Fabula
S2E3 · Star Trek: The Next Generation - Elementary, Dear Data

Deduction & Disruption

Data dazzles with his precise forensic deduction, solving a murder independent of Moriarty's overarching plot—a demonstration of his analytical evolution beyond pure computation into genuine detective work. Yet this intellectual triumph is undercut as the pair discovers the holodeck is running multiple independent programs, confounding their expectations. Data's growing unease contrasts sharply with Geordi's delight at the uncertainty, foreshadowing Moriarty's ability to disrupt their assumptions about reality. The scene culminates in palpable tension as Data identifies their true adversary—Professor Moriarty—signaling the shift from game to genuine peril.

Plot Beats

The narrative micro-steps within this event

2

LESTRADE rushes up and pushes the pair through a parting crowd to reveal a murdered man on the street, establishing a grim, public crime scene that demands attention.

tension to grim seriousness ['street (across from warehouse)']

GEORDI offers a Watson-like deduction but DATA dismantles it with precise observation, plucks a beaded scarf from a WOMAN and declares her the killer—demonstrating superior analytic skill and resolving the murder beat with a startling, public accusation.

curiosity to revelation/accusation ['street (crowd circle)']

Who Was There

Characters present in this moment

6

Delighted by escalating unpredictability

Enthusiastically engages in Watson's role, attempting his own deductions before deferring to Data's expertise, then revels in the unpredictable turn of events.

Goals in this moment
  • Enjoy the immersive mystery
  • Encourage Data's engagement with uncertainty
Active beliefs
  • Unpredictability enhances recreational value
  • Data benefits from embracing uncertainty
Character traits
Playful enthusiasm Supportive camaraderie Adventurous spirit
Follow Geordi La …'s journey

Professional detachment

Swiftly apprehends the fleeing woman upon Data's identification, demonstrating efficient law enforcement response within the simulation.

Goals in this moment
  • Secure the suspect
  • Maintain crime scene integrity
Active beliefs
  • Suspects must be physically restrained
  • Orders from superiors require immediate compliance
Character traits
Alert Physically decisive Duty-bound
Follow Bobby's journey

Grateful for expert intervention

Facilitates the crime scene investigation, deferring to Data's expertise with visible awe, then efficiently processes the apprehended killer.

Goals in this moment
  • Resolve the murder case
  • Maintain public order during investigation
Active beliefs
  • Holmes' methods produce definitive results
  • Justice must be seen to be done
Character traits
Professional deference Operational efficiency Institutional respect
Follow Lestrade's journey

Confident superiority

Observed entering a warehouse at scene's periphery, his strategic positioning suggests calculated observation of events rather than direct participation here.

Goals in this moment
  • Monitor opponents' deductive capabilities
  • Maintain narrative control over holodeck events
Active beliefs
  • Manipulation of environment conveys power
  • Testing adversaries yields strategic advantage
Character traits
Calculating Observant Positionally strategic
Follow Moriarty's journey

Fearful of consequences for self-defense

Identified as the murderer through Data's deduction, she flees in panic before being apprehended, confirming her abusive relationship with the victim.

Goals in this moment
  • Escape apprehension
  • Avoid association with the crime
Active beliefs
  • Her actions were justified by abuse
  • Authorities won't recognize her suffering
Character traits
Desperate Defensive Terrified
Follow Unidentified Victorian …'s journey

Intellectually confident yet unsettled by unpredictability

Demonstrates forensic mastery by reconstructing the murder, using precise logic to identify the wife's use of a beaded scarf, but exhibits visible disquiet when confronted with unexplained program anomalies.

Goals in this moment
  • Solve the murder through deduction
  • Reconcile holodeck anomalies with his understanding of programming
Active beliefs
  • All phenomena should have logical explanations
  • Holodeck programs operate within defined parameters
Character traits
Analytical precision Logical deduction Growing unease
Follow Data's journey

Objects Involved

Significant items in this scene

1
Victorian Woman's Beaded Scarf

Data identifies the scarf as the murder weapon, demonstrating how its beaded structure created patterned strangulation marks inconsistent with human hands. This forensic insight solves the case while highlighting how ordinary objects can become lethal in this unstable simulation.

Before: Worn normally around the woman's neck
After: Exhibited as evidence of the crime
Before: Worn normally around the woman's neck
After: Exhibited as evidence of the crime

Location Details

Places and their significance in this event

2
Dead-End Brick Wall Alley

The gaslit London street hosts both the murder investigation and the bewildering realization about multiple holodeck programs, its period authenticity contrasting with technological anomalies disrupting the simulation.

Atmosphere Forensic scrutiny amidst growing unreality
Function Crime scene revealing narrative fractures
Symbolism Collision between ordered deduction and emerging chaos
Access Crowd-controlled by authorities
Gaslight illumination casting forensic shadows Uneven cobblestones anchoring reality before disruption
Moriarty's Holodeck Lair

Moriarty's warehouse looms ominously at scene's edge—its darkened entrance foreshadowing the coming confrontation, observed by Data as the locus of their true adversary's operations.

