riker shortened in height?). When you write for a show that's not your own, you have to avoid writing fanfic. What an experience! So the fandom "satire" was merely a subtext, a fleeting reference in a serious story about media addiction and getting lost in a world of fantasy. Do I love Star Trek and other shows? You bet. Their power to create imaginative supplementary art is substantial. Keep on trekkin' !

Sally, thanks so much for finding and commenting here! It's great to get your real intent behind this episode and I think your idea of including writer-as-fan comes through. I think it must be quite hard for a SciFi (and specifically Star Trek) fan to write for characters they feel they know so well. It could be easy to succumb to the temptation to basically write fan-fiction where every actor is saying exactly what you'd always imagined them saying. As a writer, I can only imagine the pressure that you must have been under and I love that you worked that anxiety about doing justice to the characters etc into "Hollow Pursuits." It's one of my favorite TNG episodes and, in Barclay, you created a character that so many fans relate to, even after all these years. Well done!

Thank you so much, Ashley! My pleasure. Thanks for making this blog! There's a long story behind that episode and writing for it. It went under so many revisions it made my head reel. My original intent showcased Barclay entirely (no "science" story--which was REQUIRED) so I had to think up the "invidium" plot, and I made him darker than he turned out to be: bitterer, a kind of satirist of the people he admired and felt rejected by. I'm so pleased with Dwight Schultz' interpretation: I think he's more likable because more sympathetic and identifiable. They changed some things I wanted them to keep in, some of the funnier scenes with the holo-Troi for instance. And looking back at it now, I wish he hadn't deleted his fantasies--it's legitimate to have them. But they involved real people, I guess, and my intent was to expose the potential of the holodeck for encouraging pathology (which up till then was treated somewhat "wholesomely"). This episode only skimmed the surface of those possibilities. So did 11001001 (Riker, Minuet and the Binaires).

Sally, thank you! I'd love to talk to you or interview you for the blog about your experience as a fan writing for Star Trek. If you'd like, just email me at [email protected]! I think it's really interesting that every episode required a science story too since the science plots almost all just melt together in my head like a pack of chocolates. I think the idea of the holodeck encouraging pathology is really interesting too. The fact that TNG characters all used the holodeck exclusively as a means to live out their completely wholesome fantasies is a bit silly and I'm glad that once DS9 came along it was acknowledged that people weren't just playing Robin Hood in there.

Opinionated Next Gen Episode Guide starts its look at Reg Barclay with Hollow Pursuits. Nobody likes poor Reg except Guinan, but Picard puts Geordi in charge of turning him around, along the way discovering that Reg puts the holodeck to really creative uses, and also to make fun of Riker, not that that's terribly hard.

Star Trek (TNG): Hollow Pursuits

Discuss this video on the forum .

The Most Toys -->

Looking for more.

