“The Big Goodbye”
Written by Tracey Tormé
Directed by Joseph L. Scanlan
Season 1, Episode 11
Production episode 40271-113
Original air date: January 11, 1988
Stardate: 41997.7
Captain’s Log: The Enterprise is about to have a rendezvous with the Jarada, a reclusive, particular species who sound very much like Daffy Duck. Picard must pronounce the greeting to them perfectly, or risk offending them. (The last contact with them saw a simple mispronunciation lead to 20 years of silence from the Jarada.)
Exhausted from his study of the language and the greeting with Troi, Picard is convinced by the counselor to take a break on the holodeck.
He runs the Dixon Hill program, based on a fictional private detective from 1940s San Francisco. Still in uniform, Hill’s secretary assumes he lost a bet, while a femme fatale with nice legs wishes to hire him to find out who’s trying to kill her.
Picard takes a break to meet with the senior staff and waxes rhapsodic about the holodeck program before discussing the Jarada. He then returns to the holodeck, joined initially by ship’s historian Whelan, as well as Data, who has read all the Dixon Hill stories. Upon his return to the holodeck, he discovers that the woman who hired him was murdered, and he’s immediately picked up by the police. He’s interrogated for quite some time before finally being released.
The Jarada hit the Enterprise with a scanning wave of sufficient intensity that it screws up the holodeck. The crew can’t access it, and Picard’s group cannot get the exit to open. That latter issue becomes problematic when Leech—a flunky of Cyrus Redblock, the local gangster who has hired Hill to find “the object”—shoots Whelan, and he starts to bleed.
Picard strikes Leech, who runs away, returning with the well-spoken Redblock. Attempts to stall Redblock on the holodeck match Riker’s attempts to stall the Jarada, and both prove fruitless. However, Wes is able to open the holodeck door. Picard tricks Redblock and Leech into walking into the Enterprise corridor—which makes them disappear—and Data and Crusher bring Whelan to sickbay while Picard runs to the bridge to deliver the greeting to the Jarada while still wearing a suit, trenchcoat, and hat.
After which, he orders La Forge to leave orbit, and “step on it.”
What Happens On The Holodeck, Stays On The Holodeck: The first holodeck-gone-bad episode, which would become a cliché in due course. The notion that the holodeck could ever allow someone inside it to be hurt is distressing, and the apparent risk that simply shutting the holodeck off would kill the people inside it is ridiculous. Who built this thing, anyhow?
No Sex, Please, We’re Starfleet: Picard invites Crusher to the holodeck with him, then pours cold water on the whole thing by inviting Whelan along. He is later blown away by Crusher in period dress—as well he should be. Seriously, the whole episode’s worth it just to see Gates McFadden in the pink suit, hat, gloves, and net. Hubba.
If I Only Had a Brain : Data’s Sherlock Holmes obsession from “Lonely Among Us” is referenced, and the similarities between Hill and Holmes lead to Data reading the entire Hill oeuvre. The android joins the trip to the holodeck and even occasionally modulates into period dialogue to entertaining effect. His android skin tone leads to questions, which are put off by claiming that he’s from South America. (It’s unclear if this is akin to Manuel being from Barcelona on Fawlty Towers or the Coneheads being from France )
There’s also a hilarious bit of business when Data tries to move a floor lamp, doesn’t realize he yanks the cord out of the socket, keeps shaking the lamp to try to get it to work, not noticing Picard find a new socket for the lamp, causing it to alight again, with Data smiling, thinking he did something.
The Boy!?: Wes volunteers to help figure out what’s wrong with the holodeck. Riker refuses until Troi gently reminds him that his mother’s trapped in there, too. He’s much more self-conscious and nervous than confident and smug, which is a better look on him.
Welcome Aboard: Some truly stellar guest casting here. Harvey Jason does a fun impersonation of Peter Lorre as Leech, and there’s nobody in the world better equipped to do a Sydney Greenstreet pastiche than Lawrence Tierney, who owns the episode as Cyrus Redblock (a name obviously derived from the actor he’s riffing on). The bit parts all feel like they could’ve been extras in The Maltese Falcon, most notably Mike Genovese as the desk sergeant who hits on Crusher and the ubitquitous Dick Miller as the news vendor.
I Believe I Said That. “You do spell knife with a K.”
“I spell knife with an N. But then, I never could spell.”
