"Retrospect"
Air Date: February 25, 1998
Star Date: 51679.4-51658.2
PLEASE NOTE: This file is frozen. I think we've done all we're going to do on it! You're welcome to send addition nits but I will simply keep them on file for future inclusion in a possible Voyager Nitpickers Guide.
While working with an arms merchant named Kovin, Seven becomes agitated and knocks him to the floor. When she later has an anxiety attack in Sickbay, holodoc informs Janeway that he believes Seven is suffering from the reemergance of repressed memories. He offers his services in recovering them since he has recently added a psyche-subroutine. The recovery seems to go well at first. Seven remembers Kovin assaulting her and stealing Borg technology. Unfortunately, none of the physical evidence supports Seven's claims. Even still, Kovin flees--believing that he will be proven guilty in spite of the evidence. And when Janeway tries to convinces him differently, he attacks Voyager, destroying himself in the process.
Brash Reflections
Not a bad episode. A bit predictable but hey! Of course, we had a classic PAL on this one. The preview all but came out and said that Seven had been violated and one of the crew did it!
Anybody else notice the machine in Kovin's lab with the twin orange tubes. That machine really gets around! First time, I remember seeing it, it was in Noonian Soong's laboratory during "Datalore." (I think. It was either that of in the lab in "Times Squared.")
In this episode we learn that Seven still has assimilation tubules in her hand that work! Does this seem like a good idea?
Chakotay makes an interesting statement. He says that the fact that Kovin is running show that he has something to hide. I would have expected this out of holodoc, but Chakotay?
Oh and, yes, there does seem to be a problem with the stardates!
I leave the rest to you fellow nitpickers. Until next time!
Reflections from the Guild
(Note from Phil: I haven't verified these reflections but they sounded good to me!)
Gina Torgersen of LaCrosse, FL: I'm not sure I remember the acronym--I think it was WIVRON: TNG Schisms and Violations. This episode was much better than I expected from the preview. Holodoc's trying to make Seven angry set off about 47 warning bells that this was NOT a good idea, and later he wants to go out of his way to avoid learning from it. And Voyager goes off to chase a desperate guy who probably has really really really powerful weapons?
Jason Liu: Not really nits, just some observations. Overall, the show was OK, nothing spectacular. However, this episode dealt with some issues that had some personal relevance to my background as a biologist, psychologist, and physician. Kudos to the writers for dealing with the topic of repressed/reconstructed memories, and actually having Seven's memory be false. All too often, we accept any memory as absolute fact, when it is very possible that there are errors. Also, I liked how they showed how dangerous it is for inexperienced people to attempt psychotherapy. Finally, the writers did a good job of mentioning the Doctor's guilt over his mistake. It is something all physicians must face eventually, and is something I worry about as a medical student.
Next week's epsiode looks cool, even if it is another Holodeck episode. What better way to end sweeps month with the gallant crew of the Starship Voyager fighting those evil Nazis.
Johnson Lai: If this is all a misunderstanding, how did Seven have such specific memories of Kovan's procedure?
The reason for the overload on Kovan's ship was never explained.
Why didn't they question his assistant (assuming she exists)?
Michael Apple: A GREAT episode tonight. The acting was wonderful and the story was superb. "Retrospect" is truly an accomplishment the creators can be very proud of. The episode was very realistic and examines a very human problem : prejudgement.
The only real nit I found in it is in Janeway's behavior in the fight with Kovin in the end of the episode. It's a tad unrealistic to say that Janeway would refuse to return fire if the shields were completely destroyed. One shot would kill them. Just target the guy's weapons and engines! Surely, Tuvok is that accurate with the phasers . He's academy trained after all.
Michael Burr: The lab in the episode is very similar to where the enterprise crew found Lore, and a couple other labs throughout the years
Corey Hines, Hamilton, ON: So whatever happened to the Starfleet file from "Hunters"? It's taking them this long to decode it. (Note from Phil: Evidently Starfleet either encoded it really, really well or having only a portion of it has slowed Seven down.)
As with "Scorpion, Part II" 7 o 9's memories are very strange. She can see herself instead of seeing through the eyes in her memories.
When first entering the lab in the memory, a device is seen with lights blinking back and forth. This prop has been used in many Star Trek episodes. The first I believe was "We'll Always Have Paris"(TNG). In fact the movie "Airplane II" did a spoof on that piece of equipment stating it had no purpose than lights blinking back and forth.
A lot of this episode reminded me of "Schisms"(TNG).
What possible reason would 7 o 9 still have the ability to assimilate people.
When the Voyager's shields went down, I half expected 7 o 9 to punch Tuvok aside and fire on the ship.
At least one thing was right in this episode. No pointless reason for Neelix to show up. With no appearance, this proves that Neelix is the most useless crew member on the ship.
Shane Tourtellotte: Here we have Janeway casually trading away Federation technology to a Delta Quadrant species. What of the Prime Directive? What of her bad experience with the Kazon, that supposedly convinced her never to try this again?
Well, who would have guessed that Janeway would be ready to give 7o9 some latitude, a mere couple of days after that dressing down at the end of "Prey"? (That is, a couple days by one stardate given in this episode. See below.)
On that close-up of the medical tricorder, was that the remote sensor tucked into the underside of the housing, or an exposed AA battery? I *thought* the salt-shaker sensor was kept at one end, not underneath.
Again, there are multiple alcoves active, but only one 7o9. I suppose I should stop beating this dead horse, but it just seems wasteful of energy, something Voyager supposedly wants to conserve.
Tom was pretty casual, waving that thoron disruptor around on the practice range. I wouldn't have wanted to get that thing pointed at me.
That was a very fast assimilation of the 'test subject' during 7o9's regression. He goes completely gray in a few seconds, while it took much longer for victims in ST-FC. (E.g., the crewman Picard killed.)
When The Doctor speaks of 7o9's natural emotional reaction to her 'violation', 7o9 implies that she has none. Then was it pure logic guiding her when she slugged Kovin in Engineering?
Note Kovin's extra nostril pairs(4), compared to the bald Magistrate(6). This seems to imply that Kovin has two sets of nostrils(or whatever those are) hidden under his hair. Must be *really* inconvenient when you have a sinus cold. (I know: Yuck! Sorry.) (Note from Phil: Were those nose holes?!)
During the investigation, Janeway gives a stardate of 51679.4. After Kovin is dead, The Doctor enters a medical log with a stardate of 51658.2. Someone is mistaken. I'm guessing The Doctor, given his realization of over stretching around this time.
...And speaking of that, note the punishments 7o9 and The Doctor get for hounding an innocent man to his death. That's right, zilch. I think it's official: Janeway has now let everybody in the opening credits off lightly for something they did wrong -- and boy, isn't it effective in preventing repeat offenses! ;-)
3/2/98 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!)
