Home
Creators
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register Favorites Keys Review DMs Logout
Community
Telegram ThePornDude
Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

Star Trek TNG: 321-322 (Patreon)

Published:
2026-01-14 13:00:12
Imported:
2026-01
Tags:

Content

Go to this site: Cinebingers.ca for the unedited versions of all our content.

👉 https://cinebingers.ca/GUEPtMf2Q1 👈 for the full reaction where you do not need your own copy.

👉 https://cinebingers.ca/q4jgcObfM6 👈for the full reaction where you need your own copy.

If you are on a phone/tablet, hold down the link above and press "open in browser", or go straight to Cinebingers.ca on your browser app.

Hollow Pursuit, The Most Toys

Files

Comments

Mastervodo

Broccoli! Love this episode!

Data Cable

I don't think I ever noticed before that "Tough Guy" Barclay in the opening scene is basically a Jack Nicholson impression.

Marcus Hicks

Awesome, you guys are finally meeting one of the best and most relatable character in Star Trek.

Patrick

Yessss, one of my favourite characters.

Robert Cooper

We need a slide whistle to go DOOOoooo..... As the left side of George's face droops down. TNG does deep fake porn a few times, but it isn't until DS9 that the subject is treated with the derision it deserves.

Pam Nail

"Hollow Pursuits" (nice pun on "holo" btw) is one of my favorite TNG episodes and Barclay is one of my favorite characters. There's a lot of secondhand embarrassment -- and yes, the consent issues around the holodeck are especially icky in this episode -- but there's also a surprising amount of understanding and empathy.

Joel

BROCCOLI!!!

Mastervodo

Qwark makes good profit this way.

Thall

Oh man, it's so fun to watch Simone KNOWING whats happening. Oh Barkley. Edit: Honestly, I have no issues with Barkley. Fantasy is fantasy, he isn't actually harming anyone with his Holodeck stories. If he was pursuing real life based on his holodeck stuff, different story, but like this? Thoughts can't be contained and shouldn't be either. It's actions that matter as far as other people go. It's just very unfair that we get to see his fantasies that are supposed to be experienced in privacy. I doubt anyone that says they never had a gross, violent, or inappropriate thought toward another person they know, or just met.

Tinfoilnation

Reg is a great character and Dwight Schultz is a catastrophically underrated actor. Also... since we all know what's coming but can't talk about it... *twitch*

blerbaberpaterb

yeah the problem is those arent just his thoughts as you put.. hes not laying in bed jerking off to his imaginations hes doing the modern day equivalent of AI generated videos of coworkers, except he gets to even physically interact with them. like Simone said, what if he tells the holodeck Deanna to strip and sleep with him. like imagine if you found out a co-worker of your sister, or daughter, or mother, did AI generated pr0n of them. except worse, because in this case, the deck is literally recreating them physically. and in addition to the consent part, at what point does fantasy, living the fantasy cross over and blends in with reality. at what point does a person lose themselves and start acting it out for real.

Deano 42

"Barclay Program Nine" is a 2004 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine short story by Russ Crossley. It was published in a compilation book called "Strange New Worlds VII". In it, a Ferengi finds an old holoprogram and offers to sell it to Quark. Other than this, there is no further mention of it in the Star Trek Universe.

Thall

I don't think its very important to find the line at which point a person brings fantasy into reality. That's not a fixed value and depends on the person. Some never do, some do immediately, and most are likely in between. Until they do, what does it matter? And I disagree with the AI generated porn part. To me the issue in that particular case is more a practical one: If they publish it for others to see, with intent or accidentally or it being stolen, that is obviously not ok. Just to have it for themselves, with no one knowing about it? Go for it, have fun. If we decide that having inappropriate fantasies and creating something off of them should be illegal or a social taboo, you should also ask yourself if any art depicting people should be allowed at all. After all, the fantasy on the canvas might resemble someone. Not just about sexual fantasies (although those seem to only ever be the ones discussed), but what about art depicting war? Maybe the person in it, or it being based on, doesn't want to be shown to kill or hurt someone? Would Barkleys fantasy have been an issue to discuss if he depicted Worf killing 20 children? Or Diana Troy having a therapy session where she works to have someone kill themselves?

blerbaberpaterb

okay but you are deliberately categorizing a holodeck true to life recreation of another person without consent as just fantasy. no one can walk INTO your fantasy. you dont get to physically touch your fantasy. your fantasy in your head isnt 100% realistic depictions of an other person, you dont get to know what someone actually look like naked unless theyve chose to show you. holodeck does. and it is the main thing that gets discussed because thats what the show is hinting at with Deanna. Just because you lump it with something more trivial doesnt mean it actually is. and yes, a private individual have the right to not want recreations of them doing things they didnt do. thats literally what all the new laws and bans against AI generated images of people are for. what you think everyone not liking deep fake revenge porn is just 'overreacting' and trying to control the thoughts of others? and yeah, selling and sharing changes things. so whats stopping Barkley from finding others like him on a ship of hundreds to also join in. whats stopping him from at some point starting a private group of "lets run a train on Deanna" or "lets practice how to overthrow Picard" you really are going to tell me you will have absolutely no problem if one day you walk pass a coworkers computer, at work, because the holodeck is on a ship that is also a work place, and you see that coworker watching an AI generated video of you, the real person, saying some horrendous things that you dont believe in, like... i dunno, that you think all child brides should be legal, or you agree with eugenics and mass murder, or a video of you confessing to be a cannibal and kills dogs for fun. and in that video, your coworker then jumps into frame and beats you up. you will have ZERO problem with that? because its just their fantasy?

