Keepsake by: Simon Furman with art by: John Higgins and letters by: Zed

 

“Keepsake” is written by: Simon Furman with art by: John Higgins, and lettering by: Zed (a pseudonym for Richard Starkings).  It was released in Doctor Who Magazine issue 140 (August 1988) and is reprinted in its original form in Doctor Who: A Cold Day in Hell! by Panini Books.

 

“Keepsake” is a story that exists.  It’s yet another installment of the Doctor Who Magazine comics that limits itself to telling an eight page story and this time there isn’t actually enough story for about anything.  Outside of Doctor Who Magazine, Marvel UK was in the middle of a multi book crossover involving the character Death’s Head, something that Doctor Who did participate in with “The Crossroads of Time”.  “Keepsake” is on the margins, introducing the title character and reading more like a backdoor pilot for the larger series more than anything of Doctor Who.  The issues of many Seventh Doctor comics are present here, the Doctor doesn’t read as the Doctor.  He reads just as generic male character that could easily be drawn over as a different person outside of the TARDIS appearing in one panel on the final page.  The Doctor drops bombs on a population to scare them which is a particularly out of character moment, even for the Seventh Doctor.  The argument could be made that since this is a story not from the Doctor’s perspective there is a sense of unreliability, but I think that might be giving Simon Furman too much credit for what he is doing.

 

Keepsake the character is also not strongly drawn in the eight pages.  He is a merchant with a pet vulture which is clearly meant to be a more striking image.  He is introduced with hints at depression, something that is cured by meeting an unnamed medic which becomes the object of his sexual desire.  He is rewarded by the end of the story with a relationship, Furman making the only female character of this story an unnamed love interest.  But then again, this isn’t so much a story with characters but ciphers for the incredibly light plot to happen within.  That plot is particularly pro-colonialist, the natives on the planet Ryos are portrayed as savages and needing to be scared into submission as they kill survivors of a crash.  This murder isn’t actually depicted, just hinted at through dialogue, and there are no native characters in “Keepsake”.  At the very least John Higgins’ art is nice, he is one of the stronger artists and the style is reminiscent of Dave Gibbons’ early work on the strip.

 

Overall, “Keepsake” is just another weak Doctor Who Magazine strip to add to the pile.  There’s potential in the plot but Furman doesn’t write a Doctor Who story, instead it reads like a particularly generic piece of military science fiction across eight pages of ultimately nothing.  3/10.

Doctor Who and the Pescatons by: Victor Pemberton and directed by: Don Norman

 

Doctor Who and the Pescatons stars Tom Baker as the Doctor and Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith with Bill Mitchell as the Pescatons.  It was written by: Victor Pemberton, directed by: Don Norman, and was released by Argo Records in July 1976.

 

Doctor Who and the Pescatons is an oddity.  It is one of the earliest examples of performed Doctor Who released to the home media market after a vinyl release of “The Planet of Decision”, the sixth episode of The Chase.  Other television stories obviously would have been novelized at this point, plus there were original short stories in comic strips in TV Action or Countdown and in the annuals.  Technically there was Doctor Who and the Invasion from Space as the first original novel, and there were two stageplays at various points in The Curse of the Daleks and Doctor Who and the Seven Keys to Doomsday.  But Doctor Who and the Pescatons is something entirely different, it is an original Doctor Who story featuring the cast of the show at the time reprising their roles.  Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen recorded this in the gap between Season 13 and 14’s production, then releasing it between those season’s broadcast.  It’s a monumental opportunity to launch Doctor Who on audio and yet it didn’t.  There would be scant audio releases after this: the follow-up would arguably be Exploration Earth: The Time Machine which was an educational program with Baker and Sladen.  Baker would return to audio in 1979 to narrate a cutdown version of Genesis of the Daleks.  1986 would see another attempt with Slipback while the mid-1990s would pave the way for Big Finish Productions with the BBC Radio dramas The Paradise of Death and The Ghosts of N-Space both staring Sladen and Jon Pertwee.  And yet, despite it being an oddity Doctor Who and the Pescatons has had several releases since it’s original vinyl: modern repressings as well as cassette, CD, and digital releases (plus featuring on the Season 14 Blu-ray release), it’s a story that never really faded into obscurity.

