"Message In A Bottle"
Air Date: January 21, 1998
Star Date: ??
PLEASE NOTE: This file is frozen. Once a file hits 100K it's time to give the episode a rest!! You're welcome to send in addition nits and I will keep them on file but I won't be adding to this file any longer unless something really spectacular comes in!
Finding a seemingly unused sensor network that extends to the edge of the Alpha Quadrant, the crew manages to locate a Starfleet vessel at the edge of transmission range and transfer holodoc to the unknown ship. It turned out to be an experiment ship called the Prometheus and has been siezed by Romulan. Eventually holodoc teams up with the Prometheus's EHM program and two stumbled around until they manage to take back the ship. Though they are attack by Romulans warbird, the Starfleet cavalry races to the rescue and when holodoc returns to Voyager, he brings word that Starfleet will renews its efforts to find a way to get them home and he tells them that Starfleet wanted them to know that they are no longer alone.
Brash Reflections
Well, this was intended to be a playful romp but while it had some cute moment, I must confess that for the most part I felt it merely trundle along for an hour.
For one thing, the premise seemed very contrived. Voyager wanders up to the alien sensor array they think they can use it. They try to send a normal simple message but the message can't get through. Torres's response: Let's send a horrifically complex message that must be something like "billions and billions" of kiloquads. And guess what? It WORKS! Does this seem counterintuitive to anyone else?!
Interestingly enough, it appears that most races in the 24th century have discipline problems. We actually have a Romulan talking back to her commander in this episode. Sounds just like Starfleet. Hmmm.
And didja notice when the two holodocs materialized onto the bridge the stars weren't moving on the viewscreen but only moments later, holodoc took the ship out of warp.
Our how about at the end when the Prometheus's phasers were supposedly offline but as soon as it did it's multi-vectored attack thing . . . THEY WERE BACK!
This was too easy. There's lots more fellow nitpickers. I leave it to you.
Until next time!
Reflections from the Guild
(Note from Phil: I haven't verified these reflections but they sounded good to me!)
Rick Bell: Is it just me or is the Holodoc being risked way too often for someone who is really the only crewmember with any formal medical training? First Janeway considers deleting him just to keep important info away from the Borg, now she sends him to the Alpha Quandrant (from where he will "hopefully" return) before the first commercial break!
By the way, the Romulan commander looks a lot like one of Khan's minions (the one who had the most lines) from Star Trek II.
I haven't been watching DS9, the "Adventures in the Alpha Quadrant" version of Star Trek. Is the Federation at war with the Romulans now, or is this just another convenient invasion, like when the Ferengi took over the Enterprise merely because we couldn't have an entire episode of nothing but Picard running around as a pre-teen. Well, Andy Dick said the answer to the last question, but I'll leave it be. (Note from Phil: As far as I know the Romulans aren't at war with the Federation. And yes, Janeway risks holodoc too often with too much triviality.)
James D. Meader: Last week in "Waking Moments" and tonight in "Message In A Bottle", Lt. Torres is wearing a jacket of some sort, with little pockets (pockets in a Starfleet uniform! Is this a first?) holding tools on her shoulder. In a couple of scenes in "Message" you get a pretty good look at the garment. Is Roxanne Dawson pregnant?!? It looks like the jacket is camouflage, and they seem to be avoiding full shots of Torres and putting her behind consoles and such. (Note from Phil: Roxanne Dawson is pregnant.)
Mark Bowman: How did the doctor bring his holo-emmitter to the other ship? Perhaps they finaly create a subroutine in the doctor's program to replicate it? (Note from Phil: I don't think they did, I think Torres transmitted the holodoc directly into the sickbay computer . . . which . . . if you think about it is an interesting trick. It's called bad security protocols!)
Rick Bell of Towson, Maryland: Only 4 people in Starfleet can pilot the Prometheus, but the Romulans can just waltz on and not only pilot it, but also do a ship separation.
This is the first non-TOS episode I've seen that has 3 (and counting) references to Bones McCoy. EMH-2 says he's a doctor not...I don't remember what he said he was. Then Parris says he's a pilot not a doctor. Finally, the new EMH was loaded with "Leonard McCoy's Alien Physiology".
Corey Hines, Hamilton, ON: What happened to the Doc's emmiter. He was wearing it when he disappeared but it wasn't there when he re-appered.
The Prometheus looks like a cross between Voyager and the Enterprise-E.
The bridge looks like the bridge of the Excelsior's.
It's RAT (Recycled Actor Time). The head Romulan looks a lot like Khan's protege from ST II.
Shouldn't the computer beeps sound the same as the Enterprise-E's? (Note from Phil: Maybe it comes with a customizable beep designer.)
Since the Prometheus is a new ship shouldn't it have a holo-communicator?
Didn't the Romulans sign a non-aggresion treaty with the Dominion? Why are they attacking Federation ships?
The Romulans were going to give the ship to the Tal Shiar. Wouldn't the military be better off with it? And wasn't the Tal Shiar completely wiped out in "The Die is Cast"(DS9)?
This episode along with "Call to Arms"(DS9) confirms that there is more than one Defiant class starship. Why then, does the Defiant still have a NX prefix?
Joe Buss: Looks like the USS Prometheus that we saw in DS9's Second Sight was destroyed. They built a new one already. (not really a nit.)
A large part of the episode was Harry and Tom trying to design a new EMH. Didn't they ever think of making a backup of the old one. (In fact, the whole concept is a little silly. Why aren't they backing up the EMH every couple of weeks just in case the program crashes or the Mobile Emitters gets destroyed.)
Leonard McCoy's Compatative Alien Physiology? I'd love to read the chapter on Vulcans. "The Vulcan heart is where is liver ought to be. D*** ineffeicient, if you ask me."
The Romulan Commander makes mention of the Tal Shion. Is that like the Tal Shiar?
EMH mark II states "Let's turn off life support. We don't need that." Yeah, but those 27 unconscious Romulans do. What happened to the Hippocratic Oath.
Was that a Defiant Class in the relief force?
Derek Giromini of Richarson, TX: Well, this episode didn't quite live up to my expectations, but then again my expectation are always a bit high...
Now on to the nits...
Do the creative minds of DS9 and Voyager ever talk, especially in this rare occasion where both shows "collide"? Granted, they did mention the war with the Dominion in the Alpha Quadrant and did manage to get the uniforms right. However, what about this "EMH-Mark 2"? When we last saw Dr. Zimmerman, he was perfecting the "LMH" or "Long Term Hologram" capable of more long-term medical assistance. Did this get scraped in place of a sleaker EMH?
The Tal Shiar are still around?!?!?! I had the feeling that the Tal Shiar were wiped out by the Jem'Hadar when they and the Obsidian Order tried to destroy the Changeling homeworld. I suppose there is a chance that not all of the Tal Shiar forces were extinguished. The uniforms the Imperial Romulan officers were wearing look like Tal Shiar uniforms, but they were not Tal Shiar officers.
It's still nice to see that the Romulans are up to their old tricks again. The DS9 writers seem to have abandoned any kind of story involving them directly.
Now on to the real nits...
Uh... exactly how did these 27 Romulans get on board a prototype Starfleet vessel? Where's their support? Were they so overconfident that they just abandoned the vessel they came in?
How big is the Prometheus anyway? Four people were assigned to operate this vessel?!?!?! (Note: I may have this one wrong.) The thing splits into three little ships?!?!?!?! Must not be all that big. I take it some Starfleet designers were inspired by the 1980's cartoon series and toy product line, MASK. (Note from Phil: Either that or Zoltron)
Looks like Zimmerman's designs went from cold and pretentious to skittish and egotistical. I'd rather have Mark-1 dressing my wounds.
The set of the bridge and sickbay were pretty cool, but they reminded me of Classic/Movie Trek. The bridge reminded me of the Enterprise-A as seen at the end of Star Trek IV. I would personally go nuts in a ship that white and sterile-looking.
I guess the budget was too stressed to actually show us one of these super duper relay stations in the Delta Quadrant.
I don't see why Tom was complaining. He could train a couple of other people on the ship some basic medicine. If he's as pessimistic as he sounds, then he should have plenty of time to train a few officers. I still can't believe he's the only person their with better than decent medical training.
I enjoyed how they poked fun at Harry's efforts to create a new EMH at Tom's request (read: whining). Yeah, Tom, I can whip up about 30,000 subroutines, an interactive database and holomatrix in about two weeks. I work in telecommunications, and even *our* customers don't have that much expectation.
Corey Hines, Hamilton, ON: So Starfleet declared the Voyager lost after 3 years. It only took six days for the USS Hera (Interface,TNG) to be declared lost. Have lost starships been turning so often that they decided to extend the deadline?
Raj Kulachandran of Toronto, Canada: This was one cool episode. Thought the battle scenes were pretty good for a mid-season episode. I only watch part of the episode and the one nit that did stick out was the fact that when they transferred the Doc over the relay, how did they transfer his mobile emitter, that not part of the hologram, its a solid object. (Note from Phil: See above!)
Johnson Lai: Why is the Prometheus's sickbay empty of medical personnel. But I suppose the Romulans moved them all to a centralized location. (Note from Phil: Um, I think the Romulans killed them all.)
When the Doctor went to the Prometheus's bridge to conduct his "scans", we see the viewscreen showing motionless stars. The ship should have been at warp at the time.
Don Ferguson of Queen’s NY: When the doctor arrives on the Prometheus, it takes him a while to figure out that no one is around to help him, he walks around sick bay until he almost trips on a dead crew member, why didn’t he just ask the ship for its complement as soon as he arrived (like he did in “Basics” and the ship tells him how many Kazon and Batazoids are on bored ;) I suppose though if the ship had told him right off that there were 27 romulans abord, then we wouldn’t have the traumatic scene when he trips on the dead girl.
Is it just me or does that new doctor seem completely useless to you? for a hologram he gets *REALLY* nervous.. I thought the holo doc was going to have to hand him a paper bag at any moment. he also seems to balk about treating the romulan, if I am not mistaken, he is a doctor, that is what he is programmed to do.... it took the holo doc a long time to act like a real crew member and help voyager fight its enemies, in the beginning all he wanted to do was heal ppl, no mater who they were. This new doctor should have cared about nothing but treating sick folk, instead all he tried to do was shut himself off. Speaking of shutting himself off, when he told the computer to deactivate the EMH...shouldn’t have both docs turned off? Holo Doc in now running off The Prometheus’s systems, he should be vulnerable to its computer’s control.
when the romulan walks in, she should have known right off the bat that something was up.. didn’t she realize that Holo doc is wearing the wrong uniform??
For a Top secret ship that is so advanced, only 4 ppl know how to operate it....the romulans seems to do ok..and that Multi vector attack thingamajig seems pretty user friendly to me... Idiot Doc activates it by putting his had down on the control panel, what happened to that feature in starfleet ships that no really important procedure can be started without an access code? (as stated in TNG’s “hero worship”.
Idiot doc says that only 4 ppl in all of star fleet can operate this ship...isn’t that kind of stupid on starfleet’s part? only 4 ppl?? Does that mean that only the brige crew knows how the ship works? do they have to keep giving instructions to the rest of the crew that works in other areas of the ship? what happens when their shift is off? do they get paged in the middle of the night with questions on how to work the ship’s systems???
Supposedly the doc couldn’t do anything because he didn’t have lv 4 security clearance....are you telling me that the romulans have lv 4 clearance??
Tom Calls Harry an expert in holo technology? since when? I thought he was an ops guy, with a passing knowledge in astrometrics stuff..(thats why he helps 7 all the time...well, at least that the excuse he gives for wanting to work with her *wink*) For the record.. Be`lanna is suppose to be versed in hologram programming, why didn’t Tom ask his girlfriend to make him a new holo doc? BTW, I loved his cry “I’m a pilot, not a doctor!” great twist on the doc’s usual cry.
For a ship with Regenerating shields, the Prometheus seems to drop its shields to 29% after only one shot from the romulans.
Just a thought: Doc Zimermen is working on improving his program right? he wants an experienced doc with a good personality.. it would be very cool to see a Bev. Crusher holo program once in a while :)
They never give a reason why the romulans took the ship. this isn’t the first time new tech has come across them, the never attacked the federation out of the blue like that for it (to my knowledge anyway).
While tring to Add more power to the ship’s system, Idiot Doc turns off Life support “we dont need that” he says with glee... you dont huh? what about all the unconscious rommies you got in sick bay? And without life support, shouldn’t those two starfleet guys that beamed onto the ship Drop onto he floor gasping for air like fish out of water?
David D. Porter: I certainly hope Cap'n J and Chakotay explain to 7 that one doesn't tell the Captain or First Officer to 'report' anywhere. There are polite ways of summoning senior officers.
Extrapolating the Alfa Quadrant ship's course assumes no changes. The accuracy of the prediction degrades rapidly with time.