Guts

Program 9 is Dwight Schultz (Barclay) in "The A-Team".

Mastervodo

"Program 9 in Outer Space" concerns extraterrestrials who seek to stop humanity from creating a doomsday weapon that could destroy the universe. The aliens implement "Plan 9", a scheme to resurrect the Earth's dead. By causing chaos, the aliens hope the crisis will force humanity to listen to them; otherwise, the aliens will destroy mankind with armies of the undead.

Mastervodo

Favorite young toys: A MERLIN hand-held game (look it up), an Intellivision (Better than Atari), and a Big Trak programmable Tank from Milton Bradley! Also had a fair share of Star Wars action figures, and a millennium falcon spaceship/model.

Mike W

I get what you say about how unprofessional it is to be late but it’s hard sometimes. Many years ago when I was fresh out of school in the late 80’s i went through a similar thing. The 80’s wasn’t a very forgiving place for introverts and I got a lot of the usual comments and I would have to psych myself up every day to get myself to work and sometimes this meant I was late. I wasn’t being deliberately unprofessional I just couldn’t face going in. I had to leave in the end for my own mental health.

tbondude

No, you used the wrong Simpsons joke! :) "We're here, we're queer, we don't want anymore bears!"

Data Cable

Correction: David Rappaport (perhaps best known as Randall in "Time Bandits") *attempted* suicide part way through filming of "The Most Toys," necessitating the recasting. Unfortunately, he would later succeed in taking his own life, 5 days before the episode aired. Several (perhaps all) of his scenes as Fatjo appear on the Blu-Ray set, but with absolutely no mention of the reason for his recasting.

Data Cable

And Lower Decks graphically alludes to the aftermath.

GAB

Howling Mad Murdock! I knew I remembered him from somewhere.

GAB

Geordie didn't open up about his own Holodeck fetishistic activity. George's program number 9 theory is really good. Will we see these themes again?

Tangerra

This is one of the Data episodes I like the most. And George is spot on. I liked Data as an autistic person myself because he does feel, he just doesn’t understand the feelings he has because he has to process them manually. He’s just much faster at doing so than a human being, so it feels like he’s making decisions based on calculations, and he is, but so does everyone else, just not consciously. Because he sees all of the disparate parts of the choices and events of life, it seems to him he’s doing something wrong. But he’s processing information through a multitude of measured filters the same as everyone else, he’s just aware of it happening. It’s quite relatable honestly.

Jay Perry

I'm afraid people already knew about being on the spectrum when this was aired. It was progressive, but we still fight the stigma,

Jay Perry

my favorite toy was a beat-up bike

Michael Bauer

Speaking as someone who went to uni to study philosophy because these kinds of questions about ethics and consciousness etc. (like the ones I got to know through Trek) were so fascinating - the holodeck regulations thing is pretty dicey, and George raises an excellent point about the difficulty of untangling our judgement from the world we currently live in - because while our culture is highly sensitized to violations of the right to one's own likeness especially in sexual contexts, we're blurring lines and mixing judgements about public and private behavior (because the internet, cloud-based tooling and ubiquitous sharing makes these things so intertwined). We cannot (yet - and must not, in general) regulate what people imagine in private. We recognize that people can have fantasies of things that would not be appropriate in real life, but probly shouldn't be judged too harshly for that. Some people write down their fantasies into stories. Some draw pictures. Some may even make 3d-animations. I think we instinctively judge people harsher the more realistic their externalizations of their fantasies are (though I must say I honestly don't understand why the fantasy of doing non-consensual violence to your boss should be morally better than the fantasy of consensual intimacy with a coworker) - probably because we (maybe to some extent correctly) think that this normalized inappropriate thoughts and feelings which may lead to bad behavior. But the question of legality and regulation still has to be separate. In Black Mirror, it's the evident consciousness of the created facsimiles that shifts it from icky and creepy into morally horrifying. That is presumably absent here. Here, non-sentient representations are created for living out private fantasies. We could argue technology should in general be barred from supporting the externalization of fantasies about other people - but as a general rule it's pretty harsh and immediately raises the question of where the demarcation line is. Representing real people can happen in so many ways with the help of more or less technology. With enough surveillance, writing down ones fantasies or making drawings on a computer could be recognized and blocked. And of course we have to ask ourselves: Is it the private-public distinction that matters ethically, or merely the externalization of fantasies of real people. Does the fidelity of the representation make an ethical difference? Why? What are the ethical difference-makers? Of course - pragmatic concerns are also relevant. In our current world where everything is online and even privately created images can be made public immediately for purposes of propaganda, harrassment, bullying etc. - it certainly seems prudent to put significant regulations on technology for genreating realistic likenesses. But there's lots of nuance to consider in our judgements on ethical and legal matters.

Joe Concepts

Always fun to see someone react to that first scene! Most people know something's wrong, eventually.

Purple Dragon Knight

I love the Barclay episode. It hits so close to home, especially to teen- aged me. The scene in the bar when extrovert Geordi tells Reg "You're just shy" hits so hard. He wants to help but he just doesn't get how big a deal it is to Reg. And Reg, being an extreme introvert can't communicate how serious it is is just heart breaking. The hollodeck stuff does not stand up to the test of time. Thanks for understanding that too. I don't think there was any malice on the writers part, it was just the times. I think it was played for laughs and it did work in that sense.

