Like Vash, I didn't think Moriarty deserved a follow up either. It's another of the "holodeck" episodes which, although lovable for the most part, aren't my favorites. Another holodeck character brought to life and another scenario of the Enterprise being controlled from the holodeck. But it's actually not a bad episode. It's an effort at improving on the earlier episode, and every time they did that it ended up being a good thing on the whole. There's not as much drama as "Elementary, Dear Data" and the mystery is better employing some nice reality-bending twists.
Geordi and Data are playing in the Sherlock Holmes holodeck program again. They've reached the climax where Data unveils the perpetrator by revealing the fact that he's left handed... except the character catches the matchbox that Data throws at him in surprise with his right hand. Geordi notes that the program is buggy and even the would-be murderer has a laugh at the way "Sherlock's" deduction goes flat. So they freeze the program and call for Barclay to come look at it. Barclay was brought into the episode because they wanted someone who wasn't familiar with the events of Elementary, Dear Data. At this point they didn't have any other options... O'Brien and Keiko were on DS9 and this definitely wasn't something that Ensign Ro or Nurse Ogawa would fit into. They weren't thinking it at the time, but Barclay is actually the perfect character to have hanging around for holodeck weirdness. And, as the trivia states, nobody could've delivered the last line quite like him. Geordi and Data run into Barclay after they save and exit the program. Barclay is "on his meds"so to speak in this episode; not as anxious or nervous, at least not yet. He thinks he knows what the problem is and goes to work on the arch calling up all files involving Sherlock Holmes. He finds a file in the protected memory and when he runs it Moriarty appears. This was one of the longest opening scenes. First Barclay talks to Moriarty as though he's just a program, but then characteristically freaks out a little when Moriarty asks for Captain Picard personally, is aware of the fact that he's a holographic character and is upset that Picard had left him there so long, suspecting that he never intended to come back. He doesn't know how to deal with the situation and after assuring Moriarty that he won't be able to step out of the holodeck, he stores him away once more to go get Picard. After Barclay leaves, Moriarty appears again on his own with a conniving grin on his face.
The secondary story is that the Enterprise is going to observe two big gas planets colliding to form a star. This provides the motivation to take care of things in a timely fashion since they can't be too close when this happens. Barclay retrieves Data and Picard and takes them to the holodeck to speak to Moriarty. Picard tries to explain that they've turned over the case of how he became self aware and finding a solution to his limited existence on the holodeck to the best scientists in Starfleet. But Moriarty is angry and feels like he's been shelved in favor of things considered more important than him. Picard is genuinely grieved to discover that he'd felt the passage of time and can understand why he regards the holodeck as a prison, but he insists that nothing can be done. As proof he picks up a book and throws it at the opened door of the holodeck and it vanishes on contact. (And that's how it should've happened in The Big Goodbye; another improvement, small in inconsequential as it may seem.) But Moriarty counters with the supposition that because he's self aware, he can have substance by sheer willpower alone and shocks them by stepping into the corridor out of the holodeck. Data calls for security prompting Moriarty to comment that police men look the same in every century, and he has a humorous point. The pacing of the episode is very nicely executed and small pinches of comedy like that keep the viewer from pondering the science fiction that is always dodgy when it comes to the holodeck episodes. With the security officers and Geordi in tow, they take him to sick bay where Dr. Crusher declares him to be perfectly normal apart from his DNA being a little unusual, with no loss of molecular cohesion. Moriarty then asks Picard if they can go "above board" which puts everyone at a loss for words since they're not on a sea faring vessel. Now, this seems like a continuity error. I could've sworn in Elementary, Dear Data when Moriarty discovers that he's on a ship called Enterprise and even has a picture of it that he knew he was in a "sky ship" of some kind, but I can't remember so I could be wrong about that.
So Moriarty is awed by the stars when Picard takes him to Ten Forward to show him that he's in a star ship drifting through the heavens. Moriarty's countenance changes and he becomes excited, happy, and anxious to learn all he can and live in this world. Picard tactfully brings up the fact that criminal behavior isn't acceptable in this century either, but Moriarty claims that he was only a criminal because he was written to be so. He confides to Picard that he's changed and even created a love for himself, the Countess Regina Barthalomew, and brought her to self awareness in the same way that he was. He begs that she be allowed to join him. They hold a staff meeting to discuss this and since nobody can figure out how Moriarty has managed to leave the holodeck to begin with, they don't want to experiment on another character. Of course, being self aware she should be able to just walk out like he did, right? Sorry, I can't stop myself from trying to pick apart holodeck episodes. Picard tells Moriarty of their decision and hopes to assuage his anger by using his love and concern for the Countess to reason out why they need to wait. Of course, even though Moriarty doesn't think he's a criminal anymore, he doesn't know any other way to act and he's only been frustrated in his years of confinement on the holodeck. The Enterprise approaches the planets they're studying and Riker calls for probes to be launched. The computer doesn't respond and Moriarty comes out claiming to have taken control of the computer. He won't listen to the fact that they are in danger by being too close to these planets and refuses to release the computer until they make his desires their top priority. They wonder what would happen if they tried to transport an object out of the holodeck and determine that it wouldn't work because there's nothing to lock onto. So Barclay suggests the pattern enhancers while Picard questions Geordi as to how Moriarty gained control of the computer. He says that he managed to override security lockouts because he's a genius in any century. That part is consistent with the way the Moriarty character was created - to be able to outsmart Data specifically, therefore he could pick up on ship's operations quickly. Barclay takes the pattern enhancers to the holodeck where he meets the Countess and once more has to deal with the uncomfortable fact that she, like Moriarty, understands what he's doing there and what the pattern enhancers are for.
