Captain Picard Says Hello to the 20th Century in The Big Goodbye

When Star Trek: The Next Generation was on the air, my family used to watch it every week, so I was pleased to discover that WGN has recently begun running the series, though I keep forgetting it's on. Last night, I was flipping through the channels and caught it right at the beginning. I can't say I remember this particular episode, a season one outing called The Big Goodbye, but when it opened with stately Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) getting all giggly in the Holodeck, I figured I was in for a treat.

The Holodeck is a wonderful Next Generation invention that allows the Enterprise's officers to immerse themselves in any surroundings they choose. This often means trips to fictional or historical settings, which is a nice change of pace, particularly since it gets the characters out of their familiar uniforms. Picard's destination of choice is the early 1940s, where he steps into the trenchcoat of his favorite gumshoe, Dixon Hill, and finds himself in a world of sultry women and snarling mobsters.

He's so impressed upon his first Holodeck adventure that he returns with the ship's historian, Whalen (David Selberg), and Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden), who hopes the trip will present an opportunity for some alone time with the captain. That prospect becomes more unlikely when the ever-curious Data (Brent Spiner) reads up on the detective and decides to crash the party, confusing Holodeck characters with his pasty skin and matter-of-fact statements about the future, reminding me of Spock in The City on the Edge of Forever. But he's along simply to have fun and becomes increasingly comical as he adopts not only the colloquialisms of the time but also a cheesy accent.

Little does Picard's merry band know that their little game is about to turn deadly, as there are dangerous men on their tail and the Holodeck has malfunctioned, leaving them trapped. What's more, Picard has an important job to do on the bridge - recite the proper greeting to an alien race in hopes of restoring peace after another captain's pronunciation gaffe twenty years earlier deeply offended them. If he doesn't escape soon, it could be a diplomatic disaster.

Most of this episode takes place in the Holodeck, making it especially entertaining, though the action on the ship is engaging too as second-in-command Riker (Jonathan Frakes), engineer Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) and geeky teenage ensign Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) rush to fix the Holodeck in time. The most amusing performances definitely come from Stewart and Spiner, both on the Holodeck and off - Stewart because we're not used to seeing Picard swept away in childlike wonder, Spiner because childlike wonder is what he does best. Generally speaking, I find Data to be the show's funniest character.

Despite some high stakes, The Big Goodbye is a lighthearted episode, even down to what Picard has to say to the alien envoy. It's one of the best examples of how fun Next Generation could be.