The Many Faces of Moriarty
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fictional in-joke as to the nature of perceived reality; “After all,” Picard
acknowledges, “we too may very well exist only in a box sitting upon a table in
someone’s home.” It is an appropriate ending to an episode caught up in so
many competing realities it can give Inception a run for its money. That
Moriarty is the author of the episode’s initial events, speaks implicit volumes
about his significance to the numerous and richly varied popular culture realities
that could not exist without the character, in one form or another. It likewise
hearkens to an observation Goldman makes regarding Wells’ invisible man, but
one which can be applied to all fictional characters, and among them Moriarty:
“...it is the character’s fame and not the author’s which transcends the text,
name change be damned” (151). Whether he is a man, a holograph, or a mad
sewer rat—he will always be Moriarty. The multiple nature of reality—
especially of popular reality—is embraced, even if unintentionally, by this
episode’s own interpretation of existence, which simultaneously encompasses
complementary smaller and larger realities.
In the episode, “Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch,” during a brief non-sequitur
sketch, the television series Futurama parodies, in one go, this episode as well as
several from Star Trek: The Original Series. When two lovers, Amy and Kif,
enter the “holo-shed”—an obvious mockery of the holodeck from TNG—Kif,
earnestly, professes, “It can simulate anything you want and nothing can hurt
you, except when it malfunctions and the characters become real.” Off
handedly, Amy replies, “That probably won’t happen this time,” and they
proceed with their date. Of course, the holo-shed does eventually m