Jammer's Review

Star Trek: The Next Generation

"Ship in a Bottle"

1/2

Air date: 1/25/1993
Written by Rene Echevarria
Directed by Alexander Singer

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan

In the process of making repairs to the holodeck, Barclay inadvertently uncorks the program of Professor Moriarty (Daniel Davis), the holodeck character that somehow achieved self-awareness in second season's "Elementary, Dear Data." Moriarty says he has been aware of the passage of time during his program's state of hibernation and demands to speak to Picard, who promised to investigate a way to free Moriarty from the confines of the holodeck.

Moriarty, however, remains a mysterious miracle of technology, and Starfleet's best programmers have not figured out a way to regenerate a holodeck matrix outside a holodeck. But Moriarty is so sure of his existence that he demonstrates mind over matter — and to everyone's astonishment, steps right off the holodeck and into the corridor of the Enterprise.

"Ship in a Bottle" is a fun ride that takes the "holodeck runs awry" motif and puts a welcome and original spin on it, with some cleverly brilliant twists of the plot. The results are as sly and imaginative as "Fistful of Datas" was tedious and forgettable. This is a bona fide sci-fi outing that considers the nature of existence for a character who is genuinely curious about the universe and is looking for a way to appease that curiosity — and who will not be fully satisfied until someone finds a way to get him off the Enterprise, along with doing the same for his beloved companion, Countess Regina Bartholamew (Stephanie Beacham), who is still trapped in the holodeck. "No" is not an option.

But things are not as they seem. Data discovers that Moriarty didn't actually step off the holodeck, but instead used clever sleight of hand to make it appear so. Picard, Data, and Barclay are actually still on the holodeck, trapped in an elaborate simulation of the Enterprise that Moriarty devised in order to manipulate the entire situation (Picard unwittingly gives his access codes to the holodeck version of the computer, which in turn gives them to Moriarty, who uses them to take control of the ship.)

If there's perhaps an unsung moment in this episode, it's the reaction of the simulated Geordi as he listens to Data explain to Picard that the entire engineering deck is a simulation — including Geordi. It's simultaneously funny, sad, and weirdly eerie. It's like watching holo-Geordi as he falls through the rabbit hole; surely he wasn't designed to be self-aware, but merely an elaborate copy of Geordi based on personnel files and carefully programmed responses. And yet in this moment, it's like he has become self-aware by being informed he's not real, because the program is forced to deal with a reality it wasn't designed for. Holo-Geordi's reaction is one of confused, disquieted silence — as if that's all the program can do once confronted with this feedback loop. LeVar Burton sells it.

Apart from the interesting philosophical dialogue about Moriarty's state of existence, "Ship in a Bottle" (a great title, by the way) is just a plain good time, using storytelling trickery to good effect. While I will always resist the unlikely notion that the holodeck is so flawless that it is utterly indistinguishable from reality, this episode takes that conceit and executes it wonderfully, establishing some narrative rules that it then doesn't break. (Note how the editing rhythm never cuts to the typical external view of the Enterprise in between scenes as long as we remain inside the holodeck.)

And I liked the appropriate turn of tables where, once Picard and Data realized they've been duped by Moriarty's illusion, they then use the same trick on him, creating a holodeck within a holodeck, and then giving him exactly what he wants — an escape to a "real world" by creating the illusion of a world outside of the holodeck, even though he never leaves it. Ultimately, Moriarty and the Countess (who also achieves self-awareness, somehow, thanks to Moriarty — a point the story unfortunately never adequately deals with) are able to tour the cosmos inside the confines of a computer program that runs inside a little cube. Picard's closing line on the nature of reality provides the story a perfect note of whimsy, suggesting our own reality may simply be built upon perspectives stemming from the knowledge available to us: "All this might just be an elaborate simulation, running inside a little device, sitting on someone's table."

Previous episode: Chain of Command, Part II
Next episode: Aquiel

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9 comments on this review

Patrick - Fri, Jun 22, 2012 - 12:06am (USA Central)

This is a damn fun and clever episode. I like how Barclay is used as a side character rather than the main focus and still remain just as effective presence (certainly more than in "Realm of Fear" and "Genesis"). I think this had something to do with him having an memorable cameo in Star Trek First Contact.

I was sad that Moriarty didn't mention Dr. Pulaski by name at the beginning. The last time we ever hear her mentioned by name is in season 3's "Who Watches the Watchers"--and then that's all she wrote. No reunion episode or cameo in any subsequent seasons.

