You ever notice how emotionally stable most characters on Star Trek shows are?
They have adventures so exciting, so harrowing, that most of us could barely survive what
they deal with on a weekly basis.
And yet nothing ever seems to faze them!
Well, with one notable exception.
And that notable exception is who I want to talk about in this video, which I’m calling
Why Barclay Might Actually Be Star Trek’s Greatest Hero
To understand what makes Lieutenant Reginald Barclay so special, we need to understand
how he’s different from most other Star Trek characters.
Take Captain Picard for example.
Throughout the TV series and films the guy is abducted and assimilated by the Borg, zapped
by an alien probe which causes him to experience an entire alternate life in the space of less
than half an hour, captured and tortured by Cardassians, forced to kill his own clone,
and perhaps worst of all, required to endure the prolonged presence of Lwaxana Troi on
multiple occasions –
Yet none of it seems to leave him with any lasting negative effects.
Picard remains thoughtful, curious, compassionate, even-tempered, confident.
And he achieves this all while not having access to a qualified mental health professional.
[Cut to graphic: Troi]
These characteristics aren’t unique to Picard, of course.
Almost all heroic characters in Star Trek are like this: quick-thinking, cool under
pressure, and extremely emotionally resilient.
These folks have got their shit together.
And they keep it together at all times.
They’re classic pulp adventure heroes.
Rock-solid, indefatigable.
They take everything the universe throws at them, they fight through it, and they keep
going.
So where the hell does a guy like this [monitor graphic: Barclay] fit in with a group like
that?
The best way to answer that question is to take a look at the episode that introduced
him.
It’s from season three of Star Trek: The Next Generation and it’s titled “Hollow
Pursuits.”
We meet Barclay minding his own business and having a drink in Ten Forward.
Geordi walks in and gets in his face and Barclay tells him to get lost and pushes him across
the room.
Riker sees this and is like, “I’ve had enough of your shenanigans, Barclay!
Shoving your superior officer is insubordination!
And assault, also, but let’s stick with insubordination!”
And Barclay drains his whiskey glass, snatches Riker in a chokehold and he’s like, “You’re
nothing but a pretty mannequin in a fancy uniform!”
[Riker, strangled:] “Our uniforms are virtually identical . . .”
[Barclay:] “Shut up!
You tell Picard if he’s got a beef with me to bring it to me himself!”
And he shoves him away.
Troi has been breathlessly watching this whole thing from a table, and now Barclay walks
over and she’s like, “Finally, a real man!”
But before much else can happen, Barclay gets paged to the cargo bay.
He tells Troi “Later, babe,” and then he says, “Save program” – and holy shit,
he’s in the holodeck!
So that’s why this guy we’ve never seen before was able to smack Geordi and Riker
around and almost make out with Counselor Troi – it’s just his narcissistic fantasy!
Wow, this Barclay guy must be a real jerk!
So he goes to the cargo bay and there’s the real Geordi and the real Riker, and Geordi’s
like, “Barclay, would it kill you to show up to work on time for once?”
And he’s like “Sorry.”
And Riker’s like, “Been seeing your name on report a lot lately, Lieutenant.
You wanna stay on this ship, you’d better shape up!”
And Barclay’s like, “Yes sir,” and then he gets to work.
He sure seems different than he just was on the holodeck . . .
Barclay, we soon learn, was posted to the Enterprise just recently.
And he hasn’t really been fitting in.
Riker and Geordi discuss the situation with Picard.
In fact, Riker has requested that Barclay be transferred off the ship, citing his history
of “seclusive tendencies” and suggesting he’s not “Enterprise material.”
But Picard’s like, “Since when are we such assholes?
Okay, so he hasn’t been a model officer so far, but he still signed up for Starfleet,
right?
He’s a member of the team.
We can’t just get rid of him.
That’s not cool.”
Picard suggests a more understanding approach.
He tells Geordi to work with him, help him out.
And Geordi’s like, “Are you sure I’m the best person to draw Broccoli out of his
shell?
My only close friend on this entire ship is a robot man.”
And Picard’s like, “Just do it.
I shouldn’t have to order you to be a decent person.
It’s the future.