If the message was relayed across the entire network, *of course* V-ger hears it--they're near the net. Just because they hear their own message doesn't mean it isn't also being heard elsewhere.
Methinks the engineer's new clothes are designed to hide a bulging belly.
There *still* isn't a backup of H-doc? Did we ever get a reasonable explanation of why only one copy of his program exists?
Took the Doctor long enough to notice the casualties lying in plain sight in sickbay.
Guess Prometheus has IFOS too.
Starfleet lost an experimental tactical prototype? Very unwise.
Seems to me the multi-vector attack system isn't that useful. The shields of the individual components cannot possibly be a powerful as those of the combined ship. If faced with such a vessel, my response would be to target the most powerful section and destroy it as quickly as possible. That would make re-integration problematic.
Why does the ventilation system *open* for a shipwide microbiotic contamination?
The Captain really should have pulled 7 up short right after that shock stunt. Initiating hostilities is the perogative of the Commanding Officer only. That kind of insubordination is intolerable.
Well, we have proof positive that more than one Defiant-type hull was built. (Note from Phil: Actually we had proof-positive at the end of the fifth season of DS9. Big armada. Two Defiants not counting our Defiant!)
Brian O'Marra, Little Rock, AR: Not too bad an episode. Hope you are able to catch it on schedule!! Holodoc comes through in the clutch!! I thought the battle scenes were good especially with the Promethius and its three part separation!
On to the nits...
First, an observation...What is with the coats? Torres has one that matches her uniform. Yet, she is wearing it while 7 has on her thin tightfitting uniform. Is Torres coldnatured?
Interesting how the Promethius gets hit once by the Romulans and loses 80% power to the shields then takes a volley of photon torpedoes and the shields still hold!!
7 sends a shockwave to the alien in charge of the relay network without authorization, thus disrupting the negotiations that Janeway was engaged in, and not a reprimand from the captain. She leaves Torres to deal with her. Chakotay thought that only Torres couldn't put a leash on her? Maybe Torres has been imitating the captain!
Interesting how complicated it is to run the ship from the bridge. Both EMH's push specific buttons and it causes major emergencies (such as a near explosion of the vessel), but to engage the three-part battle separation sequence you just have to lay your entire hand all over the buttons!
Carla Bandeira, Voorhees, NJ: I loved this episode, and didn't have a chance to pick out a lot of nits, but there was one blaring nit that's been bugging me for weeks. Has anybody else noticed that some of the alien nebulas and such on the screens of the Astrometrics lab look very much like pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope? In today's episode, the nebula on the background screen looked exactly like a pic of a nebula that I saw in National Geographic a few months ago...
That and a complaint about B'Elanna's smock-- yuck-- makes her look even more pregnant...
1/26/98 Update (Note from Phil: A quick reminder. It is not my intention to upload every message that I receive on an episode. I will always upload comments--i.e. "I enjoyed the episode." "I felt like the episode lacked . . ."--but if a nit has already been picked, it's picked . . . unless I decide to list it twice because it's repicked in a funny way or I just wasn't certain it had already been picked and I was bombing through my mail and I let it pass just in case!)
Joe McLaughlin Jr. of Medway, MA: I found a nit in this week's Voyager episode 81 "Message in a Bottle". It
concerns the topic of the battles at warp. In the episode, one of the ships
fires on a federation ship (Presumably the Prometheus) while at warp. The
catch is that the ship uses phasers at warp and fires it at the ship in
front of it. This should not work seeing that phasers only work at the
speed of light and both ships are at warp. The ship that fires it should be
hit by its own phaser blast because it's moving faster than the phaser
beam, but in the episode, he fires it and it hits the ship infront of it.
Laurel Iverson, New London, MN: Didn't Harry and Tom kinda jump the gun trying to create a new holodoc?
It seemed to me that the doctor had only been gone for a day or two.
How would Tom and Harry like it if, every time they were delayed on an
away mission, someone was being "trained" to replace them?
And does it seem realistic that this highly trained military crew and/or
rough 'n tough freedom fighters are so wimpy that they need a doctor to
cure heartburn?!
Shane Tourtellotte: When we see the Prometheus in the Astrometrics lab, it appears to be
motionless in space, or at least moving at impulse as there are no
streaking stars. Once in the Alpha Quadrant, though, we learn the ship
is *really* chugging along.
47 #1: Janeway gives Voyager's coordinates as 18 mark 205 mark 47.
Why is Prometheus designated NX-59650? (Not quite sure of the latter
numbers, but the first 5, I'd stake my life.) Why whould this ship be
over 15,000 registry numbers *behind* Voyager if it's a brand new
prototype? (Note from Phil: Maybe NX has its own numbering scheme?!)
How does the Romulan helmswoman know Prometheus's multi-vector assault
mode has never been tested? Does the Federation broadcast all the
results of their super-secret weapons tests?
I don't exactly get the necessity for a ten-second countdown for
separation, but I suppose it is considerably faster than Enterprise-D's
separations.
47 #2: The Romulan commander orders attack formation Beta-47 ... but
how does he know what Starflet code designations mean? Or did he input
his own while we weren't looking?
Good to see Prometheus's intruder control system working. One of the
consoles obviously sensed a Romulan was using it during the battle, and
fried him. (Thus ends my ironic and gratuitous commentary on our beloved
overloading work stations.)
I just realized, portions of the separated Prometheus that had no warp
engines were cruising along just fine while attacking that first
Starfleet vessel, _as stars streaked past_. (Note from Phil: This is *one* of the problems that I have with this ship. It would be a maintenance nightmare. One assumes that each portion of the ship has it's own warp drive. That's one warp core for each, one anitmatter containment pod for each, one set of warp coils for each. La Forge and his team seemed to spend a fair amount of time servicing the warp drive system. Just how big of a crew does this ship have?!)
Twice, Voyager crewmembers refer to their ship being over 60,000
light-years from the Federation. Counting the several thousand
light-years they traveled on their own, plus the 9500 Kes threw them,
they should be considerably closer than 60,000 by now -- unless they've
been going in the wrong direction. [rant] Hey, guys! How can you aim
at the Alpha Quadrant and miss? It's 50,000 light-years wide, for
crying out loud! [/rant]
Back on Voyager, Paris has to treat two victims of Neelix's Tex-Mex
cooking. (You knew it had to happen someday.) I don't understand why
people don't have medicine stashes to treat their own minor ailments.
Why does every fiddling little complaint have to go through Sickbay? Is
this some wild Federationalized medicine scheme, making people so
dependent on it that they can't treat their own headaches or indigestion
without professional intervention? Yes, I can imagine something like
this happening someday. It's just sad to think about it.
From a list of anesthetics provided by EMH-2, The Doctor picks neurazine
because it comes in gaseous form, to spread by ventilators. I thought
anesthezine, the famed intruder control chemical, was also gaseous,
hence the term 'anesthezine gas' heard more than once in various Trek
incarnations. As a proven intruder-knocker-outer, you'd think he'd pick
this one as most effective.
I assume the sexual experience The Doctor describes was with Dinara Pel.
Funny, we didn't hear about him reprogramming himself with lascivious
intent during that episode. And I thought B'elanna was always scolding
him about tinkering with his program -- unless *that* was why she
objected ...
We're told by EMH-2 that only four people in Starfleet know how to
operate the Prometheus. First, doesn't a starship need more than four
people to operate it? Second, how does EMH-2 know all these esoteric,
and one might think top secret, facts? And if it was all programmed
into him, why didn't these geniuses program in the training to run the
ship while they were adding superfluous data files?
After an exterior shot of Warbirds in visual range of Prometheus, EMH-2
announces two minutes to interception. They look pretty intercepted
already, easily within weapons range. Furthermore, it takes about half
a minute more for those Warbirds to get within thirty seconds of range.
Must be New Math. My head hurts. Guess I'll have to take an aspi--
er, go to Sickbay. ;-)
I thought Starfleet had discarded the Defiant class as a viable starship
design. Guess Sisko must have made a *really* good impression, because
two Defiant-class warships are among the flotilla intercepting the
Warbirds.
Once he's accidentally separated the Prometheus, The Doctor orderws
attack formation Alpha, at random. Shouldn't he need an alphanumeric
code, like "Beta-47" that the Romulan commander used?
The Doctor reports Starfleet declared Voyager lost fourteen months ago.
Problem is, two and a half years ago Kim went back to San Francisco,
where Libby informed him Starfleet had recently held the memorial
service for Voyager. So they hold a memorial more than a year before
declaring the ship lost. (Note from Phil: But was that real?)
PAL, Part 1: Part of the preview, where Janeway says something like "I
doubt that's the last we'll hear of them(presumably the Hirojin)" never
appears in the program.
PAL, Part 2: The preview after tonight's episode promised all-new
episodes of Voyager throughout February -- starting the *second* week in
February. Do I gather they'll be showing reruns the next two weeks,
including the start of sweeps? Beam me up, there's no intelligent life
at UPN's head offices ...
[From Someone Identified Only as the Cave]: ICBN! ICBN! The shots of the Prometheus destroying the Nebula class that
was chasing it show it using phasers...at warp. The Tech manual says that
phasers, and for that matter, directed energy weapons, don't work at warp
because 1) warp fields dissipate them quite well, especially in combination
with shields, and 2) the rapid nadions that make up the phaser beam travel
at the speed of light, not warp...you'd run into your own beam, to say
nothing of the beam catching the other ship. Warp combat is what torpedos
are for. I don't think this can come off as a "Strange but true" fact. The
shows have established that phasers don't work at warp.
I think this "Multivector attack mode" seems a mixed blessing. The three
ships will be better defended while separated (smaller shield bubble = more
shields per square meter, like the Defiant), and able to hit the target
from several different angles and with more beams at once. It becomes more
mobile, confusing, and hard to target for the opposition (like the
Defiant). But since this is a fighting ship, it's likely to see lots of
combat. If it's separated while fighting, and even one part is destroyed,
it probably won't be able to
reconnect. And if only one section has warp coils, and that part goes
away...it can't leave the combat zone!
About the functioning of the Multivector attack mode:
* Why does the computer ask for targeting and attack pattern information
after the ship separates? Why not just get it first, then separate and fly
off right into the attack, giving the enemy less time to respond to the
fact that there are now three ships?
* Wouldn't the shields have to go down to let the other sections out? If
so, a shrewd enemy would notice the shields dropping and attack while the
ship was really vulnerable!
* Maybe this is just me, but it looked like there were four warp nacelles,
and when the ship separated, the two sets of two were on different parts.
But wait, the ship (ships?) did some fancy maneuvering at warp when
fighting the Nebula Class. So each section has it's own warp drive. That's
an awful lot of Warp coils for a ship it's size. Especially since warp
coils are so HEAVY...
* If you expect all three parts to move much (and they did), you would have
to have at least three impulse engines, one for each section. But I thought
I saw two on just the saucer, which makes it four total. Not a nit, just an
observation. That's a lot of engines for a ship it's size.
* About torpedo launchers. If section has at least one forward launcher,
and the ship as a whole (docked configuration) has one aft launcher (for
use while retreating), that brings the total to four. That's a lot of
launchers for a ship it's size (especially if 3/4 of them point forward).
Of course the Defiant seems to have 5 fore and 3 aft launchers (top and
bottom slits on the triangular packs on the side, centerline fore and aft
launchers (Captain's Chair), and conjecturing that the bumps on the top of
the warp nacelles look suspicious), so...
* These sections are apparently very maneuverable. If I remember correctly,
the motivation I heard for the Defiant's use of pulsed phaser cannons,
instead of normal streaming phasers, was that helm to tactical response
time was much better when you just push the fire button (instead of setting
a vector or choosing a target and ther, a second or two later, firing).
This requires one to aim the ship rather than the weapon, which requires a
maneuverable, small ship. So...why didn't the Prometheus have phaser
cannons? The sections are quite maneuverable, and in battle, any speed
advantage is a big help.
* I'm sure that, if you really wanted to, you could pilot the sections
individually, rather than each getting directions from one source.
(otherwise, the multi-whatever mode is vulnerable to jamming, unless you
don't want to change attack patters or targets or REDOCK anytime soon.) But
to pilot a ship, one needs a Conn. That usually means a bridge. So, if Main
engineering isn't normally used as the bridge for the third section, then
there'd be three different bridges. (just like the Galaxy) But this ship is
significantly smaller than the Galaxy, with much less internal space.
That's an awful lot of bridges for a ship it's size.
Conclusion: the Prometheus has to be VERY redundant. But it seemed to be
about 2 1/2 times the length of the Defiant. It doesn't have ROOM for this
kind of redundancy.