Troi and Picard discussing language.
Trivial Matters: Picard’s interest in Dixon Hill would resurface in several episodes, as well as Star Trek: First Contact and a few novels, most notably A Hard Rain by Dean Wesley Smith, the vast majority of which takes place in the holodeck during a Dixon Hill program, written in the style of an old pulp magazine.
The Jarada would return in the novels Imbalance by V.E. Mitchell and this author’s own Demons of Air and Darkness.
The news vendor’s complaint that Cleveland has no pitching shows a lack of research—Bob Feller had been the Indians’ ace for years, and he was generally one of the finest pitchers ever to draw breath. Nobody who actually followed baseball would say that Cleveland had no pitching in 1941. The London Kings player who broke Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak would later be revealed to be Buck Bokai on the Deep Space Nine episode “If Wishes Were Horses.”
Make It So: A delightful episode that was a lot more fun to watch the first time than it is now, when the holodeck-gone-wrong plot has been done to death and back again.
But period pieces are often fun, and this is a nifty reworking of The Maltese Falcon with lots of funny lines, charming performances by all the actors, who are so clearly having fun playing dress-up and play-acting. Of particular note are Sir Patrick Stewart, who gets more and more comfortable with the role of Hill as the episode progresses, and Brent Spiner, who modulates hilariously into the cheesy 1940s slang.
The episode also raises some interesting philosophical questions, particularly in Picard’s final conversation with Lieutenant McNary where the cop asks if he actually exists and Picard can’t give him a good answer.
It won a Peabody Award, and quite frankly deserved it. A sheer joy all around.
Warp factor rating: 7.
Keith R.A. DeCandido has a new novel out: the Dungeons & Dragons tome Dark Sun: Under the Crimson Sun. You should buy it. Really. You can follow Keith online at his blog or on Facebook or Twitter under the username KRADeC.
I hope you are happy. After reading this series (and your mentioning of your Trek books), I have jumped back into Trek fiction after a decade away.
I just picked up the beginning of the DS9 relaunch yesterday. Admitedly, it is nice to have some light reading in an established universe after dense books like Stephen Donaldson’s Thomas Covanent series.
Daedalus: Yes, yes, I am happy, especially since it looks like Demons of Air and Darkness (which features the Jarada!) and “Horn and Ivory” are on your list. :)
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
Keith,
Isn’t this an episode where Data uses a contraction? That bugged me so damn much. I know, “Shut up Wesley!”
This was a fun episode though, and while no Crusher fan here, she was a pretty tasty looking dame, with some nice gams. :-)
NickM: I’ll get to this when we reach “Datalore,” but Data used contractions all throughout the first season. That was never a thing until “Datalore” retconned it in.
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
While an ok holodeck show I hate holodeck shows.
Even when I was younger, I was bothered that the holodeck had (presumably) only one level of safeties that could be taken offline or disabled so easily.
It smacks of cheap drama, honestly. When I look at the code I write (and the devices my mechanical engineering friends design), there are a lot of checks and redundancies. At the very least, an error state should be detected and lead to a graceful shutdown. Not “Oops. I crossed this wire and now the universe explodes”.
I’m another one who never liked holodeck episodes. The “OMG, the safeties have failed” was definitely one irritating aspect of it. I guess sometime in between now and the 24th century, someone followed Shakespeare’s advice and killed all the lawyers, because there is no way that one of these could have survived a single liablity suit.
Even more than that, though, was the feeling that I wasn’t really watching Star Trek any more. I tuned in to watch sci-fi, not a noir film, a spy thriller, or a Bronte-esque gothic adventure. When the holodeck was an occasional novelty, I could appriciate it as part of the “look what cool stuff will be in the future,” but I didn’t like it when it was the feature of entire episodes.
I’m not a fan of the period pieces – whether on the holodeck or some time travel accident or whatever. Give me the future, not the “funny” reactions of the characters to society from hundreds of years ago. The only exception that comes to mind in the Trek universe is TOS “The City on the Edge of Forever”. I still love that one.
A smart enought Romulan spy could kill the entire crew during halo-HAMLET
To be fair, was TOS any better on this count than the later incarnations? It didn’t have a Holodeck, true. But it did have countless, countless, COUNTLESS alien worlds that were “Just like Earth, only gangster times/the communists conquered the USA/Romans” etc.
