Elementary, Dear Data

Here's something I haven't really mentioned: last summer, I decided to re-read all of Sherlock Holmes. Now, don't get the wrong idea, I don't generally go around making grand proclamations about doing all of a thing in a specified amount of time just because I read all of Sherlock Holmes and I'm watching all of Star Trek. Oh, and Saturday, I ate all the Thin Mints. Not all in the world, just all in my cabinet. I just happened to do these things and when I love something, I tend to want all of it at once.

Anyway, I'm still reading some of these stories and still really enjoying reading them and thinking about them and so, when "Elementary, Dear Data" came up in my queue, I was pretty excited. If you've not seen this episode, basically it involves Data and Geordi heading to the holodeck to play Sherlock and Watson. But Data's memorized every single story and he solves everything in like five seconds. No fun. Dr. Pulaski suggests that Data isn't capable of creative thought and that if Data were presented with a new mystery, he wouldn't be able to solve it. Taking that idea and running with it, Geordi tells the computer to generate a villain capable of defeating--not Sherlock Holmes--but Data.

No one considers the fact that a being (who turns out to be Moriarty) capable of out-thinking Data would also be capable of conscious thought or figuring out what a holodeck is or the fact that he's actually floating through space inside a starship. But that's exactly what happens. Woops!

Aside from Moriarty at first threatening the safety of the Enterprise, there isn't a lot of drama or danger here. The story is simple and straightforward. A group of humans inadvertently create a being with consciousness. That being is self-aware but he cannot exist outside the holodeck. The being was meant to be a villain but he has quickly evolved into a real, multi-sided person. What should the humans do?

I won't spoil the ending. I think you should Netflix this one and here's why: more than this being a great homage to Sherlock Holmes, "Elementary, Dear Data," is a great example of what SciFi in general and Star Trek specifically do really well. They ask us important questions. What constitutes true brilliance?  What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to exist? What does it mean to stop existing?

If you've seen this episode recently and you're a Sherlock Holmes fan, I'd love to hear from you. If you're not a fan and you've not seen the episode. I'd still love to hear from you.