Redblock’s Treacherous Gambit and Data’s Quick Intervention
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Redblock pulls a pistol and orders his thug to kill Picard and the others after they leave; Leech nervously questions the plan, but Redblock confidently leads him toward the portal.
Redblock and Leech dramatically step through the portal; Data disables the thug’s gun and subdues him as the fictional villains attempt to escape, escalating the imminent threat.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Frustrated by obstacles yet maintaining controlled vigilance, wary of Redblock’s merciless intentions.
Picard attempts to negotiate with Redblock for safe passage and aid for the wounded, watches cautiously as Redblock and Leech examine the portal, and contemplates using it for escape, reflecting strategic leadership amid rising peril.
- • Secure safe transfer of injured to Sickbay
- • Find a way to escape the dangerous situation
- • Negotiate to minimize bloodshed
- • Believes the exit portal offers a possible escape route
- • Distrusts Redblock’s dark promises and intentions
Unflappable and focused, maintaining calm logic under threat.
Data delivers a precise, clinical definition of the computer to clarify Picard’s plan, points out the reappearance of the exit portal, then physically neutralizes the thug’s lethal threat by pinching the pistol’s muzzle and decking him with calculated efficiency.
- • Protect Picard and crew from lethal danger
- • Clarify technical information to others
- • Control the escalating situation
- • Believes that the thug’s violence must be stopped immediately
- • Trusts the portal’s existence but doubts unauthorized crossing
Concentrated and resolute, aware of the high stakes.
Wesley works intensely outside the Holodeck, triggering a blue flash that causes a dramatic environmental shift, indirectly setting off the chain of events leading to the portal’s reappearance and the deadly confrontation inside.
- • Repair the malfunctioning systems
- • Support the crew trapped inside
- • Resolve the Holodeck crisis
- • Believes technical intervention can restore order
- • Trusts his expertise to aid the team
Trembling anxiety mixed with aggressive frustration, defensive yet hesitant.
Leech exhibits growing irritation toward Data’s explanations, expresses eagerness to kill Data, yet trembles nervously after the harsh snow environment shift; tentatively follows Redblock through the portal, showing internal conflict between aggression and fear.
- • Eliminate Data as a threat
- • Survive the hostile environment and situation
- • Stay loyal to Redblock while managing fear
- • Believes Data’s logic is a threat to their plans
- • Fears the unknown consequences of the portal
Amused and self-assured, his confidence blinds him to the danger of crossing into reality.
Redblock reveals ignorance of the computer yet shows gleeful fascination with the exit portal, arrogantly commanding his thug to kill the Enterprise crew, then boldly stepping through the portal with Leech, embodying reckless hubris and greed.
- • Seize the mysterious item
- • Eliminate Picard and his companions
- • Explore and exploit the exit portal
- • Believes he can kill without consequence
- • Thinks crossing the portal is possible and advantageous
Determined and menacing until neutralized; no visible hesitation.
The thug, loyal and aggressive, brandishes a large pistol aimed at Picard on Redblock’s order, prepared to commit murder; is abruptly disarmed and incapacitated by Data’s swift action, halting the immediate threat.
- • Kill Picard and companions on command
- • Protect Redblock's interests
- • Intimidate and control the situation
- • Believes obedience to Redblock is paramount
- • Assumes lethal force will secure objectives
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The large pistol, wielded by the thug on Redblock’s command, symbolizes imminent lethal threat; it is aimed at Picard to enforce Redblock’s lethal orders but is swiftly neutralized when Data physically pinches the muzzle closed and incapacitates its bearer, highlighting the tension between violence and control.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Snowy Alien Landscape manifests transiently due to a Holodeck glitch, violently disorienting all inside with its howling winds and biting cold, symbolizing chaos and the fragility of the Holodeck environment before the group is abruptly returned to the office, shaken and vulnerable.
Dixon Hill's Office serves as the claustrophobic battleground where the fragile boundary between Holodeck fiction and ship reality collapses, heightening tension as Redblock and Leech confront Picard and crew, culminating in a violent escalation at the exit portal.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Wesley's Holodeck repair triggers a violent environmental glitch, impacting the trapped crew and revealing the precariousness of their rescue attempt."
"Redblock and Leech's decision to step through the Holodeck exit portal out of greed directly causes their dematerialization and death, showing the fatal boundary between fiction and reality."
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"REDBLOCK: "Stand back, Mister Hill. I would shoot you myself, but I don't want to rob my assistant of his greatest pleasure.""
"REDBLOCK: "After we've gone, kill them all. Make sure no one ever finds the bodies.""
"DATA: (pinching the thug's pistol muzzle) *[action, no words]*"