Laurel Iverson, New London, MN: So far, I've thought a lot of you nitpickers were being too hard on poor "Voyager". Often I would really enjoy an episode only to have several
people say how bad it was. However, I have to say that I thought the
episode "Retrospect" (was that what it was called?) was really
disappointing.
My biggest problem was that I didn't think that just because simulating
the weapon discharge on Seven's arm produced the same results as in
Kovin's lab, that it necessarily proved Kovin's innocence. Everyone
feels this great remorse over blaming an innocent man, but he could have
still been guilty. There was no evidence to show that Kovin didn't
experiment on Seven and they did not prove that her memories would have
to be false.
Alex Otis: And I thought last week's episode was pointless. Not a nit,
just an observation. Coven's cockpit looked surprisingly like the
Timeship Aeon's cockpit.
I still can't figure out why Holodoc thought the Captain would
grant him the request of basically reinitializing his program. Oh well,
from what I've read and Voyager's history of good two parters, Next
week's should be good.
Nick Gyarfas: I think ST:Voyager should be renamed Star Trek: Seven of Nine. Are any of
the other characters going to get any development? She's overrunning the
entire series! I never really liked the character any way. She seems like
another replacement for Data (like the Doc was in the beginning): an
artificial life (sorta) learning to be more human. And making her human was
a bit uncreative (we wouldn't want to violate the half-alien/half-human
rule would we?). It would've been more interesting to make her an unknown
alien-type who'd been assimilated. And, even though I think Jeri Ryan's
look is hot, isn't Star Trek supposed to be beyond the old "put a babe in
to attract more male viewers" ploy common among shows like "Married With
Children"? I know Star Trek has had babes in the past but the character of
7o9 is the most blatant so far. (Note from Phil: I can't think of any time that Trek "outgrew" the "babe-in-the-bunny-suit" syndrome. Granted, Classic Trek didn't have unitards for crew members but it did have the skants. And then there was Troi. And then there was Kira. And then there was Kes. And there is Seven. I'll grant to that the bunny suits seem to be getting tighter but I think that's a pretty natural progression. "We got away with that! Let's see if we can get away with this!")
Norman Buchwald: This is my first time posting, so if you bear with me.
Wow, an open-ended ending! We never know for sure who is telling the
truth! Something must have happened to Seven than simply sensing
something hostile from Covin (like Janeway did).
7 says that she has never felt wanting to have revenge before. Uh . . .
what was that all about that she was feeling in last week's "Prey"
against Species 8472?
So one episode later, and Janeway gives Seven permission to use systems
this fast?
I thought Harry was going to decode the 70% (or whatever) encrypted Star
Fleet message.
I'm a bit surprised that Tuvok simply concludes 7 has hallucinations
before (which she had in "Raven"). It would be at least "logical" to
admit that they were stimulated by the homing beacon, rather than have
the Doctor point that out to him.
So 7 invented the assistant and that specimen from her own imagination
(if her "repressed memory" is false, that is)?
So Colvin is to have everyone believe that instead of that "repressed
memory," Seven was being very specific (and "nitpicking" all the
functions) of his technology? And Seven now remembers something
entirely different? That's quite a replacement.
So why does Voyager not have a ship counselor to begin with?
Why is everyone on the ship (except for The Doctor) so ready to
discredit 7 of 9? When has she ever directly lied (besides in "The
Gift," ("Ensign Kim, I require your assistance!")?
Great touch, The Doctor feeling remorse over a death he may have
caused. An echo of an alternative timeline in "Year of Hell." I was
disappointed that YOH Part 2 never continued this aspect of The Doctor.
Hopefully, it will resonate here (At least he has to share his new
found experience with Seven, this time around).
Josh Truax of Platteville, WI: Throughout its 32 years Star Trek has become well known for
thought-provoking episodes, that make us stop and think. Star Trek has
also shown on many occasions that you don't necessarily need
eight-figure budgets to make good science fiction. "Retrospect" does a
fine job of continuing both traditions.
I only have two nits, but they're big ones. First, if Kovin is innocent
of the crime, why is he so intent on escaping from the authorities? I
can understand him being paranoid and/or desperate, but what if he had a
different reason for fleeing? It seems to me that the Voyager crew
should have investigated that possibility further, even after Kovin's
death, but no one gives it a second thought. (Probably because by that
time they were already well into Act Five...)
Second, once Kovin is exonerated of the original crime, everyone acts as
if Kovin would be off the hook if only he'd surrender. This is probably
true as far as the Voyager crew is concerned, but it seems to me that
even if Kovin is innocent of the original crime, his subsequent actions
-- holding the magistrate et al at disruptor-point, flight to avoid
prosecution, and finally attempted murder of the magistrate and the
Voyager crew -- warrant prosecution by his homeworld's authorities in
their own right. (Think of it this way: Suppose someone wrongfully
accused of a crime here in 20th century America takes the law into his
own hands. He shoots the police officer who tries to arrest him for the
crime, then flees. Suppose that during the ensuing manhunt, evidence
comes to light which exonerates the suspect of the original crime. Does
this mean that he is also absolved of responsibility for shooting the
cop? Of course not!) Is this why Kovin wants to flee so badly -- not to
avoid prosecution for assaulting Seven of Nine, but to avoid prosecution
for threatening the magistrate and unlawful flight?
Next week: Heil... Hirogen? The episode that was too big for a single
hour, yet apparently not big enough to make us wait a week for Part II.
(I sure wish they made more episodes like this!)
David T. Shaw, Hamilton Ontario: Not a nit, but when the trader asked Janeway what she was going to offer in exchange, she looked at Chuckles. I was waiting for her to offer him!
Seven is trying to decrypt the message that Star Fleet sent- I wish her
luck. Either the message was encrypted in sections (which makes sense for a
long message going over a vast distance) in which case these sections can be
decoded immediately by Voyager's encryption keys, or the entire message was
encrypted, which makes decoding it highly unlikely, especially if they don't
know how long it was to begin with. What they would have to do is test all
possible messages until they come up with one that decrypted into some
rational method- which would probably take the computer quite a long time.
On the other hand, it is possible that Star Fleet sent the message with a
new Code Key, forgetting that Voyager doesn't have it. At any rate, either
the message is gone, or the computer is using it's free time testing all the
possibilities, whatever, Seven doesn't need to do anything.
Not a nit, but I noticed that Seven has finally learnt the importance of
using the Captain's door chime.
So, a crew member decks a visitor, and the Captain doesn't even bother to
ask why? 7 comes in, Janeway says that each knows what the other is going
to say- has Seven been hitting other ship to ship salesmen that we don't
know about? In any investigation- even a clear cut case- you must get both
sides of the story. Besides, if you don't understand why Seven did it, you
probably won't be able to prevent her from doing it again.
HoloDoc is a diagnostic expert- that is one of the main reasons for his
existence- and he doesn't notice Seven's anxiety until she basically screams
to let him out. Not very good diagnostic functions...