Then the episode gets a little movement going on as several things happen in succession that sheds some light on the mystery of Moriarty's ability to move freely about the ship. He comes back to the holodeck as Barclay is getting ready to transport a chair off the holodeck. It should've worked but it didn't and when Data tries to study the transporter logs, the record of the attempt isn't there. As if it never happened. Then in engineering, Geordi thinks he has a way for Picard to reenter his command codes to gain control of the computer. That should work as well, but doesn't and now you see the wheels in Data's head begin to turn. He surprises Geordi by tossing a small tool to him which he catches with his left hand. This is enough for him to present a theory to Picard as to how Moriarty was able to leave the holodeck. The theory is that he never did leave and that the entire Enterprise is a holodeck simulation that Moriarty designed to trick Picard into giving him his command codes. He goes through his deductive reasoning citing the transporter logs that had no data because there was no precedent for transporting objects off the holodeck in real life and the fact that Geordi is right handed which indicated that the program has a similar glitch to their Holmes program from the beginning. He also throws his com badge at the warp core which makes the grid lines of the holodeck appear briefly and goes on to suggest that the only real people in this simulation are himself, Picard, and Barclay since they were the only ones in the holodeck when it started. Picard suspects that they're being held hostage to make demands on Riker to find a way for him to leave the holodeck, which is indeed what's happening at this moment. And Picard gets an idea of how to give Moriarty what he wants. In the real world, Moriarty is explaining to Riker the reasoning that's being used by the crew in the simulation he has Picard and the others trapped in to help research how to get him off the holodeck for real. They try to tell him that it wouldn't work for real since the transporters in his simulation aren't real. But Moriarty raises the core temperature as a demonstration of power, so Riker tells Geordi to work on it anyway.
Back in the simulation Picard goes to the Countess to appeal to her more sensible nature. He tells her the way they can make the transporters work by uncoupling a compensator on the transporter that may allow holographic matter to reform normally outside of the holodeck without disintegrating while asking her to persuade Moriarty into giving him back control of the ship before they attempt it. She's not evil like Moriarty but she is very smart like he is and is suspicious of Picard's motivations. However, she promises to try. As they try to break into the holodeck back on the real bridge of the Enterprise, the Countess tries to convince Moriarty to release the computer back to Picard. He's naturally worried that once Picard has control back he'll store him back in the holodeck and never let him out again. But after the Countess tells him Picard's plan he decides to do it himself while he still has the ship hostage to guarantee that it gets done. He contacts Riker through the arch and demands that he uncouples the compensator on the transporter that Piard told the countess about. Their excitement and joy at leaving brims up again as Riker transports them out of the holodeck. Moriarty still refuses to release the computer until he is in a shuttlecraft and headed for the nearest friendly inhabited planet. So Riker arranges it and they leave the shuttle bay, breathless with the wonder of the heavens around them. From the shuttle Moriarty releases the computer of the Enterprise to Riker while he and his love fly away in total bliss. Back in the shuttle bay, Picard enters and orders that the program called Picard Delta One be stopped. Then, what you think is the real Riker and Worf watching the shuttle depart disappear and the shuttle bay turns into an empty holodeck grid. He's used Moriarty's false reality trick on him. He leaves this holodeck and meets Barclay and Data in a corridor. Since Picard has control of the computer again he can now end Moriarty's Enterprise simulation and the corridor they are standing in turns into the real holodeck grid and Barclay removes a cube from the computer as they go back to the real bridge.
After telling the real Riker what they did, he explains that Moriarty's program is still running inside the cube that Barclay is holding and that it will run uninterrupted. Barclay puts it in a portable case that contains enough memory for them to live a lifetime exploring the universe. So, observes Troi, in a way he was able to give them what they wanted. Picard then makes a tongue-in-cheek comment that perhaps their own reality is in a box being observed on a table by someone else, which is a not so subtle joke that we are watching them on television. And then after everyone leaves, Barclay calls for the computer to end program one more time just to make sure it isn't all an illusion. It's true - only Barclay could've delivered that line with any credibility. Of course, nothing happens and he walks away relieved that it's all over.
It's little things like the end that make it a worthwhile episode. And the simulation within a simulation was a nice twist that made it interesting even if holodeck science fiction isn't your thing. Later on, in Voyager, they would bring the holographic Doctor to life and discover a way of giving him the ability to move freely on the ship. That's when it started getting out of hand for me with holographic human rights stories. This was an acceptable follow up to Elementary Dear Data because it treated the concept of a holodeck character coming to life like it should've been treated. I think they should've just let the idea be after that, although they brought a lounge singer to life on DS9 as well. But, that's why we love Star Trek. Four stars.
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