I thought we had evolved or something.
Also, stop calling him ‘Broccoli’ – keep that up and you’ll have me saying it before
long, and if that happens you can go back to that Reading Rainbow shit full time because
your ass’ll be fired and on the street with nothing but the pajamas on your back and the
comb on your face!”
Geordi does as Picard asks.
He finds Barclay still at work in the cargo bay – an anti-gravity sled has malfunctioned
and nobody can figure out why – and speaks to him with kindness and respect, complimenting
his work and expressing confidence in his ability to solve the problem.
Then Geordi overreaches by inviting Barclay to show up for the morning senior staff meeting.
Barclay goes from at ease and reassured to instant panic.
Geordi reassures him that all he has to do is show up and be a part of the team, and
Barclay says, “Okay, I’ll be there on time.”
Cut to the next morning in Main Engineering and uh oh, Barclay’s late!
Of course he’s late!
He probably overslept because he was up all night pacing back and forth in a cold sweat,
terrified of the prospect of having to go to this meeting!
But!
It’s not that big a deal.
Barclay’s only a teensy bit late, and Geordi’s cool about it.
Still, the meeting doesn’t go well for Barclay.
Trying to give him a chance to impress the rest of the team, Geordi puts him on the spot
about his investigation into the malfunctioning anti-grav sled.
Barclay stammers and stumbles, and Wesley steps in and just kinda runs over him.
Upset by the meeting going pretty much exactly how he was afraid it was going to go, Barclay
retreats to the holodeck again.
This time he does make out with the holographic Counselor Troi, thus using the holodeck in
the exact same way most of the show’s fanboys would.
Meanwhile in Ten Forward, Geordi is hanging out with Data and Wesley and Duffy from engineering.
And Geordi’s like, “Hey, we need to be nicer to Barclay, okay?
We’re gonna stop calling him ‘Broccoli’ behind his back because it’s mean and juvenile.”
And Duffy is like, “I’ll drink to that!”
And then his glass leaks all over the place.
Data picks it up and is like, “Jesus, Duffy, ya think maybe your grip was a little too
tight?
You left a handprint in it, for Christ’s sake!”
The glass becomes another mystery, like the anti-grav sled.
And other strange things start happening on the ship, as well.
Chief O’Brien reports a malfunctioning transporter.
The Enterprise unexpectedly increases speed.
But the technical problems, while important, are kept mostly in the background of the episode.
The focus remains on Barclay, and on Geordi’s well intentioned but mostly ineffectual attempts
to help him.
And that emphasis on character over plot is a good thing, because it leads to a pair of
great scenes.
First, there’s this scene between Geordi and Guinan, where Guinan empathizes with Barclay’s
position, listening to Geordi complain that no one likes to be around Barclay because
of his nervousness and chronic lateness, then suggesting that maybe she’d be nervous and
late, too, if she thought nobody wanted her around.
Then there’s this scene between Geordi and Barclay from a bit later in the episode.
Geordi has just caught Barclay in the holodeck fighting with holographic representations
of the Three Musketeers made to resemble Picard, Data, and Geordi himself.
Geordi thinks it’s weird that Barclay would make holograms of people he works with every
day, but he can tell Barclay is embarrassed and he tries to be understanding.
Geordi’s like, “Hey, I get it.
I’ve spent a lot of time in the holodeck myself.”
And Barclay’s like, “Oh, yeah, I heard all about you and the holographic Leah Brahms.
That’s why I feel like I can talk to you.
Because you know what it’s like to be so lonely and desperate for affection that you
retreat into a fantasy of your own making and, against all reason, convince yourself
that it’s real, that the imaginary people you’ve created really love you and that
you can love them back!
You’ve been in that broken place, you’ve touched the same rock bottom I have!”
And Geordi’s like, “Yeah, but I can show up to work on time and talk to other people
without pissing myself in terror.”
[Guinan:] “Jesus!
Take it easy, man!”
And Geordi’s like, “Barclay, it’s not a big deal.
You’re just shy.”
And then Barclay says, “Yeah, no.
You can’t understand.
I’m afraid all the time.”
And what Barclay says next is the key to understanding what makes him so uniquely admirable among
the pantheon of Star Trek heroes.
