LogFAQs > #933193505

34. Reginald Barclay
Computer, create a medieval torture dungeon filled with twenty naked holographic versions of Deanna Troi and Beverly Crusher, each of whom is ten feet taller than me. Remove their arms and replace them with giant whips, and give them sharp vampire teeth. Fill each one with an unquenchable thirst for small, balding men and the idea that all other males in the galaxy are dead, then disengage safety protocols.

Barclay is interesting in that hes pretty much the first imperfect human character in Star Trek. Everyone before him was a heroic character or an extra, and if they had flaws, they were heroic-level flaws. Barclays the first whos more-or-less a normal dude with some social anxiety issues.

A lot of people love him, and I see it. Youll never meet a Picard in real life, but you will meet a few Barclays. But hes also less interesting than the main characters, so eh. I wouldnt have minded more of him, like if hed gotten transferred to Voyager ala Miles OBrien, but I dont mind what we got.

If were being completely honest here, Barclay is more interesting than Crusher, Troi, and Geordi, but they either have better stories from being main characters or have better actors, and thats why hes below them for me.

For me, the defining Barclay moment isnt the time he had sex with holographic slave versions of his superior officers, its the time he turned into a spider.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TNrIzyY96qM/T9rTkf5WyTI/AAAAAAAABeE/0Maf5DyRwtw/s1600/barclay+spider.JPG
That episode, Genesis, is actually very good if you can ignore how stupid everything in it is.

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Started: July 6, 2005