Discussing Star Trek II
Discussing Star Trek III
Discussing Star Trek IV
Discussing Star Trek VI
1: The Motion Picture
2: The Wrath of Khan
3: The Search for Spock
4: The Voyage Home
5: The Final Frontier
6: The Undiscovered Country
7: Generations
8: First Contact
9: Insurrection
10: Nemesis
11: Star Trek
12. Into Darkness
Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Enemy Within
Mudd's Women
What Are Little Girls Made Of?
The Menagerie
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Squire of Gothos
Court Martial
A Taste of Armageddon
Errand of Mercy
The Alternative Factor
The City On The Edge of Forever
Who Mourns For Adonais?
The Changeling
Mirror, Mirror
The Doomsday Machine
Metamorphosis
Journey To Babel
Friday's Child
Wolf In The Fold
The Trouble With Tribbles
The Gamesters of Triskelion
The Immunity Syndrome
A Private Little War
Patterns of Force
The Omega Glory
The Ultimate Computer
Bread and Circuses
Assignment: Earth
Spock's Brain
The Enterprise Incident
And The Children Shall Lead
Is There in Truth No Beauty?
Day of the Dove
For The World Is Hollow, And I Have Touched The Sky
Elaan of Troyius
Whom Gods Destroy
The Way To Eden
All Our Yesterdays
Turnabout Intruder
Time And Again
Eye Of The Needle
Ex Post Facto
Prime Factors
State Of Flux
Heroes and Demons
Learning Curve
Initiations
Projections
Non Sequitur
Parturition
Persistence of Vision
Michael Jonas Summary
Dreadnought
Investigations
Resolutions
False Profits
Sacred Ground
Future's End
The Q and The Grey
Blood Fever
The Darkling
Favorite Son
Before & After
Distant Origin
Worst Case Scenario
Day of Honor
Scientific Method
Year of Hell
Random Thoughts
Concerning Flight
Mortal Coil
Waking Moments
Message in a Bottle
The Killing Game
The Omega Directive
Unforgettable
Living Witness
Hope & Fear
Extreme Risk
In the Flesh
Once Upon a Time
Infinite Regress
Nothing Human
Thirty Days
Counterpoint
Latent Image
Bride of Chaotica
Dark Frontier
The Disease
Course Oblivion
Someone to Watch Over Me
Equinox Part 1
Equinox Part 2
Survival Instinct
Barge of the Dead
Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
Dragon's Teeth
One Small Step
The Voyager Conspiracy
Blink of an Eye
Spirit Folk
Ashes to Ashes
Child's Play
Good Shepherd
Live Fast and Prosper
The Haunting of Deck Twelve
Unimatrix Zero
Imperfection
Critical Care
Body and Soul
Nightingale
Flesh and Blood
Workforce, Part I
Workforce, Part II
Human Error
Author, Author
Friendship One
Natural Law
Renaissance Man
Fight or Flight
Strange New World
The Andorian Incident
Breaking the Ice
Civilization
Fortunate Son
Silent Enemy
Dear Doctor
Sleeping Dogs
Shadows of P'Jem
Shuttlepod One
Rogue Planet
Acquisition
Fallen Hero
Desert Crossing
Two Days and Two Nights
Carbon Creek
A Night in Sickbay
Future Tense
Regeneration
First Flight
The Expanse
The Shipment
Carpenter Street
Chosen Realm
Azati Prime
The Forgotten
Storm Front, Part I
Storm Front, Part II
Cold Station 12
The Augments
Observer Effect
In a Mirror, Darkly
In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II
Terra Prime
These Are the Voyages...
Encounter At Farpoint, Part I
Encounter At Farpoint, Part II
The Naked Now
Code of Honor
The Last Outpost
Where No One Has Gone Before
Lonely Among Us
The Big Goodbye
When The Bough Breaks
Heart of Glory
The Arsenal of Freedom
Skin of Evil
The Neutral Zone
Where Silence Has Lease
The Outrageous Okona
Loud As A Whisper
Unnatural Selection
A Matter Of Honor
The Measure Of A Man
The Dauphin
Samaritan Snare
Up The Long Ladder
The Emissary
Peak Performance
Shades of Gray
The Ensigns of Command
The Survivors
Who Watches The Watchers
The Bonding
The Defector
The High Ground
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Captain's Holiday
Hollow Pursuits
The Most Toys
Ménage à Troi
The Best of Both Worlds
The Best of Both Worlds, Part II
Suddenly Human
Remember Me
The Wounded
Devil's Due
First Contact
Galaxy's Child
Night Terrors
Identity Crisis
The Nth Degree
The Drumhead
Half a Life
The Mind's Eye
Unification
A Matter of Time
The Masterpiece Society
The Outcast
Cause and Effect
The First Duty
The Perfect Mate
The Next Phase
The Inner Light
Time's Arrow
Realm of Fear
A Fistful of Datas
The Quality of Life
Chain of Command
Ship in a Bottle
Face of the Enemy
Birthright, Part I
Birthright, Part II
Starship Mine
Frame of Mind
Second Chances
Descent, Part I
Descent, Part II
Gambit, Part I
Gambit, Part II
Force of Nature
The Pegasus
Lower Decks
Thine Own Self
Preemptive Strike
All Good Things...
Emissary, Part I
Emissary, Part II
A Man Alone
The Passenger
Move Along Home
If Wishes Were Horses
In the Hands of the Prophets
Necessary Evil
Playing God
The Maquis, Part I
The Maquis, Part II
The Collaborator
The Jem'Hadar
The Search, Part I
The Search, Part II
The House of Quark
Second Skin
Civil Defense
Fascination
Past Tense, Part I
Past Tense, Part II
Heart of Stone
Distant Voices
Improbable Cause/TDIC
The Adversary
The Way of the Warrior
The Visitor
Hippocratic Oath
Indiscretion
Little Green Men
The Sword of Kahless
Our Man Bashir
Paradise Lost
Return to Grace
Sons of Mogh
Bar Association
Rules of Engagement
The Quickening
Broken Link
Apocalypse Rising
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
Trials and Tribble-ations
Let He Who Is Without Sin...
Things Past
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
In the Cards
Call to Arms
A Time to Stand
Rocks and Shoals
Sons and Daughters
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
Statistical Probabilities
The Magnificent Ferengi
Far Beyond the Stars
Honor Among Thieves
Wrongs Darker than Death or Night
Inquisition
In the Pale Moonlight
The Reckoning
Profit and Lace
The Sound of Her Voice
Take Me Out to the Holosuite
Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
Once More Unto the Breach
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Prodigal Daughter
The Emperor's New Cloak
Field of Fire
Badda-Bing Badda-Bang
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
'Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
Extreme Measures
The Dogs of War
What You Leave Behind, Part I
What You Leave Behind, Part II
Beyond the Farthest Star
One of Our Planets Is Missing
The Lorelai Signal
More Tribbles, More Troubles
The Survivor
The Infinite Vulcan
The Magicks of Megas-tu
Once Upon a Planet
Mudd's Passion
The Terratin Incident
The Time Trap
The Ambergris Element
The Slaver Weapon
The Eye of the Beholder
The Pirates of Orion
The Practical Joker
How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth
The Counter-Clock Incident
The Vulcan Hello
Battle at the Binary Stars
Context Is for Kings
The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry
Choose Your Pain
Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
Into the Forest I Go
Despite Yourself
The Wolf Inside
Vaulting Ambition
What's Past Is Prologue
The War Without, The War Within
Will You Take My Hand
Point of Light
An Obol for Charon
Saints of Imperfection
The Sound of Thunder
Light and Shadows
If Memory Serves
Project Daedalus
The Red Angel
Perpetual Infinity
Through the Valley of Shadows
Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 1
Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2
Rememberance
Maps and Legends
The End is the Beginning
Play All Lower Decks
Second Contact
Temporal Edict
Moist Vessel
Cupid's Errant Arrow
Terminal Provocations
Much Ado About Boimler
Crisis Point
No Small Parts
Strange Energies
Kayshon, His Eyes Open
The Brightest Star
The Escape Artist
The Trouble with Edward
Children of Mars
Play All SNW
Strange New Worlds
Children of the Comet
Ghosts of Illyria
Memento Mori
Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach
The Serene Squall
The Elysian Kingdom
All Those Who Wander
A Quality of Mercy
A Look at Archer
A Look at Dukat
A Look at Garak
A Look at Kes
A Look at Kirk
A Look at Odo
A Look at Reg Barclay (TNG)
A Look at Spock
A Look at Weyoun
On Holograms and Ethics
Voyager Christmas Special
What We Left Behind
Worst of the Worst
Worf and Klingon Honor
Battlestar Galactica
For All Mankind
Video Games
The Orville
Twilight Zone
The X-Files
Support & Contact

Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series)

Hollow pursuits (1990).

User Reviews

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews

User Ratings
External Reviews
Metacritic Reviews
Full Cast and Crew
Release Dates
Official Sites
Company Credits
Filming & Production
Technical Specs
Plot Summary
Plot Keywords
Parents Guide

Did You Know?

Crazy Credits
Alternate Versions
Connections
Soundtracks

Photo & Video

Photo Gallery
Trailers and Videos

Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

Hollow Pursuits

"Hollow Pursuits" was the 69th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation .

2.1 Characters
2.2 Starships and vehicles
2.3 Locations
2.4 Races and cultures
2.5.1 Food and drink
2.6 Lifeforms
2.7 States and organizations
2.8 Technology and weapons
2.9 Ranks and titles
2.10 Other references
3 Chronology
4.1 Related stories
4.3 Timeline
4.4 External link

Summary [ ]

References [ ], characters [ ], starships and vehicles [ ], locations [ ], races and cultures [ ], materials and substances [ ], food and drink [ ], lifeforms [ ], states and organizations [ ], technology and weapons [ ], ranks and titles [ ], other references [ ], chronology [ ], appendices [ ], related stories [ ].

DS9 - Strange New Worlds VII short story : " Barclay Program Nine "

Timeline [ ]

External link [ ].