At least the Holodeck had a better excuse for doing a Western or whatever.
I think Cheesy as most were I do like the TOS “other earths” better because at least they go to a planet rather than going to the magic basement that tries to kill them. But I grant that it’s the same.
Definitely a high point of the first season, maybe the first one where every element really worked. Except, agreed, for the “holodeck safeties are down” bit. If the weapon in question had been, say, a knife or a club that one of the players would’ve needed to handle, it would make sense for it to be a solid physical object that could injure someone if the “turn this intangible if it threatens anyone’s health” subroutine is turned off. But what possible reason would there be for a holodeck gun to fire physical bullets at all? They travel too fast for anyone to see, so there’s no reason to waste the energy and processing power on simulating them in the first place. Just simulate the muzzle flash and the impact, like Hollywood does with blanks and squibs.
This is also one of the first episodes to show Troi contributing meaningfully, using her expertise in alien cultures and contact protocols to help the captain prepare for his job. It was about time someone figured out there could be more to her role than just vocalizing what other people were feeling.
When this episode first aired, my father pointed out a nice musical in-joke courtesy of composer Dennis McCarthy. When Picard first enters the holodeck, the song playing on the radio in the hallway is “Out of Nowhere” by Johnny Green and Edward Heyman. It’s actually a double-level in-joke: not only is the line “You came to me from out of nowhere” appropriate for a scene where Picard has just stepped into a world created out of nothing by the holodeck (or from the holo-world’s perspective, just stepped into it from out of thin air), but the song uses the same changes (harmonic/chord structure) as Alexander Courage’s Star Trek theme. (Or rather, Courage’s theme uses “Out of Nowhere”‘s changes, since the song was written decades earlier.)
I love what was done with the Jarada in Imbalance. One of my favorite worldbuilding exercises in Trek Lit. No offense, Keith, but I wish you’d made your version of the Jarada consistent with that book’s version.
This episode has one of my favorite bits of dialogue:
Redblock conveys genuine menace in this scene – more than the usual villians of the week often do.
roblewmac@11
“I think Cheesy as most were I do like the TOS “other earths” better because at least they go to a planet rather than going to the magic basement that tries to kill them.”
Ha!
Thanks, that made my day.
(back in usenet of yore I’d simply say .sigged! and you would all know what I meant…)
Thanks sarcasto!
I always loved the holodeck episodes despite how contrived the safety failures were, I just ignored that because I loved the what-if scenarios they allowed for. The only thing that ever truly bugged me was watching the characters walk to and from the holodecks in costumes. I always felt that the Holodeck should be able to overlay whatever clothing was necessary for the given program.
I was always sort of horrified by Federation diplomacy in this episode. The Jarada subjected the previous diplomats, and the ship and crew that carried them, to Some Unspecified Horrific Fate for mispronouncing a word. The Federation response was to send more diplomats – ones with families aboard – and just hope they did better than last time?
The typical response to a foreign government executing your diplomats is war. I know the Federation isn’t supposed to be typical, but I think you take your hippy future vision too far, Mr. Roddenberry!
Also: why didn’t they transmit a pre-recorded greeting? That way Picard could try it as many times as he needs to.
Also also: Picard’s French. He doesn’t spell “knife” with an N or a K. He spells “couteau” with a C.
I’m going to be unique in this comment thread and admit that I do like holodeck episodes. Some of my favorites are “Hollow Pursuits,” “Ship in a Bottle,” “Our Man Bashir,” and “Bride of Chaotica!” Later in TNG season 1, there’s an excellent episode, “11001001,” a large part of which has to do with the holodeck. The holodeck was a great excuse for the actors to have a little fun, and that’s always great to watch. Even the sillier episodes, like “A Fistful of Datas,” are a good time.
However, I don’t care for “The Big Goodbye” that much. I think this is a pretty middle of the road episode even by TNG season 1 standards. Part of it is the way that everyone keeps acting like it’s their first time on a holodeck. Part of it is the fact that, even at this early point in Picard’s character development, it’s difficult to believe that he likes something so low brow as noir detective stories (if it had been Riker or Geordi or Tasha, I’d have bought it). Part of it is how the holographic characters get so existential about their lack of reality. Mostly, it’s just boring. The episode is half over before Waylon gets shot, which is pretty much what passes as a story — and I don’t even know who Waylon is, I’ve never seen him before or since! And unlike “Haven,” which I can forgive for many sins because it introduced something great to the series (Lwaxana Troi, in that case), I can’t say that Dixon Hill’s brief reappearances in “Manhunt” or “Clues” really endeared him to me, though Star Trek: First Contact was a bit more fun.