Isn't it a nice change of pace to hear Freudian Psychobabble instead of the
usual Star Fleet technobabble?
Not a nit, but I find it interesting to note that an expect medical program
doesn't have any psychological knowledge programmed into it- as if the mind
has no effect on the body. I guess that is one of the improvements that
the Mark II HoloDoc was programmed with.... (considering that no bedside
manner was programmed either, I guess I really shouldn't be surprised.)
The doctor encouraging feelings of vengeance ("when he gets what he
deserves, you'll feel better") This is his expert psychological advice? He
should of at least talked about a process - e.g. Denial, Fear, Anger,
sorrow, forgiveness or some such thing (I am not familiar with current
literature.) However, what I do know is that many psychologists feel that
the Forgiveness stage is the most important to recovery of the victim- but
the Doctor seems to imply that vengeance is enough.
Why was the magistrate called in? The trader agreed to an investigation,
why couldn't Voyager have run there own investigation and then called in the
magistrate once they had evidence. (I know, because then the magistrate
couldn't threaten the trader with arrest, and he wouldn't have fled, and
died and have those nice scenes with the doctor at the end...)
The doctor loves jumping to conclusions- he stated "We now know that the
rifle did overload." They of course knew nothing of the kind- they
suspected it was true, and the evidence didn't contradict that conclusion,
but they didn't know.
Speaking of the evidence, I find it impossible to believe that 24th century
forensic examinations can't tell if furniture in a room has been moved, if a
weapon overloaded, or equipment had been recently modified. Our even if
there was any cellular remains of two other people in the lab (Seven's was
there, the trader as well- what about his supposed assistant and test
subject- they must have left traces if they existed- but no one seemed to
bother to look for this evidence.) The doctor himself mentioned to scan to
see if the furniture had been moved- but no one seemed to do it.
When the Trader died, Janeway gave a look both to the doctor and seven that
can only be described as accusatory- as if she was blaming them for his
death. Sorry- the doctor was over-eager, but it was the Magistrate and the
trader own nerves that were responsible.
So, after the Magistrate who was on the scene said "there was nothing else
you could have done" there was still a three week investigation into the
death? Wasn't it pretty clear cut? Voyager didn't even fire on his ship!
What I did love at the end was the two scenes with the doctor- him and
seven discussing remorse, and that she had to live with it in the time
being' and Janeway pointing out that deciding not to learn is no answer to
the problem.
Oh ya, PAL. (What is the point of previews- sometimes you can't even tell
who the major characters of the episode are going to be, let alone the plot.)
By the way, did Voyager actually ever get the weapon?
Dawn Owens-Nicholson: I noticed a few things in the latest Star Trek Voyager episode,
Retrospect, where Seven of Nine accuses Kovin of violating her. There
were many unexplored avenues of investigation that could have provided
valuable clues (or very hard for the writers to explain away). I
assume that the information in the memory footage was conveyed to the
Doctor (and to the rest of the crew) because the story gave that
impression.
Why didn't they ask Paris to recall the exact percentages Seven
reported about how well the gun vaporized the boulders? If Paris can
confirm the figures, that could go a long way to establishing Seven's
(and Paris') memories are accurate. Also, the tricorder Seven used
could be consulted to confirm both Seven and Paris' memories of the
figures.
Why didn't they do anything to look for the alien man who was
reportedly assimilated? If there's reason to believe he was killed,
how about looking for that Borg's remains? Or ask about Borg
involvement on their planet -- if they had been attacked by the Borg,
it stands to reason they would not be so anxious to get Borg
technology for fear it would harm them again. If they knew little
about the Borg and the assimilation happened, it would be difficult to
explain the existence of an (Entarin was it?) Borg man loitering
about.
Why didn't they do anything to look for Kovin's assistant? She was a
direct witness to all this, according to Seven. Why not track her
down through friends or family, residue she left behind from handling
the instruments, or see if she was bragging to anyone about harnessing
Borg technology (an impressive feat for those who have seen the Borg
technology in action, like she reportedly did).
With all the technology in the room, were there no sensors recording
what was going on at the time (even something as low-tech as an ATM
camera)? Seven said she wasn't familiar with the technology, but
*someone* would be -- another good reason to question Kovin's
assistant. If the technology was Entarin, there would be a bunch of
people who could be questioned about various things in that room.
What were the results of scanning for changes in the room? The
restraining table could have been moved out.
One reused set I noticed -- the interior of Kovin's ship looked just
like the interior of the Federation Timeship Aeon (from Future's End,
Parts I and II).
For me, the problems in the episode hurt the presentation of the
morality play so much that I was left thinking how shoddy the
investigation was. Finally, I think Seven's memory footage would have
been more compelling had it been shot from Seven's perspective, not
from the usual floating camera angle.
John Latchem: I must say that I was not impressed with this episode. Yes it was interesting
and explored some good themes, such as the presumption of innocence, but the
presentation was a little jarring and at the end, way overdone.
First I will say that I knew he was innocent from the beginning. Not from
any plot revelations but from a writing standpoint it was the most reasonable
place to go. We've seen the repressed memory leads to the criminal stories
before, so I figured it was time for something different. I was right.
So then we get a statement that even being accused of a crime ruins someone
on this planet. How convenient in that it sets up the hysteria of Kovin,
which leads to his death. We are left to conclude this is why he ran since
any other, more logical motive for running is never presented.
And then Janeway and the Magistrate keep insisting they have to resolve the
situation. Janeway: "Kovin, we apologize." Kovin: "It's a trick."
Janeway: "It's no trick. Accept our apology!" Geez did this remind
anyone else of the Boy Scout helping the old lady across the street, who
didn't want to cross the street in the first place?
Why were Janeway and the Magistrate so interesting in forcing this guy to
accept their apology? Then he started to fire on them, and they kept
insisting on apologizing. Here's an idea: Leave the Poor Guy alone! Go back
to the planet. But they stayed and he attacked him. If they had left he'd be
alive. I don't know why Janeway gave Seven such a disapproving look at the
end. She is more responsible for Kovin's death than Seven was.
Of course by running he showed he had something to hide, so they had to find
out. But we never learn why.
Steve Braun of Houston TX: As fun as just assimilating someone might be, does it really seem like a decision any sentient lifeform would make to have a borg walking around on
your planet, oh wait, that was a false memory, and the moral of that episode
being: Don't trust your memory...?
Oh no, Kovin shot a photon burst at me and turned off my sensors, that could
mean a photon torpedo, or a bright flash of light, neither of these fit in
perfectly.
And if Kovin's skin was paler than he would look a lot like that guy from
"Starship Mine"
Jim Coyle, Oakwood, ONT: Sweeps month must mean 7o'9 month. Is it just me, or did Koven's energy rifle look like a modified, late 20th-century John Deere leaf-blower?!