" Hollow Pursuits " article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
1 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
2 Odyssey class
3 DS9 relaunch

IMAGES

Watch Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 Episode 21: Hollow
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" Hollow Pursuits (TV Episode 1990)
Hollow Pursuits
Star Trek: TNG Review
"Hollow Pursuits" (S3:E21) Star Trek: The Next Generation Screencaps
"Hollow Pursuits" (S3:E21) Star Trek: The Next Generation Screencaps

COMMENTS

Hollow Pursuits (episode)
(Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 2nd ed., p. 125) Barclay refers to a flux capacitor when in Troi's office. According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia, 4th ed., vol. 1, ... "Hollow Pursuits" at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works "Hollow Pursuits" at Wikipedia
Hollow Pursuits
Hollow Pursuits. " Hollow Pursuits " is the 21st episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the 69th episode of the series overall. The episode introduces the character Lieutenant Reginald "Reg" Barclay, who would go on to appear occasionally in The Next Generation and Star ...
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" Hollow Pursuits (TV Episode 1990)
Hollow Pursuits: Directed by Cliff Bole. With Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn. A shy member of the "Enterprise" crew becomes addicted to the holodeck, where relationships are easier than in real life, when his knowledge is needed in engineering.
Revisiting Star Trek TNG: Hollow Pursuits
3.21 Hollow Pursuits. The episode opens in Ten-Forward, where a character we've never seen before - Lieutenant Reginald Barclay - is causing a scene. He beats up La Forge, then Riker, then ...
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" Hollow Pursuits (TV Episode 1990
Summaries. A shy member of the "Enterprise" crew becomes addicted to the holodeck, where relationships are easier than in real life, when his knowledge is needed in engineering. Lt. Reg Barkley is a self-conscious somewhat neurotic new arrival on the Enterprise. He's always late for meetings and usually mumbles and fumbles his way through them ...
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Hollow Pursuits. Season 3, Episode 21.
Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch: "Hollow Pursuits"
"Hollow Pursuits" Written by Sally Caves Directed by Cliff Bole. Season 3, Episode 21 Original air date: April 30, 1990 Star date: 43807.4. Mission summary. A lieutenant engineer we've never seen before, Barclay, is drinking in Ten Forward when La Forge reminds him that he's on duty.
Hollow Pursuits
"Hollow Pursuits" is the 21st episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the 69th episode of the series overall. The episode introduces the character Lieutenant Reginald "Reg" Barclay, who would go on to appear occasionally in The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager, as well as in the film Star Trek: First Contact.
Hollow Pursuits
Hollow Pursuits. Available on Paramount+, Prime Video. S3 E21: A nervous and insecure officer places the Enterprise in great danger when he spends his time acting out his fantasies on the holodeck and neglects his duties in Engineering. Sci-Fi Apr 30, 1990 43 min.
S3 E21: Hollow Pursuits
Star Trek: The Next Generation Featuring a bigger and better USS Enterprise, this series is set 78 years after the original series -- in the 24th century. Instead of Capt. James Kirk, a less volatile and more mature Capt. Jean-Luc Picard heads the crew of various humans and alien creatures in their adventures in space -- the final frontier.
Star Trek: The Next Generation S3E21 "Hollow Pursuits"
Original air date: April 30, 1990. We're introduced to Lieutenant Barclay, who's drinking in Ten-Forward when La Forge shows up to dress him down. After some tough talk worthy of a Dixon Hill story, Barclay shoves him ass-over-teakettle. Riker jumps up and confronts Barclay but gets more of the same.
First Time Watching ALL of Star Trek
‼️ Get FULL ACCESS to our entire Star Trek journey over on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/targetaudience ‼️The Target Audience are watching Star Trek: Th...
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" Hollow Pursuits (TV Episode 1990
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" Hollow Pursuits (TV Episode 1990) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Menu. ... Star Trek TNG: Best episodes ever a list of 28 titles created 11 months ago Q Continuum a list of 30 titles ...
"Hollow Pursuits"
This part seemed highly contrived in a way to arrive at a happy ending. I'd rate "Hollow Pursuits" 2.5 stars - a good but not great episode - kind of typical for TNG when it wants to shine a spotlight on a non-sci-fi situation, that of different types of people in the workplace and the issues they may face.
The Next Generation Transcripts
Star Trek The Next Generation episode transcripts. Hollow Pursuits Stardate: 43807.4 Original Airdate: 30 Apr, 1990 [Ten Forward] (Deanna slinks in wearing an off the shoulder number, as Howling Mad Murdoch pours himself a slug from a bottle on the bar) ... The Star Trek web pages on this site are for educational and entertainment purposes only ...
Weekly Episode Discussion: TNG 3x21 "Hollow Pursuits"
Weekly Episode Discussion: TNG 3x21 "Hollow Pursuits". Memory Alpha entry. In this episode we learn that Reginald Barclay, a promising-yet-shy lieutenant, struggles with interpersonal relationships and holo-addiction. I noticed that both in and out of the holodeck, Barclay's relationships seem adversarial. In the holodeck he fights with senior ...
Star Trek Retro Review: "Hollow Pursuits" (TNG)
Join this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/steveshives/join Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/steveshives PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/...
My Year Of Star Trek: TNG: Hollow Pursuits
His first appearance comes in the episode, "Hollow Pursuits" wherein he suffers from holo-addiction. Basically, he's created a fantasy world populated by distorted versions of his own fellow crew members, where he's the most popular, smartest, toughest, sexiest guy in town. Everyone loves him in the holodeck but everyone makes fun of him in ...
Revisiting Star Trek TNG: Hollow Pursuits : r/TNG
The subreddit for everything Star Trek: The Next Generation! Feel free to post pics, videos, articles, your opinions & questions... anything to do with the show or the actors. ... opinions & questions... anything to do with the show or the actors. Members Online • deadfraggle . Revisiting Star Trek TNG: Hollow Pursuits denofgeek.com Open ...
Star Trek (TNG): Hollow Pursuits
Star Trek (TNG): Hollow Pursuits. Opinionated Next Gen Episode Guide starts its look at Reg Barclay with Hollow Pursuits. Nobody likes poor Reg except Guinan, but Picard puts Geordi in charge of turning him around, along the way discovering that Reg puts the holodeck to really creative uses, and also to make fun of Riker, not that that's ...
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" Hollow Pursuits (TV Episode 1990
ST:TNG:69 - "Hollow Pursuits" (Stardate: 43807.4) - this is the 21st episode of the 3rd season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This episode introduces another of our memorable characters, Dwight Schultz (of "A Team" fame) as the bumbling and stuttering Lt. Reginald 'Reg' Barclay III.
Hollow Pursuits
Sci-fi. Star Trek. "Hollow Pursuits" was the 69th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Reginald Barclay • Garfield Costa • Beverly Crusher (hologram) • Wesley Crusher • Wesley Crusher (hologram) • Data • Data (hologram) • Kieran Duffy • Garvey • Guinan • Guinan (hologram) • Jones • Jones (hologram) • Geordi...
TNG, Episode 3x21, Hollow Pursuits : r/StarTrekViewingParty
TNG, Episode 3x21, Hollow Pursuits. Lieutenant Barclay, an introverted diagnostic engineer, is having difficulties dealing with his fantasies. Oh Barkley. Sometimes it's nice to know that everyone isn't perfectly together, that there are some freaks left in the universe.
Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3
The third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation commenced airing in broadcast syndication in the United States on September 25, 1989 and concluded on June 18, 1990 after airing 26 episodes. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Starfleet starship Enterprise-D.This season featured the return of Gates ...

