Blending Every Western Together Makes This ‘TNG’ Episode

The Big Picture

• ‘A Fistful of Datas’ is a hilarious holodeck episode of
  Star Trek: The Next Generation
  filled with Wild West references.
• The episode cleverly integrates classic Western tropes into Star Trek’s utopian vision.
• Through formalism and playful allusions, the episode becomes a thoughtful commentary on shared myths.

You really can’t go wrong with a holodeck episode. Ironically, though, something always seems to go wrong within the holodeck. In one of the funniest episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, an out-of-depth Worf (Michael Dorn) gets trapped in a malfunctioning simulation of a Wild West tale where Data (Brent Spiner) plays almost every role. Season 6, episode 8, is one of the show’s zanier episodes, but what’s astounding is how rich the parody of Western conventions is. Directed by Patrick Stewart himself, ‘A Fistful of Datas’ finds what is so universally invigorating about these well-worn tropes. By the end, even Worf is smiling.

In addition to a well-directed pastiche, this episode features many charming references. While some of these are simple Easter eggs for eagle-eyed audience members, others integrate the episode into a sort of canon that looks past the national narratives perpetuated by Westerns and instead at a universality within classical filmmaking. In doing so, it recasts what seems like a goofy one-off episode as an affirmation of the utopian vision at the heart of Star Trek.

How Does ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Go to the West?

The episode begins with the Enterprise in limbo. Amid a delayed resupply, the crew has time to devote to pet projects. We open on a gag where Picard (Patrick Stewart), in the middle of learning a new flute composition, is repeatedly interrupted by crew members at a loss about their newfound free time. It’s one of the rare times Picard is so annoyed with his shipmates, and his restraint only elevates the comedy. Geordi (LaVar Burton) wants to work on interfacing computer systems between Data and the ship. Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) wants Picard to play a role in a play she’s putting on. However, Worf seems determined to work, but Picard tells him to take advantage of his day off. It turns out Worf was looking for a way out of spending time on the holodeck with his son Alexander (Brian Bonsall), who has prepared an ‘ancient’ West-themed scenario.

Pressed into action, Worf plays the sheriff of Deadwood, South Dakota, the mythologized locale of many Westerns and the death-place of outlaw legend Wild Bill Hickok. Here, the references start to pile on fast. The scenario pits Sheriff Worf and his deputy Alexander against a ruthless gang of incoming outlaws after Worf arrests one of their senior members. The story is an homage to Rio Bravo, which was itself an interpolation of High Noon, and its full features complete. From shootouts in the thoroughfare to sharpshooting strangers (in this case, Marina Sirtis’ gun-toting Deanna Troi), this episode manages to hit every beat it possibly can.

In an early scene, when Worf and Alexander first show up in Deadwood, they saunter into the saloon to find Hollander, a troublesome criminal and their target. Worf, having trouble playing along, crudely announces Hollander’s arrest. When Hollander stands up to defend himself, Worf smacks him in the nose, disabling the ‘tough’ guy with ease. The scene is shot dryly, with minimal personality or style, but after Alexander protests that the arrest was too easy and resets the scene with greater difficulty, the filmmaking changes, too. This time, the scene mimics the cadence of classic spaghetti Westerns. Worf and his son are shot from below, framed by the saloon’s doorway. A hush washes over the patrons at the bar. Instead of standing up to protest his arrest, Hollander calmly pours himself a drink. Pistols are twirled, rifles are cocked, and an Ennio Morricone-like assortment of instruments creeps in over the tense score.

Just in time, Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) steps in to save the day. Troi’s accent is, well, she’s doing an accent! It’s all in good fun, and Troi’s enthusiasm for LARPing the Wild West is quite charming. This sequence pinpoints what really makes this episode special. Instead of big ideas and morality plays, it captures our imagination through formalism. The playful allusions to spaghetti Westerns invite the viewer into a cinematic lineage. The episode’s title is, of course, a reference to Sergio Leone’s first Western, A Fistful of Dollars. Again, this reference is deeper than it first appears. A Fistful of Dollars was an unlicensed reimagining of Akira Kurosawa‘s classic Yojimbo, which was itself modeled on the Westerns of John Ford!

The Western Reference Are Important to ‘A Fistful of Datas’

The focus on these recursive references renders even the small Easter eggs more than the sum of their parts. For example, the episode ends with the Enterprise turning towards a star as it orbits behind a planet, a reference to the hero of many-a-Western riding off into the sunset. Accompanying this final shot is a short interpolation of the theme from The Wild Wild West, a TV show from the 60s. In another scene, Dr. Crusher is curating a rehearsal for her play when she says to the actors, “Whenever you’re ready.” This is the famous line Clint Eastwood uses instead of ‘action’ whenever he’s behind the camera.

This ethos also inflects the plot. Conflict arrives when Data’s consciousness is accidentally intermingled with the Enterprise’s computer systems. He appears as the scenery-chewing villain in Deadwood, where Worf, Troi, and Alexander are now trapped until they resolve the story. Brent Spiner is a ton of fun here, as he gets to really ham it up, especially as he takes over the roles of just about every character in the simulation. Arch villain? Data. Cackling henchman? Data. Snot-nosed criminal failson? You guessed it, Data. Curvacious brothel madame? Oh yeah, Data. It even affects the real Data on the Enterprise, who starts saying things like “y’all,” “howdy,” and “partner.” This alone ranks this holodeck episode among the very best.

The Next Generation was always a show about big concepts. Its utopian future is a staging ground for fables, parables, and morality plays about love, death, and purpose. Through all this, though, is a vision of what binds us. It is, at its core, a show about human connection. On paper, “A Fistful of Datas” seems merely like a playful digression from the big ideas and dilemmas of the show’s regular schtick, but through its strong formal command of the genre it is spoofing, it nonetheless becomes a thoughtful comment on the myths we build together and how we build them, making this one of the finest (and funniest) episodes in the series.