Brian Lombard: Kovin look familiar? It was the same actor who played the
Enterprise-E's security chief in First Contact.
Here's where I've seen Kovin's equipment before: Airplane II,
Datalore, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, We'll Always Have Paris.
When Chuckles goes to see Seven in the teaser, he indicates that
the Captain is willing to trust her with more responsibilities. Yet
later we learn that Seven has already participated in an away team
mission. Why would he give her the speech when he did?
Gregory Pietsch of Ewing, New Jersey: Since when does Holodoc have to get permission from Janeway to
delete certain algorithms in his programming? According to my previous
posts (see "Darkling") he's the product of a genetic algorithm;
rewriting his own code should be de rigeur. (Note from Phil: Maybe he really didn't want to do it and he was just looking for somebody to tell him no?!)
Holodoc doesn't have to feel remorseful; he could probably get rid
of the remorse routines without wiping his entire code clean. Holodoc
is more like Data than Mr. Spock.
Scott McClenney: I found it
unsettling that Kovin still ran and later attacked the ship even though the evidence pointed
out that 7's memories of the events when she was with him were wrong. Does'nt it sound odd
that he would act like that if he were innocent? Janeway's statement that it might have been
memory of 7's assimilation by the Borg along with the guilt she is beginning to feel for
helping assimilate others make sense. 7 can't lie as far as we know. Remember in an earlier
episode she said Borg don't lie. Also remember 7 and Kovin were according to Paris gone for
2 hours so anything could have happened.
Richie Vest: This was the worst Voyager of the Season.
During the scene in the briefing room where Doc is explaining the
sitiuion to the captain, I don't think he had his Holo-projector.
Ok I accept the fact that Starfleet send them a message. I accept the
fact that they had a problem getting it from the array. I accept the fact
that Starfleet would send it in code. What i dont except is the fact that
after what must be Several weeks, how come they have not de-coded it yet.
Starfleet would have sent them a code that they could break
Ed Watson of Downingtown, PA: I need to start today with some venting. We all know that PREVIEWS ALWAYS LIE! But now having seen the latest Voyager, I feel something
more needs to be said on this subject. Of course, everything having to
do with Jeri Ryan on this show is of a blatantly sexual nature, even
though nothing is ever actually said. Well, last week's preview clearly
left the impression that this week would involve Seven of Nine being the
victim of a sexual assault. It also clearly implicated that the plot
would be a whodunnit with all the male stars of the show as suspects.
We now know that this wasn't even CLOSE to being what this show was
about, and I am not only insulted as a Star Trek fan, I am disgusted as
a human being!!! Do the people at Paramount think that in order to get
us to watch the show, they have to open the possibility that we might
get to watch Seven of Nine being raped!? We are the most rabid fans in
the TV world! Don't they know this? Don't they know that we watch the
show every week, even when the episode in question [is less-than-satisfying]? I could go
on, but I suppose you get my point.....
Anyway, on to my only two real nits for this show.
The first stardate given by the captain was 51679.2. The second
stardate given (by the doctor) was 51658.4 OOPS!!!
In the last scene, the camera shots were not conclusive, but I don't
believe the doctor was wearing his mobile emitter. The scene was
clearly in the captains ready room.
Michael Gurwitz of Washington, DC: You were far too easy on Paramount's cynical PAL. They should be ashamed of themselves, and I mean that sincerely. The preview made it
seem as if, to be blunt, 7 of 9 had been raped by one of the Voyager
crewmembers. This is a very serious subject, and should not be used
as a mere gimmick to attract viewers. (Note from Phil: In thinking about it from this viewpoint, I think you're right! It was cynical on Paramount's part to create that preview.)
Furthermore, the subject of rape and 7 of 9 would bring into play all the
unspoken issues about both the casting and the show. Jeri Ryan is a
tall, buxom blond, and was cast for exactly that purpose. There is
absolutely no reason to dress her in skintight catsuits, except for the
obvious: to have a sexy woman on the show and boost ratings. Fine, I'm
not a prude, and I do enjoy how good she looks. But we all know that
were Voyager real, every straight male and gay female crewmember
would be lusting after 7 of 9. Rape, or at least sexual harassment,
would be a definite possibility. When I saw the preview, I thought to
myself, wow, Paramount is doing a really gutsy, honest show. Then we
found out it was all a cheap ruse. I was honestly disgusted by this. I
don't blame the creative team, as it was probably a decision made by the
bean counters, but someone ought to be taken to task for using rape as
a cheap ratings gimmick. (Note from Phil: I've heard that the creators really don't have much to do with the previews. The previews are created by some team that's under the authority of the UPN network guys. That's why we get stuff like, "Janeway . . . Kes . . . Torres . . . If you've wished they all could be California girls . . .)
Brian: Since I seem to be best at anti-nits I'll get to those first.
Johnson Lai said the reason for the overload wasn't explained. Yes it
was! He was trying to supercharge the weapon so he could incenerate
Voyager in one shot!
I agree that this is the best
episode of Voyager I've seen since the second season. I take back what I
said about renaming the show Borgwatch.
As for 7's ability to assimilate, I believe the episode stated that
Kovan supposedly used a device to re-stimulate her dormant nano-probes,
and that that is the reason the tubes worked when they probably wouldn't
before.
Some have wondered about the Prime Directive with this episode. Take in
to account everything that's happened to Voyager over the past four
years and tell me they don't have legit reasons for trying to improve
their defenses.
Now on to the nits.
Why is the doctor on the planet with Paris and 7 while they test
weapons? Is he moonlighting with Tuvok in tactical and picking up a few
pointers?
I should have more but all the good ones have been picked already. Bye.
Michael Janis: Not much to say about this episode. Overall, it was actually pretty good!
Why wasn't Tuvok included in the weapon evaluation? I guess they thought
someone with a criminal background, like Tom, would have a lot of expertise
when it comes to weapons.
Too bad Seven's memories weren't true. That "assimilation pistol" would have
been a cool weapon!
So, if Seven gets injured, her nanoprobes can "bleed" out of her, and remain
"alive" for long periods of time. Does this pose a threat to anyone who
happens to contact the probes and introduce them into their bloodstream? Is
there a danger of "latent assimilation"?
Not a nit, but all of this talk about nanoprobes made me think back to the old
days of ST:TNG. In "Best of Both Worlds", Dr. Crusher tells of a plan to
introduce a destructive breed of nanites into the collective. I'm glad
StarFleet wasn't counting on this plan. From what we've learned about Borg
nanoprobes, they would have eaten those nanites for lunch!
Will Phillips of North Royalton, OH: One BLARING nit I noticed at the end of the episode when Coven was
fleeing in his ship: the bridge of his ship is the same bridge as the
Timeship Aeon from last season. I guess 29th century Starfleet got the
idea of their bridge for Coven's ship, since they'll probably see it
when Voyager gets back to Earth!
