Noir Respite — Pay the Tailor, Stall the Landlord
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Picard strides into Dixon Hill’s reception, greets his secretary like an old accomplice, and sheds his hat and coat as the noir world wraps around him. He savors the familiar rhythm.
Fishing for a real case, Picard asks about calls; the secretary deadpans that only a tailor and a landlord want him. He orders her to pay one and stall the other as she laughs at their nonexistent funds.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Pragmatic and expectant — portrayed only through the expectation of payment conveyed by the secretary.
Referenced off-stage via the secretary's notepad as the tailor who has called to request payment for cleaning Picard's other suit; does not appear but catalyzes Picard's comic ritual.
- • To collect outstanding payment for services rendered.
- • To secure timely settlement of a business obligation.
- • Debts should be paid promptly.
- • Normal commercial concerns persist despite Picard's fantastical escape.
Impatient and businesslike, existing only as an implied pressure on Picard's civilian life.
Referenced as an off-stage caller (landlord) whose purpose is implied—requesting rent or raising a mundane demand—used by the secretary to puncture the fantasy and prompt Picard's 'stall the landlord' response.
- • To collect rent or otherwise press for payment.
- • To assert landlord obligations despite Picard's holodeck retreat.
- • Financial obligations are immediate and non-negotiable.
- • The tenant is responsible regardless of personal or professional distractions.
Pleasured and temporarily content on the surface — using ritualized control to mask underlying weariness and diplomatic strain.
Enters the reception, greets the secretary with a pleased smile, removes his hat and trench coat, accepts the secretary's rundown of mundane calls, pronounces the ritualistic decision to 'pay the tailor and stall the landlord,' and moves into his office to savor the holodeck refuge.
- • To regain a sense of agency through a private ritual and persona.
- • To temporarily escape the pressures of command and diplomacy.
- • To preserve the illusion of normalcy through small, performative routines.
- • Small, repeatable rituals restore psychological equilibrium.
- • The holodeck persona (Dixon Hill) is a safe space where he can exercise control.
- • Duty will inevitably reassert itself but a short respite is necessary.
Apologetic and resigned outwardly, balancing familial politeness with professional obligation; privately mortified by her mother's intrusion but firm in priorities.
Stands across the room and provides a quiet, professional containment: when Mrs. Troi questions her about ship business, Deanna calmly states that ship's business takes precedence, embodying duty over domesticity.
- • To prioritize the Enterprise's needs over personal/familial demands.
- • To defuse potential interpersonal escalation with her mother.
- • To protect ship operations and Picard's privacy.
- • Professional duty must supersede personal or familial demands while on active assignment.
- • Polite refusal is the best way to manage her mother's strong personality aboard a starship.
- • Maintaining chain-of-command clarity prevents diplomatic complications.
Quietly obliging and neutral; his gestures communicate agreement and support without commentary.
Silently samples several tall glasses of multi-colored liquids, then bows deeply in response to Mrs. Troi's suggestion — performing the role of the attentive, ceremonial valet who punctuates Lwaxana's moves without speaking.
- • To support Mrs. Troi's intentions and follow her directions.
- • To maintain decorum and ritualized presence within the reception area.
- • Service requires silent, exact execution of social cues.
- • Physical gestures (bowing) suffice to indicate assent in public contexts.
Amused and conspiratorial; she plays accomplice to Picard's ritual and lightly undermines the fantasy with comic realism.
Perched behind the reception desk, she produces a small notepad, reports two incoming calls with sardonic asides, chuckles, picks up and then hangs up the telephone while repeating Picard's ritual cue aloud, both prompting and punctuating his escape.
- • To keep Chandlerland's tonal rhythm by delivering wry cues and timing.
- • To gently puncture Picard's fantasy with practical reminders while preserving the joke.
- • To maintain control of the reception space and its small power plays.
- • Picard values these small rituals and will play along.
- • Humor and mundane annoyance (tailor/landlord) are useful anchors in the fantasy.
- • A receptionist's role includes both service and the maintenance of tone.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Picard removes his period-styled trench coat as a tactile shedding of Starfleet formality and physical adoption of the Dixon Hill persona; the coat functions as a costume mantle that signals his entry into the holonovel and his temporary authority within that micro-world.
The reception desk anchors the beat-to-beat interaction: the secretary's theatrical swivel, the notepad and telephone, Picard's approach and exchange; it frames the small power plays and the rhythm of the comic ritual.
The secretary pulls out and consults her small notepad to cue lines and report incoming calls; it structures the comic timing, lists the tailor and landlord, and acts as a prop that both anchors the scene's mundanity and triggers Picard's ritual response.
The period-styled desk telephone is lifted by the secretary to accept and then dismiss/offhand the calls; it conveys off-stage pressures (tailor/landlord) into the holodeck world and is used to comic effect when she hangs up after mocking the idea of payment.
A cluster of tall, multi-colored cocktail glasses functions as set dressing and a tactile focus for Homn; he samples several, providing a silent, comic counterpoint and underscoring the reception's performative hospitality while Lwaxana shifts plans.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Dixon Hill's reception room operates as a holodeck sanctuary where Picard slips into a noir persona; its period detail, desk, notepad, and drinks provide the tactile environment for ritualized escape, while its intimacy makes the eventual intrusion by Deanna and Mrs. Troi more jarring.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
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Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"PICARD: "New cases?""
"SECRETARY: "Are you kiddin'? The last time we got a new case, Hitler wasn't running Germany. Your tailor called -- he wants his dough for cleaning your other suit -- and your landlord called -- you can guess what he wants.""
"PICARD: "I see... Well, pay the tailor and stall the landlord.""