Pathfinder

A TNG flashback with Reginald Barclay and Deanna Troi back in their doctor-patient roles while Reg tries to open communications with Voyager. It's a fun episode with Reg' neurosis battling the buttoned up culture of Starfleet.

The 'villain' in this episode is Reg' boss Commander Harkins, who for reasons unknown seems hell-bent on preventing Reg from attempting his plan to contact Voyager. There are no reasons given for his obstruction, and it's all too obvious that the only real reason is to provide plot drama.

So they set up the straw man villain and knock him down, but along the way there is a lot of fun with Troi's counseling sessions and Reg's re-creation of the Voyager crew in hologram form (and they all think Reg is a super swell guy of course), a chase scene through holo-Voyager, and ultimately a feel good ending that provides a big continuity point in this mostly episodic series.

This could have easily been a 9 or 10 rating from me, if only the writers had tried a bit harder to come up with some real reasons or, well, any reasons, for browbeating Reg into forgetting about Voyager.

Barkley is a connection to TNG and is pretty much the same sad figure he always was. But he has technical competence and he knows how to get communications with Voyager. He is such a weird figure with some really dicey sexuality issues, and so when we see him sidling up to his holographic women, it gives one the creeps. I don't enjoy having characters from past series show up in newer series. I have to say it was sort of boring with a "hopeful" but predictable ending.

What a superb character and I'm grateful to the writers and Schultz for displaying the complexities and stupidities of society through him.

The truth about Barclay is that none of his outbursts are more childish or out of line than any of Captain Picard's.

But society is not a place where ideas are equally weighed, reason takes a back seat to popularity --- who you are takes precedence over what you say or how you say it.

It's rather like what Ezri Dax says about Klingon honor --- we see soldiers kamikazeing themselves even though they know Gowron is dishonorable and essentially a child.

But Gowron is at the top, and we under the top must obey without reason.

And so this sickness infects society --- the pretense of reason, the pretense of honor --- and kills people.

Therefore the Barclays and Ezris of the world are needed to counterbalance society's own insanity, disobedience is critical to wellbeing.

Barclay is a true hero.

Reg Barclay tries to establish contact with Voyager and encounters resistance from the Starfleet chain of command.

Barclay and Deanna Troi are the main focus as he fights to get his idea recognised and suffers multiple setbacks that require the emotional support of his Betazoid friend.

The plot is somewhat frustrating, but when we conclude, there is a particularly uplifting feel-good moment worth all the effort to reach.

Dwight Schultz is as howlingly mad as ever playing a man who is either going insane or on his way to greatness. It's nice to see Marina Sirtis, but you feel she's there to hook the TNG fans.

This is an interesting perspective on Voyager's predicament from the other side of the galaxy, with one word of warning: see my review's title.

Barclay from TNG is trying to contact voyager using his theory of micro singularities to form 2 way instantaneous audio. The episode gets going after the scenes with him and Troy (also from TNG) so I advise to keep going. She's acting as a councillor and friend to him to get him to open up as he recounts the main events of the episode after the fact.

Now we all who have seen TNG know what Barclay is like, a physics genius but somewhere on the spectrum and not able to maintain social relationships well. If he annoys you he annoys you, maybe skip to about half way through and you'll get all the really good stuff.

The end though.......

This one literally had me choking up at the end, lump in throat and tears in eyes. Shows don't do that to me often :') Admiral Paris is a great character I hope I see more of him but kinda doubt it lol