Jeff Winkle: Seven says that the arms merchant removed her Borg Nano-probes and
implanted them into another individual (who we then saw begin turning
into a Borg). If they needed proof to verify her accusation, why not
just scan the area for a Borg drone? Or, for that matter, drones (since
one would assume that one Borg would start assimilating others
immediatly).
Speaking of proof of the merchant's guilt you have A) the drugs that
had never been scanned in Seven of Nine's system blocking her memories,
and B) even after they confront the merchant in his ship with the news
they think he may be innocent, he still fires on Voyager!
I guess Belanna got tired of raising and lowering shields to
transport people: when the merchant ship opens fire, Janeway instructs
Kim to beam the merchant aboard, moments later, the merchant's ship
fires on Voyager, and Kim (I thought it was Tuvok's job to monitor
shield strength - or did tactical get reorganized also) calls out that
shields are at 72 (?) percent.
What really did happen to Seven of Nine? Maybe she was actually
abducted be little grey men smoking cigarettes...oops, that's the
X-Files nitpicking, sorry about that (I was reading it after Voyager).
David D. Porter: Isokinetic--unvarying energy, more or less. Strange name for a
weapon. Or, maybe the writers are just enamored of the prefix 'iso-.'
Isolinear, isometric, etc., etc. It's getting a bit old.
One wonders if H-doc will ever develop a 'modesty' or 'humility'
subroutine. Probably not.
Seems to me a psychotricorder (Wolf in the Fold) would have been most
useful in this episode.
Calipers aren't used to remove items, but to measure. Logically, a
microcaliper would be used to measure very small objects.
Vincent: Ok I thought this was a pretty cool one, but I'm not sure how I felt
about the end.
This is more of a question than a nit but did Voyager get that
weapon. It was never stated but I would like to know.
Ok, let me get this right, this guy is supposed 2 be giving a demo of a
new weapon system to voyager so he installs it voyager, then sells it?
Wouldn't that be like someone wanting to demo a cd player 4 the car so
they install it in your cd and c if you like it then yank if you dont.
seems like a not so savvy buisness move.
Of course Janeway does agree to pay this guy an extra 5 chips for
personally installing this weapon she just fired from the ship. Talk
about savvy!!
And why is everyone acting like this guy is innocent. They found no
proof, but that doesnt clear him. I know its not a conviction either
but they should simple continue, even after he's dead for Sevens sake.
And did I miss something, how did they explain the memory blocks in
Sevens head. Doc said they werent there before and then they were.
Between that and her other feelings that she showed b4 hand seems proof
that something happened. They realize that the main proof they had
wasnt conclusive, so they conclude nothing happened even though the
evidence still suggests something did?!? I didn't get it.
At what point did Seven believe she was wrong?
Ah well, to err is huan to be perfect is to be Borg!!!
Murray Leeder: This episode was pretty much a mess. No message. No real purpose. Even
the ending scene with the Doctor, strong as it was, was spread fairly
thin (he can hardly be blamed for bringing about all this havoc. He's
not the one that gave Seven the hallucinations to begin with).
Janeway continues her roll as the worst disciplinarian in the galaxy.
She says that a slap on the wrist won't punish Seven for her
infractions. So what does she do? NOTHING! YEAH JANEWAY! THAT OUGHTA
SHOW HER! NOTHING!
It's so bad that no one uses polygraphs any more. They'd really have
come in handy here.
So, um, what brought about Seven's delusions? Just a random thing? If
so, I think that her mental health isn't quite as solid as everyone
seems to think
Yes, none of the evidence supported Seven's claims. In a court of law,
Kovin would likely have gotten off. But why did everyone automatically
presume that he was innocent? After his death, everyone acts like he was
DEFINITELY innocent. Perhaps he just covered his tracks really well! Or
perhaps it was a coincidence that thoron-shocked nanoprobes act the same
as stolen ones do!
Not to be insensitive, but since Kovin is dead, what happened to his
stuff? Does Voyager get the super-nifty-neato cannon?
Mark B: They ended this episode with the impression that there was no evidence
that the AOTW was guilty, yet someone artificially suppressed 7of9's
memories. Also, with 7of9 dropping nanoprobes all over the place its
wonder they let her run around the ship. Keep her away from high energy
discharges, please!!!
About those light tubes. Other movies of note: STII (In Regula's lab),
Airplane II (In the moonbase, with Shatner [sic]).
Roland and Lorraine Spickermann: 7o9's personality is developing nicely, but not without a nit or
two. The writers have done a mostly good job here: when she feels an
emotion for the first time, she feels it purely and innocently, just as
a child would (which she is, basically). However, she was assimilated
when she was a young girl, not as an infant. Even if assimilation
occurred at age six, she already would have experienced anger and
remorse, and she should have some memory of these emotions. They should
not be new experiences for her, but revived memories.
Nina Culver: This episode really bothered me for some reason. I felt the explanation for
Seven's false memories was inadequate. And why didn't Janeway fire at the
guy's ship near the end of the show? Usually if they're getting pounded she
will at least target the other guy's weapons systems so they can talk. The
ending didn't really wrap things up, I thought. I was left the impression
that the creators left a little loophole for the fact that maybe Coven did
actually create a Borg. It's a way to bring the Borg back into the series
even though Voyager isn't in their space anymore by maybe having a new Borg
colony for the cerw to deal with in a future episode. Does the one fact that
the Borg nanoprobes regenerated themselves prove absolutely that he didn't do
it? And what about the stuff the Doctor found in her brain that was blocking
her memories? And why we're on the subject of the Doctor, can a hologram feel
guilt?
Blake Hodgetts, Eugene, OR:The conclusion of the plot depended on the idea that they had hounded an
innocent man to death. They concluded that he was innocent because they
decided that he had not done anything improper to Seven.
So, given that assumption, the reasons for Seven's behavior toward Kovin
were -never explained-. Why did she exhibit such antipathy toward him if
he didn't do something wrong? If he really shot her by accident, as he
claimed, she would have known it was an accident. He would have
explained it to her and made a report, as he claimed he did. In fact,
everyone on Voyager should already have known about the weapons
discharge, and not acted as though they learned of it only through
Seven's "regression therapy". It seems unlikely that someone as
level-headed as Seven would harbor subconscious hostility toward someone
because he accidentally let a weapon "shock" her, if that's really all
that happened -- let alone that such an occurrence would cause her to
experience claustrophobia during a routine medical examination.
And why would there be traces of anti-memetic material in Seven's brain
if no-one was actually trying to cover up memories of something
improper?
You know what I think? I think that Kovin was very smart and a good
liar. I think that he really -did- do something improper with Seven --
whether it was harvesting nanoprobes or something else, we'll never
know. But Janeway, Holodoc, Tuvok, and the rest of them shouldn't saddle
themselves with guilt about his death. From the evidence presented in
the episode, I'm satisfied that his flight from justice was motivated by
a very real guilt. Although he might not have deserved death, he has
no-one to blame for it but himself.
