Q; Since the crew were in such a hurry to retrieve Picard, why did they not simply beam him off the Holodeck?
A; My theory is that no-one beamed Picard off the Holodeck because no-one cared to risk it, bearing in mind that the deck was clearly glitched up to the max and then some by the Jaradi probe. Matter, arguably of an unknown variety, was itself being created and altered in there, so who knows what might have come out?
Q; Bearing in mind that Picard was overdue to greet the Jaradi, why did he hang about to speak to the policeman after the Holodeck exit had been re-established?
A; We might assume that Picard stopped at the end to chat to the cop because he thought that just maybe he might gain some crucial insight into the functioning of the deck. Anyway, it was the Jaradi who fouled up the whole shebang in the first place, right, so let 'em wait!
While I retain a great deal of respect for the authors of the Technical Manual (he said legally), I don't believe they gave enough thought to the subject of the Holodeck. Marionettes, they say? Ha! Animate matter, I say.
By the way, anyone who missed the Maltese Falcon parallels might like to consider the similarities between Greenstreet, real name of the fat, ponderously mannered and lethal villain in the movie, and Redblock, name of the fat, ponderously mannered and indeed, lethal villain in the show (and I was pointing this out simply years before the Omnipedea).
Why would Picard, an historian, be unfamiliar with the concept of Halloween?
When Data tells the computer display to increase speed while he's reading the Dixon Hill books, the computer displays "The Big Goodbye" again. Why? It's just shown him that already. Also in there was another book which seemed to be titled "The National Secret" and an article entitled "Investigative Machines of the Future". Just thought I'd mention it.
"He's on ice". "He's being grilled". "I'd love to take a gander". Data's using contractions. Admittedly, this only occurs when he's in character, but his continuing insistence throughout the series that he cannot use them does rather infer that he has some kind of blind spot where his own capabilities are concerned.
Incidentally, Troi entreats Riker to let Wesley assist in opening the Holodeck on the basis that his mother is missing too. This is apparently news to Riker. How is it that Troi knows this and Riker doesn't? The ship's Doctor vanishes and the crew only bring this to the attention of the ship's counsellor and not its First Officer? No wonder they need a counsellor on board . . .