We’re rejecting reality and substituting our own as we enjoy “Hollow Pursuits”!
Casually Comics host Sasha Wood joins the show this week to discuss an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that introduces a character to the Trek universe who feels like an outsider but represents us perfectly. Lt. Barclay can only find solace in his holodeck recreations of his co-workers. When an invisible contaminant begins to infect the ship, he’ll need to find the courage to step into the real world or his reality and his fantasies will both be destroyed!
Sometimes the healthy, confident, and accomplished characters on Star Trek can feel unrelatable to our Earth-bound, replicator-free existence, but a character like Reginald Endicott Barclay III serves as the perfect avatar for many fans who also experience anxiety and detachment. In saving the ship and his crewmates, Barclay proves that a person’s value isn’t in their physical strength or their winning personality but in their unique viewpoints and their determination to solve the problems life presents us. On this episode, we discuss the relatability of Barclay’s personality, the increasing importance of seeing yourself in Trek’s characters, the emergent dangers of the holodeck, the way that Trek can be popular and niche simultaneously, the way TNG grew by leaps and bounds in its third season, why Trekkies can sometimes be prickly, and the different managerial styles present on the Enterprise-D.
We also discuss bothering your loved ones about comics, getting a job through YouTube, “nerd” episodes of popular shows, the holodeck program “2020”, Geordi cringe, sweetening an employee review, “bully Riker”, cosplaying therapy, the ultimate dream womb, alien asbestos, Michael Jackson gloves, and the many physical talents of LeVar Burton!
It’s been 31 years and I *just got* that it’s HOLO Pursuits…
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Shippers Guide to the Galaxy
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