Atmosphere Ominous gravitational pull
Function Adversarial stronghold
Symbolism Threshold to narrative control loss
Access Guarded by intimidating holograms
Shadowed entrance absorbing light Architectural mass dominating street view

Narrative Connections

How this event relates to others in the story

What led here 9
Causal medium

"Data's auditory deduction reorients the hunt and precipitates his noticing the tall man (Moriarty), shifting the scene from a general crime to a focused pursuit of a new adversary."

Deductive Reckoning
S2E3 · Star Trek: The Next Generation …
Causal medium

"Data's auditory deduction reorients the hunt and precipitates his noticing the tall man (Moriarty), shifting the scene from a general crime to a focused pursuit of a new adversary."

Deduction and Dead Ends in Holographic London
S2E3 · Star Trek: The Next Generation …
Causal medium

"Data's auditory deduction reorients the hunt and precipitates his noticing the tall man (Moriarty), shifting the scene from a general crime to a focused pursuit of a new adversary."

Deduction & Deterrence
S2E3 · Star Trek: The Next Generation …
Character Continuity medium

"The initial audio cue (footfalls) gives Data the sensory input he converts into a deduction about Pulaski being carried—showing Data's consistent information-processing method evolving into situational deduction."

Deduction & Deterrence
S2E3 · Star Trek: The Next Generation …
Character Continuity medium

"The initial audio cue (footfalls) gives Data the sensory input he converts into a deduction about Pulaski being carried—showing Data's consistent information-processing method evolving into situational deduction."

Deduction and Dead Ends in Holographic London
S2E3 · Star Trek: The Next Generation …
Character Continuity medium

"The initial audio cue (footfalls) gives Data the sensory input he converts into a deduction about Pulaski being carried—showing Data's consistent information-processing method evolving into situational deduction."

Deductive Reckoning
S2E3 · Star Trek: The Next Generation …
NARRATIVELY_FOLLOWS

"Geordi's invitation and the Holmes framing lead immediately into the holodeck London sequence where Data and Geordi begin the investigation (the footfall cue starts the chase)."

Unplanned Interlude and the Call to Baker Street
S2E3 · Star Trek: The Next Generation …
NARRATIVELY_FOLLOWS

"Geordi's invitation and the Holmes framing lead immediately into the holodeck London sequence where Data and Geordi begin the investigation (the footfall cue starts the chase)."

Holmesian Prelude & Engineer's Gambit
S2E3 · Star Trek: The Next Generation …
NARRATIVELY_FOLLOWS

"Geordi's invitation and the Holmes framing lead immediately into the holodeck London sequence where Data and Geordi begin the investigation (the footfall cue starts the chase)."

Models and Mischief
S2E3 · Star Trek: The Next Generation …
What this causes 6
Causal medium

"Data's auditory deduction reorients the hunt and precipitates his noticing the tall man (Moriarty), shifting the scene from a general crime to a focused pursuit of a new adversary."

Deduction and Dead Ends in Holographic London
S2E3 · Star Trek: The Next Generation …
Causal medium

"Data's auditory deduction reorients the hunt and precipitates his noticing the tall man (Moriarty), shifting the scene from a general crime to a focused pursuit of a new adversary."

Deduction & Deterrence
S2E3 · Star Trek: The Next Generation …
Causal medium

"Data's auditory deduction reorients the hunt and precipitates his noticing the tall man (Moriarty), shifting the scene from a general crime to a focused pursuit of a new adversary."

Deductive Reckoning
S2E3 · Star Trek: The Next Generation …
Character Continuity medium

"The initial audio cue (footfalls) gives Data the sensory input he converts into a deduction about Pulaski being carried—showing Data's consistent information-processing method evolving into situational deduction."

Deduction and Dead Ends in Holographic London
S2E3 · Star Trek: The Next Generation …
Character Continuity medium

"The initial audio cue (footfalls) gives Data the sensory input he converts into a deduction about Pulaski being carried—showing Data's consistent information-processing method evolving into situational deduction."

Deduction & Deterrence
S2E3 · Star Trek: The Next Generation …
Character Continuity medium

"The initial audio cue (footfalls) gives Data the sensory input he converts into a deduction about Pulaski being carried—showing Data's consistent information-processing method evolving into situational deduction."

Deductive Reckoning
S2E3 · Star Trek: The Next Generation …

Themes This Exemplifies

Thematic resonance and meaning

Key Dialogue

"DATA: 'Not at all... Since we do not hear the doctor's footfalls, we must presume she is being carried, and since we do not hear her calling for help, we know she is gagged. Further... both sets of footfalls are heavy and masculine -- one man seems to shuffle and stumble in an irregular pattern... Since the ground is level, I must conclude that Doctor Pulaski is struggling against her captor, sporadically knocking him off stride. It is deduction, pure and simple... well, perhaps not that simple.'"
"GEORDI: 'If this murder isn't connected to the disappearance of Doctor Pulaski, then the computer is running an independent program.' DATA: 'Yes.' GEORDI: 'Why?' DATA: (puzzled) 'I do not know... and that troubles me.' GEORDI: (still enjoying the game) 'That's what I wanted to hear.'"
"DATA: 'The master criminal. The man Holmes could only defeat at the cost of his own life at Reichenbach falls - our adversary, my dear Watson is none other than Professor Moriarty himself.'"