1.11 The Big Goodbye

Rating: 2.5

To relax before a very stressful encounter with the insect-race Herada, Picard role-plays on the holodeck as the 1940 private eye Dixon Hill – but a Herada probe causes the holodeck safeties to stop functioning, and the game becomes real.

Comments

This is very reminiscent of the TOS episode A Piece of the Action. It’s an improvement in some ways, since the action is more believable on a holodeck and less believable that a planet could develop like the one in the TOS episode.

Fortunately, Yar’s hair has returned to normal in this episode. Wesley, however, is still wearing his ‘Lost in Space’ outfit, a one-piece gray suit with stripes across the top.

Well, Wesley saves the ship again. This time, Geordi allows him to perform diagnostics on the holodeck, rather than performing them himself.

Nits

One of the detectives tells Data, "Keep your nose clean", and Data looks puzzled, then takes him literally and checks his nose for dirt. Yet, in the very next scene, Data is talking in a funny gangster accent and spouting colloquialisms from 1940s detective novels!

Memorable Moments

•    When Picard, Data, and Whelan enter the holodeck, the view back through the gateway into the ship is cool.

•    Crusher is given a stick of gum by a lecherous policeman – she promptly swallows it, since she doesn’t know she is supposed to chew it.

•    The disappointed looks on the faces of Crusher and Picard when Data and Whelan want to accompany them to see Dixon’s office.

Quotable Quotes

"I must say, you wear it well!"
– Picard to Crusher, when he sees her dressed up in 1940s period clothing.

"Mr. LaForge, step on it."
- Picard’s new alternative to ‘Engage’