The Nth Degree
The Enterprise arrives at the Argus Array, a large unmanned space telescope that is in need of repair. They find a probe of unknown origin near the telescope. Lieutenant Commander La Forge and Lieutenant Barclay investigate the probe from one of the Enterprise's shuttles. Barclay gets injured while they are studying the probe but recovers fairly quickly after they return to the Enterprise.
La Forge and other members of the crew notice that Barclay isn't quite the man he used to be. He is considerably more intelligent, more confident, and changed in many other non-visible ways. A scan by Doctor Crusher confirms that his brain is operating at a level that is unheard of for humans. Barclay estimates that his IQ is now somewhere close to 1500.
The problems with the space telescope start to get worse. One of the nuclear reactors is close to malfunctioning. Geordi and the rest of the engineering team rush to try and fix things but there doesn't seem to be enough time to do what needs to be done to de-escalate the situation.
Barclay has an idea. He uses Holodeck 3 to builds what he needs. His brain starts to interface with the Enterprise's computer. He stops the relay station from blowing up and takes over most of the Enterprise's operating systems. Captain Picard asks him to disengage himself from the Enterprise but Barclay explains that's impossible without killing him.
Geordi tries to regain control of the ship's engines but Barclay shuts that possibility down. Captain Picard sends Worf and a security team to the holodeck to disconnect Barclay from the computer but that similarly fails. Counselor Troi asks Barclay to disengage but he refuses. Barclay transports the Enterprise more than 30,000 light years to the center of the galaxy.
There the Enterprise meets a representative of the Cytherians, the ones who sent the probe. Barclay stumbles onto the bridge. He remembers what happened but no longer has the heightened abilities that he briefly possessed.
Thoughts
Barclay and Doctor Crusher were performing a scene from Cyrano de Bergerac when the episode began. My first thought was that Barclay was screwing around on the holodeck as he did in 3.21 (Hollow Pursuits), until they revealed that it was actually Doctor Crusher and that they had an audience.
This is the second of five episodes in which Barclay appeared. He is the star of this episode. All of the other members of the crew are in this episode but Barclay is the one who gets the spotlight. This is the only one of the five Barclay episodes that was part of the fourth season. His next appearance wasn't until early in season six.
Barclay's voice replaces that of the usual computer voice after he takes over the Enterprise.
I guess that the holodeck tech is more powerful than I once thought if it can be used to take over the Enterprise.
I enjoyed this episode very much. It isn't terribly novel. I feel as though the elements here have been seen before but maybe not exactly in the configuration that they are presented in this episode. I am referring to (a) stories where someone gets superhuman intelligence and is perceived as a threat, (b) stories where the crew loses control of the Enterprise and desperately scrambles to regain it, and (c) stories where the Enterprise travels much further than it can under normal circumstances.
Dwight Schultz is a big part of why this episode is as good as it is. His performance as Barclay made this episode. His performance could just as easily have broken this episode if it wasn't as convincing as it was.
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