10 Greatest Redemption Stories In Star Trek

Redemption is, by necessity, a vicarious experience, and absolution often says more about the person offering it than the one receiving it. Before redemption, there is always the imperative to seek it out. Like a relapse of any addiction or the worsening of a phobia or anxiety, Barclay was a character who typically hit the reset button each time we saw him, facing the same uphill battle for vindication in spite of his personal difficulties.

Within the hierarchical power structures of an organisation like Starfleet, 'pardon' in any official sense can normally only be handed down the ranks, but Lieutenant Barclay, in all his genius and dogged determination, flipped the narrative on these power dynamics. If Barclay had to be proven right, it was only because those around him had to find forgiveness for thinking he was wrong. Two scenes from the Star Trek: Voyager episode Pathfinder in particular illustrate the changing power at play.

In the first (at around 15 minutes), the camera, as per Admiral Paris and Commander Hawkins, looks down on Barclay as he struggles to find the words to explain his idea for contacting Voyager. Aboard the Enterprise-D, Barclay had suffered with holo-addiction, transporter-phobia, social anxiety, and hypochondria. Here, in Pathfinder, his holo-addiction had seemingly resurfaced, as had his social anxiety when addressing Admiral Paris and the crowd assembled. Far from understanding, Hawkins simply dismisses Barclay from above.

Later, after Barclay has made his attempt to contact Voyager, and Voyager has replied, he, Paris, and Hawkins are lined up on the same plane at a console with the camera tilted slightly up at all three. This newfound visual equality matches Barclay's newfound professional equality. "[Reg], I'm sorry I doubted you," Dawkins says, but the apology's a little late. Redemption's not for Barclay, it's for other people.