 

As a story Doctor Who and the Pescatons is nothing special.  Victor Pemberton was tapped to write the script, and you can tell that he is drawing on Fury from the Deep for the premise as several scenes recall that earlier story from discovering seaweed aliens on a beach to the conclusion involving the use of sound to defeat the monsters.  What it lacks is the horrific, claustrophobic atmosphere and the many layered characters to make up the tale leaving Doctor Who and the Pescaton’s plot strictly lacking.  Half of the production is narrated by Tom Baker in character as the Doctor between more dramatic scenes between the Doctor and Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith.  It’s clear that the budget for this story only extended to three actors, Bill Mitchell playing all the Pescatons through mostly vocal effects if they aren’t the leader Zor.  It’s presented as two episodes, each about the length of a shorter television installment to fit on one side of a vinyl record.  Structurally this should work, it conforms to the television series after all, but it struggles to balance events being narrated and being dramatically presented.  Pemberton’s story being fairly derivative is a problem, but it’s exacerbated by how flimsy the Pescatons are as a threat.  Sure, this is a story marketed as a younger audience, but so is Doctor Who on television and that’s allowed to present alien races as complex.  Doctor Who and the Pescatons has the Doctor with the authority of the hero, claim the Pescatons are inherently an evil race of aliens and deserve to die.  The second episode’s climax involves the Doctor tricking Zor into traveling back to Pesca, destroying himself and his planet with a sonic wave.  This is a genocide and unlike say The Seeds of Death where the Ice Warrior fleet is thrown into the sun, the Doctor does this with joy because the Pescatons are evil.  It’s particularly out of character for the Doctor who also plays the flute in Doctor Who and the Pescatons because Pemberton remembers Patrick Troughton playing the recorder.  The climax also just kind of happens, the narration mentions other characters being involved but they cannot appear because there is only enough budget for three actors.  The sound design is also particularly primitive.  It’s likely director Don Norman responsible for the sound design, the score feels like discount Paddy Kingsland or Roger Limb and it’s fine enough, just unremarkable.

 

Overall, at its best Doctor Who and the Pescatons is unremarkable.  Victor Pemberton knows how to write good drama and good characters, but his script reads like a writer held back by the format of only two episodes on a single vinyl record.  What tips it into the realm of a bad Doctor Who story is that the Doctor is out of character and poor Sarah Jane Smith is given no character, just generic receiver of the Doctor’s dialogue.  4/10.

Sarek by: Peter S. Beagle from an unpublished story by: Marc Cushman and Jake Jacobs and directed by: Les Landau

 

“Sarek” is written and from a story by: Peter S. Beagle, from an unpublished story by: Marc Cushman and Jake Jacobs, and is directed by: Les Landau.  It was produced under production code 171, was the 23^rd episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3, the 71^st episode overall, and was broadcast on May 14, 1990.

 

“Journey to Babel” is D.C. Fontana’s Star Trek masterpiece, along with “Amok Time” it is the episode to flesh out who the Vulcans are and who Spock is as a person.  “Journey to Babel” introduces Spock’s parents, Sarek, played by Mark Lenard, and Amanda Grayson, Sarek being the full Vulcan, emotionally distant father of Spock.  Sarek as a character would appear in an episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series and in four of the six Star Trek films, three at the time of this episode.  “Sarek” brings back Mark Lenard as Sarek to Star Trek: The Next Generation for an episode that works as the perfect parallel to that first appearance in “Journey to Babel”.  The setups are similar: diplomatic missions to enter trade relations between the Federation and a civilization when something goes wrong with deep connections to Vulcan, implicating Sarek.  “Journey to Babel” is special because it explores how Sarek as a character does actually care for his son and the sacrifice Spock has to make which brings them closer and the love he has for his wife.  “Sarek” is interesting because Spock is nowhere to be found, for good reason as Star Trek: The Next Generation should not be reliant on the original series which is partially responsible for the issues of the first two seasons.  Instead, “Sarek” is an episode that is primarily concerned with examining aging gracefully and stepping out of the limelight.