I thought it was a particularly nice touch when you see two Defiant class
ships in the attacking Federation group...and when the Prometheus' torpedo
hits one! (I thought, "OOPS! You made the very potent ship mad...") But
aren't torpedo guidance systems supposet to target only non-federation
signitures? Maybe the computer got confused 'cause the Fed ships were
shooting at the Prometheus...
I notice that the torpedo fired by the Prometheus was a Photon Torpedo,
not a Quantum. Maybe the Mark II Doc just pushed the wrong button, but
shouldn't this advanced Fedreration warship have (and know to use FIRST)
quantum torpedos?
Warp 9.9, huh? Voyager can do 9.975, and the Enterprise-E can do 9.98.
Why's this ship slower? (Note from Phil: Well . . . apparently, there *are* a lot of redunancies! ;-)
The Prometheus design looks very reminiscent of some of the early
conjectural designs for Voyager that I saw in "The Art of Star Trek."
Dustin Westfall, of Fullerton, CA: Just a quick comment before the nits. Considering that B5 is on opposite
of Voyager in some areas, was anyone surprised by the commercial for B5
in the middle of Voyager? (Note from Phil: The commercial for B5 didn't play in my market so it was probably a local thing!)
On to the nits...
The creators opened with a trick. They knew their story line leaked (or
just suspected it would) so they end the teaser trying to give the
impression that Voyager found an actual ship, rather than the network.
I wonder whether they're trying hide Roxanne Dawson's pregnancy. At the
beginning of this episode, when B'ellana gets the Doctor, the director
takes a steady shot behind the console for most of the scene, including
her entrance and exit. There is no hiding her pregnancy at that angle.
I agree the premise is contrived, but think if they actually took it a
step further. Since the HUGE message they sent was actually more stable,
couldn't they have dematerialized the entire crew, and then sent the
transporter patterns? Then they'd all be home (except Neelix, but he'll
get used to it.). Janeway would obviously have to set the auto-destruct
sequence before she left(Prime Directive and all). Then they'd all be
home and happy. (Note from Phil: Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Ee-yup! My thoughts exactly.)
I'm sorry, but has medical technology really advanced all that much in 4
years. The Mark-II asks for a medical device(I forget the name of it),
and the Doc seems like he has no clue what it is. But later on, after
the crew gets heartburn from Neelix's chili, Tom goes to replicate an
antacid!!! There is a huge advance in medicine in the last four years,
but all they can do for heartburn is an antacid!!!
I don't think the skittish behavior of the Mark-II is really a nit.
Remember, he said he was only installed a couple of weeks ago, and that
he'd never been field tested. Since he's only version 1.0, he's
obviously buggy(computer term, not the other). Actually, he so buggy, I
wonder if Microsoft had a hand in his creation(meaning Bill Gates will
live until the 24th century. The human race is doomed. :-).
Didn't the Prometheus separation remind anyone of the Enterprise-E(Most
especially during BOBW2, when he uses the saucer to create two targets.
Also, isn't it bad programming for the voice interface of the computer
to go down while counting down to separation? What if there was an
emergency that required use of the computer? "Oh, just wait a few
minutes 'til the ship finishes separating and shaking, then I'll be
right with you"? (Or is this more Microsoft programming? ;-)
Now, I can understand why the Prometheus has holo-emitters all over the
ship. What I don't understand is why Voyager doesn't? I realize they now
have the mobile emitter, but there was a mention of installing them in
one episode (true, that was a holonovel, but the idea was sound). So why
didn't they ever do that (Doesn't so much have to do with this ep, but
it sparked the memory, so...)
Does anyone out there have a copy of Gray's Anatomy? Can anyone confirm
if that actually is Gray's Anatomy? (Note from Phil: See below. This kind of nit astounds to me.)
Harry says the replacement program doesn't have a speech recognition
program yet. So why is it talking? Did Harry install a speech program
without a speech recognition program? (Note from Phil: And why didn't they go to the holodeck and start with a basic doctor character. In all the holonovels on the holodeck, no one has ever created a doctor?! See . . . now that would have been funny. Some hunky holodeck doctor in Sickbay who doesn't know anything about medicine. "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on the holodeck." There be possibilities there friends. Women crewmembers lined up to get into sickbay . . . )
Whoever designed the Prometheus has a flair for the melo-dramatic. Both
times when initiating the separation sequence, the floor of the bridge
is covered in smoke.
Speaking of the bridge, doesn't this seem a bit backwards for StarFleet.
Recent starship bridges seem to be getting more dark and space-efficient
(polite for cramped). This is brighter, and bigger than any of the
bridges I've seen on screen, in any incarnation.
StarFleet doesn't make a good showing in this episode. They first lose
an experimental new ship with advanced weaponry, rather easily if the
Romulans are any indication. Then they let it get all the way across
Federation space (I say this because they couldn't have been stupid
enough to test it anywhere near any potentially hostile forces, could
they?). Then, when the Federation ships arrive, finding the Prometheus
in battle with the Romulans, what does the StarFleet commander do? Does
he order the Romulans out of Federation space? Does he order them to
stop firing until the situation can be straightened out? No, he fires on
the Prometheus. What was he thinking? (I realize his orders were
probably to destroy the Prometheus if necessary, but it was hardly
necessary.)
Why did the torpedo fire at the Federation ship? Wouldn't it have a
setup so that it would target the Romulans before the StarFleet without
specific instructions?
I wonder why Janeway didn't reprimand Seven. I understand she didn't
want to do it in front of Torres (Always best to have privacy for a
dressing down). So why didn't she just have Torres wait in the hall for
a minute. I think we all agree her actions were uncalled for(I wonder
how they would have responded to the offer of trade. I guess we'll never
know now, will we?).
Great line: "You're breathing down my neck." "My breath is actually a
holographic simulation..." (Paraphrased). "So is my neck. Stop it."
After Doc gets the ship to rescue him, 2 security guards beam over.
First, why are the standing right next to each other, looking in almost
the same direction? Second, why send the guards at all? Shouldn't their
sensors show all the Romulans as unconscious? Or do they just mistrust
their sensors? If so, then why only two guards?
This was obviously a "We've only got ten minutes left in the show, so we
better figure some quick way out." ending. Poor choice, too. They could
have waited and had the "cavalry" come in at the last minute. At least
that wouldn't have been self-contradictory.
Finally, in response to Derek Giromini, after he states they were
probably inspired by MASK (a great cartoon, and toy line too, while it
lasted), you respond either that or Zoltron. I assume you mean Voltron
(another great cartoon series, though the toys sucked.). (Note from Phil: Been a long, long, long, long time since I've seen it. ;-)
David T. Shaw, from Hamilton, Ontario: I must say I liked it. However...
I've held that if I only have to accept one silly premise an episode that
I'm ahead of the game. Unfortunately, this episode does not meet the standard.
Silly premise number one: A voice message could not be sent via the alien
network, but a holographic program can. Even though a voice message is
relatively small bandwidth and low data. However, the Doctor, which has
about a gazillion times more information in it, can pass easily (and in less
than twenty seconds.) The proper response when a signal degrades is either
1. increase the power (presumably not a an option here- it was already at
200%) or make it simplier- i.e. they should have started sending on-off
signals like morse, or an ASCII message at three bytes a minute.
Silly premise number two: An experimental ship, with (at maximum) only
four people aboard it that can operate it, is sent on a deep space mission.
Everything is experimental: the shields, the discopuling, and the EMH.
Haven't these people heard of 'back-ups'? Where was the companion ship that
would tow The Promesethes back home if it broke down (and there are a lot of
things that can breakdown- life support, navagation, engines, power- any one
of which could present serious risk to the crew.)
Of course this can be explained by saying that the escort was destroyed by
the romulians (and exactly where did they come from? We didn't see a ship
pacing them... I guess we aren't suppose to wonder where the crack team of
Romulian Commandos came from and took over a top secret ship...)
The explanation I prefer is that it is Star Fleet Protocol, the old sink or
swim approach. If the ship doesn't come back, then it was obviously flawed
and needs to be redesigned- this practice goes back at least a century to
the M5 computer trial. (Classic episode "The Ultimate Computer")
(As an aside, when Harry woke back up on Earth in the alternate time line
episode in season two, he was pitching the design of a new ship. I think it
would have been really cool if The Promethesus was that design [of course
that would introduce a new nit- but who cares?] I can't find my tape, so I
can't check- maybe someone else can.)
Silly Premise Number Three: Only four people in Star Fleet have been
trained to operate the ship. Now, to give the creators the benefit of the
doubt, this information does come from Holodoc-with-hair, and he doesn't
seem to be the most stable of programs- he might not have understood what he
was hearing. For example, it could be that only four people were fully
trained on all of the new modifiications, or on the new tactical array etc, etc.
However, if we take him at his word, this posses several questions. One-
are there only four because Star Fleet wants to minimize deaths when the
ship fails in some fashion? Have they totally reconfigured all the controls
so that a trained helmsman (say, like Tom) wouldn't be able to do anything?
Were there in fact only four crew on a ship that demonstratably can separate
into four different sections? And if that is true, and the ship is
automated enough that it can be controled by four people, what were all the
chairs for on the bridge? Company?
And if this ship is so strange and different, how was it that the Romulians
didn't have any problem flying it?
They even could order the ship to target a federation ship (and that is the
term they used- Computer- "Specifiy target" Romulian Commander: "The
federation ship.") If I were a weapons system programmer, I would set it up
that the console would beep or something if you targeted a friendly craft-
maybe even add a pop-up window (You have targeted a friendly ship.
Continue? OK CANCEL)
And isn't it nice to see that even the newest ships still have the
traditional touches that a Federation Crew expects- like exploding panels
with 500,000 volts running through them.
How did Seven o' Nive determine that the alien array was abandoned?
Whatever it was, it was obviously a method that can't be trusted.
(Actually, I think that Borg-babe knew it was still in use, she just lied to
the Captain to prevent Janeway wasting valuable time agonizing over some
obtuse ethical dilemma.)
When the computer was counting down to separation, and the Doctor asked it
what it was doing- it ignored him. Am I to infer then that the entire
system's computing power is required to count backwards? (yes, I know that
was a cheap shot, it was doing all those things that need to be done, but
still...) At least it should have answered "That information requires a
level 3 security clearance."
The Doctor, when asked for an attack plan, he sensibly just said "Alpha".
The Commander said "Beta Four Seven" (which by the by, is my first
recognition of a forty-seven with out someone pointing it out to me...) Are
there really over forty eight attack patterns? And how did the Commander
know which one he wanted to use? My answer- there are only a half dozen or
so 'classic' attack patterns, with minor variations that can be done. The
greek letter is the pattern, the number just acts as a seed in a random
number generator so all attacks don't look the same.
The Doctor, says to Doctor-with-Hair "Now, where's the helm?" A cute
moment, but the doctor has already been on the bridge and pretended to
examine one of the Romulians at the helm- he already knew where it was.
Three federation ships arrive at a scene of three Romulian Ships attacking
a federation Ship- what is the logical thing to do? Attack the Federation
ship, even though it is dead in space and not firing at any one. Seems to
me that the Romulian ships (which have crossed the Neutral Zone and thereby
broken a treaty) would be the first priority. The very fact that they are
attacking the federation ship seems to indiciate that something went wrong
with their plan.
How bright is it to have the seperated sections be controlled by the main
bridge? I would worry about jamming.
Lots and lots of great lines- "I'm a pilot, not a doctor"; "He wasn't
responding to dipolomacy"; "You're not my patient" - "That's the first good
news I've had today"... But my favourite for best line was "I was saving
Voyager when you weren't even a gleam in you programmer's eye" Nice tribute
to Kirk's line to Picard in *Generations*.
Oh, I know this is a default option, but P.A.L.
Craig Cicero: Good episode. Romulans, new aliens, Andy Dick.... What else is necessary?
A few observations: Evidently Dr. Bashir ISN'T a template for an EMH- Andy
Dick was a Mark Two.
Odd how the Feds knew the gas that knocked out the Romulans had dissipated.
Also, I guess Andy Dick (if he was wearing glasses, I'd be calling him Dr.
Mathew) didn't disable life support like he said.
Great lines:
Doctor:"Dominion?"
And, of couse, the whole "climbing into the Jeffries Tube sequence.
What were the three other Fed ships? At least one looked like a Defiant, can
anyone identify the other two?
I hope we see the Prometheus, its multi-vector attack, and Doctor Andy Dick
again- that is one cool ship!
Just as an aside, I was little surprised that Andy Dick's character wasn't the
"total spaz" he is on NewsRadio- still was a hilarious episode, though.