Hollow Pursuits (episode)

Summary [ ]

Act One [ ]

Act Two [ ]

Act Three [ ]

Act Four [ ]

Act Five [ ]

Log entries [ ]

Memorable quotes [ ]

Background information [ ]

Story and production [ ]

Continuity [ ]

Reception [ ]

Video and DVD releases [ ]

Links and references [ ]

Also starring [ ]

Guest stars [ ]

Special guest star [ ]

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

Stunt doubles [ ]

Stand-ins and photo doubles [ ]

References [ ]

Other references [ ]

External links [ ]

Revisiting Star Trek TNG: Hollow Pursuits

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Hollow Pursuits

Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch: “Hollow Pursuits”

About Eugene Myers

Leave a Reply

Recent Comments

Recent Discussions in Ten Forward

Recent Posts

Favorite Posts

Hollow Pursuits

Information

Accessibility

Star Trek: The Next Generation S3E21 "Hollow Pursuits" » Recap

Tropes in this episode include:

Search this site

“Hollow Pursuits”

Review Text

Comment Section

PeteTongLaw

SkepticalMI

213karaokejoe

todayshorse

Diamond Dave

RandomThoughts

John Hellier

Startrekwatcher

Sean Hagins

Peter Swinkels

Sarjenka's Little Brother

Roger W Norris

Prince of Space

Todayshorse

Jeffrey Jakucyk

EmpressHoshiSato

Chief O'Brien

Frake's Nightmare

OmicronThetaDeltaPhi

Pamellllaaa

Dork Norkem

Submit a comment

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

12 comments:

Star Trek (TNG): Hollow Pursuits

The Most Toys -->

Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series)

Did You Know?

Photo & Video

Related Items

Recently Viewed

Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

Hollow Pursuits

Summary [ ]

Timeline [ ]

IMAGES

COMMENTS