 

The premise is that the negotiations with the Legarans will be ambassador Sarek’s last duty as an ambassador, he will be retiring after this mission with his second wife Perrin, played by Joanna Miles.  The conflict of the episode is also about aging, after several crew members become agitated and coming to blows the hypothesis Picard and Crusher come to is that Sarek is suffering from a rare, degenerative disease.  He is losing control of his emotions and his innate empathic abilities as a Vulcan are destabilizing the emotions of those around him.  The conflict comes from the crew having to first uncover why the crew is getting angry, allowing for several scenes where our main cast are allowed to shout at each other in releases of emotion, and then convince Sarek that he has this disease.  What dramatically enhances the premise of “Sarek” is that it can be read as a tribute to Gene Roddenberry whose health at the time was declining.  The episode’s conclusion, Picard participating in a mind meld and taking on Sarek’s pain, insecurities, and regrets.  This adds an extra layer of humanization as Patrick Stewart essentially plays Sarek for a brief moment.

 

“Sarek” is written by Peter S. Beagle, an author most well known for The Last Unicorn, and he brings a particularly human element to Star Trek: The Next Generation.  This is not an episode with an A/B-plot structure, Sarek’s story driving everything, but it does devote several scenes to the smaller emotions of the side characters.  Wesley Crusher gets to be excited for a date and just about every character is allowed at least one emotional freakout, even O’Brien who has over the course of this season become this regular presence in the transporter room.  This aspect of the story is integral to making Sarek’s emotional arc actually work because Beagle in many ways is celebrating the breath of humanity.  The most interesting scene in the story is actually the opening conversation between Picard and Riker, because it’s two men discussing a living legend.  Stewart and Jonathan Frakes play the scene, a fairly normal scene of mostly expository dialogue, as in complete adoration.  The image of the stoic Captain John-Luc Picard being far too excited to meet Sarek as a child that just adds so much to who Picard is as a person.  Beagle’s script also is handling delicate matters quite well.  Bendii syndrome metaphorically reflects conditions like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease within the episode, and the script is one of the few times Star Trek hasn’t completely demonized these sorts of health issues.  Beagle does not make Sarek uncapable because of his condition, despite it he is still himself and his biggest problems are his aides keeping his own health issues from him in attempts to preserve his legacy and allow him to continue his work.  It’s not his wife who is causing him issues, his own insecurities are doing that by making him believe he does not love her though Joanna Miles plays Perrin as a woman deeply in love and deeply loved.   It is telling that the tip off that something wrong with Sarek is not anger, it is tears at a string quartet of Mozart’s performed in Sarek’s honor.

 

The script isn’t the only thing that makes “Sarek” as an episode work so well.  Les Landau at this point has directed several episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but “Sarek” is one where his style shines in particular.  Take the opening expository scene for instance, it’s one long tracking shot as they are walking to the transporter room.  While it does not add character like some other examples, the motion helps the forward momentum of the exposition before we can meet Sarek and begin the episode proper.  When Data is discussing Sarek’s condition with his aide Sakkath, played by Rocco Sisto, the camera is placed in a way to partially obscure the scene which feels closer to a piece of film direction over an episode of television.  It adds to the atmosphere and primes the viewer to see the duplicitous and shadowy nature of Sakkath’s actions while placing Data in the light, representing the correct viewpoint.  The use of shadows then becomes representative of the anguish Sarek’s condition has caused and of what the mind meld with Picard does at the climax.  While in negotiations Sarek is lit in a positive light, representing the return to his faculties, when we cut to Picard suffering he is lit equally in shadows and in uncomfortable close up to enhance the anguish of Stewart’s performance.  These are all particularly small details, they are all within the confines of a busy television schedule, but Landau is quickly becoming one of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s directors to really watch out for as interesting despite directing quite a few episodes per season.