Latex Zebra - Fri, Jun 22, 2012 - 2:48am (USA Central)

I usually hate most Holodeck episodes but this is great.

I hope his box didn't get blown up with the Enterprise D and that Moriaty and the Doctor (Voyager) are now drinking buddies.

Peter H - Fri, Jun 22, 2012 - 1:30pm (USA Central)

This episode always tickles me. I confess there are few episodes I care to rewatch, even for nostalgia's sake, but this is one of the few I'm happy to come back to as I genuinely seem to enjoy every time.

Jeremy Short - Sun, Jun 24, 2012 - 9:35am (USA Central)

I also really like that Moriarty makes a classic Holmes bad guy move, claiming to do something impossible or super natural. This is done a lot in Doyle's stories. You even see it in the first Robert Downey Jr. film. We also get Data cast in the Holmes role again. The one big difference from the Homes stories is that they were always written from Dr. Watson's POV, so you never knew that Holmes had figured it out until the end.

mathane - Mon, Jun 25, 2012 - 1:14pm (USA Central)

All I can do is echo what everyone else has said. There aren't many holodeck episodes I like, but this was great.

Grumpy - Mon, Jun 25, 2012 - 6:45pm (USA Central)

Not that 3.5 isn't a bad rating, but I didn't read anything that indicates why this isn't a 4-star episode. When I watch "Ship In a Bottle," I don't skip scenes like I do with all the non-torture stuff in "Chain of Command part 2". As far as I'm concerned, the only weak point is the minor blooper of Picard changing clothes inside the holo-trap; based on the logic of this episode, his holo-uniform should've evaporated the moment he stepped outside.

Elliott - Mon, Jun 25, 2012 - 8:10pm (USA Central)

I cannot get behind this episode. I LIKE it, but the ideas in it (and especially its predecessor) are too serious to justify the mood and focus of the dialogue. The Moriarty character's plight is fascinating stuff which would eventually lead to fantastic episodes of VOY featuring the Doc. That such a rare use of him would be a "good time" as you put it, is inexcusable.

I have the same reaction to nearly every seen, at first glance, I LIKE it, but when I stop to think about what's been said, it's empty.

Take, for instance :

PIC : "I have come here to prevail on your intelligence and your insight."
Countess : "But not apparently on my humility!"
PIC : "Credit where credit is due, madam. I can see you are a woman not only of breeding, but of whit and sagacity"
Countess : "And you, sir, are a man of charm...and guile. You remind me of Viscount Oglethorpe (he was a man who could bewitch any woman who breathed)."
PIC: "And do you suspect that that is my intent?"
Countess : "I cannot be certain of your intent, but I am certain you're the kind of man who usually gets exactly what he wants."

The tenor of the language clearly shows the writer knew he was writing for two Brits of high manner, and it's really lovely to listen to, but what on earth are they TALKING about? Are they flirting? Is Picard manipulating a hologram? Given especially the way (aptly pointed out by Jammer) holo-Geordi behaves and speaks, this dialogue is utterly pointless and, by extension, aggravating.

Still present are the charm and performances, lamentably absent are the wonder, the whit and the profundity of "Elementary, Dear Data." 2.5 stars from me.

Brendan - Tue, Jun 26, 2012 - 2:16am (USA Central)

A clear rip off of Inception.

William B - Tue, Jul 3, 2012 - 4:31pm (USA Central)

It's worth noting that the reference to "a box sitting on someone's table" at the episode's end is not just a comment about our difficulty having certainty about our perception of reality, though that is its primary meaning. It's also simply a joke -- because Picard et al. are all sitting in a television on our table. I think this interpretation is less interesting, but a lot of fiction writers become interested in the nature of the inner life of their characters partly *because* writing sometimes involves characters "coming alive" on you. It'd be interesting to talk about how the Holodeck episodes are partly a way for the main cast to be recast as writers, with their own fictional entertainment universe turning on them.

Eliott's points are interesting. It's been too long since I've seen the episode to comment, but I do think that the episode is more puzzlebox with a few hints of philosophy rather than puzzlebox as a mechanism to explore philosophy. Puzzlebox stories -- stories whose primary pleasures are about the surprise and joy of seeing characters dupe one another -- are often fun but can feel a little empty afterward. That said, I think that what helps the episode is the fact that Doyle's Moriarty himself is a character who specializes in this type of plotting. Though the episode doesn't articulate this, the fact that Moriarty continues using deceit and death threats in order to get what he wants may actually be an argument that he is still constrained by his original programming, still the person he was written to be. I'd keep this at 3.5 stars, I think.

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