Matt O'Keefe

I don't remember my favorite toy. I was overly spoiled with toys as a child so I could not say what was my favorite. In a way, it is sad. I know Wah!!! Like feel bad for me. It is dissapointing that I cannot think of what my favorite was. Maybe I can chalk up to my age. I am 50, but that does feel right.

David N

I have always pronounced barclay's name with a long E sound and hearing george and some of the other actors use the more correct long A sound triggered something in my brain and now I can only hear Matt Berry's voice drawing out Barclaaaay.

Joe Concepts

Speaking of consent issues, how about privacy issues with Geordi just barging in on Barclay's holodeck time? They really should have locks.

Life in the cave of Garanoga

So I just started the video and my God George is my kindred spirit lol. I tell my friends and family all the time that when I die I want Jokes, a party, and for everyone to celebrate. I don't want to see anyone crying or I'm haunting them forever. You giving permission to use that footage is exactly something I would say haha. And Simone's reaction is also exactly how my friends and family always react when I talk about it. That being said, I hope we all live long and prosper and that nothing happens unexpectedly. Love you two and the community.

Kyle B

I've always thought Data did have some rudimentary emotions as a basic process for functioning amongst humans, while Lore had that as well as dedicated emotion processing hardware. It's like comparing motherboard graphics processing to having a dedicated video card.

DonkyDave

After a few minutes: wow when George thinks something is really gross, you know it's REALLY gross ;)

Paul T Hewes

-two of my favorite episodes since they originally aired. -I actually argued to allow my dog to be named Reginald Barkley, nicknamed Reg. I was out voted. -The most toys has a great ending, with Data trying to kill Saul Rubnick. -The Veron T Disruptor has haunted my nightmares from time to time. That was a messed up weapon.

Jay Perry

Data is an autistic child who has been told he has no feeling, so he believes it. Spock was a half-human, pressured to ignore that half.

Life in the cave of Garanoga

Probably my favorite part of the Barclay episode is the leadership aspect. I was in a low level corporate position when I was 20 and one of the first things I realized was that yes power can go to your head but sometimes it's just people under you not adjusting to you now being their superior. But the real revelation was that it's almost never personal. It's things like what happens with Barclay or just the habit of being equal coworkers bleeding into the new power dynamic and both parties need to adjust. It's easy being a boss, it's easy to push your problems or inconveniences onto someone else, it's a lot harder to be a leader. But the end result is always better. Watching the crew sort of bounce off each other as they feel their way through figuring out how to lead Barclay and get the best out of him is why I love TNG. Everyone learned something in this episode and you just have to love that.

TomGas2025

I connected quite strongly to Barclay back kn the days. I was a shy, introvert teenager and I really had problems with connecting to others. When I was in a room full of people, I was the one sitting in the corner alone. I still do...thats why I don't go to office Christmas Parties even now. I just feel so uncomfortable with so many people around me. It was so bad that I even was not able to enter a store to which I wanted to go to unless it was empty. Luckily therapy helped me overcoming this problem a bit...now I can enter with some in it.

REDR58

Hollow Pursuits: Broccoli is a food best tasted and not smelled. I find it one of the most vile-smelling foods when I’m sautéing it. Stink-fest! Charley Lang plays “Duffy” and it’s such a treat to see a non-regular crew member who doesn’t stand around mutely when a main cast member speaks to him or her. If you look closely at the Ten-Forward leaking glass scene, you can see a small hole drilled into the bottom of the glass, most easily when Data picks it up to look at it more closely. It’s not leaking from the finger marks. As Guts mentions “The A-Team” below, I imagine most of us of a certain age think of that show first when seeing Dwight Schultz here: https://youtu.be/L3AQuqaOAE4?si=2q8DocwXrTisWEc3 (And YES that is an OG Cylon with Dirk Benedict…) Poor Worf doesn’t get a single line in this episode! Favorite toy as a child, LEGO, though I own far more LEGO now than I ever did as a kid. I still have all my old sets, but they are all jumbled together. (Edited)

REDR58

Oh, and I still have my original black-and-white Game Boy as well. I think it’s about 35 years old now? Still works!

akaTheBAY-AY-RON

George stating he hypothetically would like us to use footage of him having a stroke, should he ever have one, made Simone react one way. A way we'd all expect... but on my end I was thinking "I got you... I hope it never happens but thy will shall be done m'lord" XD

Joe Concepts

George, today that Roger Maris baseball card in mint condition, professionally graded, could be worth like $75,000 or more.

REDR58

The Most Toys You guys saw Canadian actor Saul Rubinek (Kivas Fajo) in “Unforgiven” as “W.W. Beauchamp” as the biographer. His performance here is wonderful. Jane Daly (who is from Philadelphia!) plays Varria has unfortunate-looking facial makeup (quite intentionally). In reality, she is quite attractive. She appears in Mission: Impossible III movie as the mother of Michelle Monaghan (Julia). Wesley shows Geordi the painting that Tam Elbrun was admiring in “Tin Man.” We saw some of Data’s medals in “Measure of a Man.” Unless there was an investigation that we did not see on screen, Picard initially gives up very easily with the accident investigation! Hucksterism: persuasive showmanship in advertising or selling (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hucksterism) Why is Geordi sleeping in his uniform? The woman Troi is speaking with in the corridor as Worf passes by is Lorine Mendell as “Diana Giddings” a non-speaking background character who appears in a number of TNG episodes. She can be seen canoodling with Captain Okona in “The Outrageous Okona.” The late Nehemiah Persoff (Toff with the weird facial decorations) was the voice of Papa Mousekewitz in “An American Tale” that I think Simone mentioned liking. He also appeared in several episodes of the Mission: Impossible series and the original “Hawaii Five-O.” George, Data did indeed parse out the logic and necessity of killing Fajo. He says as much just before he’s transported out. (Edited for error)

Thomas Yanez

So close, getting excited... just a few more episodes...

