I think this attempt at a story about the people on the decks below the bridge would have worked a little better if they hadn't made Barclay so unlikable. Lets be honest, most people are going to be justifiably pissed off if you make holographic copies of them to have sex with. This was illegal by the time DS9 came around, but I guess the writers hadn't really thought it out in TNG. Also, being chronically late in a military organization like Starfleet (I can hear Gene rolling over in his grave) being late all the time is a serious problem. But at the same time I feel like we have all gone to our boss about something like this only to be told to work in out like Picard does so I guess I can't be too upset.
The episode opens with Barclay in Ten Forward getting into a fight with Geordi and Riker and then making out with Troi. But of course this is just a holodeck simulation, a creepy holodeck simulation. He is interrupted by Geordi asking where he is since he is supposed to be on duty. He arrives in the cargo bay to find that one of the anti-grav carts has broken and the containment vessel it was carrying has broken open. Barkley is assigned to fix it and Geordi discusses his dissatisfaction over Barclay with Riker. Barclay claims to have fixed it, but it fails again breaking another containment vessel. Hopefully it wasn't anything important or dangerous...
Geordi and Riker go to the captain to talk about transferring Barclay to another ship, but Picard refuses to pass the buck and insists Geordi try harder. Geordi goes to Guinan to talk about Barclay and she isn't really very helpful other than describing him as creative. In an effort to reach out Geordi invites him to the engineering staff meeting which only seems to make Barclay more nervous. Geordi eventually finds Barclay in the holodeck playing a three musketeers simulation with all the parts played by members of the crew. Geordi says he will keep his secret for some reason. Things keep getting worse on the ship, a glass melts in Ten Forward, the transporter stops working and there are problems with the engines.
After an appointment with Troi that goes terribly Barclay fails to show up in the bridge so Riker, Troi and Geordi storm into the holodeck and are outraged to find simulations of themselves. But luckily for Barclay the gas pedal in the Enterprise sticks and he is the one who figures out that the problem started with the broken containment pod in act one (which actually makes no sense since it was the anti-grav unit failing that caused the containment vessel to break which is what they decide broke the anti-grav unit). He saves the day by injecting coolant into the engine and everybody forgives all the rest of his terrible behavior.
Review: This is probably the weakest episode so far this season. I am not really sure what they were going for by making Barclay so unlikable and then having the solution to the final crisis be for him to fix the thing he probably broke in the first place. Also his turning his back on the holodeck feels hollow since he doesn't actually delete all his programs.
3 out of 10
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