Notes: Voyager was declared lost 14 months ago- this is halfway through the
fourth season, right? So it takes the Feds two and a half years to declare
Yoyager missing? Just checking. (As an aside, the Hera [I think] in an
episode of TNG was declared missing after a week or two- I think mention was
made of "constant communication"- maybe it wasn't exploring?) Also, I guess
the Ferengi in "False Profits" didn't sell their knowledge to the Federation
like I'd hoped (nor did the Romulans tell the Feds)- evidently. Can someone
work out a timeline for Voyager/AQ contacts (including the "presumed lost"
point)? I little obsessive, but interesting nonetheless.
How many regular enemy aliens has this show had? The Kazon (lousy), Vidians
(sp?) (used a few times), Borg (a few), and now the Hirogen. Let's hope the
Hirogen are good enemies.
All in all, a fun episode, and a nice teaser for the Hirogen.
Rob Melton: think it's interesting that the computer gives such
detailed messages on the readout when something goes wrong. The voice
interface is pretty clear without being wordy. Perhaps the computer just
assumes that the operator at that console would easily understand the
explanation being given.
Tony H Forbes: Yes! This was a good 'un! I liked the banter between the holodoc and
mark-2, and the Prometheus was great. Some points to ponder.
Time to say it, but the UPN guys are wimps! B'lanna (or the actress
that plays her) is clearly pregnant, so I would think that they would
work it into the story. (Guess what Tom...) Of course, they didn't.
Booooo. I mean, they found a creative use for Nana Visitor's pregnancy,
didn't they?
During the final battle scene, we see not one, but two ships that look
like the Defiant. This means that Starfleet is activly building these
type ships. Are they all prototypes, in which case they should have an
"NX" designation? I doubt it. However, the Defiant is stil
NX-something.
So, is Voyager going to stay in range of the sensor doodads? It seems
to me they should, since they know that the Federation can only contact
them with that relay. Also, they know it will lead them to the Alpha
Quadrant.
Looking at the Sweeps month Voyager previews, I can only say this.
Some of those battle clips looked like they were from "The Sentinel"!
Hey, but if it's sweeps month, DS9 will be new!
Jacob Boxer: This was one of the best Voyager episodes in a long time. I especially liked
the dialogue between the 2 holodocs and Kim's attempt to create a new one.
Now On To The Nits:
When the Promethius enters Multiple Vector Attack Mode, why does it shake
so much when it separates? Enterprise never shook, and those parts were MUCH
more massive.
When Doc2 took power from the holographic systems, why did only Doc1 get
messed up? They both run off the same power source right?
The Doctor doesn't know how to pilot the ship, but he DOES know how to
overload the warp coils?
After he DOES overload the coils, how does he know how to stop a core
breach?
I wonder why Starfleet decided to make this new ship all white? Very
strange looking.
I dont know if this was meant to be or not, but it sounded like the Romulan
commander was saying the Promethius was to be given to the Tal Shiar.
Unfortunately, the way he pronounced it, it sounded like Tal Shi-han.
The major nit from this episode occurs where Doc2 accidentally activates
the Multiple Vector Attack mode by putting his hand on the console. The TNG
episode Hero Worship establishes (by Data's speech to Timothy) that you cannot
activate a system by putting your hand on a console. They require an operator
code. But I guess if they didnt do it in this one, the Docs would be floating
holo-debris.
I must say the special effects in this episode were great. It's nice to see
the Romulans again. Also, the Nebula class ship was a nice touch as well as
the Akira class and the 2 Defiant Class ships. A very nice plot point was the
addition of the Dominion story.
Jenifer Gordon: Why did the two holodoctors have to hold the
bridge during the attack? Since they are holograms, does it matter? (BIMD) (Note from Phil: Especially since the holo-emitters are probably mounted in the walls and if the walls are shaking the images would shake at the same rate and therefore the image wouldn't appear to shake at all.)
George Angstadt of Reamstown, PA: Cool episode, I liked it.
The problem I've been having with the holo-doc is just how can they lose
him? Why dont they just back up his program?
Why do the Romulans have a problem figuring out starfleet equipment?
Starfleet personnel dont have any problem figuring out alien
vessels....i.e: DS9 and the jem hadar ship, or voyager and the countless
alien ships theyve figured out.
When the ship separates for the Romulans, the floor is smoking...why?
The floor isn't smoking when the holo-docs separate it.
Why does 7 need to regenerate at all? I thought she was eating now.
How did holo-doc 2 move in the jefferies tubes? are there emitters in
there? Holo-doc said emitters are on all decks, not in the tubes.
Why didn't the docs ask the comp to lay in a course back to federation
space? They did it in TNG. If the enterprise D can accept commands from
doctor crusher, then the holo-docs should be able to lay in a course in the
newest starfleet ship.
Well, its nice to see that even in the newest starfleet ship the shields
haven't gotten any stronger. 2 hits and they're down to 25%. Didn't they
get stronger shields on DS9 from dominion technology? Speaking of which, 1
nit I've never sent in was, they never explained the stronger shields on
DS9, you just kind of had to figure it out a couple of episodes later when
the DS9 gang goes to destroy the white making asteroid.
Anyway, so why didn't they use the stronger shielding on the Prometheus?
And they had hull armor, and it still was weakened.....hmmmm.
Was that 2 other defiant type ships assisting the Prometheus? I thought
they only made 1..Didnt they state that when the defiant appeared on Ds9?
or was that only a prototype? I wish they would clear these things up from
time to time.
Im not sure if this is a nit, but are there 4 nacelles on the Prometheus?
It was my understanding that nacelles had to be apart from each other so as
not to interrupt the warp field of the other. So how can they be on top of
each other like that? If I didn't see it correctly, Im mistaken.
Other starfleet ships with 4 nacelles have them distanced from each other.
Looks like in future episodes 7 finally pushes it too far with the captain,
(or so we're led to believe) and sevens shocking of the alien network
administrator really made those aliens mad....hmm seems like 7 is in
quite a few stories this season, makes you wonder about next season. I hope
the writers dont waste all their energy in this season, its been good so
far......maybe a little too good, if you know what I mean.
John Latchem: I really enjoyed this episode and would rank it among the best Voyager
efforts. I had a number of concerns when I saw the preview which after seeing
the episode were easily dismissed. The only thing I objected to was the
accidental activation of the Multi Vector attack system. This was such a
complicated plot that it could have been a multi-part crossover but this
condensed version was well done, with great character moments. The subplots
were well and logically connected. We have the doctor leaving, which leads to
the Tom Paris subplot, the doctor's mission, leading to the crew thinking
about home, and the relay system, leading to Seven and Torres making a truce
(a running subplot from other episodes) and meeting a new enemy (a suplot for
the future).
I thought this episode fit in very well with the DS9 story arc. This was a
very James Bondish type of plot. Something like the Russians stealing a
Prototype NATO weapon and James Bond having to get it back. Starfleet has
created a number of new technologies and sends the ship out to test them.
Among these is the second EMH. Romulans, working for Tal Shiar interests,
steal the ship. Starfleet sent a task force to get the ship back or destroy
the ship. It's all very spy vs spyish, and I love that stuff. Plus the two
holograms saving the day, and an emotional Janeway at the end. This episode
was just jam packed with greatness.
It seems clear secret agencies are at work
here, not the mainstream forces, and so it fits that the Romulans can try to
steal Federation technology without starting a war. How many movies have we
seen in which American and British secret agents compete against each other
even though their nations are allies (remember "The Rock")?Question is why
didn't Starfleet anticipate someone attacking their ship. Did they have
alterior motives as well. Again just a slice of a larger story here.
There are a number of non nits here that people have mentioned, and that
mirrored my concerns. Yes Zimmerman was working on the LMH. The LMH was for
outposts which were to be staffed with a minimum of personnel. It was not
designed for ships. The EMH-2 was obviously nothing more than it was
presented as, an update. Zimmerman didn't have to work on it himself.
I was concerned they'd forget the Prometheus was a Nebula class ship.
Obviously it was destroyed and this replacement prototype built. It has been
four years, after all. Did we not see an Excelsior class USS Intrepid less
than four years before the Intrepid class Voyager launched?
I also had the concern of the mobile emitter being sent but as we saw there
were holoemitters all over the ship.
When did the doctor have sex? With doctor Pel? With his holographic wife?
I loved the byplay between the two doctors. EMH-2 was bragging that he was a
superior program. So the egotistical doctor bragged about all his experience,
with a wry smile on his face the whole time. It was fun to watch.
I was kind of hoping the doctor would return to Voyager with the new uniform
on, but it looks like Voyager won't get them. I didn't see them in the
February previews.
I think many of the nits can be explained away due to the fact that this was
just a piece of a HUGE other story.
I loved the doctor's reaction to the war question:
EMH2: The Romulans have not involved themselves in our war against the
Dominion.
EMH: The WHO?
Sure the Dominion was known for about a year before Voyager left, but no
reason for a newly programmed doctor to know much about them.
There is a nit here, though. Holodoc said he got two holodeck piloting
lessons. No doubt from Tom Paris, using a similar program as seen in
"Parturition." Well didn't this program feature evasive maneuvers against
Jem'Hadar ships? While the doctor not knowing who the Dominion was was a nice
moment, it seems a stretch he hadn't heard of them. But I can accept this.
As for the premise being a stretch must I remind you this is Star Trek? Warp
drive, transporters, holodecks, holographic people? It's story and character
first, with technology serving those ends.
Oh yeah, we don't deal in reality!!! (Note from Phil: True but--for one thing--I felt like the creators had a major problem with a particular character in this episode. I felt they violated Janeway's character map just to make this episode work. Holodoc is an important part of the crew yet Janeway dispatches him into an alien technology without even a wink. Is Janeway really so reckless and rabid for the Alpha Quadrant that she's ready to risk his destruction on such a twitchy procedure? It simply makes no sense to me. The risks far outweigh the benefits unless Janeway is one of these "I want it and I want it now" people. And frankly, I have little respect for a captain of a Starship who behaves this way. Now, if I have to *start* watching an episode with this kind of contrivance, I'm not in a very good mood for the rest of the hour. I had the same problem when the NextGen people would do something goofy with Picard--like when he dropped his coat in the cave as he and Crusher were escaping in "Attached." He and she are only the run and just because he is *temporarily* hot, he throws away his coat! HUH?!)
Brian Lombard: Interesting that neither Holodoc nor the EMH-2 used a medical
tricorder in sickbay.
Holodoc starts his journey to the Alpha Quadrant wearing his mobile
emitter, yet he never had it on the Promethius, nor was he wearing it
when he returned.
The Romulan Commander was played by Judson Scott. Scott first
appeared as Khan's right-hand man in Star Trek II, as well as a
felicium drug dealer in TNG's "Symbiosis".
What happened to the scene in which Tuvok tells Janeway "I doubt
we've seen the last of them?". It was in the preview, but not in the
episode. Another example of how PAL.
Dominic Lazaro: I find it odd that the crew transmitted the Doctor through the alien
satillite array while he was wearing his mobile-emmitter. I suppose they
were not concerned with it falling to the floor (and possibly being
damaged) as soon as the Doctor was transmitted. Incidently, it seemed as
if the emitter were being transmitted as well and yet we did not hear it
drop to the floor after the transmission (not that I thought the emitter
could be transmitted since I was under the impression that it was an
actual piece of tangible matter [go figure]).
In the end I liked this episode since it would seem to mark a milestone
in the series. I wonder if the Doctor would be able to relay
the news to the crew of Voyager as to the war with the Dominion. I also
wonder how Chakotay and the former Maquis crewmembers will react to the
news that the Jem'Hadar had effectively exterminated the Maquis (yikes!).
Rene Charbonneau: I was surprised at your remarks about this episode. I personally found
that it was one of the better Voyager episodes....(who cares if some
elements were too contrived. All that matters is if the episode was
entertaining...and I thought this episode was very entertaining) (Note from Phil: No offense intended but I find that statement a bit frightening! Maybe next week we could have Voyager find an elephant floating though space and hillarious antics could ensue as the crew tries to give it a tour of the ship. *That* would be very entertaining.)
I couldn't find any nits...too busy enjoying the episode. But, a few
anti-nits,
Everyone keeps mentioning the Doc's hollo-emitter, asking how did it get
transfered. My answer to them is, "Haven't you been listening? Torres
transfered the
Doc to the systems of the Prometheus. Also, EMH-Mark 2 said there were
holo-emitters all over the ship". Personally, I have a theory that some
nitpickers just
send stuff in to see their names posted on your website. (Note from Phil: Except that something has to happen to the mobile emitter. He wore it to the lab. He had it on when he stepped onto the platform. He was transmitted to the array. Where did it go?! Did the elephant eat it?)
Some people also stated that Mark 2 should not have diverted power from
the life support, considering that there are Romulans aboard the ship
and
that two Starfleet security officers beamed aboard. To these people, I
say, "Just because you shut down life support, it doesn't mean
that the
oxygen supply runs out right away!"