John Rose

As a shy person in my youth this first episode really spoke to me so much that I get emotional even now watching it because it takes me back to how I felt back then. This would have been my Jr High school time in my life and I now realize I was seriously depressed about my social anxiety and really felt that it would never get better. It was good to see as a young person that I was not alone. But then I joined a heavy metal band....lol

p0sthum4n

Saul Rubinek is so fucking funny to me in The Most Toys. He wasn't the original actor, and there's some footage on YouTube of the first guy and the character is just completely different and bordering on lifeless. There's maybe something to be said that his character comes across as a stereotypical greedy "Space Jew", down to practically wearing a kippah (the cap), but Saul Rubinek is Jewish himself and the way he hams up this performance cracks me up non-stop, and as a Jew myself I just find the whole thing hilarious. "THEY'VE HAD FOUR DAYS TO DECIDE! WHY DO THEY HAVE TO—alright" is also one of the funniest lines in Trek IMO.

D.A.V.E.

Program 9: Barclay plays A mad free spirit that TEAMs up with a handsome rough, a military leader and a mohican'd jewelry man and they have many adventures.

Kyle Baker

George really likes Saul Rubinek ey? Time for a True Romance reaction then I thin. :)

Cally

I thought you meant the other Simpsons quote: "We're here! We're queer! We don't want any more bears!"

Joe Concepts

Rewatching these in recent years, I definitely now see Data as "neurodivergent" because so many scenes suggest that Data DOES have feelings, he just doesn't realize it. He just expresses and processes those feelings differently than everyone else.

TanyoScatto

Yeah I agree, I never understood the no real people complaints. It's not real, it doesn't affect anyone but the person doing the fantasy. Why would I care if someone wants to use my image in their personal fantasy to jerk off with or to gruesomely murder? makes no difference to me

REDR58

I pity the fool who doesn’t get this reference!

REDR58

I like how he snaps at Data head to toe!

David

computer "Delete the wife"

Ron K

The Most Toys is one of my favorite Data episodes and one of the best out of the entire series. I absolutely agree that this is an episode that shows that Data has the ability to "evolve" Reasoning that the only logical option was to fire the disruptor, lying to Riker about it. But have to disagree with George. There was absolutely zero feelings on Data's part.

Cally

The holodeck episode also raises some points about privacy. Ignoring the use of colleagues in non work-related scenarios, it seems to me improper that people can just open the door and walk into your simulation. I'm sure there are plenty of non-sexual situations one would not wish to be observed experiencing.

p0sthum4n

The way it lines up, they will have a cliffhanger just like viewers did, albeit for one week.

michael denny

we love Barkley how dare you sight Simone....jk...lol

StonyD

George falls over dead on stream - Benny Hill music kicks in!

Thomas Yanez

Oh, if we get it the next week that'd be great. I just assumed they were alternating with some other show like with "Stranger Things" and "The Sopranos". One week isn't that bad.

CT

It's a good time for True Romance now that they've seen Severance and The Sopranos. I think Simone has already seen it already, but I would like to see George's reaction. I can only imagine that Simone watched it because of the title and didn't know what she was getting herself into.

p0sthum4n

I don't think they alternated with another show between seasons 1 and 2 or 2 and 3? I could be misremembering but it doesn't feel like they'd already be at the end of season 3 if that were the case.

Young Blood Priest

Henny (take my wife…please) Youngman would be proud.

Hammond of Texas

I have always believed the Barclay character was lifted from "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", a 1939 short story by humorist James Thurber and the origin of two films from 1947 and 2013, although the films were very different from the original story. But in a nutshell Walter is a timid man who daydreams himself as a heroic character. https://tinyurl.com/3v822579

Honey Hermsen

Hollow Pursuits is one of my fav episodes. There is something so relatable about Barclay on a ship where most people really aren't. And Dwight Schulz gives an amazing performance as the confident holodeck Barclay and the awkward Broccoli.

Glenner7

Saul Rubinek is a famous Canadian character actor. When I was a kid, I loved watching him in King of Kensington, The Littlest Hobo, Street Legal, and later in Barney's Version. He was also in Unforgiven, and played in Frasier for several episodes.

