Elementary, Dear Data

TNG Season 2 Episode 3
Air Date: December 5th, 1988

Plot

The Enterprise arrives at a rendezvous location a few days early and the crew is given some down time. Geordi and Data decide to use some of that time in the holodeck playing a Sherlock Holmes mystery, only Data knows the answer to all of them. Doctor Pulaski suggests having the computer make a random mystery which results in Geordi asking the computer to create a mystery that "Data" can't solve. Doing so creates a sentient holodeck program with Professor Moriarty, Holmes arch nemesis.

Moriarty learns about the computer, the holodeck and eventually the Enterprise. He is able to take rudimentary control and threatens to destroy the ship. Picard takes matter into his own hands and convinces Moriarty that he will do all he can to find a way to eventually get him off the holodeck. Given Moriarty's new found consciousness, he also develops new morals and agrees.

Commentary

This isn't the last time we see Professor Moriarty in TNG, and watching Data play other characters is a treat. While the accent and acting is over the top, it fits the role. I found it interesting that once Data found out that Professor Moriarty knew about the Enterprise, Data had almost no lines, leaving the almost work to resolve the issue to Picard.

Quotes

"In programming Moriarty to defeat me, not Holmes, he had to be able to acquire something which I possess." - Data
"What exactly?" - Picard
"Consciousness, sir. Without it, he could not defeat me." - Data

"I'm a civilized abductor" - Moriarty

"I can't help thinking how, or what else might have happened, all because I misspoke a single word." - La Forge