Anyway, the only thing I regret about the episode is...well, they should
have stated that one of the Defiant-Class starhips seen at the end of
the episode was
the Defiant. (Would it have been that hard to get Worf, or Sisko or
someone else from DS9 to do a cameo?) (Note from Phil: Money, money, money, money.)
Richie Vest of Fountain Valley, CA: Actually I enjoyed the episode. I thought Andy Dick's performance was
wonderful. But there was one thing I noticed When EMH-1 was closing the
eyes of the dead guy he talked to, his eyes were allready closed.
Christopher Cappuccio of Burlington, NJ: Hmmm...let's see:
It was sure nice of that injured Romulan not to mention the Doc's
conversation with himself on saving the ship - the Romulan was in pain, but
conscious, at least in the beginning.
Someone *really* needs to talk to Zimmerman about personality subroutines. He
has the entire Starfleet medical community to choose from, and he picks *that
guy* as the model doctor? When he first looked over the Romulan, he looked
like he was going to throw up at the sight of blood.
By the way, how come the only people found dead in Sickbay were wearing
yellow uniforms?
Holodoc-2 activates the multi-vector attack mode by slapping the
console. Right. Who designed this system, Doctor Who? I'd be a little nervous
about a ship that will split into three pieces at the touch of a button - all
it takes is one green ensign at the helm...
And while we're at it - they can't fight while the ship is in one piece, but
as soon as the ship splits up, suddenly fire control goes over to voice
command? Why didn't the two doctors ask the computer to fight the battle for
them in the first place? (There's probably no longer a point to asking why
they don't just interface directly with the computer...)
Meanwhile, back on Voyager:
PAL, I guess, regarding Torres and Seven. Somehow I was expecting a bit more
from Torres than "You're rude!" (reminds me of the one daughter from "Full
House". Then again, I guess she really is taking her cue from Janeway - Seven
*electrocutes* an unknown alien on her own authority, and Janeway's response
seems to be "Oh, that darn incorrigible Borg (grin)". Not the best way to
show you're in command, Kathy.
And finally:
Starfleet's message had me cracking up on the floor.
"You're not alone" - well, actually, Kathy, you're as alone as you were
before.
"We'll never stop trying to find a way to bring you home" - Yep, it'll be our
top priority (that war was getting boring anyway), and somehow, when we do
find this magical way to bring you home, we'll also develop a magical way to
contact you, despite the fact that *you've left the area*. If they were
really interested in maintaining contact, why didn't they send a few more
messages along the "Holodoc Express"? Granted, they shouldn't keep sending
Voyager's holodoc through the system (not that keeping Holodoc safe has ever
been a priority of Janeway's), but surely they could rig up something in the
Prometheus' holodeck to run messages back and forth. Janeway didn't even get
to send her letter to Mark!
Actually, not to be cold, but maybe it's just as well that there wasn't an
exchange of messages. Voyager's been presumed dead for over a year - what are
the odds that the crew's significant others have stayed faithful (or will
continue to do so?)
Great Lines:
"You're not my patient!"
"The first good news I've heard all day."
Michael Gurwitz of Washington, DC: I can't believe this wasn't nitpicked already, but here goes: how could
the Romulans grab Holodoc? Everytime we see humans or others
fighting holograms, the humans' hands pass right through the holograms'
bodies. This gives Holodoc and his ilk a constant advantage. Ergo, the
Romulans' hands should have passed right through Holodoc, allowing to
his go his merry way. (Note from Phil: Unless holodoc forgot he could change his permeability and had it set all the way to minimum!)
Not a nit, just an observation: are there no non-flaky, socially adept
doctors from whom Starfleet can make a holographic doctor? (Note from Phil: It is truly an amazement to me that Starfleet can't seem to develop a holodoc who works "out of the box.")
Scott McClenney: The static wasn't so bad this week so I did get most of the dialoge.:)
Favorite line was after 7 jolts the alien and Torres accuses her of killing him and without
batting an eye 7 replies:Dipolamcy failed with him. Shouldn't they have come up with a less
neurotic EMH for their new version(Star Fleet)or did they think making him neurotic would
make him more accessible? I kept waiting for our holodoc to give his compatriot a slap in
the face. Also I was a tad bit disappointed when Harry and Tom were working on getting a new
EMH for sickbay and Rob Picardo showed up again.For a moment there I thought they would come
up with something really wild like one of Harry's Swedish Bikini Team members! Hey we are
talking about Tom here,and knowing him that is a stunt he'd pull!:) Doesn't Torres have an
assistant that could handle some of that stuff? I think the only reason they put her in with
our fave Borg Babe was so that they could have their little confrontation and do some female
bonding. So Chuckles as relatives in Ohio.
Trevor Ruppe: I actually got a kick out of this episode, but I'm sure some didn't like it
because it was so unorthodox. Problems I noticed:
Why is Neelix researching "American" cuisine in order to "have a job"
when the ship gets home when, according to an episode of TNG (either "The
Royale" or "The Neutral Zone" or something) the United States was abolished
by the time of the founding of the UFP?
If Harry is such a holo-expert, how come it's always been Belanna who has
been working on the Doc's program up to now?
NANJAO: the Doc must have been programmed VERY thoroughly. So thoroughly
that he is aware of Starfleet's habit of changing uniforms every two years;
he doesn't even mention the new gray uniforms! (It would've been a great
line to hear him bark "...and WHAT is the deal with this DEPRESSING new
uniform design!?")
NANJAO: Obviously, according to the previews, we're going to encounter
this species again and they're supposedly really tough guys. However, their
appearance certainly added to the humor of this episode, because they look
like something straight out of a silly "Mortal Kombat" movie.
I refuse to comment on the moronically-obvious 47. (They're actually
getting annoying now.)
Finally I'd like to claim an early WIVRON before John Latchem beats me to
it. (This episode's WIVRON is, of course, "Eye of the Needle"--another
instance of Voyager making contact with the Alpha Q and it's Romulans
again.) In the previews for the February episodes, VOY will someway,
somehow rip-off the Classic episode "Patterns of Force": a WW2 holodeck
program, perhaps?
Brian Henley: Great episode!! Really good.
First the good things.
Tie for best lines:
"Let's just say I made a few additions to my program" Holodoc Mark-1 to Holodoc Mark-2 when discussing Mark-1s connubial experiences.
"He wasn't responding to diplomacy" 7 of 9 to Cptn. Janeway after zapping the array alien
Great Homages: Paris saying "I'm a pilot not a doctor!" (nice reversal)
There are MORE Defiants around, evidently! All-right!
BUT ... There are Nits .... Oh yes, .... There are nits.
Let's review Starfleet security, shall we?
Worf in TNG couldn't shoot the broad side of a barn with his
phaser.
Odo in DS9 usually does a good job, but one look at his crush
playing kissy-face with Shakkar and the bad guys have free
rein.
That guy Murphy in Voyager made Barney Fife look like Dirty
Harry.
Now, we have a top-secret dreadnaught like starship, that only
four Starfleet personel know about, but somehow, someway, a whooole buch
of Romulans managed to attack and board it. (I won't even ask how) But
besides that, once the Romulans do get on board, the computer acknowledges
their voices and commands.
And besides that, the Romulans know every nuance and working of
this brand new - top o'the line - state o' the art - top secret - hush
hush ship. Did the captian leave the owners manual on the his chair for
the Romulans? ("Congratulations - you are the proud new conqueror of the
Prometheus, the latest in the Federation's line of proud luxury
starships")
Here's a nit that's ben covered in previous episodes, but this
time it was really a good shot in the beginning of the episode of the
turbolift doors, and as always, there was no gap or crack in the floor
separating the bridge deck from the turbolift floor.
Thank goodness the only aliments suffered on the ship was
heartburn! This is kinda serious since Janeway was just, I thought, a
little too cavalier about sending the doc (only comepetant physician on
Voyager) on that array, especially when she herself admitted that 'there
are a hundred things that could go wrong with this". Concern for the doc
is well and good, but I was hoping that concern for her crew in the
meantime would also cross her mind. If one of those hundred things did go
wrong, Tom would be the permanet doc! Yipe!
Wasn't the Prometheus cruisin' at warp 9.9? How did the cavalry
catch up with them so fast? Can Defiants go that quick? Can our Defiant go
that quick? Or did I just miss the part where they drop outta warp?
Starfleet should find out who does the upholstry on the Prometheus
and fire him/her/it. Those chairs that the helmsman sit at did NOT look
comfy!
Jim Coyle, Oakwood, Ontario: The previews had me expecting something completely different (but
that's the way it's been going lately, I've found). Was it me or were
there tons of nits in this one? Here are a few that I haven't seen
mentioned yet:
When Holodoc comes over onto the Prometheus, he discovers the dead
sick-bay crew members. The male victims suffers from extensive phaser
burns. I always thought Romulans used disruptors like the Klingons.
Also, Holodoc closes the eyes of the dead crewman, but the crewman's
eyes were already closed!
I find it hard to believe that Harry has nothing better to do than
whip up a new holodoc to help Helm-boy. Most holographic programs I'm
sure are more complex and would require more than one person to program
and design it. Guess they should buy some floppies and make more
back-ups for Holodoc.
I find it hard to
believe that there would be medical instruments on that ship that would
be so completely advanced that the Holodoc wouldn't at least have a
passing idea of what they were for.
Couldn't Starfleet get Voyager now that they know where it is? What
happened to Trans-Warp Drive? For that matter, call in The Traveller's
Boy (a.k.a.Wesley Crusher)!! There's gotta be some record somewhere --
like Picard's logs -- that might indicate a mode of contact. Better
yet, Voyage can now go for "take out" meals with the array and the
holographic transmissions, thus avoiding the "acute dyspepsia" problem
brought on by Neelix's pathetic attempts at "traditional American
cuisine" (a tad bit ethnocentric on the part of the writers??). They
can now mail holo-letters to loved ones on a regular basis, and stay
out of trouble for the next 60-odd years. Could the array
boost long-range transports? Hmmmmm.
Say what you want, but Babylon 5 never gets into jams like this because
the writing is not dependent on technology -- just characters.
Karen Fischer, Hercules, CA: Prometheus is great, she's got holoemitters all over the ship. Only
thing is, where was Doc's emitter when he returned to Voyager? It's
not like those uniforms have pockets or anything.
Scott Padulsky: I think you were a little hard on this episode, I thought it was fun!
Great Lines: The Computer: "Please state attack pattern."
Ruminations: You know it was so nice to see Romulans again that it
almost makes me wish that the creators would scrap the "stranded in the
delta quandrant" premise of Voyager (since they don't use it to its
fullest potential anyway) and just send the ship home and continue the
series in a more traditional trek manner.
The nits:
Lets see, you have an experimental deepspace WARSHIP? That doesn't
sound very Starfleet to me. A deepspace exploratory vessal, yes. A
short-range warship, necessary. But the only use you could have for a
deepspace warship is to go out really far and conquor things. That's
definitely not a part of the Federation's charter!
This next nit is sooo common in TV and Movies that you could probably
give it its own file, like your difibulator file. At one point the
EMH-2 says, "Maybe before you leave you could download the subroutines
to my database." (For the sake of modesty I won't mention *what*
subroutines he was talking about! :-) Anyway, what he really menat was
for the Doctor to *upload* the subroutines. As far as I know, when
you're adding data to something that's uploading; when you're pulling
data off something *that's* downloading. It's proabaly going to get to
the point where uploading is going to disappear as a word and
downloading will have a dual meaning, but for now it's still a nit!
I didn't like the implication that this entire relay network was from
one single race. From the graphics they showed, that race sure had some
large area of space under control. I thought it would have been more
realistic to say that Seven used several different speicies' relays to
connect to the Alpha Quadrant (after all, being a Borg, she should be
pretty good at making many different types of technology work
together!).
This last one might not be a nit, but when the Doctor returned, in
addition to him mentioning that he told Starfleet everything about
Voyager, I would have liked a mention that Starfleet updated the Doctor
as to how the Federation has faired the last four years.
Lisa Shock: I didn't like the bit about Neelix giving the crew heartburn.
I'll admit I may be biased, never having suffered from stomach
complaints, but...
About two years ago Scientific American did an article about a
doctor from Australia who has discovered that ulcers are caused
by a bacterial infection. A two week course of antibiotics along
with milk of magnesia usually kills the bacteria causing the
infection. Heartburn is usually a pre-ulcerative condition.
All of the traditional theories about acid production vs. antacids,
stress, and spicy foods turn out to be wrong. Why haven't more
people heard about this? Well, it turns out that the most prescribed
and profitable drug in the world is Tagamet, followed by several other
ulcer/antacid medications. The industry continues to flood the media
with ads for their pallatives, while the physicians who are successfuly
curing patients are relatively obscure.
Anyway, I don't think heartburn will be a problem in the future.