G P

Thought I recognized him, his performance in Frasier was pretty sleazy too

ImpishMisconception

Hollow Pursuits IMO Barclay is Autistic, though it's never said, but his character makes me think he is. I am Autistic and I relate so much to Barclay. Without spoiling future episodes, I'll just point out what I think are his Autistic traits in this one. Being more comfortable in one's own world, whether through daydreaming or listening to music or whatever the case may be, most but not all Autistic people seem to be more comfortable in our own worlds, as our own worlds are the only places we can truly understand and be ourselves freely. The lack of social it's mentioned in this episode that Barclay doesn't have any friends, and it seems he isn't very social, not talking very much and being in his own world. Many Autistic people, but not all, including myself, have very poor social skills and have very few friends, if any at all. The communication problems. Barclay has a hard time communicating with people who aren't holodeck people, and he has a stutter. Not all Autistic people stutter; some do, but not all, and I don't stutter unless under severe stress; however, most Autistic people, but not all, have poor communication skills. There is one part in this episode I have memorized, it's where Barclay says, "Being afraid all of the time, of forgetting somebody's name, not knowing what to do with your hands. I am the guy who writes down things to say when there's a party, and then when he gets there, he ends up alone in the corner trying to look comfortable examining a potted plant." That is very relatable. I remember my first time seeing this episode and hearing him say that I burst into tears because finally, someone on TV was like me, whom I could relate to. I, too, memorize things to say for different occasions because if I don't, I won't have anything to say at all. I sometimes worry about forgetting someone's name or not being sure what to do with my hands or how to stand, sit or walk that isn't awkward or weird. I'll share more of his Autistic traits in future episodes. I just don't want to spoil anything by sharing them now. The Most Toys I love and hate the villain, he’s just a damn good villain. I only hate him cause he is a gaslighting, annoying pest. The actor himself, I have nothing against. Just the character of the villain is annoying, but then he is supposed to be annoying. Simone said that Data lied to Riker when Riker asked about the disruptor being discharged, and Data replied that something happened during transport. Is that a lie, though? Data fired the weapon while being transported, so something did happen during transport. He just didn’t say what that something was, so is that a lie? Also, George said that Data reminded him of a highly functional Autistic person. Maybe George knows Autistic people, I don’t know, but this is something I would like to push back on just a little bit. I’m not angry, I want to make that clear, as I don’t think George has any ill intent, so I’m not angry. However, comparing Autistic people to Data is harmful. Way too many people compare Autistic people to Spock or Data, as they expect all Autistic people not show any emotions, and this is very harmful. Not all Autistic people are like this. Speaking for myself, I am very sarcastic, I use idioms, I am able to understand humor and have told many jokes myself. I have even done stand-up comedy, not for money or anything. I’m not famous, but a local place had an open mic, and so I did stand-up comedy, and got others to laugh, and I figure I must have done something right because no one threw any food at me. What most people don’t seem to understand is that Autism is a spectrum; it’s not a hive mind, it’s not the Borg, it’s a spectrum. So, expecting every Autistic person to be like Spock or Data is very harmful, and it’s just as harmful to expect every Autistic person to be like Barclay as well. Expecting all Autistic people to be like any singular fictional character is harmful because it causes others to not get diagnosed or not get the help they need. For instance, I was denied assistance that I needed because, during an interview with a therapist, I smiled, laughed, and made a joke. That alone got me denied assistance that I needed because people keep believing that all Autistic people don’t show emotions and don’t have empathy. Maybe some Autistic people are like that, but not all of us. Also, saying highly functional, again, I don’t think George had any ill intent by saying that, but it’s harmful because I was called highly functional along with some other Autistic people I know, and because of that, again, got denied the help that was needed. If one is labelled low functioning, one gets infantilized, and it’s basically believed a low functioning Autistic person just isn’t capable of doing anything at all ever. If one is labelled as high functioning, then one is thought to not need any assistance at all, even if that’s not true. I just thought I would point out these things, again, I’m not angry, I’m not trying to tell anyone off or trying to start an argument or anything like that. I just thought it would be helpful to point out these things.

michael denny

best toys, popple ive had my whole life football variant, alien and predator action figures probably too young for them but they were awesome, legos, and og gameboy when it released with f1 racing, curby, zelda windwaker, and red version pokemon, micromachines mostly star wars. my childhood rocked we were poor so basically only got anything on birthday or christmas.

Christian Rennie

Yes, Fajo is one sob. But did you know.... The original actor was David Rappaport. Seeing both versions of the scenes is definitely a trip and shows the different feel of the character. But having Rappaport as a "collector" actually echoes back to the TV show Amazing Stories episode S01E16 "Gather Ye Acorns" (1986) where Rappaport encourages Mark Hamill (a collector) to keep his possessions. Yes, Luke. If you haven't seen the original Amazing Stories (1985-1987) there are a bunch of gem episodes with a bunch of big named actors. My favs are in addition to "Gather ye Acorns" are "Mummy Daddy" (pretty funny), "The Family Dog" (animated, good enough for it's own spin-off), Go to the Head of the Class (Christopher Llloyd & Mary Stuart Masterson, scary-ish), and of course "The Mission" (Kiefer Sutherland) which is amazing imo. John Williams did the score and it was produced by Steven Spielberg. Sorry about the tangent... lol

Christian Rennie

I knew him from the Sci-fi Channel show "Warehouse 13", he is an amazing working actor.

John

I remember seeing that episode, and being awestruck that Mark Hamill was playing in something other than "Star Wars." For me, at the time, he was such a big-name actor that such a thing was nearly inconceivable.

John

I agree... I think the emotion chip was basically an "unlock" feature that allowed him to process and understand the feelings. After all, Lore was built before Data, and very obviously was built to have feelings... I think all the hardware and programming is there, it just needed to be unlocked after Data had grown and matured enough to not become another Lore.

John

They probably do... however, how many of us have occasionally forgotten to lock the door (when it really counts)?

John

I am so, so, SO happy when it's Star Trek day!!

Holy Squire

Saul Rubinek is have trouble deviating from his role in True Romance. He even has the same tics.

funky weapon

I think George has explained that Star Trek Day is Star Trek Day, and that they're watching TNG and the related movies in release order.

funky weapon

Brent Spiner is so, so good. he gives Data these little moments where you're not quite sure if Pinocchio is becoming a real boy or if you're just projecting emotion onto him. it's fascinating to watch and I still don't really know if Data can "feel" in the traditional sense or if he really gains no satisfaction at all from the things he does. also, food for thought: what is the difference between fantasizing about someone in your imagination and fantasizing about them with the help of the holodeck? I'm genuinely curious what other people think. to me it's the exact same thing.