Vince Hamilton of Fresno, CA: Just had a thought, I don't think that Kovin is really dead. I wouldn't be surprised if he came back later this season, or next year. He seemed to have way too much technology, and
be too smart, to accidentally blow up his ship. I bet he really did take technology from
7o9, and just use some fancy gizmo to escape (maybe a long range transporter or a cloaked
shuttle). After all, he was able to mask Voyager's sensors.
Also noticed that Roxann Dawson is still pregnant. One must wonder what the producers would
do if that were to happen to Jeri Ryan. There's absolutely no hiding it with that catsuit
of hers.
George Padovan of Bridgewater, NJ: Sorry to say, but I didn't like this episode one bit. They kram too much
in an hour and it went to fast to sort out the loose ends which was
still left unanswer. Like if Seven's memories are not true, what made
her so agitated around Kovin and The Doc? If Kovin really was innocent,
why he fled liked he really was guilty? What about Seven's feelings and
emotions? She should be comforted by Janeway and the 'family' instead of
being treated like she was bad. Not a fav episode on my list.
Next week: The Hirogens are *back*! They capture Voyager and Janeway
becomes a *Maquis*! (Chakotay would go *bananas* seeing Janeway become
one of his gang!) (giant grin)
Ross A. Fillmore, Columbus, OH: Interesting episode. Not great, but interesting.
If only a few weeks have gone by, Janeway sure has softened her attitude in
regard to 7 awfully quickly. The way she talked last week, 7 was going to
be restricted to the cargo bay for a good deal of the trip. Now it seems,
and I agree with 7 on this, she only grants her freedom when it serves her
purpose.
When Be'Lanna smirks at Covan's recounting of the incident in engineering,
why did I get the feeling she was siding with 7? And that if he had
treated her in the same fashion Be'Lanna's reaction would have been the
same?
There's a strange bit of filming that takes place in sickbay, when the Doc
is examining 7 and he asks her to lie down on the bio-table. The camera
pulls out of view of her while the Doc is preparing for the exam and when
it comes back to include her we see 7 on the bio-table already. Is there a
reason the Creators did not want us to see her actually get on the table?
Does the cat suit make climbing onto bio-tables less than graceful? (Note from Phil: I wondered this as well but then we do see Seven hopped down off the table so I wasn't sure!)
During 7's recounting of the events on the planet at the firing range, she
and Tom look over a hand-held disrupter and comment that with a few
adjustments they could make it more efficient. Covan jumps in and says
that he can make those adjustments "now" if they'd like. If these minor
adjustments could be done so easily then why wasn't the disrupter already
configured for this more efficient setting?
7 still has assimilation tubials??? Why haven't these been removed? If I
was Janeway I would have demanded that these be the first things yanked!
Of course, we are lead to believe by the conclusion of the ep that her
memory may be faulty. Maybe this is why if 7's memory of the incident had
been blocked it was so easy to recover. In other words her memory wasn't
really blocked by Covan and she dubbed in the appropriate pieces.
7 and Covan were in his lab for roughly 2 hours. He flashes her with the
weopon and she blacks out. If she had been subjected to all of these
experiments and then revived, why wouldn't she question the time
discrepency from the moment she was flashed to the moment she revived?
After she was flashed, how long was she out? That should have told her
right there whether or not something shady had taken place.
Later when Doc is convincing 7 that justice will prevail and they'll get
their man and make him pay, he mentions something to 7 about a feeling of
resentment. She makes a comment that resentment is foolish and
counterproductive in essence. And even later in the ep she makes comments
suggesting that anger and like feelings are foreign to her, yet when she
was first brought onto Voyager as the Borg liaison she showed such contempt
and negativity to the crew. How then can resentment and anger be suddenly
deemed counterproductive and foreign to her? Granted with slight nuances
resentment, anger and contempt are different in meaning but not by much.
Okay, we are in a different area of the Delta Quad, but refresh my memory,
aside from Voyager and the Borg, have we seen any other incidence of
transporter technology? Well, I guess in "Concerning Flight" we did see
the thieves transport things off the ship. And the Kazons are clear on the
other side of Borg space and they didn't have transporters in that sector,
so maybe this sector on this side of Borg space has developed transporters.
When Voyager is being attacked, why does the Doc have to brace himself?
Shouldn't he just shimmer or does the holoemitter make him a little more
solid?
This episode left me wanting more. The big unanswered question: Just what
was 7 remembering?
Ashley Flanagan: Okay, not really a nit but there's something that really bothered me
here.
I'm glad that Seven's memories turned out to be false, as that's very
often the case with recovered memories. However, when everyone's
feeling guilty over Corvin's death -- not that they don't have every
reason to feel guilty -- they all seem to believe that they made a
mistake in even investigating this. I mean, should they have just
dismissed Seven's claims out of hand? That seems to be what the
implication. In retrospect (no pun intended) it's terrible that they
drove an innocent man to suicide, but they didn't know he was
innocent at the time, and the other option was to allow a possible
criminal to escape. The only one who really screwed up here was the
Holodoc in trying to counsel Seven. Comments?
John Reese of Austin, TX: I've only got one observation: Kovin said the Magistrate would not be impartial because he was only interested in maintaining diplomatic ties to
"people like you". Why would he be interested in diplomatic ties with
people who are just passing through?
Brian O'Marra, Little Rock, AR : First...not too bad an episode. Reminded me of the TNG epiosde "A Matter of
Perspective." There Riker was accused not only of murdering Apgar, but trying
to violate his wife. It was Riker's word against the word of the authorities
of Tanuga IV.
On to the nits....
First, as far as 7's newly added responsibilities goes, Janway said that 7 has
been behaving herself lately and so it would be okay to give her some
latitude. My, what a short memory! In the last episode "Prey," Janeway
reprimanded her and deny her access to the ship's systems. That was stardate
51652.3. This is now stardate 51679.4. Only 27.1 units. If we use our 1000
units equal a year method, we arrive at only 9 days. Considering 7's attack at
Kovin, and Janeway's umpteenth private meeting with her (Janeway herself said
she was getting tired of it), one would think of waiting a whole lot longer
before trusting her, again!
I found this whole "violation" thing a little bit hypocritical. Kovin was
accused of stealing her technology. Isn't this a Borg's raison d'etre? When
it's done to her, it's a violation. The show tries to skirt the issue by the
doctor arguing that if Kuvon took technology from the collective, he would
have merely been assimilated. However, by choosing 7 as an individual, it made
her vulnerable. The doctor further argued that this was an affront to
everything that 7 is: Borg and human. However, when the Borg assimilate
civilizations, don't they do it one individual at a time? Do the Borg worry
about the individual's vulnerability?