 

Overall, “Sarek” has a premise that could easily fall into the trap of nostalgia, but giving it to a writer like Peter S. Beagle means it becomes a very human story of aging and moving into late stages of ones life with grace.  It’s an episode that does not demonize the elderly, something that Star Trek has had difficulty with in the past, instead looking at what it all means to live life and confront those insecurities.  The script and direction are perfect, enhancing some of the best performances from the cast, even the cast members who are given only small roles in the episode.  It’s perfect.  10/10.

The Infinity Race by: Simon Messingham

 

There are indications that The Infinity Race should be a novel catered to me.  Simon Messingham’s second and final Eighth Doctor Adventure takes some of its inspiration from Barbara Clegg’s Enlightement, a personal favorite, and reads in places as a tribute to certain aspects of fantasy role playing games of the time.  Sadly, referencing things that a reader may like is not the same as writing a compelling narrative.  To have a compelling narrative, first you must have a narrative that maintains itself through the length of the story being told, something that Messingham just does not do.  The Infinity Race is a story that flits from plot point to plot point, not being content with the initial setup of a regatta set on a distant ocean planet of “friction-nullifying light water” in a parallel universe.  The parallel universe aspect of the novel is the weakest plot point, it suffers from Messingham not using any aspects of a parallel universe story.  The fate of humanity in this future is different, however with the nature of Doctor Who as a franchise that does not actually mean anything.  Instead of using it to make any connections to our three protagonists, or even to Sabbath, Messingham keeps it largely a background detail behind everything.  That also means that because this is one of many parallel universes there is a sense that the supporting characters of The Infinity Race don’t actually matter.  When Messingham finds himself almost bored of the regatta plot, he introduces the Warlocks (later Warlock) of Demigest, humans changed by a completely different planet that are on Selonart, that is the ocean planet of the novel, because they are essentially Sabbath’s MacGuffin.  This plot leads to one of the few interesting scenes for the Doctor here, Messingham doing a decent job of playing with the Eighth Doctor’s harsher morality, but outside of that he is a background player in events.

 

The scenes where Sabbath does appear, largely contained to the final third of the novel, are clearly the one regular character Messingham enjoys writing for.  When Sabbath is on page there is immediately this sinister charm added into the scenes, something that has become a standard in the Eighth Doctor Adventures now that his own arc is taking the forefront, but he just breathes some life into an otherwise lifeless book.  His plan here is nothing special, it almost feels as if Messingham substituted Sabbath for a different, possibly original villain of the novel and changed it ever so slightly to fit Sabbath when the commission confirmed where it would be placed in the range of novels.

 

The changing characterization to fit is also what plagues Fitz and Anji as companions.  Because the parallel universe plot thread is not really exploring many of the side characters (although Bloom is at least intriguing and part of me wonders if the theme with the supporting characters is naming them after playwrights and literary critics), it is imperative for Fitz and Anji to at least work.  Messingham at least makes the attempt of getting into their heads by alternating there perspectives at several points.  This should be a slam dunk for exploring where their mindsets are, and Anji’s perspective gets closest to this aim, however Messingham is not content from being in their perspective.  Instead, The Infinity Race is a novel that attempts to change from third person limited to first person limited and back again.  This does not work.  The first person segments are Fitz and Anji separately, but the way Messingham writes their internal narration is this similar over the top style of breaking the fourth wall.  This has a knock on effect of making the prose itself clunky throughout, meaning that a story already light on plot is quite difficult to actually get through.  By the time you get to the conclusion, again where things improve by the presence of Sabbath, you’re left with nothing but this empty feeling that nothing mattered and you took way to long to get to nothing mattering.

 

Overall, The Infinity Race is another of Simon Messingham’s missteps as a novelist.  Its best moments are building on the work of others, mainly the characterization of Sabbath as written by Lawrence Miles, Justin Richards, and Lloyd Rose specifically and Barbara Clegg’s contribution to Doctor Who.  Everything else about it feels almost retro fitted into the current arc and characters without really succeeding.  The characters are all one-note outside of a few select moments and there isn’t much here to really grasp onto.  At least it’s not offensively bad, but it’s a novel that is difficult to get through because of a lack of focus.  3/10.