Basically, this one just feels like a dud. There’s probably a dozen better episodes in TNG season 1.
I’VE always wondered how BORING is popculture on Star trek? evreybody’s in love with the 20th century
I’m not adverse to Holodeck episodes, I just don’t particularly care for this one or the Dixon Hill character. Why not give Picard something more compatible like a Shakespeare play? I’d love to see Picard playing MacBeth (OK, so he did, but that’s besides the point) and, after realizing he’s no longer safe in the holodeck, have to avoid being killed by MacDuff at the end (or any other holodeck character, for that matter for none of them are “of woman born”).
I agree with Christopher Bennet. This is the first really good episode of TNG with no noticable flaws.
And I love all holosuite episodes!
Yeah, I agree, this is a goodie. Dr. Crusher looked damn good in 1941 garb, and Picard actually noticed. Data’s “gangsta-speak” was a hoot. Over the course of all the series, the “holodeck run amok/how do we turn off this crazy thing” story-line was way overdone, but as this is the first instance, it’s OK. Thumbs up.
I’m not crazy about holodeck eps, but it wasn’t too bad.
When the Jarada was talking to Riker, I thought “is that Gozer?” lol. Turns out it’s not (Gozer was voiced by Paddi Edwards instead, but I found it amusing that Paddi was actually in also TNG too – just a different ep (the chaperone/bodyguard in Dauphin))
PS, forgot to mention, if it was such a big deal that they get this correct, and the critical transmission was done audio only, why not have Data emulate Picard’s voice to do it? He could do it perfectly, no doubt. Also, why couldn’t they just beam them off the holodeck? Of course, I had skipped a bit when it was the bits outside the holodeck so maybe they explained that and I missed it.
^ Because Data was stuck in the holodeck, too.
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
Patrick Stewart in trench coat and fedora… sigh.
I somehow missed this one the first time around when I was either 8 or 9, as I have no memories of it until seeing it years later. While I prefer Elementary Dear Data and the obviously derivative Ship in a Bottle, this episode is a lot of fun.
It’s worth noting despite the more mature and placidly platonic nature of their relationship in later years, Picard and Beverly look like they’re about to rip each others’ clothes off at the police station. This is confirmed when Beverly decides she suddenly wants to see Hill’s empty office, and both Picard and Beverly displaying obvious disappointment when Lieutenant I-Forgot-His-Name and Data insist on tagging along.
One of the better first season episodes for sure and it’s generally solid, but at the same time I think it’s kind of bland compared to much better efforts that will come later in the series’ run including better holodeck episodes like “Elementary, Dear Data” and “Ship in a Bottle.”
But all of the acting is great, from Patrick Stewart’s play acting as Dixon Hill to Gates McFadden’s funny reaction of disappointment when Picard invites the ship’s historian to come along after Picard had just invited her. Speaking of ship’s historian, I think it’s cool TNG kept that tradition alive of having one aboard after we met Lt. McGivers, Khan’s lover, in “Space Seed” on TOS.
It would have been cool to see a visual depiction of the Jarada in the episode. I picture in my mind something like the Xindi insectoids. I also loved the scene of Picard speaking the Jarada’s language at the end, still in Dixon Hill garb, throwing his trench coat and fedora hat in the captain’s chair, and everyone applauds and cheers after the Jarada’s reply except for Worf who just looks on. Oh, another funny moment is when the Jarada reply with a shrill whistle after Riker attempts to speak to them and Worf looks around startled from the conn station like some apparition is floating around the bridge.
Things I didn’t like include Wesley, boy genius’s involvement from being in on the conference staff meeting, to being the lead problem solver down by the holodeck leading a team of technicians. Geordi also comes across as rather insubordinate and snippy telling Riker to stall the Jarada. Regarding the holodeck itself, we only ever see from the outside the holodeck having only one entrance/exit, but when people are already in the program there is suddenly more than one entrance/exit. When Cyrus and Leech exit the holodeck (and dissolve) this is apparently not the exit that Wesley and team are stationed at but you’d think maybe there’d be some other officers there to greet Picard and company.
