We here at /Film have written a lot about the “Star Trek” universe’s holodeck, including the history of the sci-fi technology and how, exactly, it works. The holodeck, to provide a brief description, is an all-purpose recreation room that is capable of producing fully immersive and interactive holographic environments. It can also create complex non-player characters, allowing the user to essentially play the most realistic video games imaginable.
From a production standpoint, the holodeck was a great way to add some visual variety to “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” The series was set mostly aboard a beige-grey-lavender starship, whereas the holodeck allowed the USS Enterprise’s crew to visit mountains, forests, or anywhere else outdoors. It even allowed them to play dress-up, as they had to get into costumes to play-act as detectives or Old West gunslingers.
Of course, since its introduction, “Star Trek” TV show writers have taken any opportunities they have to make sure the holodeck undergoes some dramatic malfunctions. For instance, the safety protocols can get accidentally switched off, causing the holograms to become deadly. Other times, characters have gotten trapped in the holodeck, forcing them to negotiate with holographic characters who don’t realize they’re mere cogs in a video game. The late Tracy Tormé is typically credited for inventing the “holodeck crisis” concept for “The Next Generation,” and it’s since become a long-standing tradition in the property.
As such, there’s enough material to create a proper ranking of the “Star Trek” franchise’s most spectacular holodeck malfunctions. Below are five instances when the holodeck glitched out and put a whole lot of lives in danger, sometimes in a chilling fashion … and other times quite whimsically.
5. When every villain in the Old West became Data
In the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” episode “A Fistful of Datas” (gotta love that title), Worf (Michael Dorn) has promised his long-neglected son Alexander (Brian Bonsall) they will go to the holodeck and play-act as a sheriff and a deputy in an Old West village. Amusingly, in the show’s 24th Century setting, they refer to it as the Ancient West. Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) tags along, as her human father frequently read Ancient West novels to her as a child.
Meanwhile, in main engineering, Data (Brent Spiner) hooks his android brain into the Enterprise’s central computers, speculating that he might be cognitively powerful enough to run the ship’s backup systems. Perhaps predictably, there’s an unexpected power surge, and Data’s brain accidentally kind of blends with Worf’s Western program. As a result, all of the villains in Worf’s program turn into Data, complete with the android’s increased strength and reflexes. Obviously, this poses a legitimate danger to Worf and the gang, but it’s a gift to Spiner, who gets to basically play several different characters. Meanwhile, back on the Enterprise proper, Data starts using phrases like “I reckon” and “Y’all mus’ be mistaken.”
“A Fistful of Datas” is a fun, silly episode that allows Worf to use some technical know-how to solve a problem, features Data as an evil gunslinger, and even let Troi reveal she has a weakness for violent adventure stories. Naturally, the episode climaxes with a dusty, town-wide shootout. The program won’t end, however, until Worf embraces the local busty lass, who is also played by Spiner. Dorn and Spiner, sadly, do not lip-lock on camera. A missed opportunity, I feel.
4. When the crew of Deep Space Nine became characters in Dr. Bashir’s James Bond adventure
In the “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” episode “Our Man Bashir,” Dr. Bashir (Alexander Siddig) is play-acting on the station’s holosuites as a glamorous 1960s-era super-spy in the vein of James Bond. He shows his friend/lover (?) Garak (Andrew Robinson), a former spy for the Cardassian Empire, how the profession of spying was once viewed on Earth. The two butt heads over imagery and techniques. It’s all very amusing, and the early scenes of the episode prove that Siddig would have made a fine James Bond for real.
Outside of the holosuite, there is a shuttle accident involving pretty much the rest of the show’s main cast, including Captain Sisko (Avery Brooks), Worf, Dax (Terry Farrell), Major Kira (Nana Visitor), and Chief O’Brien (Colm Meaney). The DS9 crew are beamed off the shuttle, but a transporter malfunction forces an engineer to shunt everyone’s energy patterns into the memory core of the holosuite to save them. But rather than re-materializing in the real world, their likenesses begin to appear as characters in Bashir’s spy program. The holographic Russian spy Anastasia Komananov now looks like Kira, the villain of the story, Dr. Noah, now looks like Sisko, and so on.
Oh, and further computer malfunctions force Bashir to play the holosuite program to the very end since he’ll kill his crewmates if he shuts it down before that. This makes for some awkward moments when Bashir, in character as a spy, has to essentially stretch for time. This becomes particularly amusing when he reaches the end of the story and has to rewrite a traditional James Bond climax into something unexpected. And it’s certainly unexpected. Like “A Fistful of Datas,” this episode is a hoot.