Holy Squire

intelligence is the ability to solve problems, a skill George has demonstrated.

Holy Squire

George is assuming that Data is philosophically utilitarian.

Angzarr

Well, at the time, Rain Man was the predominant view of autism. And, I don't think Barclay would have met the diagnostic criteria of the 90s, though maybe Asperger's. From today's POV, I think it's reasonable to say he has at least Social Anxiety Disorder, if not ASD. I initially totally misunderstood your post and thought you were saying Troi should have recognized ASD, so I replied "Yeah, don't they have a copy of the DSM-XXXVII on the Enterprise?" Yes, I went to the trouble to figure out a reasonable estimate of what edition of the DSM might be current in-universe.... because autism.

Angzarr

In a way, I think Data would make a better pal to Barclay than Geordi. I'm not sold on Data as an autistic stand-in though.

gfixler

Poor Barclay, having to hang out with his virtual friends. I hope he finds some real best friends, like my buddies, George and Simone.

Angzarr

My head cannon is along those lines: that Data actually _has_ emotions, but doesn't _feel_ emotions, if that makes sense. It seems like he is aware of what emotion is appropriate for him to have at any given time, but it's just data to him, and what he's lacking is the mental/sensory/physiological impacts of actually feeling emotions. Which is not at all the same thing as autism (although for some reason it is a common misunderstanding that autistics don't have feeling), so I am highly skeptical of the "Data as autistic" idea.

Angzarr

I remember him from a few episodes of the original Equalizer as well. He's always great. I haven't seen that show in a long long time and the only two actors I remember, besides the lead, are Rubinek and Mark Margolis (Tio Salamanca)! Both made an impression on me way back then.

Angzarr

I'm beginning to wonder if we're related or something! Yes, LEGO, hands down. Speaking of shapes that fit together pleasingly, we get the exact opposite at eg 12:03 and 45:25. I am annoyed by the awkward stacking of a pentagonal container on octagonal ones. What a terrible shape for a cargo container! Pentagons are the worstagons?

Angzarr

Oh, you mean Bodie, Doyle, Tiger, and the Jewelry Man?

Drew Acheson

I'm certain someone else must have mentioned this but that scene that Simone says she created where Data saves the creature, I think she's conflating that with a different scene in a much later episode where someone else does something very similar.

Misha T

One aspect of Data's actions at the end of "The Most Toys" intrigues (and haunts) me: Assuming that Data decided that he needed to kill for purely unemotional, utilitarian reasons, he could certainly have done so quickly and relatively painlessly with his bare hands; instead, he decided to use the Varon-T disruptor, which he knew would cause extreme pain and agony. That's the biggest sign, for me, that Data's emotions were absolutely a factor.

The Real Andrew Kim

Hollow Pursuits has always been a personal favorite of mine since I was a kid, and yes this episode has not aged very well in that time but I still think it is one of the best TNG episode for many reasons. Barclay has always been one of my favorite recurring characters because he was so relatable especially when I was a kid. It is one of the first TV episodes to feature neurodivergent people and their struggles, looooong before that term was even invented. Since you guys are young, I remember how having any type of mental or physical condition was very stigmatized pre 2005 so to have an episode that was so relatable to so many people on the spectrum before we even knew what that meant was such a milestone. This episode also is a great lesson in leadership. We see Geordi's growth and how the senior leadership guided him to be a better leader. And, this episode highlighted how nobody is perfect and everyone of our characters have flaws or made mistakes. Barclay is always late, Geordi was unreasonably antagonistic with Barclay. Riker loses his temper on the holodeck. Troi loses her temper on the holodeck. Even Picard fucked up in this episode in the best way possible XD. The elephant in the room is the holodeck consensual stuff, but as George mentioned, this was a more innocent and hopeful time. When I saw this as a kid, I was more blown away and excited that the holodeck could be even used to recreate people and just loved that we were seeing how far you could push the holodeck technology and was too young to understand the implications of the consensual stuff. In that sense the writers succeeded in developing my imagination. Of course, the writers knew the implications of how the holodeck could be used, but since this was the framework of Trek and the utopian future, I have always given this a pass because the episode really was not about how the holodeck could be abused and more about the character story and I think the writers did the best they could to keep the frame work as innocent and not dark and depraved as how we in 2025 know how people can be. In the 90s, it just was a fact that more of the mainstream population was probably more naive and more sensitive to such subjects. Having said that, there clearly was a line that had been crossed, but again, instead of Trek showing Barclay being punished, for his transgression, the people around him helped support him to overcome his issues with relatively little judgement and with a mountain of empathy and maturity.

Marcus Hicks

My favourite "toy", prior to High School, was my collection of Original Trilogy Star Wars Action Figures (this was very early 80s, so back then it was the *only* Star Wars trilogy 😉).

MacGuffinStuff

I knew it was him... Barclay is Murdock! He was Howling Mad Murdock, the helicopter pilot for an elite team of Green Berets, wrongfully accused, and I pity the foo who don't know that show.

MacGuffinStuff

Yeah George is right, Program 9 is this episode, even if it's not it should be, that's a really cool idea. Gives me Usual Suspects, so what was real and what was story and what's the difference?

