Faults and shortcomings aside, this is definitely a damn cool episode. From the Holodeck’s 1941 pseudo film-noir setting and story, to seeing Data do his best “gangster” accent, The Big Goodbye does a fantastic job of taking us out of the typical 24th Century mission/bad guy of-the-week story and gives us something, well, sorta different. Of course, the crew are en route to an alien planet, and the Holodeck itself is a 24th Century invention, and its malfunction is what triggers the real crisis for the episode. But this episode gets extra credit for taking us out of the usual Star Trek universe.

The whole “Holodeck malfunctions and crew is now in danger” story will be revisited later in the series, with a much more plausible malfunction and with a more carefully crafted story. That being said, this is our first true introduction to the Holodeck, as well as Captain Picard’s fascination (as hinted at in Lonely Among Us) with Dixon Hill, Private Investigator.

Picard’s enthusiasm for the Holodeck is contagious and he does an decent job of anchoring the episode. Data once again provides some enjoyable humor. And it was nice to see some of the characters (such as Data and Dr. Crusher) playing a “role within a role.” This was nice change of pace. Unfortunately, Dr. Crusher is barely able to register an emotion. And the historian is this episode’s version of the “red shirt” crew member — though he does, presumably, survive.

Additionally, we really don’t get a full exploration of either the Holodeck or the 1941 San Francisco created within it. The surface level story is, ultimately, the episode’s biggest drawback. It’s fun. It does a much better job in providing story variety than, say, Haven. But it never gets to any deeper level. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, however, the episode simply isn’t “fun” enough to make it a true classic.

The Big Goodbye is definitely a good episode and fans of TNG will certainly find many enjoyable moments in it. That being said, there was some obvious room for improvement which prevents it from being a classic.

Topics: Holodeck
Filed under: TNG Reviews