Chris Booton: The guys that beamed in from the federation ship beam in with Voyager
style transporters, yet on DS9 they still use TNG style and another diffrent
kind in FC, so shouldent they be using FC type transporters?
Joe Meslovich Jr. of Grottoes, VA: Personally I loved the show. Yes there were some pretty obvious nits, but
it has been my experience that these type of episodes are always chalked
full of them. (Note from Phil: But do they *have* to be? Why does "funny" have to mean "riddled with nits"?)
I have an opinion that I would like to express on the 4ppl problem. I
didn't look at it as FOUR CREWMEN, but FOUR
HELMSMEN. Now that would make sense. We have seen in the past a three duty
shift schedule. That would mean that a helmsman would work 8 hours and then
have 24 hours free time between shifts. In TNG "Chain of Command" we saw a
4 duty shift schedule 6 on 18 off. Either way I saw the
4ppl refering to the number train to handle a shift. One
cannot assume that that there is only one trained helmsmen on a ship.
Mica Colston, Springfield, MO: Why doesn't somebody take notes on that shock proceedure thingy that 7 of 9
pulled on the unfriendly alien. Seems to me this would come in handy in the
future. The next time some new alien refuses to let Voyager pass through
thier space, (and it's happened before) just shock them from the comfort of
your astrophysics lab.
Also, is this a borg trick, or proceedure that 7 of 9 learned while being a
Borg?
Why didn't the borg do this to Picard way back in BOBW part 1?
Why don't the Borg just shock Species 8472 from the comfort of the borg
astrophysics lab(or thier equivilant)?
Also, the Romulan Commander seemed to know all about attack pattern "Alpha".
No surprise, every episode has some "Attack pattern Omega" or some such thing.
Being a helmsman must be difficult memorizing those different patterns, but
Sisko prefers Omega. Maybe the Romulan should have chosen "Omega" instead of
"Alpha". No one uses "Alpha" anymore, that's old stuff. ( *wink*)
Michael Janis of Richardson, TX: Couldn't Starfleet have sent a holographic representative back to Voyager along with the Doctor? Someone who could have filled them in on all that has been
happening with the universe over the past years? Better yet, couldn't they
have programmed the Doctor with all kinds of information that they might have
been interested in? Personally, if I has been the Captain, and heard that lame
message the Doctor relayed to them from Starfleet (you're no longer
alone...blah blah), I would have thought "That's it? Starfleet finally gets a
chance to speak to us, and that's it?!? What a ripoff!"
Gina Torgersen of LaCrosse FL: If I were going to program a replacement EMH I would probably just find a suitable character from a holodeck program and try to link him to the
medical database in the computer so that the EMH program would not actually
have all the data in it. This might not work in a crisis if the computer
went off-line, I guess. (Note form Phil: But it would certainly be a lot faster and let Helmboy get back to work. Look how fast La Forged mocked together a facimile of Leah Brahms. She seemed to do pretty well as an engineers. Couldn't they do the same for a doctor until holo-doc gets back?!)
What if the Prometheus had some aliens trying to take over it, and there
were other Federation ships around, and one of them was destroyed, but a few
people managed to beam off of it and onto the Prometheus. One of them
is injured. There are phaser fights all over the hallways, but they manage
to make it to sickbay. There is no one there so they activate the EMH, who
says, "What the heck are you doing in my sickbay?!" because he doesn't
recognize them as part of the crew. Unless he can recognize everyone in
Starfleet on sight! But then he would probably recognize holodoc as well.
Scott Newton of New Brunswick, NJ: Well, Phil, I have to disagree with you. I loved this episode! No Next
Gen re-hash, no WIVRONs, no lame, cop-out "it's only happening in your
mind" plot. Just an entertaining, exciting, well-written episode that
makes sixty minutes go by like six. I can't pick out one great line --
there are too many (especially between the two EMS's)! Even Seven was
bearable. (As much as I don't like her, I liked Torres' reaction to her:
intense dislike, even as part of her can't help but be impressed at her
skill.) Then again, I'm not much for technical stuff, so if the
computer wizardry was overly contrived, I missed it.
Kudos for some continuity touches, specifically, the Prometheus' NX
designation, holodoc's listing of his adventures, Janeway's reference to
Mark, and Chakotay's "we've been through this before" reference to "Eye
of the Needle."
Now, on to the nits:
It's awfully strange to hear Neelix talk about getting "back" to Earth.
He's never been to the AQ!
So after the Prometheus receives the Holodoc, he's automatically
activated? Receiving the signal is one thing; activating the program is
another. (Or is it? Like I said, I'm not a tech person!)
Speaking of "Eye of the Needle," why doesn't Holodoc tell the Romulans
to check the Romulan scientist's logs from 20+ years ago? That would
prove what doc says about Voyager. And the doc also passes up an
opportunity to see if the crew's messages were ever received (true, the
Romulans didn't seem very cooperative, but he could have tried).
After the doc "scans" the Romulans on the bridge, he could just tell
them, "Oh, dear, you seem to have the plague," then give them all a
hypospray with a sedative. Then he'd have free access to the bridge. (Note from Phil: Ah, that would be too easy.)
Speaking of access to the bridge, when doc first comes on board, level 4
security clearance is required to do the simplest thing. Then, after he
and doc-2 establish control, clearnace is no longer required to do
anything!
So Voyager was listed as lost only 14 months ago? In "Non Sequitor,"
Libby says that a memorial service was held a few months before that
episode, which happened over two years ago! Do they give a memorial
service even if the ship isn't officially lost? (Note from Phil: Was that episode real?)
Janeway and Chakotay are awfully tolerant of Seven. Imagine how Picard
and Riker would have dealt with her!
Based on the map of the galaxy we saw in astrometrics (the one showing
the relay stations) it seems the the DQ is on the opposite side of the
galaxy from the AQ. Given that, I can't imagine how Voyager couldn't be
closer to the DS9 wormhole than to the AQ. (Unless the DS9 wormhole in
the GQ is a chip shot away from the AQ, but then what would be the
usefulness of the DS9 wormhole?) So why doesn't Voyager head for the DS9
wormhole in the GQ? Are they that afraid to fly through Dominion space?
(It doesn't seem to bother Sisko & co.)
EGAL: Tuvok
NANJAT: Someday, someone at Starfleet is going to realize that they have
the technology for developing counterinsurgency holograms. If a ship
gets taken over, just activate the holographic commandos! And before you
say "ethics," you don't have to make them sentient, just knowledgeable
enough to fight back and retake the ship.
The big question for me is: NOW WHAT? If I were Janeway, I wouldn't
leave that relay until either it was destroyed or until every last
possibility of using it were exhausted. Could they use it to send a
transporter signal, as they did in "Eye of the Needle"? Is there a way
to negotiate with the aliens for its use? Could Starfleet negotiate on
Voyager's behalf? At the very least, Janeway should transmit to
Starfleet a copy of the research from the warp 10 flight. Maybe the
relays are laid out along Voyager's intended flight path. Then Voyager
could continue its trip as planned AND stay in touch with Starfleet at
the same time (assuming the aliens let them use the array). That would
be great!
Why would that be great? Well, one of the things this series has been
missing since the Kazons is continuing story arcs -- subplots that are
developed over several episodes and culminate in one or two major
episodes (like Worf's dishonor and redemption in Next Gen). One reason I
like these is that they make you want to see how each continuing story
develops, so each episode takes on an added importance. Granted, the
Kazons were lame villians, but you have to admit that Voyager's
continued dealings with them gave the series a continuity it has since
been lacking. One of the problems with last season and this season has
been the "alien of the week" syndrome: Voyager meets aliens, Voyager
confronts aliens, Voyager moves on -- no ramifications, no consequences,
the slate is wiped clean every week! (Even if Voyager doesn't "win" the
confrontation, who cares, as long as they survive and can fly into a new
region of space next week!) It's a formula that wears thin VERY quickly.
Anyway, this subspace relay network gives the creators an opportunity to
develop new story arcs for the rest of this season, and possibly for the
rest of the series! Dealing with the aliens who built the relay network
is the most immediate possibility. But once they start using the
network, then what? Can they work with Starfleet to get themselves home?
How will the families of the crew react? What about Mark, or Libby, or
Chakotay's cousin in Ohio? Does Seven have any living relatives? The
creators should not just forget about this; Starfleet wouldn't, and
Janeway certainly wouldn't. To just let this go would be extremely
unrealistic! Finally, this is a story development that could only
happen on Voyager. Forget about WIVRON and Next Gen re-hash syndrome!
Chris Ng: Cool ep, but not what I expected. They kinda brushed off the most
important part: when Holodoc told Janway & Co that Starfleet was looking
for them.
NITS:
If 7o9 was still a Borg, they might be able to ask her to get the Borg to
help SF to find Voyager...
Back in the good ol' days of the E, E-A and E-D, we had two sections of a
ship. One was called a saucer section, the other was called the battle
section. On the Prometheus, all three (Wow!) sections seem to be battle
sections... I thought Starfleet was supposed to be peaceful exploration,
not blithe blasting!!!
A nit about HoloDoc and his immortally impossible porta-mitter (portable
emitter)... In the DS9 episode 'Rivals,' an El-Aurian opened up a gambling
establishment, a rival to Quark's. The place's business soared because the
El-Aurian had a spherical device that changed the laws of probability.
Now, in order to cover the entire gambling establishment, he had the
replicators make six more spheres, each larger than the original. Somehow,
the El-Aurian made the replicator replicate the spheres as permanently
turned on.
SO...if Voyager is really in such need of medical staff, why not replicate
a couple dozen portamitters? And if you're going to argue that Janeway'd
have to program the emitters somehow...well, the replicators made
'turned-on' spheres, using an unknown energy source; surely it could
replicate programming!!! Besides, didn't Starling just stick the emitter
on Holodoc in the first place, and that was that?
Will Phillips: Some nits about 'Gray's Anatomy'.
First off, the animal cell is NOT chapter 1. In fact, it starts on page
1073. In addition, what the doctor recites is EXTREMELY edited. In
fact, almost every other word is changed. The same ideas, in the same
order, but worded slightly differently. (Note from Phil: This I do not understand. I do not understand why you have an actor read something, and then absolutely identify it and then have it be wrong.)
Gina Torgersen of LaCrosse FL: I suppose this is just a new feature, but Mark 2 can turn himself off and I seem to remember holodoc complaining before he had that capability because
people went off and left him running and he got bored. And both Mark 2 and
the Romulan who was going to look through holodoc's subroutines seemed
familiar, like the actors had been in Star Trek before, but that might be
just me. Also, the reactions by the unconscious Romulans and the Starfleet
people to Mark 2's transferring power from life support wouldn't necessarily
be so drastic because he didn't necessarily transfer _all_ the power.
Allan Olley of Oakville, Ontario: A fun episode, but, it raises a question often raised by the Doctor.
The Doctors IMO pass the test as being sentient, yet they are created as
virtual slaves? Are these not the same questions asked in "Measure of
the Man"? Did the federation not admit it was wrong to mistreat such
beings? I would say it was wrong to create a sentient being to use as a
slave even if it wants to be a slave, but then again I'm from the
barbaric 20th century so what do I know.;-) Also since the EMHs have
proven their ability to deal with any situation, why not just replace
all the crews on ships that go into dangerous situations with
Holo-personal? (I suspect a strong union prevents this:-). Personally I
feel the Holo-doc should revolt and overthrough his evil task masters.
Holograms of the world unite. You have nothing to lose but your Chains. :)
A few notes on others comments. It might make sense to open the vents
for a ship wide microbiotic contamination because it will not spread it
any further (ship wide right?) and may reduce the level of contamination
in some areas and give people fresher air, I think. Also, depending on
the original crew complement of the Prometheus and the way life support
works, it might take the 27 Romulans a while to use up all the oxygen
and heat of the ship, so Mark II may have figured they would be fine and
the secuirty team that beamed on board would have been fine (depending
on how long that anesthetic stays in the air).
J. Andrew Keith, Greensburg PA: Well, a moderately interesting episode.
Funny, but I agree with your evaluation, Phil.
Didn't the Doc HAVE a backup program last season? When they had to start
from scratch after he started to deteriorate? Sp why no backup now? Or
was there some throw-away line in that earlier episode that suggested
that using the backup system would forever leave the ship without a
spare doctor?
Is it my imagination or is Harry getting stupider every year? Even Paris
shouldn't have been able to talk him into a stunt like designing a new
Doctor. And since when did a big project like that become a hobby for
the Ops officer and the pilot/sick bay attendent? Wouldn't you need
Chakotay to sign off on it? And wouldn't he say, "Nice idea, but we have
a replacement doctor, Mr. Paris, and you're it, and we need Harry to
keep 7 of 9 from seducing any useful members of the crew."