The Most Toys by: Shari Goodhartz and directed by: Timothy Bond

 

“The Most Toys” is written by: Shari Goodhartz and is directed by: Timothy Bond.  It was produced under production code 170, was the 22^nd episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3, the 70^th episode overall, and was broadcast on May 7, 1990.

 

The ending of “The Most Toys” is where the episode is let down by interference from the production team.  It is the final thing the audience is left with and clearly meant to be part of the episode’s thesis, but is altered in a way that poorly attempts ambiguity.  The premise of the episode is that Data is kidnapped by Kivas Fajo, played by Saul Rubinek, because he is the only sentient android in existence.  The Enterprise thinks him dead in an explosion and Fojo treats him as an object to be shown off to his very rich and powerful friends.  The conflict is this game of quiet resistance Data puts up, only breaking not when his life is threatened but the lives of those happily working for Fojo.  Data’s programming of course will only let him commit acts of violence in self-defense, and when there is a clear and present danger.  The climax of the episode has Fajo happily kill his partner, a woman he is implied to have groomed for 14 years.  Data gets the gun in his hands and is transported away right as it is pointed at Fajo.  The trouble here is that the episode includes a line that Data did in fact fire the gun, only lampshaded as it possibly being the transporter that fired the gun.  Fojo is taken into custody and the final line of the episode is Data essentially telling him point blank he feels nothing now that the roles are reversed, for he is an android.  Now, the intent of this line is to be dripping with sarcasm and irony, Shari Goodhartz’s script to this point has been using the insistence that Data is an android to be dehumanizing.  He could not possibly have meaningful emotions or experiences, something that Fojo never comes to learn, importantly.  The last line is meant to be read as incredibly dark, Data is not just an android and he can make his own decisions.  He was going to kill Fajo, but adding the lampshade of it is just a transporter malfunction, shot in a way so we don’t see a trigger being pulled and it being deliberately added, undercuts this.

 

It does not tank the episode, but it does weaken it.  Brent Spiner is carrying the episode on his back as Data, something that should not be a surprise at this point, but he makes Data understand exactly how to resist within the parameters of the programming.  The most effective scene is Data refusing to even move when Fojo is showing him off to an old friend, knowing that despite Fojo insisting he is just part of his collection, if Fajo wants a thing he should get a thing and not a person.  It’s this great little bit of resistance that is enough to push Fajo into punishing violence, Data is stripped of his uniform forcefully by the use of a solvent which in and of itself is a violent act.  Data is patient, he understands that there is going to be a mistake and he is going to make it out at some point.  Goodhartz knows how to balance this idea that Data is both the kindest member of the Enterprise crew, and a genuinely terrifying person in many respects.  The same can be said about director Timothy Bond, often shooting Spiner as Data at this incredibly even level that just feels off intentionally in several shots of the episode.  He is effectively immortal, will outlive Fajo if it comes to it but also does not blame his crewmates for not coming to rescue him.  He knows that the lie was set up so that they believe he is truly dead.

 

The plot on the Enterprise is responding to the environmental disaster, something revealed to be part of Fajo’s plan to kidnap Data, is one that works well to focus on the characters.  The crew is dealing with their grief, even Captain Picard calls Worf “Data” at one point as it has been decided he will take over Data’s duties.  LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge gets the best material, Geordi and Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher being tasked with going through Data’s personal items.  That scene in particular is effective at exploring Data’s own sentimentality and just how his death is one of grief.  There’s even a reflection on the fact that Data is not the only crew member to have died in the line of duty, Michael Dorn as Worf does remember his previous promotion being from the death of Tasha Yar.  Geordi is the one insistent that something is wrong, there is a slight mistake in Fajo not having Data communicate that he was taking the shuttle back to the Enterprise, but that mistake is too small to notice and the actual issue at hand is saving a planet.  The transport of an unstable mineral adds to the heightened tension and the eventual logical deduction comes at long enough time for the audience to realize the length of time Data has been in captivity.  The unravelling of the plan is a great sequence and it’s surprising that there is actually a set made for the scene set at the contaminated water source.   Sure it’s not one of the most memorable Star Trek planets, but it is enough to notice how Star Trek: The Next Generation is growing in terms of budget and capability, especially compared with the previous season which in this episode slot was the clip show finale “Shades of Grey”.

