Episode:112
The Big Goodbye

Jack's Rating:

A computer malfunction traps Picard, Data, and Beverly in a Dixon Hill holodeck program set in early 20th-century Earth.

Features: The Holodeck
Stardate: 41997.7
Air Date: 01/11/88
Director: Joseph L. Scanlan

Jack's Review
One of the best episodes of the first season, this is also the first "Holodeck" episode ever. While there are a few rough patches here and there the story works well. If you know your Trek Tech you will understand that once the holodeck is shut down, any real solid matter created while inside...food, clothes, etc. is destroyed. Since the safety feature was turned off, the people would have counted as random solid matter and would have been transported into nothingness.

Episode:115
11001001

Jack's Rating:

Bynars upgrade the Enterprise's computers in spacedock. Riker and Picard become distracted by a surprisingly realistic holodeck character.

Features: The Holodeck
Stardate: 41365.9
Air Date: 02/01/88
Director: Paul Lynch

Jack's Review
I remember watching this one when it first aired. This classifies as the second holodeck episode ever and overall it's a terrific story. The HD effects make this one stand out very well and the Bynar characters are actually a lot of fun. One of the more enjoyable episodes of the first season.

Episode:203
Elementary, Dear Data

Jack's Rating:

After Data easily solves an ordinary Sherlock Holmes holodeck mystery, Geordi asks the computer to make a Holmes villain capable of defeating Data. The resultant Professor Moriarty soon becomes far more powerful than expected.

Features: The Holodeck
Stardate: 42286.3
Air Date: 12/05/88
Director: Rob Bowman

Jack's Review
Such a fun episode! Spiner's play as Data doing Holmes is a blast and the overall premise of the episode - a simple misspoken command to the computer - works great.

Episode:306
Booby Trap

Jack's Rating:

The Enterprise falls victim to an ancient booby trap set to snare starships; while in an effort to find an escape, Geordi finds himself falling for the holodeck's representation of a famous Federation engineer.

Features: The Holodeck
Stardate: 43205.6
Air Date: 10/30/89
Director: Gabrielle Beaumont

Jack's Review
This one is really fun. Oh, sure, from the outside it may seem a bit strange falling for a holodeck character, but I bet it happens very often. Great acting and direction makes this one wort watching several times.

Episode:314
A Matter of Perspective

Jack's Rating:

Riker is accused of murder, and the holodeck is used to reconstruct the events from different perspectives.

Features: The Holodeck
Stardate: 43610.4
Air Date: 02/12/90
Director: Cliff Bole

Episode:321
Hollow Pursuits

Jack's Rating:

Lt. Barclay's use of the holodeck as an escape interferes with his duties. Meanwhile, the Enterprise suffers from mysterious and random malfunctions.

Features: The Holodeck
Stardate: 43807.4
Air Date: 04/30/90
Director: Cliff Bole

Episode:408
Future Imperfect

Jack's Rating:

Riker finds himself sixteen years in the future, his memory of the interim erased by a dormant virus.

Features: The Holodeck The Romulans
Stardate: 44286.5
Air Date: 11/12/90
Director: Les Landau

Jack's Review
This is such a great episode. It shows the creativity of the writers by keeping us guessing to the end.

Episode:416
Galaxy's Child

Jack's Rating:

The Enterprise accidentally kills a space creature, and the crew rush to save its unborn child. Meanwhile, Geordi meets the engineer he fell in love with and finds to his shock, she's nothing like the woman he encountered on the holodeck.

Features: The Holodeck
Stardate: 44614.6
Air Date: 03/11/91
Director: Rick Kolbe

Episode:418
Identity Crisis

Jack's Rating:

Geordi transforms into an alien creature with strong instinct to return to its planet of origin.

Features: The Holodeck
Stardate: 44664.5
Air Date: 03/25/91
Director: Rick Kolbe

Episode:419
The Nth Degree

Jack's Rating:

After an encounter with an alien probe Barclay experiences great leaps in confidence and intelligence.

Features: The Holodeck
Stardate: 44704.2
Air Date: 04/01/91
Director: Rob Legato

Episode:520
Cost of Living

Jack's Rating:

Deanna's mother, Lwaxana, arrives to marry a man she has never met. Worf has difficulty rearing Alexander, which is exacerbated when Lwaxana takes the boy under her wing.

Features: The Holodeck
Stardate: 45733.6
Air Date: 04/20/92
Director: Winrich Kolbe

Episode:605
Schisms

Jack's Rating:

Several members of the crew are abducted and experimented on while they sleep.

Features: The Holodeck
Stardate: 46154.2
Air Date: 10/19/92
Director: Robert Wiemer

Episode:608
A Fistful of Datas

Jack's Rating:

Data's mind is connected to the ship's computer, which creates unforeseen effects on the holodeck.

Features: The Holodeck
Stardate: 46271.5
Air Date: 11/09/92
Director: Patrick Stewart

Episode:612
Ship in a Bottle

Jack's Rating:

Barclay accidentally awakens Prof. Moriarty on the holodeck, who uses the powers at his disposal to coerce the crew into finding a way to allow him to leave the holodeck.

Features: The Holodeck
Stardate: 46424.1
Air Date: 01/25/93
Director: Alexander Singer

Episode:713
Homeward

Jack's Rating:

Worf's human stepbrother violates the Prime Directive to save a doomed primitive race.

Features: The Holodeck
Stardate: 47423.9
Air Date: 01/17/94
Director: Alexander Singer

Jack's Review
I recall not liking this one much when it first aired. I mean, season 7 has its share of stinkers (Sub Rosa, Dark Page, Masks, Emergence, Journey's End, etc.) but after several viewings, I really like this one. Paul Sorvino is wonderful and the care and compassion shown to the people they save is really well done. The only bad thing is that Nikolai Rozhenko feels like a throw-away character. He should have been Worf's uncle because of the age disparity too.

Episode:723
Emergence

Jack's Rating:

The Enterprise becomes an emergent intelligence.

Features: The Holodeck
Stardate: 47869.2
Air Date: 05/09/94
Director: Cliff Bole

Jack's Review
Terrific acting keeps this one from sinking to the bottom of the pond. It's just so strange. In honesty, the good writers had all moved on to DS9 by this point, so they can't all be "The Inner Light".