The holodeck was one of the most popular aspects of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but it continuously caused a lot of big problems for the crew of the USS Enterprise-D. First introduced in season one of TNG, the holodeck used pre-programmed holographic displays to create highly lifelike simulations, and crew members were free to interact with the generated environment. While the holodeck iwas commonly used to train officers, it was usually a means for characters in Star Trek: The Next Generation to relax and unwind with fun and entertaining simulations.

The holodeck gave the USS Enterprise-D a reprieve from space travel and the stresses of being a member of Starfleet. Many of Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s best episodes involve the holodeck, but more often than not, the programming ends up malfunctioning, and the consequences wreak havoc on the ship. Safety protocols meant to prevent simulations from causing actual harm to the crew often failed or were tampered with by outside forces. The holodeck adventures of Star Trek: The Next Generation are always entertaining despite the predictable technology breakdowns, but these 5 episodes highlight the holodeck’s ability to balance fun and danger.

1

“The Big Goodbye”

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1, Episode 12

Star Trek‘s first holodeck episode was “The Big Goodbye” in season 1 of Star Trek: The Next Generation. In need of a break from rigorous Starfleet protocols, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), and visiting historian Dr. Whalen (David Selburg) use the holodeck to enter one of Picard’s favorite simulations involving his holodeck alter-ego, private investigator Dixon Hill. Clad in 1940s-style attire, the three visitors quickly find themselves in a perilous situation thanks to a holodeck malfunction when an alien probe scans the Enterprise and shuts off the holodeck’s safety features.

When encountering an adversary inside the program, Dr. Whalen is shot with a 20th-century bullet. Dr. Crusher is luckily there to aid the injured historian, but without modern medical equipment, she can’t promise his safety. However, Captain Picard and Lt. Commander Data discover that the holodeck is locked, and they’re stuck inside. It takes the outside help of Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) and Lt. Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) to end the program. However, the malfunction leads a character in the simulation to wonder if their world is artificial, foreshadowing further holodeck plot development involving computer sentience.

2

“Elementary, Dear Data”

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2, Episode 3

A popular use of the holodeck is recreational use during downtime on the Enterprise, and Lt. Commanders Data and Geordi La Forge frequent the holodeck for this reason. While waiting for a Starfleet rendezvous, Data and La Forge use the holodeck to explore a Sherlock Holmes mystery as 19th-century investigators. Mr. Data acts as a human Sherlock Holmes but ruins the fun by proving his memorization of all Holmes stories. He returns with La Forge, now accompanied by the ship’s new chief medical officer Dr. Pulaski, and they ask the computer to create an adversary capable of defeating Data.

The adversary quickly kidnaps Pulaski and is soon revealed as the classic Sherlock Holmes villain, Professor Moriarty (Daniel Davis). While attempting to rescue the ship’s doctor, Lt. Commander La Forge and Commander Data quickly realize that the Moriarty simulation knows he is a hologram. Geordi realizes he made the computer create a program that could defeat Data, not Holmes, so Moriarty has the intelligence to access the ship’s computer. Captain Picard meets Moriarty and rejects the professor’s attempt to live in the real world, but he promises to research a way to release him. Moriarty remains conscious in the holodeck and would return years later in TNG season 6.

3

“Hollow Pursuits”

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3, Episode 21

As Star Trek: The Next Generation progressed, the holodeck became a more prominent plot device, and so did its effects on certain crew members. Lieutenant Reginald Barcley (Dwight Schultz), an extremely nervous and painfully awkward engineer, finds solace in his self-programmed simulations of the Enterprise crew. However, his frequent trips to the holodeck contribute to his poor performance. Instead of transferring him to another ship, Captain Picard tells Lt. Commander La Forge to take the bumbling Lieutenant Barclay under his wing. Trying to support him, La Forge visits Barclay on the holodeck but discovers the simulation of the bridge crew.

Lt. Barclay creates overblown versions of the ship’s crew as he wants to see them. Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) is a short, comical version of the real thing, Wesley Crusher is a lazy, selfish idiot, and simulations of female crew members Dr. Beverly Crusher and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) are designed to please and appease Barclay. The episode’s crisis, which involved contaminated crew members that forced the ship into uncontrolled warp speed, is solved with Barclay’s help. The consequences of his holodeck obsession cause Lt. Barclay to delete all but one of his saved simulation programs.

4

“Ship in a Bottle”

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6, Episode 12

Using the holodeck to blow off steam again, Lt. Commanders Data and Geordi La Forge revisit their Sherlock Holmes mystery simulation. However, they start to notice irregularities in the program. They ask Lieutenant Barclay to investigate, but in doing so, he accidentally activates the sentient Professor James Moriarty program from “Elementary, Dear Data.” Moriarty, alarmingly even more conscious and cunning than before, expresses his irritation at the Enterprise’s crew’s inability to free him from the holodeck. Angry, Moriarty leaves the program altogether, explaining himself only by quoting the philosopher Descartes: “I think, therefore I am.”

In another philosophical allegory common in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Moriarty programs a companion, Regina Bartholomew (Stephanie Beacham), taken from another conscious mind in the holodeck’s Sherlock Holmes stories. Despite his own existence remaining unexplained, Moriarty demands Regina be removed from the holodeck. He ends up trapping the Enterprise’s crew inside their own simulation, and he only releases them when Captain Picard promises to help him. Moriarty might be smarter than Data, but Picard tricks him into believing he and Regina board a shuttle and leave the Enterprise. In reality, Moriarty and Regina are still in another holodeck simulation.

5

“Future Imperfect”

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4, Episode 8

As an intelligent and determined First Officer, Commander Will Riker remains fairly unflappable in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but the holodeck manages to threaten even his strongest beliefs. After a celebratory party for his birthday, Riker accompanies Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge and Lieutenant Worf to Alpha Onias III to investigate strange sensor readings. Almost immediately, the three officers are knocked out by toxic gases. When the Enterprise’s First Officer wakes up, he finds that he’s seemingly missed 16 years of his life. He discovers he is Captain of the Enterprise and has a son named Ethan.

Struggling to accept his new life, Commander Riker notices inconsistencies regarding the Enterprise and its crew. The computer is lagging, and even Geordi can’t fix it. Riker knows he’s being tricked when he learns the deceased mother of Ethan was Minuet, a holodeck simulation he once fell in love with. It’s soon revealed that Riker is in a Romulan holodeck program, but even that is yet another simulation. Finally, Commander Riker finds himself back on Alpha Onias III, and Ethan reveals himself as a stranded gray alien who created the ruse to experience genuine companionship.

While the holodeck in Star Trek: The Next Generation was anything but perfect, its malfunctions taught the crew of the USS Enterprise-D valuable lessons about bravery and self-control, and sometimes even shifted their ideals about basic morality. Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s characters wouldn’t have been able to evolve without the holodeck’s chaos, as many of their most prominent and memorable storylines occurred in or because of holodeck programs gone awry. Despite its many pitfalls, Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s holodeck allowed the show to explore narratives from outside the Enterprise – while never leaving the ship.