Ship in a Bottle

I usually dislike the holodeck episodes, but this one is on a completely different level. Data is my favorite character, I personally love Sherlock Holmes and Brent Spiner is a superb actor. I love Daniel Davis and he is perfect as Moriarity. I am not familiar with Stephanie Beacham but she additionally gives a wonderful performance. I also adore Dwight Schultz and for once Barclay acted like a normal, intelligent human being instead of an incompetent bungling imbecile. The story was entertaining and all of the twists and turns in the plot were well done and held my interest, and the unsuspected ending, while maybe not seeming ideal, was honestly perfect for the characters who didn't really exist.

In a Sherlock Holmes holodeck simulation, hologram opponent Dr Moriarty becomes self-aware and demands freedom. He even holds crew members captive. What a newly developed will to live - brilliant. I'm not spilling the even more ingenious conclusion/solution. Minus one star in my rating because no one understands how self-awareness a/k/a consciousness works: You see yourself in a mirror (Iron elements) and affirm yourself (oxygen elements). Affirmed oxygen is consciousness. If you know you are, then you are oxygen. Minus 10 stars for churches, because they figured out nothing. Spirits are a thing, too. But they are not self-awareness. Or even good for that matter. There is a big branding issue here. And shows about self-awareness prove exactly that. God has little to do with spirits.

Moriarty is a wonderful character played perfectly by Daniel Davis. A joy to watch. If only every character could be that compelling.

Countess Barthalomew was also played well by Stephanie Beacham.

A fun episode that had a good pace throughout and some unexpected twists to keep it interesting.

P. S. I just saw that Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett) is the voice of the computer! TNG will feel very different if I envision her character whenever the computer speaks.

Barclay inadvertently unlocks Sherlock Holmes' arch nemesis, Professor Moriarity, from the holodeck. He seeks an audience with Capt. Picard to discuss his self-awareness situation. His demands to be able to leave the Holodeck are not taken seriously enough and takes control of the starship. If the professor and his love, the Countess Barthalomew, are not allowed to leave the ship on their own, he will destroy the Enterprise and its crew.

This episode doesn't stand out as one of the most memorable in the series, but it's still a fine episode in its own right. And why shouldn't it be, featuring Dwight Schultz as Barclay, easily my favorite recurring secondary character. And Moriarty is a respectable character. (The Countess Barthalomew, unfortunately, comes off as being very poorly written. She is very dense, comparing outer space to Africa and talking about the joy of wearing trousers. I can't imagine an educated woman would be this daft.)

Philosophy professors could sit back and play "Next Generation" episodes for semester after semester with a little commentary to fill in the history. This episode is very scientific (including discussion of "uncoupling the Heisenberg compensators" on the transporter, whatever the heck that means). Underneath all that, it's simply a fleshing out of Descartes' "Cogito Ergo Sum" doubting method. (Moriarty actually quotes Descartes in the episode.)

Descartes asked, how can we know what is around us is real and not simply in our mind? Future philosophers modified this to the "brain in a vat" hypothesis -- given constant stimuli, would a brain know it wasn't in a body if the input told it that it was? Here we have Enterprise crew who may be on the Enterprise or may simply be in the holodeck. How can they tell if what they see is real or is simply fed to their senses? Just as philosophers determined that we likely cannot tell, so, too, does the crew find that reality and simulated reality are virtually the same.

I watched this episode at around three in the morning after drinking some whiskey. It really made my brain work extra hard, which is something that isn't safe if you're not used to exercising it. But that's what really sells this episode -- the deeper message under the basic plot. But when you walk away from your television, you might ask yourself if your life is real, or is it merely a very long dream created by Gene Roddenberry?

This involves the return of Professor Moriarity. As Data continues to play Sherlock Holmes in a holodeck program, the character of James Moriarity returns to cause all kinds of havoc. Four years earlier, he was placed in memory, promised by Picard that when technology could be developed to allow him to leave the holodeck, he would be released. Unfortunately, he has been aware of the passage of time and Picard feels that he should be treated respectfully (even though he is programmed as an arch-villain). Through trickery, he gains control of the Enterprise and begins to figure out how to exist as a free man. There are layers in the holodeck and these are used to play with appearance and reality. This is another skillfully written episode. Moriarity feels his power and strings the crew along. Picard is removed from the picture for a time. Also created is the love of Moriarity's life, who is a beautiful nineteenth century dutchess. An incredibly complex puzzle forms and it is cleverly approached with every ounce of creativity from the crew.