 

Overall, “The Most Toys” despite taking its title from one of the weirdest sources, a quote from a millionaire vaguely about the joys of collecting, and by undercutting itself with this unnecessary ambiguity, it’s still a great episode.  It’s an episode that just fires on all cylinders in the character drama and should be applauded for writing a B-plot that doesn’t actually have any conflict outside of characters coming to terms with grief.  The entire cast has each their moment to shine even if this is Brent Spiner as Data’s show.  Timothy Bond also directs to really wring the emotions out of the episode despite being stylistically often simple.  8/10.

Culture Shock! by: Grant Morrison with art by: Bryan Hitch and letters by: Zed

 

“Culture Shock!” is written by: Grant Morrison with art by: Bryan Hitch, and lettering by: Zed (a pseudonym for Richard Starkings).  It was released in Doctor Who Magazine issue 139 (July 1988) and is reprinted in its original form in Doctor Who: A Cold Day in Hell! by Panini Books.

 

Leave it to Grant Morrison to provide the first good Seventh Doctor comic story.  Their final work on Doctor Who is “Culture Shock!”, a single issue comic story that has the biggest issue of being only eight pages long.  The idea of telling a story from a cell culture that is an organism in symbiosis is actually a great one.  This is a premise that could not be done on television for Doctor Who for obvious budgetary reasons, even with the resources of the revival, but the format of a comic strip means the sky is the limit.  Bryan Hitch is on art duties for this script and his style does mean that the organism is one that looks fantastic, especially since half of the story is just from this perspective.  The big problem with “Culture Shock!” is that it’s too short to do too much interesting as note.  The twist is that the culture is one attacked by the virus and the Doctor just so happens to have an antiviral on his person so it can continue living, the Doctor even helping it get to the ocean.  The twist feels like it could have been a cliffhanger that could pivot to the Doctor finding a solution in a second or even third installment, but Morrison keeps it brief.

 

The Doctor, however, is a character that Grant Morrison has just latched onto in an interesting way.  “Culture Shock!” was released before Season 25 began broadcasting, but Morrison latches onto the idea that the Seventh Doctor is a tired incarnation of the character.  He has been traveling a long time, seen practically everything that he could possibly have wanted to see and is briefly contemplating stopping everything and going back to Gallifrey.  It’s almost Morrison voicing their complaints with the state of the show, because it is about to be cancelled in two years, the Doctor has lost whatever companion he had been traveling with.  Yet, “Culture Shock!” ends with the Doctor going off to have more adventures because he was shocked by something new.  It’s an interesting outlook to take and almost a comment on where Doctor Who Magazine is as well because there is a clear need to give the Seventh Doctor an identity.

 

Overall, “Culture Shock!” isn’t anything special, being held back by being a singular story, but after several dud stories it’s nice to have one with actual ideas behind it and something to say despite it having to just shout it out very quickly.  6/10.

Hollow Pursuits by: Sally Caves and directed by: Cliff Bole

 

“Hollow Pursuits” is written by: Sally Caves and is directed by: Cliff Bole.  It was produced under production code 169, was the 21^st episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3, the 69^th episode overall, and was broadcast on April 30, 1990.