Lastly, when Kuvon beams away, the crew scan the planet and find that 300
kilometers above the surface there is a ship. This ship is later identified as
Kuvon's. The crew acts like the presence of the ship was a surprise. Didn't
Kuvon bring it there in the first place?
Lastly, the doctor wants Janway to authorize the deletion of enhancements he
has made to his program. In other words, he would be like he was originally.
I'm a little bit confused. If he can add enhancements to his program on his
own, and we've seen him do it lots of times, why can't he delete them? (Note from Phil: See my comments above!)
Claude Zimmerman: I guess I'm in the minority, but I thought this ep. harkened back to
earlier seasons (when V'ger [was consistently less than satisfying.]) Would the writers
please show some consistency with Janeway. Either that or reveal she has
multiple personalities or something. I think Kate Mulgrew is a fine
actress and could do great things with the character if only TPTB would
make the writers be consistent. Think about Kirk & Picard. When
examined, their decisions always seemed to be true to their character.
Sorry, had to vent.
My nit: Hmmm.. V'ger is built tough enough to withstand constant attack
by superior fire power and just need some routine touch-up. But, when
Chakotay bumps the railing on the bridge on his way around it ,it
wobbles like it's cheap plastic. I always knew Chakotay was THE MAN! :)
Bryan E. Wicks: Greetings All!!
I can't believe that in this day and age, someone would actually ask
"WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED between 7-of-9 and Kovin in Engineering?"
Whatever happened to the visual records that starships maintain onboard,
especially on the Engineering deck?? We know that they exist
(STIII-TSFS, TNG's The Drumhead), but does anyone bother to use it??
Nice to see Torres show some empathy to Seven after the incident on her
deck, especially since she essentially did the same thing, belting Carey
on the first episode.. Ever noticed how nose injuries always are treated
the same onboard?
And of course, we haven't even gotten past the second commercial... =
::smirk::
Robert J. Woolley: When Janeway is trying to sort out what really happened in the initial
altercatin in engineering, she is faced with very different versions of events
from 7 and from Kovin. Well, why not go to the tape? We established way back in
the original series that Starfleet ships keep log tapes that show incredible
details (e.g., close-ups on individual control panels) on all the activity on
board. Or maybe they discontinued this process after seeing how those logs could
be altered nefariously?
3/9/98 Update
Joe Griffin: [Concerning Voyager's lack of a ship counselor,] S/he probably died in the pilot.
[Concerning the installation of equipment prior to sale,] I work in a recording studio. Studios are _never_ exactly alike; each studio owner decides what particular combination of equipment suits his
needs best, and as such, merely trying out a new device in the store
doesn't tell him much. It's not uncommon for a dealer to come over to
the studio, set up the product he's selling, and integrate it into the
existing setup to see if it's a good match. I've had salesmen leave
workstations set up in my control room for a month in order to make sure
I'm making the right purchasing decision.
[Concerning the possibility of Seven being the object of sexual harassment or rape,] I am no expert on this, so please pardon me if in my ignorance I offend
anyone. This is a sensitive subject. Remember that rape is most often
an act of violence, not of sex. It's more to do with the presence of the
disturbed person committing the act than the particular victim. Ergo,
rape should be a possibility only if there were a rapist on board, in
which case every woman would be in danger, not just the drop-dead
gorgeous one. And please, give those of us who do not have those
tendencies a little credit for restraint and decency. I don't feel like
I have to fight down the urge to leap on every pretty woman I see.
I think the issue is more that someone at UPN or Paramount (or wherever
the preview originated) thinks that violence against women somehow
appeals to our prurient interest--not that we would be interested in a
serious episode about the issue of rape, but that we'd get off on
_seeing_ the rape. This low opinion of TV viewers, which paints us as
drooling perverts, is also responsible for "Married With Children" and
"Unhappily Ever After"--programs which are basically about middle-aged
men ogling underage women. But the message of this Voyager preview is
darker even than that; it goes beyond the usual objectification of
attractive people to imply that America's TV viewers get a sexual thrill
from witnessing a violent and degrading act against another human being.
Next year on Fox--"World's Bloodiest Snuff Films, part one and two!"
Or perhaps I'm overreacting. (Note from Phil: I don't know that you are. Unfortunately, commercial television exists for one reason--as a propoganda device to deliver behavior-altering advertisements. That's why it's called "commercial television." However, since it's difficult to predict the actual effect of such propoganda before it's broadcast, the industry instead relies on viewership to set advertising rates [and that in itself is an entirely different topic because it boggles my mind that people actually watch some of the shows that Nielson says are the most population shows on television]. Anyway, since it's all about "eyes on the tube," and since viewers tend to become desensitized to violent and sexual content after a while, creators in general tend to "up the ante" with each new generation of television programs. And, it works! For a while. Sort of. Until viewers get disgusted and begin turning to kinder, gentler shows like "Touched By An Angel." And then, of course, these same creators--who were more than happy to wallow in smut and brutality--suddenly clean themselves up and presto-chango they are great supporters of "quality television for families." ;-)
Robert J Woolley: Come to think of it, what Janeway needed was not so much the
video-monitoring system inside the ship, but the nifty lie detector that
the original Enterprise had built into it: "No physiological changes."
Pam Knowlton: Moses Lake, WA: Hmm... Looks as though all the good nits have been picked, which leaves me with my ruminations. I know that Trek writers like to do stories on
current social issues, but this story just didn't make sense. By the
24th century, psychiatrists will have already accepted what we are just
now beginning to figure out; that the human memory is extremely
vulnerable to suggestion and that recovered memories are highly suspect.
The Doc's new subroutine should have reflected that fact, but then we
wouldn't have a story at all, would we? Unless the memories are of an
alien species that hasn't learned that lesson yet, and then we would be
beating a dead horse.
On Janeway's character: One of 3 things is happening here. #1 Captain
Janeway is just a wee bit unstable, a la Capt. Kirk; #2 She's so far
from Starfleet Command that she has given up on sticking to protocol;
#3 the writers just don't know what to do with her. (or there are too
many writers on the show that fail to communicate with each other) I
vote for #3. (Note from Phil: Or . . . #4, the scripts are being constantly altered and rewritten by a group of producers who each have a different vision for the show and the characters end up with multiple personality disorder.)
Danielle Stuewe: Has anyone else noticed Capt. Janeway's new 'do? Who cuts their hair
anyway? Neelix? And does s/he complain to Torres that these away
missions are messing up her hair and she needs to use conditioner? Just
wondering.
Brian Henley: Just saw the latest episode of Voyager. It was okay. Not great, but okay. A
compliment to the creators, though. It's good to be revisited by Trek's
ability to make social commentery, in this case it would be criminal cases,
where patients were inaccurately convinced that they had been abused in some
way.
The graphics of Kovins'ship blowing up were MoPic quality, I thought.
