Clues

Dixon Hill, Private Detective on the holodeck. I have to admit right from the off that although I appreciate that this kind of use of the holodeck was a new direction for season one, I now find the whole film-noir angle to be totally uninteresting. Some of the stories pursued on the holodeck were very good, but some were nothing more than excuses for cast members to cosplay dress-up. Energy distortions on the other hand, now that's what we want.

A slow-burn, join-the-dots episode that plods along as a who-done-what enigma but unfortunately the pace of the show makes it dance around the edge of a payoff for far too long. This story reminds me of a Red Dwarf story 'Thanks For The Memory' which follows a similar plot.

During the lull in action I couldn't help wonder what it would be like if we really could travel the stars on such a space vehicle. There are 1,014 souls on board, so the Enterprise is similar to a small town. Despite its purpose of exploration, it spends most of its time being probed or attacked or following some other vessel. It visits worlds where strange things happen or people with strange powers live. If it wasn't for these interludes I could imagine that the entire crew would find life to be pretty boring. You are living in a tin-can which may be much bigger than an Apollo command module but it is a tin-can all the same. In the infinity of space it is really insignificant and that is before you consider the Romulan threat. I suppose all is okay if you work on the bridge, but just imagine what it must be like for a lowly cleaning attendant working on an out-of-the-way deck.