How did Reginald Barclay graduate from Starfleet Academy?

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

The thing is, maybe following the realization that different races have different abilities and challenges, they relaxed their standards for Humanoids, even Humans, too. Especially very bright ones whose potential assets (brainpower) outweighed their deficiencies.

A lot of people like Barclay would be content to toil alone in a lab somewhere with little personal contact, so perhaps they figured if he wanted to join, that must be a positive sign.

 

[Cyke101]

LAFORGE: I just don't know what to do with him. The guy's always late, he never gives his best effort, just slides by.

Right, good find.

I'm no psychologist by any means, but those sound like symptoms of depression, which can go with introversion and social awkwardness, even stymieing career development. Indeed, once he gets proper help, he ends up functioning as well as any other crew member, and his role steadily expanding. That we saw him transferred to the Enterprise-E and then, in another timeline, embark on a teaching career at the Academy shows that he turned himself around. So he always had the skills but just not the professional capacity for the job just yet.

Also, props to Troi for her work there, too.

 

[MacLeod]

Right, good find.

I'm no psychologist by any means, but those sound like symptoms of depression, which can go with introversion and social awkwardness, even stymieing career development. Indeed, once he gets proper help, he ends up functioning as well as any other crew member, and his role steadily expanding. That we saw him transferred to the Enterprise-E and then, in another timeline, embark on a teaching career at the Academy shows that he turned himself around. So he always had the skills but just not the professional capacity for the job just yet.

Also, props to Troi for her work there, too.

True, if you feel not wanted or your work isn't valued often enough that you can start to believe that.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I really did not care for Reginald Barclay, as a character. He's much more obnoxious and irritating than Wesley Crusher ever was, yet Barclay's never afforded that same hate. I don't get that. Had Barclay died a pointless, senseless death, that probably would've become one of my favourite episodes, just for that. Maybe even have him driving Lwaxana Troi in a shuttle someplace and have it blow up, because of a loose wire, or something? That would've been most satisfying! The character's appeal and supposed "value" to the show will always remain a complete and total mystery ...

 

[Erik Pressman]

He ACED the written part i'm sure

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Holodecks were a new thing in 2364, might not have existed when he was in the Academy.

He is very intelligent. His cleverness could have gotten him through Engineering track and he might have had a social support network then that kept him socially engaged.

Also, a guy like Barcalay may have thrived better in an academic situation where the reward structure and expectations are clear and regimented. The more ambiguous reward structure of ongoing duty may have driven him further into his own head.

 

[Cyke101]

I really did not care for Reginald Barclay, as a character. He's much more obnoxious and irritating than Wesley Crusher ever was, yet Barclay's never afforded that same hate. I don't get that. Had Barclay died a pointless, senseless death, that probably would've become one of my favourite episodes, just for that. Maybe even have him driving Lwaxana Troi in a shuttle someplace and have it blow up, because of a loose wire, or something? That would've been most satisfying! The character's appeal and supposed "value" to the show will always remain a complete and total mystery ...

I think part of Barclay's appeal is that his foibles and shortcomings make him a bit more relatable -- he's a gifted technician and engineer, but his own faults keep shooting him down. Even if not all of us are as bumbling and awkward as he is, we've all been that way at some point or another, especially during our teen years, and maybe currently into adulthood. We're humans and Trekkies, and so very few of us are as dashing as Riker or as wise as Picard or as resourceful as LaForge. For that matter, I'm hard pressed to think of a main character who's actually shy, which is where Barclay comes in. He's allowed to mess up and the story tends to grow from those mistakes, whereas Wesley not only rarely messes up, but sometimes even saves the ship. Even if Wesley messes up, it's more likely due to youthful ignorance rather than personality.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I appreciate the response ... I surely do. Barclay has been claimed by many others to have been "relatable," however, and I've just never seen it, myself. Unlike TNG's main cast, he isn't perfect, so I'm supposed to "connect" with him? That's a bit of a stretch, isn't it? Like I'm supposed to lump an ostrich in the same category as a T-Rex, just because it's dinosaurian? You know, it would be more acceptable to me, that Barclay was meant to represent The Common Man, if he weren't so neurotic and socially awkward. When I'm in an unfamiliar situation, yes, I do feel a little uncertainty, but what are they going to do - mow me down with a machinegun - just how panicky am I supposed to get?

Again, I appreciate what you're trying to say and you're not alone in that interpretation, I do see it often. But I find nothing familiar in the character. He seems very cartoonish to me - honestly, he seems like a caricature, or an "homage" to Jerry Lewis, or someone like that. In the episode "Imaginary Friend," for example, there's Daniel Sutter whom I found to be, perhaps, more realistic than the usual TNG character. He's a single parent who's reluctantly sending his kid to a shrink. He does his job well, but he seems suitably obscure, like he's just another guy onboard. Someone like this, to me, seems much more realistic and acceptable than Barclay ever was.

 

[Guy Gardener]

1. Getting into Starfleet, Barclay only had to beat 4 other people, and if he's in the mix, then that means that there could have been innumerable other persons just as awkward as Barclay competing against Barclay. Worf might have only got in, because the Four blokes he squared off against were all just a little worse at being people than Reg.

2. The Psyche test is targeted specifically to make the applicants greatest fear come true... Barclay's greatest fears are always coming true. He is fine living side by side with doom and menace, it's those other arrogant idiots who think they are brave and ready, who are shocked to see that they have fears.

 

[stardream]

I had cancer and was surprised at how well I handled that but for some reason I get all anxious and Barclay like when I'm in the middle a big noisy crowd.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Hopefully, you are cancer-free, now? You didn't say ...

