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Hollow Pursuits (TNG episode)
Encyclopedia
"Hollow Pursuits" is the 69th episode of the science fiction
television series Star Trek: The Next Generation
.
fantasy life of a crewman aboard the Federation
Starfleet
starship
USS Enterprise-D
interferes with his ability to deal with malfunctions which threaten the ship.
samples intended for use in combating an epidemic of Correllium fever on Nahmi IV. The transport of the samples is very delicate, and when they find one of the sample containers is leaking, they are forced to destroy it to prevent the contamination of the other samples. LaForge tells Riker he is concerned that one of his engineers, Reginald Barclay
, has been underperforming, and notes that he is late to help with the sample transport. What La Forge does not realize is that Barclay has been in the holodeck
acting in a simulation of other Enterprise crew members, avoiding contact with their real counterparts. La Forge requests that Barclay be transferred from the Enterprise but Picard recommends that La Forge take Barclay as a "pet project".
La Forge works at supporting Barclay as their team works to investigate the failure of unconnected systems around the ship. Picard invites Barclay to a bridge meeting to review the investigation, but slips-up and accidentally calls him "Broccoli", a nickname given to him by the crew. Barclay later returns to the holodeck to seek refuge in the simulated version of the bridge members. In talking to La Forge, Guinan suggests that Barclay is simply imaginative, and that La Forge keep a more open mind towards him. On her advice, La Forge visits Barclay on the holodeck, and discovers the exaggerated simulation of the bridge crew. La Forge suggests Barclay get counseling from Troi, whose counterpart on the holodeck displays clear signs of sexual attraction towards Barclay. Barclay attempts to take the real Troi's advice, but ends the counseling session short and returns the holodeck. La Forge shows Barclay's simulation to Riker and Troi to illustrate the extent of the problem.
Suddenly, the Enterprise mysteriously accelerates to warp speeds, and Riker, La Forge, and Barclay go to Engineering to discover the matter/anti-matter injectors have jammed; the ship will continue to accelerate until its structural integrity collapses unless the injectors are unjammed. The team is unable to come up with any immediate solutions that will work in the limited time they have, but Barclay realizes all the failures they have seen have been connected by a human element: a member of La Forge's Engineering team has been present at each incident. This allows them to reduce the possible contaminates from 15,000 to two; the contamination that has been interfering with the systems is quickly discovered to be Invidium, which was used as part of the Mikulak samples. They are able to quickly repair the injectors, stop the ship, and schedule a trip to a nearby starbase to remove the rest of the Invidium contamination. La Forge commends Barclay for his contribution in saving the ship. Barclay returns one more time to the holodeck, and addresses the simulated bridge crew believing it best he leave them, and then deletes all but one of his holodeck programs.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
.
Overview
In this episode, the HolodeckHolodeck
A holodeck, in the fictional Star Trek universe, is a simulated reality facility located on starships and starbases. The first use of a "holodeck" by that name in the Star Trek universe was in the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Encounter at Farpoint", although a conceptually...
fantasy life of a crewman aboard the Federation
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
Starfleet
Starfleet
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet or the Federation Starfleet is the deep-space exploratory, peacekeeping and military service maintained by the United Federation of Planets . It is the principal means by which the Federation conducts its exploration, defense, diplomacy and research...
starship
Starship
A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
USS Enterprise-D
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
The USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...
interferes with his ability to deal with malfunctions which threaten the ship.
Plot
The Enterprise in the process of transporting Mikulak biological tissueBiological tissue
Tissue is a cellular organizational level intermediate between cells and a complete organism. A tissue is an ensemble of cells, not necessarily identical, but from the same origin, that together carry out a specific function. These are called tissues because of their identical functioning...
samples intended for use in combating an epidemic of Correllium fever on Nahmi IV. The transport of the samples is very delicate, and when they find one of the sample containers is leaking, they are forced to destroy it to prevent the contamination of the other samples. LaForge tells Riker he is concerned that one of his engineers, Reginald Barclay
Reginald Barclay
Lieutenant Reginald Endicott "Broccoli" Barclay III, played by Dwight Schultz, is a recurring character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation...
, has been underperforming, and notes that he is late to help with the sample transport. What La Forge does not realize is that Barclay has been in the holodeck
Holodeck
A holodeck, in the fictional Star Trek universe, is a simulated reality facility located on starships and starbases. The first use of a "holodeck" by that name in the Star Trek universe was in the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Encounter at Farpoint", although a conceptually...
acting in a simulation of other Enterprise crew members, avoiding contact with their real counterparts. La Forge requests that Barclay be transferred from the Enterprise but Picard recommends that La Forge take Barclay as a "pet project".
La Forge works at supporting Barclay as their team works to investigate the failure of unconnected systems around the ship. Picard invites Barclay to a bridge meeting to review the investigation, but slips-up and accidentally calls him "Broccoli", a nickname given to him by the crew. Barclay later returns to the holodeck to seek refuge in the simulated version of the bridge members. In talking to La Forge, Guinan suggests that Barclay is simply imaginative, and that La Forge keep a more open mind towards him. On her advice, La Forge visits Barclay on the holodeck, and discovers the exaggerated simulation of the bridge crew. La Forge suggests Barclay get counseling from Troi, whose counterpart on the holodeck displays clear signs of sexual attraction towards Barclay. Barclay attempts to take the real Troi's advice, but ends the counseling session short and returns the holodeck. La Forge shows Barclay's simulation to Riker and Troi to illustrate the extent of the problem.
Suddenly, the Enterprise mysteriously accelerates to warp speeds, and Riker, La Forge, and Barclay go to Engineering to discover the matter/anti-matter injectors have jammed; the ship will continue to accelerate until its structural integrity collapses unless the injectors are unjammed. The team is unable to come up with any immediate solutions that will work in the limited time they have, but Barclay realizes all the failures they have seen have been connected by a human element: a member of La Forge's Engineering team has been present at each incident. This allows them to reduce the possible contaminates from 15,000 to two; the contamination that has been interfering with the systems is quickly discovered to be Invidium, which was used as part of the Mikulak samples. They are able to quickly repair the injectors, stop the ship, and schedule a trip to a nearby starbase to remove the rest of the Invidium contamination. La Forge commends Barclay for his contribution in saving the ship. Barclay returns one more time to the holodeck, and addresses the simulated bridge crew believing it best he leave them, and then deletes all but one of his holodeck programs.