This episode is deeply flawed, and aspects of it are terrible—but it’s still the best episode since the pilot. The framing story about the insect race that is anal about protocol and that the captain needs to placate is pretty lame; we never even see the insect guys, and their demand that the captain “honor” them by greeting them in their language is discussed much too openly by both sides and thus feels like a silly and deliberate charade (reminiscent of “Code of Honor”). Plus, using the aliens’ scan of the ship as the paper-thin pretext for a random, yet very specific and story-conducive, holodeck malfunction, is pretty dumb, and leaning on the urgent need for Picard to go greet them on time as a way of adding tension to the “stuck in the holodeck” predicament later on also doesn’t work. However, the parts of the episode that take place in the holodeck are (despite being basically inconsequential) genuinely fun to watch, in a way that really makes the episode stand out among its first-season peers.
For starters, I appreciate how the show is starting to make gestures here toward building on itself, with Geordi answering Data’s query about Dixon Hill by comparing the latter to Sherlock Holmes, in whom Data previously showed interest. When Data immerses himself in the world of Dixon Hill, he becomes, for the first time ever, a thoroughly appealing (and successfully funny) character! And since his antics take place in the context of holodeck recreation rather than being inserted into scenes in which serious business is supposed to be taking place, they don’t feel childish and out of place in the way that his Sherlock Holmes shenanigans did in “Lonely Among Us.” Picard, for his part, also loosens up and comes to life in this episode, giving us one of the first glimpses of the appealing character who he will eventually become—and the holodeck play also provides an opportunity for the writers to work in a bit of romantic tension between him and Dr. Crusher in a much more subtle, plausible, and appropriate way than (for instance) via their “drunken” interactions back in “The Naked Now.” I do wonder, though, if it wasn’t a poor choice to have the characters always be so damned impressed by the holodeck whenever it came up in these early episodes. Might the concept have perhaps worked better as a part of the nifty, futuristic world of the 24th century if the characters more or less took it for granted, rather than constantly raving about how amazing it is? I guess it’s kind of a “show, don’t tell” issue. On the other hand, I do enjoy watching the characters geeking out over being immersed in the trappings of a fictional twentieth-century setting (even if it is a bit over the top), both because it brings the characters to life and because it’s entertaining on a meta-level (the audience, after all, being notorious for geeking out about Trek’s futuristic trappings).
While the goings-on in the holodeck are entertaining, though, they don’t really amount to a story per se. The characters muck about having fun until they realize that they are trapped and the holodeck’s safety protocols aren’t working; then there’s a big standoff and some posturing on both sides; then Wes and Geordi fix the holodeck, extricating Picard and company from their predicament. Also, the play of events is weird: after inviting Dr. Crusher to accompany him back into the holodeck, Picard goes in without her; she later joins the group, but almost as soon as she arrives, Picard and company are suddenly ready to leave!? It just doesn’t quite add up. Meanwhile, what’s going on outside the holodeck is also largely devoid of actual story ideas: they can’t get into the holodeck, so Wes and Geordi tinker, and then eventually they get it open (and don’t even get me started on how laughable Wesley’s “if I do this wrong, everyone inside will cease to exist!” nonsense is). More generally, the idea of having the holodeck malfunction serves no real purpose; it seems shoehorned in to provide tension and stakes in an otherwise inconsequential episode, rather than (say) actually relating to what’s going on in the world of Dixon Hill in any interesting way. I mean, once the exit opens and the holodeck characters realize that they “aren’t real,” they do wax all existential about it, sure—but even though this is sort of interesting, it also feels a bit of out of place. Not only is it unrelated to what has come before, but also: when the exit opens, where are Wesley and Geordi, who have been working all this time just outside the door? And how utterly inexcusable is it for everyone to dawdle around for an eternity after the doors are opened, despite all the tension surrounding Picard needing to go greet the insect aliens—not to mention the fact that a man is lying bleeding to death, for chrissake?
Additionally, the holodeck material—besides not really adding up to a story—is just a bit too inconsequential. I’ve assigned two “story types” to “The Big Goodbye”: “Tech Trouble” and “Outside the Trek Milieu.” Some fans, I’ve gathered, are quite scornful of the show’s recurring fixation with these “period piece” episodes (most of which take place on the holodeck, of course). I don’t share that attitude, particularly, but I will say that for one of the closest-to-good episodes thus far to be one that relies on taking the characters out of their “real” Trek world and dropping them into a completely different (and fictional-within-the-show) setting in order to be entertaining is hardly a great sign. Moreover, to the extent that the fundamental story/conflict of the episode flows from random “Tech Trouble”—well, this is a type of story that is deserving of a certain amount of scorn, in my view.
Having said all of that, real live fun is had along the way in this one—and the sheer fact that significant portions of this episode are actually entertaining, rather than insulting or embarrassing, makes it a standout for TNG’s first season. It’s a pointless throwaway holodeck lark, to be sure. But Picard sheds his stodginess, there’s some subtle humor with Dr. Crusher, and Data’s research-justified period slang and voice mimicry—as well as his lines at the very end (“It was raining in the city by the bay…”)—actually work and are funny.