MacGuffinStuff

Saul Rubinek was the collector guy, he's great, you've seen him in Unforgiven as the writer who pissed himself, but I'm just gonna quote him in another movie, was on a poll, Simone has seen, George has not, but this quote I say (in my head) almost every day in So Cal traffic, it makes me laugh, it's True. "Don't give me the finger, I'll fuckin have you killed!"

djKENTO

Hey George, not trying to be a jerk, just informative... that reveal you proposed wouldn't qualify as Lynchian. When you've seen Twin Peaks, Eraserhead, Lost Highway... then you'll have a much better understanding of what Lynchian really means cuz it's not just like... a twist or a reveal that changes perspectives... That's more Shyamalanian or Hitchcockian or Fincheresque. Lynchian has more to do with atmosphere and tone than plot. Most of his work isn't about twists or big reveals like that, in fact a lot of his work is obtuse to the point of being narratively abstract. Especially Lost Highway and Eraserhead. Also... if y'all do end up going through Lynch's work save The Straight Story for last. It's his most normal film, it's produced and released by Disney in the late 90s and it's the most beautiful send off to his work. If you did Twin Peaks after Stranger Things... I'd double... no I would triple my pledge out of sheer gratitude for giving me another reason to bust out the box set. It's one of my go to Winter rewatches and I haven't done it yet.

photos_by_geoff

Much like Simone, I have a vague sense of which episode is which, when i hear the name lf the episode. However, this one was pretty clear which it would be from the episode name. "The Most Toys" just made me think of being a collector myself, and then this episode came right to mind. One of my favorites, as it shows such moral dilemmas for everyone, but mostly for Data. I love how he quietly became his own protestor to sit silently and nlt give his captor what he sought.

gfixler

I only figured that out recently, and I slapped my head so hard.

Lintrinsic

The Program 9 tease😆, Simone wasn't alone in trying to work out what it could be. I can't say too much without heading into spoiler territory, but my personal theory is Program 9 might be the development file for a program mentioned way down the line by two Enterprise alums over a drink in a later show, that may have been used in the creation of some of the fantasies here. Hopefully that's sufficiently vague but enough for those who know to see what I mean.

Lintrinsic

There's no denying what Barclay does crosses the line in more ways than one. But getting caught in a spiral of unfettered fantasy the way he did is so understandable and he does face consequences, whether there's protocol already or not. Troi makes it absolutely clear he's in her wheelhouse now and he's unlikely to get away with further evasive manoeuvres in counselling. For me, this episode is as much, if not more about how the rest of the crew act in response to a crew member who is out of step and learning to appreciate his (neuro) diversity. There's a fine line between close-knit and cliquey and this episode explores how it would feel to be part of the crew but an outsider. Riker in particular exhibits horrendous staff management. He states he went through Barclay's profile, but it never occurred to him there may be an issue with him fitting in to a new ship or to refer the matter to the counsellor? Instead he spreads around a cruel nickname and talks about making Barclay feel threatened? I love the scene where Barclay is working on the injectors and recommends dropping out of warp, he's clearly competent at the work (when he turns up) and Geordi doesn't hesitate to back his recommendation. Barclay was such a unique addition to Star Trek, and a character Roddenberry was apparently against adding. Further proof that I love Trek in spite of Roddenberry.

REDR58

You’re not going to believe this, but I was thinking to myself about the mismatched and stacked containers and how inefficient that was. I was going to mention it, but forgot (as well as why are they not secured to the wall with some straps or shelving or braces or something). So it’s so funny that you mentioned it!

Simon Pegged Me

Scattered reactions... My favorite toy as a tot was a stuffed St. Bernard toy with a detachable barrel that could be opened and filled with valuables or things that would be valuable to tot. The Barclay episode was troubling on a number of levels. One that was brought up in the episode and in the reaction is why did he choose a career as an officer in StarFleet. It doesn't seem to suit him, and I don't understand how he managed to get as far in his career as he has. We hear often how difficult Starfleet Academy is to get in and how demanding being a cadet can be, but it seems not to have been either of those things for him. (Suck it, Wesley.) And he's been able to advance up the ranks despite his shortcomings. Officers are not only proficient in their areas, but they also are responsible for leading lower ranked officers in their divisions. Everything we learn about him suggests he'd be a good engineer, but a horrible officer. Another troubling thing is what Reg revealed about the other members of the Enterprise's crew. For instance, how about Mean Girl Wesley Crusher, giving him the name Broccoli. It seemed out of character, Wesley being such an oddball on the ship, a boy among adults and all. And then, Geordi comes off as kind of a dick as an officer. He gets a junior officer who's less than perfect, and he tries to get rid of him instead of train him? Maybe the show was distorting things to show us a reality from Reg's POV, where the perfect senior officers appear to be jerks to everyone outside of the closed circle of the bridge crew. Except for Guinan and Picard, everyone else seemed to be at their worst. And then there's all the holodeck sex. My guess is Barclay Program Nine is a scenario in which Reg crashes his shuttle on a planet, is captured by inhabitants who look suspiciously like Counselor Troi and Dr. Crusher, and is sentenced to death by snu-snu. Shenanigans ensue. For the second episode, The Most Toys,I was surprised, like Simone, that Data chose to lie about firing his weapon. It seemed clear to me that to follow his directive as an officer to escape, he would need to kill Fajo. In that moment, that appeared to be his best option for escape. I didn't think he needed to lie about it.