@25/Krad: You mention that Data was also stuck on the holodeck but I believe @24 is referring to when everyone escaped the holodeck at the end including Data. So from that point on, instead of Picard giving the greeting to the Jarada, Data could have done a perfect rendition of the greeting in Picard’s voice. We know how good a job of that he can do having fooled the Enterprise’s computer speaking in Picard’s voice in “Brothers.”
@28/garreth: This was a delicate diplomatic contact. Using deception, like having Data mimic Picard’s voice, would have been deeply unethical, and disastrous if it were found out. Having Picard do it in good faith was as important as having him pronounce it right. It’s not just that it’s pronounced right that matters, it’s that the emissary took the care to get it right. What a horrible thing it would be to cheat.
In the immortal words of Wesley Crusher: “I’m with Starfleet. We don’t lie.”
As for the Jarada’s appearance, V.E. Mitchell’s novel Imbalance offered an interesting description, which is too long to quote, but you can find it here on Google Books.
Keith’s Demons of Air and Darkness gave the Jarada an entirely different appearance, more like giant bees or wasps, IIRC.
@29/CLB: Well sure, I guess if they want to be honest about it. Lol
The Federation has gotta be honest about it, they live in a big galaxy full of peer, near peer, and even a few greater than peer, powers. Acting like they are the only superpower in existence, like a certain modern nation which will not be named, does and just -at best- paying lip service to other’s cultural norms is not something that the Federation can fly. They’ve always gotta be on the lookout for how their actions can be interpreted by others, and genuinely only maintain their position via unshakeable moral authority. Something that has rather been forgotten by modern Trek writers, sadly.
I’m teasing. Of course Picard and Starfleet should do the honest and honorable thing. I was just entertaining @24’s notion that they could get away with such a deception using Data. I’m sure Mirror Universe Picard would have no problem using such a dishonest diplomatic move. Haha.
Lieutenant McNary was played by Gary Armagnac, who later became one of my college theater directors. We were amazed that someone who had appeared on Star Trek would be teaching us when he joined the faculty my junior year. When I auditioned for him–being a music major who didn’t want to give up theater–he said something like “I can use you!” and told me how pleased he was that the theater and music departments actually collaborated, and what potential there was in that. He cast me as the Captain in Shakespeare’s TWELFTH NIGHT, and also as a pianist who accompanied several of the songs in the play. He was a wonderful person to work with, and brought extra levels of both professionalism and friendliness to the theater department.
(Side note: for many years, his name was misspelled in Star Trek reference sources. I don’t really know why. My best guess is that, although his name is spelled correctly in the opening credits of the episode, the colors behind the blue lettering make the last letter look like an “L” instead of a “C”.)
@33 – That’s a great story! I think I would be equally in awe of someone who had appeared in a Star Trek production because they’d presumably have good stories to tell. I was actually about to sign up to take acting lessons given by Dan Gauthier who played Ensign Lavelle in “Lower Decks” on TNG but then the pandemic happened. So I’m just waiting until the timing is right.
The holodeck goes wrong might be a cliché now but it makes a damn fine episode here! One of the highlights of season 1 so far.
I really liked the effect when Picard first walked in in his forties garb, with the holodeck entrance behind him – the hallway of the interior of the Enterprise and a member of the crew walking in the other direction. It was really well done.
Some of the early comments were interesting to me, from those who don’t like Holodeck episodes because they seem less science fictiony. First, with regard to this particular episode I would disagree, because I thought it was really poignant and thought-provoking at the end when Dixon’s cop friend was contemplating his existence. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
More from a personal point of view, I enjoy the science fiction premise of Star Trek, but that’s not why I I have become such a big fan of the franchise, and this series in particular. I grew to enjoy the characters themselves, all their nuances, flaws, virtues and relationships. Regardless if they were on the bridge of the Enterprise or in a gumshoe detective’s 1941 office, I’d tune in to watch…
I really like the easy manner between Troi and Picard in the cold open. While it took me quite some time to warm up to her character due to Marina Sirtis’ often stilted delivery — not entirely her fault given the scripts — her relaxed laugh here makes the scene sparkle all the more. As noted, Troi also earns her commission going over the cultural protocols and later pointing out to Riker that Wesley’s mother is also trapped in the holodeck.