Because what does Barclay tell Geordi he lives in fear of?
Is it the cosmic perils the crew of the Enterprise endure week after week?
The Borg?
Q?
Getting trapped in a time loop?
No.
It’s not having anything to say to people at a party.
It’s not knowing what to do with his hands.
Simple things, little details of social interaction that Geordi has probably never given a second
thought, but to Barclay they are obstacles he has to hurdle constantly, every day.
When I watched Star Trek: The Next Generation during its original run, I liked Barclay,
but he was never a favorite.
It wasn’t until much, much later, when I watched the show again as an adult and connected
with other fans, that I realized how many people love Barclay.
I get it now.
Barclay is the only major character we see struggling with something that many of us
have had to deal with, too – and not for one episode, but as a consistent fact of his
life.
It’s a struggle almost all of us can relate to in some way.
Even if your social anxiety isn’t as pronounced as Barclay’s, even if it doesn’t intrude
on your life to the degree it does on his, who among us has never felt awkward, or uncertain,
or out of place?
And ultimately, Barclay’s anxiety and awkwardness don’t stop him from making an important
contribution.
He doesn’t single-handedly solve the mystery of the seemingly random inexplicable malfunctions
that eventually threaten to destroy the ship, but he does come up with the crucial insight
that it must be a contaminant that a member of the crew is unknowingly spreading around
that is damaging these various systems.
From there, he and Geordi are able to deduce the cause of the problem, confirm it experimentally,
and recommend a solution that saves the day – with seconds to spare, of course, because
hey, it’s Star Trek!
Barclay helps to solve the problem that threatens the ship by successfully doing what he’s
most afraid of: working with other people, being part of a team.
He continues to struggle with anxiety and self-confidence, but he’s also proven – to
himself and to his crewmates – that the problems created by that anxiety and lack
of confidence are not insurmountable.
And, though he eventually relapses, he even finds the will at the very end of the episode
to turn away from his holodeck fantasies.
Come to think of it, that’s another great scene.
Barclay stands in front of the bridge crew, says it’s painful for him to leave them,
but he knows it’s for the best.
And Geordi tells him he’ll always be welcome here.
“I know,” Barclay says.
“That’s why it’s so hard for me to go.”
Then he makes his final farewell and says “Computer, end program.”
It’s not just a well-played scene, it’s an important one for our perception of Barclay,
as well.
Despite how sympathetic he is, some of his holodeck programs are kinda creepy.
They mostly boil down to power fantasies – the men who intimidate him in real life are made
to fear and respect him, while the woman he has a crush on is made to desire him.
But there’s also a quaint innocence about them, even a poignancy – he re-imagines
Counselor Troi as “the Goddess of Empathy,” who offers not brain-melting, pelvis-shattering
sex, but unconditional love and peace.
The possibility of pelvis-shattering sex is merely implied, in my opinion.
Anyway, that final scene of Barclay saying good-bye to the holodeck versions of the crew
downplays the creep factor and emphasizes the poignancy by making it clear that Barclay’s
main motivation in creating these fantasies involving his shipmates was to create a world
where he would be accepted and understood, not ridiculed and alienated.
Again, who can’t relate to that?
Some of Barclay’s holodeck programs don’t show him in a very good light, but how many
of us would welcome being judged on our unspoken thoughts, our secret daydreams, our moments
of private self-indulgence?
Most Star Trek characters are impossibly poised and confident.
That’s not Barclay.
Barclay has to work at it.
But Barclay is just as capable and competent as his unflappable shipmates.
And Barclay is brave, because despite his fears and his doubts, he shows up and he does
what he can, and he saves the day.
He’s a hero, not in the romantic, impossibly noble way that Captain Picard is a hero, but
in a way that feels more attainable to many of us.
Most of us will never be Captain Picard.
But we could be Barclay.
Some of us are Barclay.
At least up until the point when he starts using the holodeck to insert himself into
his Star Trek: Voyager fan fic.
Turning Barclay into a Voyager fanboy?
That just seems mean.
Hasn’t the poor man been humiliated enough?
Anyway, this concludes my presentation!