JoeMama47

I had the exact same thought! Yakkety Sax.

Michael Kemmet

Yep. I was the perfect age for The A-Team to be one of my favorite shows when it was on, so it's actually always been backwards for me in recognizing actors from it. "Hey, what's Murdock doing on TNG?", "Col. Smith is in Breakfast at Tiffany's?", "Oh... now I finally understand that chrome robot in the intro..." etc. :) I do think The A-Team movie might be fun for Simone and George. It's so ridiculous they might enjoy it if they realize early enough to completely relax their suspensions of disbelief and just enjoy the stupid ride.

Michael Kemmet

Program 9 is like the contents of the briefcase in Pulp Fiction: It's whatever the viewer can imagine. And it probably tells us more about the viewer than the writer/actor. lol

Tangerra

I don’t think it was intentional. But it’s very heavily coded.

Dan

I remember early on, when George first started making jokes and speculations about all the unethical things you could do with a holodeck, I said... "Broccoli..."

Skyruff Creative

Ah, Saul ... I am reminded of Arty's Angles (AKA Warehouse 13).

MacGuffinStuff

Yeah that show was perfect for me too, I loved the montages, every episode, of them going full Macguyver and it was just a cigar chomping military genius, literally named Hannibal, a mohawk sporting former airborne specal forces badass with a fear of flying and a lot of empathy apparently, a wild eyed schizoid helicopter pilot and a pretty boy who was basically the Roger Moore's James Bond of the team. And these guys somehow always beat the bad guys in every episode, while evading the US Army and government.

Matthew Maxon

Jerdi had so many leadership fails in this episode. saying that something was coming from the captain weakens his position to your subordinates. calling him Broccoli is demeaning. He also should have stomped on Broccoli as soon as he heard it. Fun episode yet. Cant wait untill you get to Deep Space Nine. Thats my favorite to have on in the background.

Michael Bauer

I do like "The Most Toys" for the wonderful performance by Saul Rubinek and the exploration of Data's character (though piecing things together on the Enterprise was also fun). But honestly - the ending doesn't do it for me. They wanted to make data more "human" and have a shocking moment where at least for a moment, it seemed like "the greater good" invoved brutally murdering somebody for Data. I still think this kind of writing where the moral of the story is "sometimes the ends justify horrible means" runs contrary what Trek is (and should be) about. Also - maybe I'm missing something, but it also seems that "brutal murder" vs "everything goes on as it has" is a false dichotomy. Data was about to leave with another person on the shuttle - why couldn't he capture Fajo and bring him along to face justice? I'm sure there would have been other alternatives as well.

Robert Mendoza

I have two favorite scenes in Hollow Pursuits. First when Picard calls Barclay broccoli and you can see the look on Picards face as he realizes his mistake. Second I love the problem solving scene in Engineering towards the end of the episode. It's a bunch of people solving a problem with SCIENCE and TEAMWORK.

Ginger

I grew up watching the A-Team all the time, so for me it was completely the other way around, when I saw one day: "Hey, Murdock is on the Enterprise!" It's still so funny to see him in such a different role here. :D Just love the A-Team and Star Trek

Ginger

"I am the guy who writes down things to say when there's a party, and then when he gets there, he ends up alone in the corner trying to look comfortable examining a potted plant." Out of all of Star Trek, this is the line that gets me the most.

dennis bay

There is another episode, with a different charachter who saves a similar creature... I think that is what Simone was thinking of when she was expecting data to save it. I could tell you the charachters name.. but spoilers I think it's a few seasons down the road

Holy Squire

George is assuming that Data is philosophically utilitarian. Utilitarianism is unethical in the federation and to classical liberalism for that matter.

Venusian

I love Barclay.

C_Drew

I absolutely loooooooved Warehouse 13...I dont think I've seen anyone reacting to it. It had soo many imaginative ways to link artifacts to ingenuity. Sad its not revered as much.

LazyBoy Stays Up Late Watchin Video Tapes

03x21 - In social settings, I've had to learn to ask others about themselves and forego talking about myself. I look to see what I can give and not what I can get out of it. this actually works with everything in my life. 03x22 - Dimensions 77 cm × 53 cm (30 in × 21 in) , not so "Tiny"

Erik Niemi

Artie's bag would confuse George too much lol

Paul

I think I'm in the minority regarding holodeck usage, but I see no ethical issue whatsoever with recreating other people in there and doing whatever you want with them. With one caveat. The program has to be secured, private. Not accessible to anyone else or deliberately shared and spread around. Within those bounds, there is no functional difference between such a program and your own inner thoughts and imaginings to one in the holodeck (or in a written fantasy, or some animated film you made for yourself only)

Donna Castellano

I know I'm way late on this and I have not read the comments, so I've no idea if this was mentioned but - This is one of my favorite TNG episodes. I've seen it a ton of times over the years. Saul Rubinek was so good as the villain, I couldn't trust his characters in anything he appeared in after this episode. That was especially hard when I started watching Warehouse 13 and he was a main cast member. Anyway! On the subject of the creature that was the last of its kind, I picked up on dialogue I never did before from the villain. When he tells Data that the species is like surprisingly defenceless or the like. The pause he made after that, it never occurred to me before, maybe he wiped out of the rest of the species to CREATE a lone survivor. The way he spoke on it was very odd, "the last living survivor". I mean, it's an odd way to phrase it. So after this rewatch over 40 some years of rewatching this episode, I fully believe he created the "last survivor" in the case of that creature. Makes him even more despicable.