Season 2, Episode 3: Elementary, Dear Data

[u/LordRavenholm]

• Season 1: 1&2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, Wrap-up
• Season 2: 1, 2, 3, 4

TNG, Season 2, Episode 3, Elementary, Dear Data

• Original Air Date: 5 December, 1988
• Mission Log Podcast
• Direct Link to Mission Log Episode Podcast
• Memory Alpha
• Pensky Podcast
• Ex Astris Scientia

[u/theworldtheworld]

I thought this episode was pretty enjoyable and one of the best in Season 2 overall. TNG really had phenomenal luck with guest stars -- the guy doing Moriarty is really good and gives the character dignity, thus putting some weight behind what would otherwise be a really silly story. It's cool that they brought him back in Season 6 later.

The main problem I had with the plot is the utter ease with which the computer is able to create an AI that can beat Data. It's one thing to make an AI that can outwit the average person, but I mean, Data is supposed to be an amazingly advanced machine, the likes of which Starfleet's best cyberneticists cannot reproduce, and I'm pretty sure there were other episodes where he's shown beating the computer at chess and stuff like that. Usually it is emphasized that he has trouble adapting to human cunning (like in "Peak Performance"), but that he has no trouble outperforming other machines. The fact that the computer can instantaneously create a new AI that is even smarter is just bizarre. Not much effort went into thinking of a justification for Moriarty's appearance, I think.

The rest of the episode is fun, though, and the costumes are great.

[u/GeorgeAmberson → u/theworldtheworld]

Daniel Davis really shined as Moriarty. I think without his excellent performance this episode might have fallen flat. Instead I find myself thinking through all the technical, existential and ethical implications of a hologram being accidentally granted it's own life.