Geordi has a problem. That problem is Lieutenant Barclay (Dwight Schultz). Recently transferred to Enteprise with a strong recommendation from his previous commander, Barclay is not fitting in. He is always nervous and always late to his duties. "He never does his best work," Geordi complains. "He just kind of slides by."
Geordi would like nothing better than to transfer the man to another ship. But Picard believes Barclay has potential, and orders the chief engineer to make the man his "project." This may not be the best time for such a project, however, as the Enterprise is developing a fault of its own - one that starts by affecting minor systems, but becomes steadily more serious...
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: Tries to be a fair-minded captain. He looks over Barclay's records, comes to the conclusion that he simply must be a competent engineer, and refuses Geordi's request to take the easy way out by simply transferring him. Instead, he presses Geordi to make Barclay a "personal project," and orders him to put a stop to use of Barclay's unfortunate nickname... which he then unwittingly uses himself at probably the worst possible moment.
Riker: Though he is painted unsympathetically in his impatience toward Barclay, I think it can be useful to look at the situation from Riker's perspective. Barclay's name continuously appears on report. It's not as if he's doing good work but simply failing to fit in socially - Barclay's work appears to be genuinely substandard. Barclay does neglect his duties, something we see multiple times during the episode. As First Officer, he sees that this crew member is a problem, and that point of view is supported by everything we see as well. Still, it is rather amusing to see Riker bristle as his outsized ego is pricked by the dwarf-like Riker Barclay has programmed into the holodeck.
Geordi: Tells Picard that he always believed he could work with anyone, but he cannot work with Barclay. OK, so let me get this straight: An extremely nervous and shy man who is nevertheless competent within his field, and who never shows any individual deliberate disrespect or insubordination (saving all that up for the holodeck)... This is the person Geordi is unable to work with? I'd assume that Geordi has never had to deal with particularly difficult officers before... but The Arsenal of Freedom says otherwise.
In any case, after a push from Guinan and a glimpse at one of Barclay's holodeck programs, Geordi does give Barclay a legitimate chance. Once he gets a glimmer of the personality Barclay hides within his shyness, he becomes a genuine friend, insisting on including him even after Riker has basically written him off.
Troi: As the object of Barclay's fantasies, we see Troi decked out in a variety of outfits, babbling gibberish about being "the goddess of empathy" while alternately swooning or acting as a pretty bit of set dressing. So... not far off "business as usual," then. Real Troi prescribes a fairly basic breathing exercise for Barclay to use to relax, which is enough in itself to send the man fleeing and I'm not sure I blame him. In the holodeck, Troi finds "mini-Riker" rather amusing; more amusing to the viewer, though, is her reaction to "The Goddess of Empathy," in a bit that's very well-played by Marina Sirtis.
Barclay: Dwight Schultz, a reliable character actor who has been both blessed and cursed by being made familiar to most viewers as "Howling Mad" Murdock from The A-Team, is Barclay - a shy engineer who is anything but Howling Mad, though being so for a little while would probably do him no end of good. Schultz is outstanding, keeping Barclay sympathetic even when he genuinely is guilty of shirking his duties. His flashes of confidence, which quickly fade back into shy stammering, show that he does have much to offer if he is allowed to do so. Most of all, the character is recognizable and believable - which, combined with Schultz's moderate name value and strong performance, is likely why Barclay was retained while, for instance, Sonya Gomez was not.
SHUT UP, WESLEY!
Wesley helps the new, socially awkward diagnostic engineer relax and gradually find a way to fit in... by making fun of his name ("Broccoli") which quickly catches on among the crew. As an encore, he directly crushes what little ego the man has at an engineering briefing. What distinguishes this behavior from that of Wesley in Seasons One and Two is that here we're meant to see how aggravating he is, whereas in the early seasons we were generally meant to see him as wonderful.
THOUGHTS
Hollow Pursuits is a rarity among Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes. Not because of any unusual quality (it's a relatively average episode), but because of its point of view. No matter how much better-characterized the Enterprise D crew are now than at the series' beginning, there's no getting around this: These characters are smug. They are smug on a massive level, as they travel in their giant flying Smugmobile, carrying a surplus of Smug to all the Smug-Deprived corners of the universe.
What's refreshing about Hollow Pursuits is that writer Sally Caves, in her first script for the series, actually recognizes this. Instead of trying to downplay this character liability, she actually turns it into one of the episode's central building blocks. In showing the crew's impatience for Barclay's failure to "fit in," Caves shines a spotlight on some of the more unlikable characteristics of our heroes - though this being a Star Trek episode, the script can only go so far in that direction.
The subplot, in which the ship is put into jeopardy only for Barclay to inevitably be the one to save the day at the end, feels a bit tacked on, though I doubt this would have been a saleable episode without some element of external threat. The Barclay material is far more authentic, interesting, and heartfelt. His holodeck escapes are genuinely amusing. I can't quite decide whether I prefer the teaser, in which he tells Geordi and Riker exactly what he (and sometimes, we) think about them, or the "shrunken Riker" bit later in the episode, complete with the real Riker's reaction to his diminutive counterpart.
The episode has a terrific closing, as Barclay orders the computer to erase all of his holodeck programs. Then he pauses and adds, with a wonderful facial expression: "Except Program 9." So nice to see that, long before Quark and his holosuites were introduced, someone in the Star Trek universe actually used the holodeck properly.
Overall Rating: 7/10.
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