Elementary, Dear Data
- Episode aired Dec 5, 1988
- TV-PG
- 46m
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
4.4K
YOUR RATING
An attempt to provide Data with a challenging Sherlock Holmes holodeck program backfires when its Professor Moriarty character accidentally becomes self-aware.An attempt to provide Data with a challenging Sherlock Holmes holodeck program backfires when its Professor Moriarty character accidentally becomes self-aware.An attempt to provide Data with a challenging Sherlock Holmes holodeck program backfires when its Professor Moriarty character accidentally becomes self-aware.
Wil Wheaton
- Wesley Crusher
- (credit only)
Anne Ramsay
- Ensign Clancy
- (as Anne Elizabeth Ramsay)
Rosemarie Baio
- Holographic Widow
- (uncredited)
Majel Barrett
- Enterprise Computer
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
Michael Braveheart
- Crewman Martinez
- (uncredited)
Jeffrey Deacon
- Command Division Officer
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaPicard utters "merde", the French word for "shit". As it was said in a foreign language, it passed the TV censors. Merde is sometimes translated as "damn" in subtitles. This is not euphemism but reflects common usage in French. French conversation is relaxed about the use of swearwords with sexual connotations, whose literal translations would be considered very strong or taboo in English. For example, "Je m'en fous" literally means "I don't give a f***" but is used by the French in the same way as the milder "I don't care."
- GoofsMoriarty hands Data a piece of paper upon which is a sketch of the Enterprise. Data immediately storms off the holodeck, and shows the paper to La Forge. As the paper was holographic, it should have vanished the moment it was removed from the holodeck. However, other episodes have established that some objects (such as food) are actually replicated within the holodeck, and thus are "real" (i.e. not holographic), depending on the needs of the program and its user (as well as the plot of the individual show).
- Quotes
Moriarty: Is the definition of life "Cogito ergo sum" - I think, therefore I am?
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Yes, that is one possible definition.
Moriarty: It is the most important one - and for me, the only one that matters.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Star Trek: Science vs. Fiction: Holodeck und Hologramme (2006)
- SoundtracksStar Trek: The Next Generation Main Title
Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage
Featured review
Inventive and well-written, a superior episode that makes full potential of the Holodeck
I was pleasantly surprised by Elementary, Dear Data. After the frankly frustrating S1 episode The Big Goodbye I questioned how much mileage there could be in another Holodeck episode. The writing is much superior and Daniel Davis's Moriaty a very worthy adversary. Whereas in The Big Goodbye the holograms became aware of their own confinement they remained stock characters, one-dimensional and a bit boring. This episode makes some effort to correct that mistake and as a result Moriaty is more of a credible threat. His increased power heightens the sense of danger and urgency. Davis's performance is actually rather affecting and multifaceted, which is quite something given the relatively short runtime and limited nature of the script. It's a fun episode to watch, and is also noteworthy for furthering the relationship between Data and Dr. Pulaski. I rate it highly in this season.
helpful•42
- movieguy96
- Nov 21, 2020
Details
- Runtime46 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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