 

[stardream]

Hopefully, you are cancer-free, now? You didn't say ...

Oh yes...that was 13 years ago. But to this day when I express my anxiety about something that makes me nervous invariably a member of my family will remind me with a '"Uh...remember you survived cancer!"

 

[MacLeod]

Isn't that an example of who different people react to things differently. In situation A one person might be fine and another not, whilst in situation B the reverse might be the case.

 

[mos6507]

By passing his classes.

I don't see how the academy puts everyone through the Kobayashi Maru because he'd crack instantly.

 

[The Wormhole]

Holodecks were a new thing in 2364, might not have existed when he was in the Academy.

Except when we take into account that holodecks apparently did exist back when the Voyager characters where children. Janeway even talked about her adventures with Flotter as a child.

I don't see how the academy puts everyone through the Kobayashi Maru because he'd crack instantly.

Not every cadet takes the Kobayashi Maru. Only the ones trying for the command track take that test.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Eventually, everyone must know that the Kobayashi Maru is a test of character, unless every cadet that takes it swears an oath of secrecy to never talk about how they flipped out.

The claim in 2009 is that Spock helped build/design the test, so it could have been a secret when Kirk took the test, the first time.

The complimentary claim, is that even if Kirk didn't know that it was a test of character the first time he failed, it would have then been explained that this was psychological test to see if he is a nut job that's going to lose his ship throwing good money after bad, and has very little to do with actually rescuing the Kobayashi Maru, but his very human response was "Fuck you, I don't believe you, I don't believe in the no win situation, I'm going to keep doing this until I win. WIN! WIN! WIN!"

"Winning is accepting that some problems are beyond your ability to solve, gracefully."

"No, no you're wrong. I have to rescue that crew, no matter the cost, even if I have to burn down the entire Federation."

"Destroying an entire empire to save one ship is not winning."

"You can't tell me how to think! No one can stop me, I can do anything! I AM ABOVE YOUR RULES AND THE LAW!"

 

[Paradise City]

The psych test Wesley had to go through in the first season wasn't holodeck, it was a real time simulation. And it wasn't the Academy proper either; it was just the entrance exam to get into the damn place. It seems inconceivable to me that'd RB would flunk his ability to survive stressful situations but get his commision on the back of getting his paperwork right. And Starfleet engineers aren't merely engineers for the ship they are on, they may very well be deployed in away teams to attend to disaster situations and stuff of this sort. So from that point of view, Barclay is something of an incredible figure to be a middle ranking engineering officer on a multi-purpose starship that could be sent anywhere.

 

[Jedi Marso]

I don't see how the academy puts everyone through the Kobayashi Maru because he'd crack instantly.

The Kobayashi Maru wasn't originally envisioned as an academy test given to undergraduate cadets, but a graduate level test given to starfleet officers who returned to the academy to attend command school. Lieutenant Saavik was one of those in TWOK.

Giving the KM test to a bunch of inexperienced undergrads, most of whom won't ever be on the path to starship command, makes no sense. It also presents a tactical problem that is far beyond the level a cadet is expected to deal with at that stage of their development as an officer. In addition to rescuing the ship, the candidate has to weigh the potential outcomes of willfully violating the neutral zone.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I appreciate the response ... I surely do. Barclay has been claimed by many others to have been "relatable," however, and I've just never seen it, myself. Unlike TNG's main cast, he isn't perfect, so I'm supposed to "connect" with him? That's a bit of a stretch, isn't it? Like I'm supposed to lump an ostrich in the same category as a T-Rex, just because it's dinosaurian? You know, it would be more acceptable to me, that Barclay was meant to represent The Common Man, if he weren't so neurotic and socially awkward. When I'm in an unfamiliar situation, yes, I do feel a little uncertainty, but what are they going to do - mow me down with a machinegun - just how panicky am I supposed to get?

Again, I appreciate what you're trying to say and you're not alone in that interpretation, I do see it often. But I find nothing familiar in the character. He seems very cartoonish to me - honestly, he seems like a caricature, or an "homage" to Jerry Lewis, or someone like that. In the episode "Imaginary Friend," for example, there's Daniel Sutter whom I found to be, perhaps, more realistic than the usual TNG character. He's a single parent who's reluctantly sending his kid to a shrink. He does his job well, but he seems suitably obscure, like he's just another guy onboard. Someone like this, to me, seems much more realistic and acceptable than Barclay ever was.

It's not THAT he's imperfect, it's HOW he's imperfect. He's held back by social phobias and escapes from reality into fantasy worlds. He's basically a Trekkie.

@The Wormhole

True, one of those contradictory things in Trek. In Encounter At Farpoint the characters acted like they were witnessing the holodeck for the first time, then later characters act like holodecks had existed for years. It's possible that they were more a rare luxury at some point until recently.

 

[Cyke101]

It's not THAT he's imperfect, it's HOW he's imperfect. He's held back by social phobias and escapes from reality into fantasy worlds. He's basically a Trekkie.

Right on the nose. Every main character has their faults, yes. No one's perfect, but they're usually always professional. Barclay's the exception in that tries to be professional but his imperfections prevent him from being capable to do so. And I think the crew (in particular, Troi, LaForge, and Picard) recognize that he's trying to put in the effort to overcome his social problems and grow, which is why they don't reprimand him.

I really dislike how Voyager used Barclay, but the Barclay that helped them get home is a far, far cry from his first episode. Dude's trying his best, and that's all we can ask of our co-workers.