Is This The Real Life?

Episode Title: The Big Goodbye
First Aired: January 11th, 1988

Summary
After a 20-year rift caused by a slight mispronunciation, the Jarada have agreed to attempt to speak with the Federation again--if, and only if, one of them can successfully greet them in their very complicated native tongue. This responsibility falls on Captain Picard. Stressed by the immensity of the task before him, he decides to take a break by using the holodeck to live the life of his childhood hero, fictional private detective Dixon Hill. He even convinces Doctor Crusher and ship 20th century historian Whalen to join him, with Data tagging along for the ride. However, things go awry when the Jarada scan the Enterprise and cause a holodeck malfunction, trapping them in 1940s San Francisco and turning fantasy into reality until Wesley and Geordi can fix the malfunction.




Is This Just Fantasy?

As you probably could guess from the summary, most of the episode takes place in the fantasy world created for Picard by the holodeck. I'll be honest--this episode lost me from the start. The series as a whole constantly flouts how, at last, humanity has moved past prejudice and hatred and injustice. Why, then, does Picard want to go back to 20th-century Earth to relax? Ignoring the plot-related reasons I don't like this premise, it also makes sexist treatment of women practically inevitable. And, sure enough, only a single female character passes the Sexy Lamp Test this episode, making it even worse than the last episode. Of the three women we meet in the fantasy world of Dixon Hill, the first leaves right away, the second is murdered after seducing Picard into considering her case, and the third only serves to be a model of femininity for Doctor Crusher. Speaking of that bizarre scene...

What's Up, Doc?

Like those three women, Doctor Crusher also served no real purpose in the plot of this episode. Even when Whalen is shot she, being without any medical equipment, is powerless to help him. Her purpose is solely to make Picard's fantasy world more complete. She is the classic coy female companion to his classic private eye. She even remarks that Picard is the one having "all the fun," and then proceeds to spend a significant amount of screen time emulating a random woman primping herself at the police station. A random police officer hits on her but Picard is who she was really prettying herself up for, as evinced by their almost-kiss when he emerges from the interrogation room (with Data and Whalen watching).