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Elementary, Dear Data

A holographic Moriarty challenges Data on the holodeck.

"Elementary, Dear Data" is a second-season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that first aired on December 5, 1988.[1][2] The episode earned two Emmy Award nominations in 1989, for Outstanding Art Direction and Outstanding Costume Design.[3][1] Data, Geordi, and Dr. Pulaski become trapped in a holodeck mystery styled after Sherlock Holmes, featuring a sentient Professor James Moriarty.[1][4]

Quick Facts

Series
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season
2
Episode
3
Production
129
Air date
5 December 1988
Writer
Brian Alan Lane
Director
Rob Bowman
Photographer
Edward R. Brown

Facts from the source article.

Making and release

Rob Bowman directed the episode.[5][2] The writing staff mistakenly believed the Sherlock Holmes stories were in the public domain because "The Final Problem" was written in 1893.[6][4] Daniel Davis portrayed Professor Moriarty, using an English accent despite being from Arkansas.[7][8] Davis auditioned alongside actor Brian Bedford, and after winning the role, Bedford invited him to dinner to celebrate.[7][8]

Anne Elizabeth Ramsay made her first TNG appearance as Ensign Clancy in this episode.[3][1] The original ending had Picard lying to Moriarty about existing outside the holodeck, but Gene Roddenberry rejected that as cruel.[9][2] The Doyle estate filed a complaint with Paramount, and a subsequent settlement permitted Moriarty to reappear in the 1993 episode "Ship in a Bottle".[6][4] The paper that Moriarty drew remains intact, with no reason given for this phenomenon.[9][2]

What the cited sources add

The StarTrek.com article notes that the episode builds on Data's fascination with Sherlock Holmes first referenced in "Lonely Among Us"[1][4] Daniel Davis described his character as starting as a melodramatic villain but becoming more complex as the computer created an adversary to match Data's intelligence.[1][4][8] James Hunt of Den of Geek praised the episode as "fantastic" and highlighted the concepts about computers and artificial intelligence.[10][11][12] Keith R.A. DeCandido's rewatch observes that Geordi requested an adversary to defeat Data, not Holmes, which compelled the holodeck to grant Moriarty sentience.[2]

DeCandido gave the episode a score of 7 out of 10.[11][2]

References

  1. "28 Years Later... It's Still "Elementary, Dear Data"", StarTrek.com, December 5, 2016. facts only, no text reused. startrek.com
  2. DeCandido, "Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch: "Elementary, Dear Data"", August 18, 2011. facts only, no text reused. reactormag.com
  3. Wikipedia, "Elementary, Dear Data" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "28 Years Later... It's Still "Elementary, Dear Data"", StarTrek.com, December 5, 2016 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. "28 Years Later... It's Still "Elementary, Dear Data"", StarTrek.com, December 5, 2016. facts only, no text reused. startrek.com
  5. Wikipedia, "Elementary, Dear Data" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Phillips, "Science Fiction Television Series: Episode Guides, Histories, and Casts and Credits for 62 Prime Time Shows, 1959 Through 1989", McFarland, 1996 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Elementary, Dear Data" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "28 Years Later... It's Still "Elementary, Dear Data"", StarTrek.com, December 5, 2016; Orquiola, "Daniel Davis Interview: Star Trek Picard Season 3", ScreenRant, March 23, 2023 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Elementary, Dear Data" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Interview: Trek's Moriarty, Daniel Davis", StarTrek.com, June 25, 2014 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. "Interview: Trek's Moriarty, Daniel Davis", StarTrek.com, June 25, 2014. facts only, no text reused. startrek.com
  9. Wikipedia, "Elementary, Dear Data" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: DeCandido, "Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch: "Elementary, Dear Data"", August 18, 2011 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Elementary, Dear Data" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "'Star Trek: The Next Generation' — The 25 Greatest Episodes", The Hollywood Reporter, September 21, 2016; ""Emissary" - 'Star Trek': 100 Greatest Episodes", The Hollywood Reporter, September 8, 2016 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Elementary, Dear Data" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: James Hunt, "Revisiting Star Trek TNG: Elementary Dear Data", Den of Geek, May 3, 2013; DeCandido, "Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch: "Elementary, Dear Data"", August 18, 2011 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  12. James Hunt, "Revisiting Star Trek TNG: Elementary Dear Data", Den of Geek, May 3, 2013. facts only, no text reused. denofgeek.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Elementary, Dear Data (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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