Hollow Pursuits is an installment that is just good enough, but doesn’t exactly excel in any particular area. Add in some cringe-worthy mistakes and you have an episode that has all the making for what could have been a true classic but instead ends up being a bit … well … hollow.

This episode centers on Lt. Barclay, a nervous, socially inept engineer. His character is likable enough, and one can certainly understand and even empathize with his lack of self-confidence and social graces. But his fantasy excursions on the holodeck, while occasionally amusing, vary from disturbing to downright offensive.

Instead of using the holodeck for self-reflection and growth, what Barclay does is to recreate the crew and reduce them to little more than derisive characters who are there merely to make him feel better about himself. The end result is that Barclay comes across as a much less sympathetic character.

All of these scenes serve the purpose of furthering the episode’s themes of escapism, addiction and self-confidence. Barclay is clearly a troubled individual, but when presented with the escapism of the holodeck, he becomes an addict and his already tenuous social skills begin to fall apart. The lesson is clear: running away from problems doesn’t fix them, it makes them worse. Unfortunately, we have to sit through Barclay’s disturbing fantasies in order to learn the lesson.

Hollow Pursuits could have been a true classic, but it’s focus on the depravity of Barclay is an issue that brings down the overall quality.

Topics: Barclay, Holodeck
Filed under: TNG Reviews