TNG - Hollow Pursuits

This is the first episode of TNG in which the holo-addicted Lt. Barclay makes an appearance, making for a really funny episode. The holodeck caricatures of various crewmembers of the 1701-D, created by Barclay, are absolutely hilarious to watch, as their actions are so bazaar for someone who looks just like Picard, Geordi or Wesley, and because of how the actual crew reacts to meeting “themselves” while looking for Barclay on the holodeck, such as counselor Troi coming face to face with the Goddess of Empathy. Other than this, the episode is relatively bland. Barclay acts like a complete asshole, a mysterious substance moves around the ship causing random systems to go off-line. It freezes anti-matter injectors, threatening to blow up the ship, happenings that are relatively common occurrences on Star Trek. There is nothing that makes this particular occurrence of “technological malfunction puts ship and crew in dire situation” especially good or especially bad either, it merely serves as a vehicle for the main plot about Reginald Barclay. This part of the episode is above average; however the rest of it is not especially outstanding.