And my big one. You need a class 4 clearance to get at the
communications system or do just about anything else worthwhile on the
Prometheus. But you can press a button and launch a "multi-vector
attack?" And the computer, Federation programed, asks the user to
specify a target and accepts whatever you tell it? If the Fed
programming still holds, you'd think it wouldn't have attacked Starfleet
when the Romulans asked. If the Romulans reprogramed it, it shouldn't
attack Warbirds any more. Sounds to me like Daystrom's M-5 computer is
back in a big way!
Jennifer G. Robb: You would think Starfleet would have had enough cases of ships
being taken over by hostile forces and firing on other Starfleet
ships that they would have put in some kind of safeguard so
that a Starfleet vessel couldn't fire on another Starfleet vessel
without some kind of authorization code or special clearance code.
Corey Hines, Hamilton, ON: When the Doctor places the cover over the
Romulan the second time, the cover begins to move before he presses the
button.
Aaron Nadler, New Cumberland, PA: Then, why aren't the Promeithius' sickbay personel wearing the Blue-edged uniforms?
Loooved Neelix's solution for heartburn--"I'll cut back on the Jalopie-knos." (Note from Phil: Actually, if I recall, correctly from the closed captioning that last word was "nose"! ;-)
George Padovan of Bridgewater, NJ: A *great* episode! It was very entertaining with suspense, a gripping
story, and the funny humorous moments! Loved the scenes between The
Doctor and the new EMH Mark 2!
The new experimental starship was astonishing! I hoped Starfleet would
keep this class ship as part of the fleet!
However, as great as the episode was, it does have it fair share of
nits.
What does B'Elanna mean that Seven doesn't have any manners? Maybe to
her, but in "Mortal Coils" Seven did said 'Your welcome' to Neelix.
Maybe she appears a bit rude sometimes, but Seven is not *entirely* rude
all the time.
When that experimental starship split into three separated pieces to
fight off the other starship while in warp, how could the two pieces,
without warp engines, stay within warp space? The moment they disengage,
they should have immediately dropped out of warp space.
During the battle between the Federation and Romulan vessels, the Mark 2
EMH mentioned that the ship's weapon systems was offline. However, when
the ship split into its three components, all three pieces were able to
fire their phasers. Prior to the separation, neither The Doc nor the
Mark 2 said they restored the weapon systems. Gee, the vessel must be
self-repairable! Well, Starfleet don't need engineers if this is the
case. (grin)
Another thing about those two Starfleet security officers who beam onto
the bridge: How did they *knew* that there would be two people *exactly*
where their phasers pointed when they first beamed in? The Docs are
*holograms*! They don't register as organic lifeforms on sensors, so
there was no way for the Starfleet ships to *know* the Docs were there
when they beamed the two officers in.
That's all the nits I could find. In a few weeks, we'll see whether the
Hirogens are really copycats of The Predator. (grin)
Brian Dominguez, Oswego, NY: I really loved this episode. I actually thought it was a litttle more
suspenseful.
I cannot remember the episode, but the episode where Doc lost his memory
and had to start from scratch, set me up for such suspense. Especially
since in this episode, Tom and Harry were trying to create a new
holodoc, I actually wasn't sure if Doc would return.
There were times I thought that the Prometheus was going to be destroyed
or when the Aliens reclaimed the relay station, I thought that he was
indeed lost to the Alpha quadrant. I thought he was going to be a hero
in some way by self destructing the ship or the Romulans were going to
win destroying the doctor.
Saying that, onto some observations.
How much energy does it take to run these holodocs? If it isn't too
much, why not create a crew that would be half officers and half
holocrew? Just think of all the lives that can be spared in battle. Or
how about a holoengineer who can stay in Engineering to help prevent
some catastrophe. (I know that we would all miss the Geordi roll!)
About this level-four restriction, I explained it away to myself that
somehow that the Romulan Commander changed the command
pathways--especially since his crew didn't know they were giving the
ship to the Tal Shiar.
However, if that was a Starfleet protocol, I would hope that there would
be some kind of program installed that gave remaining crew members
authority to run the ship. If everyone on the bridge we dead, or for
that matter everyone is dead except for the Algebra teacher, then I hope
the ship could recognize that he is the only one alive and needs
authority run the ship. If not that, how about a program to recognize
that when all the starfleet crew are dead, to bee-line it to the nearest
starbase.
I'm not sure if this is a changed premise or not, but I feel we keep
getting mixed messages about Romulans. They were Ruthless in TOS and in
TNGs "The Enemy." Then in TNGs "Face of the Enemy" the Commander was
upset when N'Vek destroyed the Corvallen freighter killing 13.
"Birthright" had Romulans protecting and falling in love with Klingons.
"The Search, Part II (DS9) had T'rul actually trusting and caring about
Sisko.
However, this episode makes them ruthless once again by killing ALL of
the crew members. So what's the deal? Are they caring people? Or do
they just group all the good Romulans on one ship (i.e. "Birthright" and
"Face of the Enemy" Romulans), and the evil ruthless ones on another
("The Enemy" and "Message in a Bottle" Romulans)?
I hope that I am not the only one who wants to see the Prometheus again
someday--soon.
Now that the Doctor has seen the new uniforms, do ya think he'll tell
Janeway about it;after all, their energy supplies seem limitless now.
Onto the nits...
Was it just me, but weren't there a lot of times that you just screamed
at the Doctor to just ask the computer? Stop looking and wondering--ask
the computer.
Since holoemitters are all over the ship, when the Doc was captured, he
could have just transferred himself to another area--after all he is a
computer program.
S. Crowley: Yadda, yadda, yadda... mark 47. Attack vector Beta-47. *stifled chuckle*
"When I requested more away missions, this isn't exactly what I had in
mind." -- EMH Mark 1
New Romulan uniforms! Goody!
Isn't it dangerous to separate a ship at warp?
The look on EMH1's face when he first sees EMH2 seemed to read: "A: Who
is this; B: Why does he have more hair, and; C: WHy can he swear?"
I loved the "Additions to my program" scene regarding s*x. (And when did
Holodoc get a girlfriend?)
John Bibb: James Meader asked if Roxanne Dawson is pregnant. As you said Phil, she is.
They did not hide it very well in this episode... I got a very good look at
her increasing size.
Oh well, I liked the show....
Jeff Carpenter of Springfield, VA: When that Nebula class ship attacks the Promethius, she uses phasers. Alright, you say, to which I say, they were racing at warp speed! Besides the
technical manual's stating of it, it makes perfect sense that a light speed
weapon would be useless at faster than light speeds.
Joshua Truax: Three years to the week after the Voyager series began, Captain Janeway
and company finally make contact with Starfleet. I suspect it was
really just a ploy by the creators to manufacture an excuse to introduce
the new-style uniforms to Voyager (they will purportedly begin wearing
them in the next new episode), but this event was long overdue. Not to
mention, it made for a fun show! I especially loved the new
Prometheus-class starship. I sure hope we see more such ships kicking
some Cardassian and Dominion butt on DS9 (and I'm sure we will). I also
hope the revelation of Voyager's whereabouts gets at least a passing
mention on DS9 this season, or even in the next TNG movie.
So this experimental ship that Doc Hologram beams aboard is called the Prometheus. I wonder, whatever happened to the original starship
Prometheus? You remember, Capt. Seyetik's ship, the one that then-Cmdr. Sisko and Dax visited during its terraforming mission to Epsilon 119...
the one commanded at one point by a *junior lieutenant*!?! (See "Second
Sight" [DS9])
Something's very wrong with Starfleet's timekeeping system. Presumably
a full TV season of 26 episodes corresponds to a year (at least that's
what the creators have told us in the past). As I said before, it's
been almost exactly three years since the Voyager series began. This is
the 81st episode, which is equivalent to just over three full seasons.
(Remember, the first season had only 14 episodes, plus the two-hour
premiere.) Yet in this episode Doc tells EMH-2 that Voyager has been
stuck in Delta Quadrant for *four* years! (Note from Phil: My guess is the creators believe that one season equals one year no matter how many episodes it has.)
At one point Paris comes to Sickbay and is greeted by Neelix, who says
"Thank God you're here." Which "God" would that be? Has Neelix
converted to Christianity in the wake of his experiences in "Mortal
Coil"?
Doc has had sex? With whom? (Somehow I doubt it was with Denara Pel in
"Lifesigns". A couple of other possibilities: With his holographic wife
in "Real Life", or even with the holographic Vulcan he created to cure
Vorik's pon farr in "Blood Fever". After all, he would have had to test
that program somehow...)
Doppelganger alert: This Hirogen guy reminds me a lot of Grand Nagus
Zek's Hupyrian servant, Meihardu (both played by someone known as Tiny
Ron)...
The two Docs eventually agree on using neurozine gas, which they say
will merely render the Romulans unconscious. I thought neurozine was a
lethal agent. At least, that's what Dukat's security program in "Civil
Defense" [DS9] used for the purpose of *killing* Bajoran rebels. What
gives?
Once they neutralized the Romulans and entered the bridge, the two Docs
struggled to do even the simplest thing with the various controls. Why
didn't they at least try to give verbal commands to the computer?
Finally... Voyager struggles alone in Delta Quadrant for three (or four)
years, and when the crew finally manages to contact Starfleet, the best
Starfleet can do is patronize them? At least, that's how I took their
message that Doc relayed to Janeway. I find it nearly impossible to
believe that Starfleet, in the midst of a war with the Dominion that
they may yet well lose, would commit any significant amount of resources
toward an attempt to rescue one wayward ship...
STEPHEN R MENDENHALL: I enjoyed this latest, 1/22 Voyager. They've gone back to beige like they did in TMP. Why didn't they ask the computer to fight the
battle for them? Because we wouldn't get the hilarious banter! Why
not just tell the computer to open the vents so he can send the
anesthetic into the ship's air? Andy Dick gets to say, "I'm a doctor,
not a commando," but earlier when the Romulan says "how do I know I
can trust you"; he could have said, "I'm a doctor not a spy." Or
something.
Alex Otis: Great episode. Robert Picardo always manages to put on a
stellar performance. Is Be'lanna trying to imitate Worf with her little
doodads on her uniform? Must be a Klingon thing. They kinda look like the
ones Dathon, the Tamarian captain had in "Darmok".
Why oh why wasn't the Prometheus fighting the Dominion? True, we don't
know what it's mission was, but it had to be away from the fleet near Romulan
space for the Romulans to get a hold of it. I'm pretty sure Dominion space is
not anywhere near Romulan space.
I have a feeling the five Hirogen episodes are going to be very good. To
bad we have to wait two weeks till the next one. Will those infernal reruns
ever desist.
Steve Oostrom, Oshawa, Ontario: I enjoyed "Message In A Bottle," but then
I've always enjoyed shows featuring a new ship. However, the interior sets
were clearly temporary ones; the bridge looked really large and empty to
me, or perhaps it was just the whiteness of the interior.
I noticed several things about this episode. First of all, the Prometheus
appears to have four warp nacelles, but it separates into three individual
ships. One of those sections would not have warp drive and so would not
appear to be too useful in a battle conducted at warp speed (even taking
into account "residual warp fields," it would have no manoeuvrability at
warp).
I also thought that the Mark II EMH should have been able to operate the
ship or else be able to access the computer and learn the necessary
operations. Holodoc apparently has this ability on Voyager (as in "Waking
Moments," when he is told to target the aliens and fire a photon torpedo on
command), but then again, Mark II might be too experimental to have this
ability.
The following is more of an observation. In the Star Trek Encyclopedia and
many fan sites on the Web, the galaxy is shown divided into four quadrants
with Earth on the border of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. However, in the
opening of "Message In A Bottle," the quadrant borders appear to be offset
by fourty-five degrees, with all of the known races (humans, Klingons,
Romulans and so on) solidly in the Alpha Quadrant (a similar map appeared
at the start of "The Year of Hell"). This is a more reasonable arrangement
of quadrants since it is logical to put everything known in the "home"
quadrant and divide the unknown three quarters of the galaxy into the other
quadrants. When creating these maps, people should disregard any comments
about quadrants made before "The Price" (the TNG episode that established
the Alpha through Delta system). (Note from Phil: Apparently, the Art Department has finally decided it's fruitless to try to convince the writers of the qudrant setup for the galaxy. Since the writers almost exclusively mention the Alpha Quadrant as opposed to the Beta Quadrant--where Bajor is supposedly located--the Art Department evidently gave up and redrew the map!)
Brian: Too many of you are complaining about the Prometheus. I LOVE THAT SHIP!
I can't confirm this but the names of the two Defiant class ships that
show up near the end are alledgedly name MONITOR and MEREMAC.
That torpedo that Matthe- I mean EMH Mk II fired went too slow. (If
you've seen Newsradio you get the joke).
