episode #15: 11001001

11001001 - episode #15, first season / Air Date: 2/1/88
written by Maurice Hurley, Robert Lewin; Directed by Paul Lynch

Touted by many fans as the best holodeck story, this isn't so much about some adventure inside the holodeck as it is about a particular character created there, under special circumstances i.e. a special program. Reps from a race known as the Bynars are supposed to upgrade the computer on the Enterprise at Starbase 74. These Bynars are another interesting aspect of the episode: they're like living representations of the binary language of computers; they live & work in pairs and communicate mostly in a computer language, having a direct connection to their main computer via 'buffer' units they wear.

Come to think of it, they're like an early, benign version of the Borg
.

The Bynars enhance the computer, including the capability of the holodeck, and Riker finds himself enthralled by the latest holo-character, a lady named Minuet (Carolyn McCormick), in the setting of a Parisian bar. Picard also joins them (Picard seems to really want to 'hang' with Riker in this episode). Meanwhile, the magnetic containment field for the anti-matter is suddenly deteriorating; unknown to Picard & Riker, Data orders everyone to abandon ship.  The ship is then sent out of the starbase since it's believed it is about to explode.
Of course, that doesn't happen. Besides the beguiling Minuet (not so much to me, but to Riker), I noted a more grim resolve from Picard than what I was used to this first season; at one point, he decides to initiate a self-destruct sequence (recalling the couple of times Kirk did this), surprising Riker and the audience. But, in all, this was a good example of how this new Trek show differed from the original in style and tone - there is no actual sharply-defined threat or conflict that the characters need to face and overcome by the end; this was all merely an alien way of asking for help. BoG's Score: 7 out of 10