3. When the USS Enterprise developed a subconscious mind on the holodeck
In the “Next Generation” episode “Emergence,” Data is on the holodeck rehearsing a scene from “The Tempest” in front of Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) when the Orient Express mysteriously and dramatically charges through the scene. An investigation into the Enterprise’s systems reveals that the ship has been infected by a series of strange interdimensional computer nodes of unknown origin. The ship begins activating itself and exhibiting properties that, one might observe, denote consciousness. It’s only rudimentary, yet it seems that the Enterprise itself has somehow come to life.
Because of the Orient Express incident, Troi, Worf, and Data go to the holodeck to investigate and find that it offers a peek into the ship’s subconscious mind. It looks like the Orient Express because the Enterprise is a speedy vessel, you see. Likewise, there’s a medieval knight on the train that may represent the ship’s weapons systems, along with a hitman (Vinny Argiro), a flapper (Dianne Zankich), and a charismatic conductor (David Huddleston) who may be a representation of the ship’s command functions. The phantasms in the holodeck all declare that they hope to visit Vertiform City. What does that mean? Why does the hitman have a magical glowing brick? And why are some of the holodeck characters trying to kill the Enterprise’s crew?
“Emergence” is a cerebral, eerie episode where Data, Troi, and Worf have to essentially interpret the dreams of an animal-like consciousness that’s doing God-knows-what to the USS Enterprise. It also discusses the notion that consciousness is an emergent property amounting to more than the sum of a brain’s parts. It turns out there’s a lot about consciousness that even the Enterprise’s crew doesn’t understand.
2. When Geordi accidentally gave consciousness to Professor Moriarty
In the “Next Generation” episode “Elementary, Dear Data,” Data and Geordi (LeVar Burton) are play-acting Sherlock Holmes stories on the holodeck … and it’s become boring. Data, you see, has read every Sherlock Holmes story that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ever wrote, so he is able to solve the mysteries in an instant. Geordi points out that murder mysteries should be more challenging, allowing the detective/reader/player to tap into their intuition and figure out the culprit on their own. So, he asks the holodeck to create a Sherlock Holmes-type villain that is capable of defeating Data.
Geordi should have watched his language. He requests the holodeck create a foe capable of besting Data, not a foe capable of besting Sherlock Holmes. The Enterprise’s computer takes this as a sign that it has to create something that is capable of actually being a threat to the USS Enterprise. Enter Moriarty (Daniel Davis), Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis, but now somehow imbued with a consciousness of his own. Moriarty comes to understand that he is a holographic simulation and that he is, in fact, on a vast, high-tech vessel. Moriarty is made of light and force fields, so he cannot leave the holodeck, but somehow, from within, he is able to construct a machine that can disrupt the Enterprise’s functions.
It’s in this episode that we learn that holodeck computers are so sophisticated that they can manifest a living intelligence entirely by accident. And, unfortunately, the first time this happened, Geordi accidentally created a literary supervillain. (Thank goodness he didn’t manifest Jack the Ripper or Freddy Krueger.) Captain Picard ultimately placates Moriarty, but his story didn’t conclude for four more seasons until the episode “Ship in a Bottle.”
1. When Ensign Rutherford created Badgey
In the “Star Trek: Lower Decks” episode “Terminal Provocations,” it’s revealed that the prim and nerdy Ensign Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) has been creating a cartoon holodeck tutorial program hosted by an anthropomorphic Starfleet insignia that he has nicknamed Badgey (Jack McBrayer). Sadly, Rutherford is not a very skilled programmer, so Badgey ends up having a violent, aggressive streak and traps Rutherford and Ensign Tendi (Noel Wells) inside the holodeck, intending to kill them. Rutherford ends up tragically having to kill Badgey, but this, we later find out, only made him angry.
Badgey retains his memories, however, and his need to kill Rutherford — and anyone else — only begins to grow. Eventually, in the episode “A Few Badgeys More” (the title of which is a riff on “For a Few Dollars More,” the sequel to “A Fistful of Dollars,” itself the inspiration for the tile of “A Fistful of Datas”), Badgey’s memories are found on some old cybernetic implants that used to be part of Rutherford’s head. Through a lot of technical rigmarole, the implants are salvaged, and Badgey finds himself able to operate outside of a holodeck. Without a computer core to bind him in, though, Badgey becomes able to extend his computerized consciousness out into the cosmos, dipping into subspace and linking to every machine in the universe. He then trifurcates into his evil side, his good side, and his logical side.
From there, his consciousness becomes pretty much infinitely expansive. This means that Badgey becomes more or less God. He subsequently announces that he will henceforth ascend to a higher plane and create a universe of His own. And all thanks to a holodeck glitch. Yeah, I’d call that the most spectacular holodeck “whoopsie” in the history of the “Star Trek” franchise.
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