 

“Hollow Pursuits” really should have been titled “Holo-Pursuits” as this is an episode exploring what happens when a crewmember becomes addicted to the fantasies of the holodeck and the consequences therein.  This is a very odd episode in many ways since it’s actually a look at a character with mental health issues, and in exploring mental health issues the episode is actually attempting sympathy towards Barclay, played by Dwight Schultz, an officer who clearly is suffering from some form of anxiety disorder.  He clearly has the knowledge to be a competent crewman and engineer, but struggles with interpersonal communication which in turn leads to harboring resentment towards his colleagues.  The episode does a fairly competent job at positioning Barclay as wrong for falling into the fantasy of the holodeck, there are several sequences where he places his colleagues in roles of villains for him to defeat as well as the rest of the crew regularly giving him the nickname Broccoli.  This is a nickname started by Wesley Crusher, something he is told to stop doing but it spreads even up to Captain Picard who uses it right to Barclay.  Picard is treated as in the wrong for this, it is portrayed as an incredibly awkward faux pas, though Picard doesn’t actually face any consequences.  Schultz’s performance is doing much of the legwork for the episode, because there are some major issues with Sally Caves’ script.  Schultz plays the role very much as well meaning but unable to communicate and it has caused him to become self-isolating.  That self-isolation becomes resentful and clearly wants the respect from his coworkers, but it’s more than that.

 

Barclay as a character is also a man in a television show written in 1990.  As a character, he is explicitly a misogynist: his fantasies specifically prop up his own sense of masculinity as either a strong man or swashbuckling hero while Troi and Crusher are presented as the only women in the fantasies.  Crusher is portrayed in Barclay’s fantasy as a mothering figure specifically to him while Troi is reduced to a sex object.  Now Troi as a sex object is something that Star Trek: The Next Generation struggles with, but here this is an episode that is actually aware that she is being reduced to this.  Troi as ship’s counselor is given material to be sympathetic towards Barclay, until his instability confronts her with her holodeck double which the tells to “muzzle it” with the comments about being a goddess of empathy.  It’s intentionally creepy, Barclay is implied to have rejected Troi’s counselor services when he desperately needs them.  The rest of the regular cast is largely written out of character.  Some of this is possibly down to the perspective of the episode clearly meant to be Barclay’s so the viewer may be seeing them through their eyes, but there are moments where Riker in particular is quite cruel.  He does not get much focus, but throughout there is just this lack of empathy and care that Picard has to call out at points which are off.  Again some of this is also clearly because Barclay is written to be in several ways morally repugnant, the episode proposing it is partially a result of his self-isolation, but the script also does have moments where Barclay is just treated terribly.  Wesley Crusher is responsible for most of them: there is the rather unflattering nickname but also a moment where Wesley just does not let Barclay even get a word in when he is reporting on the engineering issues plaguing the Enterprise.

 

Though the episode is focused on Barclay what helps “Hollow Pursuits” work is that unlike episodes which focus on one-off characters, this is equally an episode about Geordi La Forge having to be Barclay’s superior officer.  Geordi’s plot, the emotional B-plot of the episode because while the conflict is several mini-misadventures that link in the end to a leaking biological sample, the episode really is interested in examining Geordi’s command.  LeVar Burton actually gets his best material of this season (so far) in this episode, playing Geordi as the most understanding of the regular cast behind Picard.  He takes advice from his commanding officers (and Guinan in a particularly great little character moment) to put his dislike and frustrations towards Barclay aside to understand the man and help him work through his issues.  This does have the underlying message involving someone’s personal issues to be other people’s problems, especially when those problems are these biases and bigotries underneath are being placed on the one prominent black member of the crew, but then again this is a show made in 1990 by a mostly white production staff.  Caves’ script is interesting in that it does not at any point really invalidate Geordi’s feelings towards Barclay, even when the climax in the holodeck happens the episode portrays the crew as correct for being disturbed by the fantasy even if they are attempting understanding towards Barclay in equal measure.

 

Overall, “Hollow Pursuits” from the perspective of someone watching over 35 years later actually does play quite well in terms of mental health advocacy.  The biggest stumbles are in a script that mischaracterizes the regulars even with the argument that we are not in the typical perspective during the episode.  Barclay is an interesting character that is played well despite the character lacking much of the charm of a typical character.  Were it made today the nuance would be brought a little more to the forefront while the direction from Cliff Bole would also be more than the serviceable visuals we have.  The discomfort feels intentional at points even if there are some big blunders in portraying that discomfort, though the material for Geordi La Forge is particularly great.  7/10.