“Picard takes a break to meet with the senior staff and waxes rhapsodic about the holodeck program before discussing the Jarada”
Although I’m aware the holodeck was talked up in “Farpoint” and that for the series’ premise it’s a fascinating novelty, I feel like in retrospect, given the whole of TNG’s run and its spinoffs, Picard shouldn’t have been so unfamiliar with and floored by the capability. Maybe he’d just never experienced the results like this.
The conference reminded me that when the show first aired I had a minor, recurring conniption fit sussing out the differences between the bridge crew, senior staff, and department heads. I can more easily separate the latter, but it’s odd that no Chief Engineer is at the meeting while Geordi and Wesley (bridge crew) are yet of course once Geordi is Chief Engineer and no longer at the helm position he’s still in the mix. With all the deserved plaudits directed at understudies and swings in the live-theater world in these pandemic times, I feel especially bad for the officers who take over helm, navigation, tactical, et al. on a moment’s notice when the marquee names have places to be, entirely without recognition, never mind the other shifts. (Please nobody explain to me how this is a weekly, budget-conscious television show. I’m only venting.)
“Attempts to stall Redblock on the holodeck match Riker’s attempts to stall the Jarada”
Redblock appreciates deliberate, considered speech as well, furthering the parallel. Lawrence Tierney indeed does a superlative job.
“The notion that the holodeck could ever allow someone inside it to be hurt is distressing”
Yeah. I can see a certain setting for combat training but there are still parameters.
I’m really glad Whalen didn’t end up dying, so far as we know. I hope some tie-in fiction showed him having loved the experience once he pulled through.
“and the apparent risk that simply shutting the holodeck off would kill the people inside it is ridiculous.”
I presumed that was because of this bizarre malfunction, which doesn’t mean it makes sense. My own No-Prize theory is that perhaps the holodeck wouldn’t know how to discriminate what matter to dissolve when resetting to a clean slate.
“His android skin tone leads to questions, which are put off by claiming that he’s from South America.”
The explanation suffices to the non-player characters before the malfunction; I believe Data’s pallor is only referenced, and his wholly unusual look is for sure referenced specifically by Redblock, once the scan has sent things haywire.
I loved the lamp bit and, more broadly speaking, would have paid good money to see Brent Spiner — especially as Data — play Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls.
While continuity bits like the characters not disappearing until a few steps into the corridor, and slowly, bothered me on rewatch, I still enjoyed this episode more than any other so far.
My biggest issue was how strange it was that after Picard’s greeting was accepted the Enterprise just… left.
Patrick Stewart could sure wear a fedora, though.
@11. roblewmac: “the magic basement that tries to kill them”
There are definitely arguments throughout the comment sections on these rewatches that I could do without as I read through them, lo, these many years later — but then gems like this pop up and remind me it’s all worthwhile.
@18. Pendard: “even at this early point in Picard’s character development, it’s difficult to believe that he likes something so low brow as noir detective stories”
French cinéastes regarded film noir more highly — or at least named it, codified it, and wrote about it more comprehensively — than contemporary American critics. I think both the cultural remove and perhaps more to the point the temporal one, effectively also cultural, would likely play a part in how largely disposable art like pulp novels from centuries ago was seen. Everyone has their comfort food, what’s more, and nobody is just one thing.
This episode is good, but only in isolation, because I cannot imagine why the crew didn’t shut down the holodeck entirely after discovering (a) that a bit of unusual probing can turn it into an inescapable murder box and (b) that the holodeck characters are capable of having existential crises, which is arguably an even bigger moral issue.
Really, all the warning signs were there for “Elementary, Dear Data.”
@39/David: I don’t think the “existential crisis” is any big deal. Lt. McNary was an interactive character programmed to react to unpredictable stimuli as a human being would, so that the game would be convincing to the players no matter what they did. He was exposed to the fact that he was a fictional character in a simulation, and the computer program did its best to accommodate that input by having McNary react to it the way a real human being would. That doesn’t mean he was actually displaying sentience, any more than Deadpool or She-Hulk is when a writer has them talk about being comic book characters.
In other words, a holodeck character seeming to display real personhood doesn’t mean anything when the whole point of holodeck characters is to convincingly mimic real personhood. The point of the Turing test is not that a computer that passes it is sentient; the point is that intelligent behavior can be faked.