Did Holodoc really tell Starfleet everything? I'm not sure Nechayev(sp?)
would buy the whole 7 of 9 thing. And how did they react to the Kazon
getting transporters? Or for that matter, what about the events in
Caretaker? I counted three Prime Directive violations myself.
Great Line: "He wasn't responding to diplomacy."
One last thing: YES! It's about time! I've always liked the Romulans.
Good to see them again!
Lars Ormberg of Rimbey, Alberta: Are they going to keep meeting up with Starfleet the entire way home? I was under the impression in plot leakings that the array is spying on
Earth and had to be destroyed, explaining why Voyager had no continuous
Federation contact. But since the array is in place, will they get
"missions" and make reports to Starfleet on a regular basis?
Well, for a prototype ship one of Starfleet's big problems still
exists...the one system that always works despite security restrictions
and ship damage...the exploding consoles. That's the big injury the
Romulans got in the first fifteen minutes. I half expected a satirical
comment by the commander about one of the apparent flaws in the new design
being the explosions on the bridge.
I agree with the Doctor's early comment..."Isn't there some kind of
emergency channel?". Even if the external communications were restricted,
why isn't there an emergency intercom or standard radio system available?
I think I know why Tom Paris is the next logical choice for medical
skills. His fancy term for heartburn reveals his capability to use
medical technobabble!
Speaking of technobabble, EMH-2 shows us why its so common...they're just
reading the panel.
When the Doctor observed the panel was unfamiliar, it showed his flight
training wasn't very intensive. He was unaware that the panel can be
reconfigured for any user, and could have simply called for the system to
be easier to understand.
When EMH-2 redirected power from the holoemitters, why didn't he phase
along with the doctor?
The Romulans must not have tried de-activating the EMH (or else EHM-2
wouldn't have completed his mission) when they captured the Doc. And I
agree, a holographic agent was an excellent way of stopping the invasion.
More Starfleet ships must have came at the end. The first 3 were a Nebula
with a pair of Defiant-class. But the end of the battle shows a
Daedalus-style (Pasteur from TNG's "All Good Things") ship that wasn't
there when the first reinforcements came.
When the Doctor returned and said "Starfleet brought a message", I was
hoping for a bit of comedy with the final word being "You need to update
your uniforms". And I wonder how extensive the Doctor's briefing was. He
seemed to return to Voyager somewhat quickly.
So after our disasterous meeting with the array aliens, you can trust
we'll be causing trouble again. That guy will want revenge for his jolt.
Kevin Spencer of Glendale, AZ: A couple of nits to add. Ok so EMH 2 decides that life support can be done without. So how were the two Starfleet Officers able to breathe when they
beamed aboard?? I guess the transporter chief's sensors did not pick up on
the fact that his crew were beaming into an area without oxygen. And,
weren't the Prometheus' shields still up?? I guess in the years that
Voyager has been away, Starfleet has devised a way to beam through
shielding.
Steve Weiss of Merrick NY: There was a big problem with message in a bottle. That ship was not on the outer edges of the Alpha quadrant, it was in the middle of the Beta
Quadrant. If you look t the map 7 shoes, the ship in dead smack in the
middle of the Beta Quadrant. The Outer edges of the Alpha Quadrant for the
Federation would be the side of the Alpha Quadrant that borders on the
Void between galaxies. Earth is almost ont he Border of the Alpha and Beta
quadrants, in the Alpha side. Federation space is Mostly int he Alpha
Quadrant, but does spill over into the Beta Quadrant. The Kilingons and
Romulans are both in the Beta Quadrant. (Note from Phil: Unless, of course, the creators redrew the map! Evidenly all previous information was merely decoy.)
JoAnna Cravit: I was wondering why
they didn't prepare the doctor a bit i.e. send personal messages back with
him. Or why he didn't tell the fed. ship that rescued him to stay at the
relay for messages. I'm also wondering why, as soon as the romulans were
out of the way, he didn't send out a distress beacon or something like
that (when Voyager was in that nebula thing last year they sent a message
beacon into it, didn't they?) I think you could even launch something like
that manually, couldn't you? Haven't they done that before?
I'm also wondering why Mark 2 or whatever his name was (or the fed. ship
that saved them) didn't download the holodoc improvem,ents into OUR doc.
The program can be added to (as we have seen our doc do).
Jacob Boxer: I noticed that when Seven said that the ship they were seeing was a Starfleet
ship, the music that played was VERY reminiscent of the DS9 theme. I think it
was there when the 2 Defiant class ships and the Akira class attacked the
Promethius.
This is an addition to my first e-mail Phil. It concerns the 4 people
operating the Promethius and the separation.
First the 4 people. I know this was posted by someone else already, but how
CAN 4 people operate a "top secret" ship? The way I see it, you need at least
5 people:
1. Captain
I know the helm/OPS positions can be operated by 1 person on some ships, but
Promethius had 2 stations like the Enterprise-D and E have. Also, on the topic
of engineering, you need more than one person to operate the engineering
section of a ship. So, 4 people is NOT enough.
Craig Mason: This was the best episode I have seen in a long time. The interaction between
the 2 EMH programs was excellent.
Nits:
And during battle, with all the pacing about by both EMHs, where did the
Romulan navigation officer go that The Doctor had shoved onto the floor?
Murray Leeder: I was anxiously expecting this, but what a letdown! Severely lacking in
the "fun" quotiant.
Why bother with the Romulans now? In the middle of the Dominion War!
And if this won't give Starfleet and excuse to turn on the Rommies, what
will?
I don't have any problem with the Tal Shiar still being around. After
all, the Obsidian Order (according to Garak) still exists in one form or
another.
Okay, so Holodoc (our Holodoc) awakens a crewmember, who subsequently
dies. Talk about your advanced 24th century medicine!
I guess our doctor isn't a commando either! Why not make a convincing
show and scan the Romulans just in case?
So... have the Borg never heard of the Hirogen before? Seven seems
completely surprised by them! Are they yet another species so advanced
that they can hold off the Borg? (Note form Phil: And with advanced as the Hirogen network apparently is, what are the chances that a Borg ship at system J25 ("Q Who") ran across it?)
Gerald Benoit of Montreal, Quebec: I immediately fell in love with the Prometheus bridge. After the dark Enterprise-D in the Generations, the gloomy Enterprise-E and the confusion
in design of Voyager. I was excited to see a well lighted bridge.
Why Kim had to design the new holodc from scratch? I mean don't they make
backup of their program? Is this logical to send your original source 10
000 light years away? I mean like me you're a programmer would it be more
logical to send a copy of the EMH bank not the source.... Those this mean
that everytime someone probe and take information from the computer they
lost the information? I think that Starflle need to make a little computer
consulting...
Christopher Jones: I finally got to get online, but most of these nits are probably are already
entered hundred times. Here goes:
Seven of Nine has a major attitude problem. So she gets to order the three
most senior officers around, shock the commnet controller and virtually lock
up the astrometrics lab. Of course, the way other Starfleet officers have
acted, then Seven is just being normal.
Finally, when the two security guards from the Starfleet "cavalry" arrive on
the bridge, we see for once the senior staff of a ship don't beam over. Why
don't the main characters do that? It would be too boring, I guess. (Note from Phil: Well, I'm not sure you want your senior staf beaming over first. In spite of the way Janeway and Kirk normally operate.)
Lisa Solinas: Cute, but shallow. A lot of head-banging moments.
These new villains HAD BETTER BE GOOD. They better be at
LEAST as good as the Dominion. If not, we fans are going to be
VERY ANGRY. We are going to be VERY UPSET. (Note from Phil: At ease, Lisa. Take a deep breath! ;-)
Whatever happened to command codes? (Note from Phil: They were taken out to make room for the Invader-Friendly Operating System.)
If the Prometheus is such a great warship, why isn't it
fighting the Dominion? Starfleet admirals, if you had any gray
matter in your skulls, you would POUR ships to DS9. Why are you
sending the Prom to poke around the Alpha Quadrant?
Mark [as I will call him] is described as "unstable." Or, neurotic.
Shouldn't the engineer have given him the checkup?
Best line: Mark describing his heroic battle to save his smug comrade
and defeat the evil Romulans.....
I saw the Cat's Eye Nebula on one screen in the lab.
Taking the Prometheus [I will call it Prom] was a deliberate act of war.
What are they going to do about this? [As Yoda would put it, "On DS9, no
repercussions we will see, hmm, hmm?"]
I'm surprised that B'Elanna isn't working on some way to shift the ship
through subspace along the relay.
Chuckles admits that he wrote a letter to his cousin in Ohio. What about
his mom and siblings(?)?
Well, it is about time. When is Starfleet going to come back with some
sort of lovely way to get Voyager back?
Jason McKinney from Richmond TX: I liked the episode and I have one nit really. I found that Defiant Class have pulsating phasers. Then why after the Promethius starts to attack it fires a phaser Beam like the Promethius does. Does it have a switch Beam or Pulse
Marty Hecla: When Seven calls Janeway and Chuckles into the astrometrics lab, she
displays the alien relay network on the big screen. First, there's a
wide shot of the Milky Way Galaxy. Then, the network appears, stretching
down the middle of the two right-most quadrants of the map. So far, so
good. From what Seven says, it is assumed that Voyager is near the
top-most end of the network (The Delta Quadrant) and the Prometheus is
just crossing the bottom ("On the edge of the Alpha Quadrant," according
to Seven). Now here's where things get a little mixed up. The
encyclopedia has a picture of the galaxy, separated into quadrants.
Gamma is top-left, Delta is top-right, Alpha is bottom-left, and Beta is
bottom-right. So, according to the canonical Encyclopedia, the
Prometheus is in the BETA Quadrant, not the Alpha Quadrant. I suppose
that it would actually make more sense, as the Romulan Empire is
supposedly in the Beta Quadrant. But that's not what Seven said. And
Borg are always right! (I still wonder why the writers will mention the
Alpha, Gamma, and Delta Quadrants with abandon, but never, NEVER mention
the Beta Quadrant. Is it that hard?) (note from Phil: See my comments above.)
Oh, and by the way, Phil, it's "Voltron," not "Zoltron." :)
Harvey Kitzman: It seems that Khan's protégé Joachim was reborn as a Romulan -
for the record, Judson Scott was also Sobi in "Symbiosis" (TNG).
I loved the line "I'm a doctor, not a commando." Dr. McCoy
lives!
There is a great KMYF moment between Janeway and the
Holodoc when he gets back.
Eric Collins of Calgary, Alberta: On the latest Voyager episode where the Doctor is transported to the
Alpha quadrant the experimental ship is chased and intercepted by
another starfleet vessel. The Romulans get to test out their new
multi-mode attack tool tio set up the end of the episode with a good
one-liner. BUT...later the EMH2 claims the ship is giong warp 9.9 and
is the fastest in the fleet...starfleet would never catch up. Who's
right? Is the EMH2 confabulating or does he have technical knowledge he
is on the (allegedley) fastest ship around?
Gina Torgersen of LaCrosse FL: I think that holodoc isn't deactivated when Mark 2 turns himself off because the computer doesn't recognize him as an EMH program.
Why is Mark 2 worried about hearing an alarm he has never heard before? Did
the Prometheus have a medical emergency and a disaster where he heard a lot
of alarms? It seems unlikely that he would be familiar with all the alarm
sounds.
Andrew J. Rebman of Indianapolis, IN: Why did the Federation people have severe phaser burns on them when
Romulans attacked the ship? I thought Romulans used disruptors, not phasers.
Did the Starfleet personnel shot eachother or are they just poor shots?
PLEASE NOTE: This file is frozen. Once a file hits 100K it's time to give the episode a rest!! You're welcome to send in addition nits and I will keep them on file but I won't be adding to this file any longer unless something really spectacular comes in!
If you would like to add some comments,
drop
me a note at chief@nitcentral.com with the Subject line "Message In A Bottle". Please include your real name, city and state (or province
and county as the case may be) in the body of the e-mail so I can give you
credit if you are the first person to bring up a particular nit. (Remember
the legalese: Everything you submit becomes mine and you grant me the right
to use yourname in any future publication by me. I will do my best to give
you credit if you are the first person to submit a particular nit but I make
no guarantees. And finally, due to the volume of mail received at Nitpicker
Central, your submission may or may not be acknowledged but that entry will make you a part of the Nitpickers Guide if you aren't one already!)
Andy Dick: "It's a long story."
Kim mentioning Leanord McCoy's work.
Holodoc 2 mentioning the war with the Dominion (yay! Voyager and DS9 are part of the same universe after all! I was wondering why we NEVER see an Intrepid Class vessel in DS9 - after all, there has to be at least one more called the Intrepid!)
The Doctor: "Ummmm Alpha?"
2. Helm
3. OPS
4. Engineer
5. Tactical/Security
Copyright 1998 by Phil Farrand. All Rights Reserved.