‘SHIP IN A BOTTLE’ (TNG)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This ‘Star Trek: TNG’ episode is a sequel to the Season 2 episode, ‘Elementary, Dear Data’. It features the return of Daniel Davis as Professor James Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes‘ arch-nemesis! He’s back!!!
I did wonder whether we would come back to that holodeck character that had a mind and his own intelligence as he did from that Season 2 episode! It seemed like he had been forgotten. And he was.
In the episode, Data and Geordi are enjoying a Sherlock Holmes holodeck program. It seems to be a very long time since they did Sherlock Holmes together with Data as Holmes and Geordi as Watson.
In fact, I think the last time they did Sherlock Holmes on TV was in ‘Elementary, Dear Data’ itself. Have they been in holodeck doing Sherlock Holmes together since? Perhaps they have. Not certain.
Anyway a problem occurs when one of the characters they interact with in the holodeck program is meant to be left-handed instead of right-handed. Data and Geordi ask Lt. Barclay to fix the problem.
It was nice to see Dwight Schultz back as Lt. Reginald Barclay in the episode. It wasn’t long since we last saw him in ‘Realm of Fear’ in Season 6. Barclay has made two appearances in Season 6 of ‘TNG’.
Once Barclay starts making his repairs and checks the status of the Sherlock Holmes programs, he activates one of them with protected memory. Thus he releases Professor Moriarty out in the open.
Barclay is unaware of the events of ‘Elementary, Dear Data’ as he wasn’t there in Season 2 of ‘TNG’. So he’s pretty surprised Moriarty knows who Captain Picard is and knows he is a holodeck character.
He’s also equally surprised when he discovers that Moriarty seems to have memory and has been aware of the passage of time since he was inactive for four years. Moriarty demands to meet Picard.
When Barclay tells Data and Geordi that he’s met Moriarty in the holodeck, action is taken. Picard, Data and Barclay re-enter to meet Moriarty who is still in a desire to leave the world of the holodeck.
Despite Picard trying to reassure him that they are still working on the problem, Moriarty is dismissive of his excuses. Picard again tries to reiterate that he cannot leave the holodeck instantly.
He does this by throwing a holographic book in the living room of Sherlock Holmes’ home in Baker Street out of the holodeck. But Moriarty surprises Picard, Data and Barclay when…it’s unbelievable!!!
Moriarty walks outside of the holodeck and is still intact in the Enterprise corridor. Picard, Data, Barclay and everyone else on board the Enterprise are stunned this has happened and wonder how.
Moriarty soon has free reign aboard the Enterprise. He soon asks Picard to help take out another holodeck character to keep him company as his companion, despite Moriarty’s ‘miraculous’ existence.
This companion of Moriarty happens to be Stephanie Beacham as the Countess Regina Bartholomew. She seems a nice, pleasant, charming 19th century lady unlike the villainous Moriarty.
As Data and Barclay attempt to find ways to take out the Countess from the holodeck using the transporter, mysterious clues begin to surface. Data soon discovers how Moriarty left the holodeck.
Apparently he didn’t. Picard, Data and Barclay are still in the holodeck when Moriarty walked out of it. Confused? I’m sure you are. You have to be really alert on this one as this gets pretty complicated.
To make a long story short, Picard, Data and Barclay find Moriarty has taken control of the Enterprise’s main computer. They soon create a holodeck within the holodeck to trick Mr. Moriarty.
This thankfully works, especially as two planets are about to collide with each other in space to form a star. It gets very confusing by the end, but Moriarty gets the freedom he wants with the Countess.
The closing moments of this episode are baffling especially when Picard switches off and walks out of the holodeck before he, Data and Barclay switch off and walk out of the holodeck. Yeah. Baffling!
‘Ship In A Bottle’ is a cleverly confusing ‘Star Trek: TNG’ episode. You’ll probably need to watch this more than once to get a better understanding of it. Otherwise, this was a gripping episode to watch.
‘Ship In A Bottle’ (TNG) rating – 8/10
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