But there are nits .... Oh, yes .... there are nits ...
NANJAO - Unfortunatley, the writers and controllers of Star Trek have little
controll of the previews, which are run by the UPN network, which owns the
rights to air Voyager, but dosn't always understand the workings of the story.
In fact I daresay that they don't even understand Star Trek at all, or if they
do, they ignore Treks deeper meanings in search of ratings. These UPN
dunderheads (strongest word I could use on a civil website) seem to tun their
backs on everything good and decent that trek stands for in order to generate
excitement.This is why we have these PALs.
Most gross example: As soon as I saw the preview and saw 7 say "He violated
me" they flash pictures of all the important males on the ship. Yeah. Sure. I
believed them.
I'm probably cruel, but I wasn't to regretfull when Kovin was vaporized. I'm
just a little surprised that none of the crew shrugged and said (Too bad. He
was a jerk anyhoo.)
This might me a Trek first. Seven refers to Kovin's Really Big Zap Gun as a
"firearm" I've never heard Trek call a energy weapon a firearm, before.
Kovin might be seen as a disaster waiting to happen. He deals with weapons,
which is dangerous. He also seems to be a merhcant in weapons, in short a gun
runner. A leagal gun runner, but one nonetheless. That too is dangerous. He
even alludes to how dangerous the Quadrant is. Then, later on at the rifle
range, they mention that the weapon uses an unstable "fuel". This guy lives
with too many risks. Doesn't this sound a little like bomb squad expert who
likes to smoke on the job? I'm amazed his predictably spectacular death wasn't
waaaay before he met voyager.
TIOTS- Call Allstate! Revoke Voyager's Starship Insurance! Reason? Unsafe
captianing habits. This is the second episode in a row where Voyager nearly
gets fried because of an amazingly dumb reason. Let the Hirogen fry the ship
because we want to save 8472? Let Kovin attack the ship and not even fire
back? (oh, phil - so much for Kirkinization - I'd just like to see Kovin TRY
to attack NCC-1701. He wouldn't last long enough to get a second shot off!)
Next Week: Janeway & Co. get to [fight the Nazis]! As Indiana Jones said:
"Nazies! I hate these guys."
Annie Lette: This is an anti nit. After reading the other nits, I felt this needed
to be said. 7 of 9 believed she was raped. People are saying it was
not sexual. I say to you how do Borg reproduce? --by assimilation. The
nanoprobes were extracted through her assimilation probes i.e. her
sexual organs. What happened in this episode is the writers attempt to
explore the contemporary issue of sexual assault. The story confusing
as it was followed what typically happens in any rape trial in real
life. Just because Korvin was found not guilty does not mean he didn't
do it. Lots of people who did commit a crime get away with it due to
lack of evidence or other technicality. I believe this episode to be a
valiant effort by the writers to tackle a subject not easily talked
about which is truly in the tradition of Star Trek. (Note from Phil: Just an observation . . . continuing with the analogy. What we really have in this episode then is the story of a female who formerly was a habitual sexual offender--a person who routinely and remorselessly assualted anyone and everyone she encountered and now that she has begrudingly given up that lifestyle she has possibly become a target for the same kind of attack. Hmmm. That would have been an interesting angle to explore!)
Gregory Pietsch: Why should Holodoc be uncertain as to whether he wants to delete certain
algorithms in his programming? If his decision-making skills are that
bad, I'd say there's a BIG bug in his programming!
Derek Moffitt: Well, it's been a month and a half since Voyager was cancelled out here,
and I'm starting to get over the withdrawal. Fortunately, I have made arrangement to get taped Voyager episodes mailed to me from one of the few parts of the country that still gets UPN.
Unfortunately, I have to wait six weeks to get a whole tape at a time, so
I won't be seeing them anytime soon. And I've already missed "Waking
Moments" and "Message in a Bottle" for good. Aargh!
However, I'm starting to feel a bit out of the loop here, so I thought I'd
jump in to the dicussion on the last Voyager episode even though I haven't
seen it. (Why let a little thing like total ignorance stop me from
spouting off my opinions, eh?) Without further ado, then, here are my
comments on "Retrospect".
Since the first stardate given was 51679.4, I'd guess that the 51658.2 was
an error for 51685.2. The transposition was probably made by whoever
spoke the line (remember the TNG ep where Riker gave a four-digit stardate
by mistake?), but it could have been a typo in the script.
About Seven's assimilation tubules: is it possible that they regenerated?
We've seen (in "The Raven") that her implants can do that. Alternatively,
the same component that contains the tubules might perform some other
essential function, like keeping her bloodstream stocked with nanoprobes,
thus preventing Holodoc from removing it. Granted, that's a stretch,
but....
I don't find it at all odd that Seven sees herself in her memories rather
than seeing events through her own eyes. I myself nearly always remember
events this way, so I guess I'd always sort of assumed that everyone else
does too. From some comments on the page, however, that appears not to be
the case, so now I'm wondering which form of memory is more common. How
does everyone else out there feel about this: when you remember an event
that you were involved in, do you see it from your own perspective, as you
did at the time, or from an external perspective? This would probably be
an interesting study for someone to do, like the ones about what
percentage of people dream in black and white.... (Note from Phil: Personally, I remember it from my perspective, not third-person.)
A ship that loses power at impulse speeds will continue to move forward
(almost) indefinitely, but a ship that loses power while traveling at warp
will come to a stop in seconds to minutes, as soon as its warp field is
fully dissipated. Not having seen the episode, I don't know which should
apply here.
Joshua Truax: This one just occurred to me the other day. To be honest, I'm amazed no
one else has thought of it yet either: Doesn't it strike anyone else as
odd that Doc Hologram, aka Mr. "I'm a doctor, not a [insert any given
non-medical profession here]", would all of a sudden make such a big
leap outside the scope of his expertise?
Vicent: I was reading the brash refractios (I just love seeing my name and
comments on screen!!!) and a few thoughts occurred to me.
Why cant they simply scan the planet for Borg life signs. Maybe they
can find that guy who waws assimilated.
In kovans version, he and Seven were alone, but in sevens version, his
assistants were there. Well does he ave assistants and if so, why
weren't they questioned?
Someone mentioned a time decrepency in sevens version compared to
Kovans. Well, if she were out cold, even for a second, should't Voyager
have been notified right away and not just a report filed?
If both the doc and Seven were acting without malice and trying to get
to the truth, why are they wrong?
Janeway made a big deal about how they had to find out the truth not
only for Sevens sake but becase it would be to dangerouse to leave the
Borg nanprobes lying around in the wrong hands. O.K. makes sense so why
stop getting to the truth since they think Kovans dead. They should
continue to investigate till they know for sure, and for Sevens sake!
And most important, it seems from the opinions I've read, alot of
people see the same basic problem, that of Seven not being proved wrong.
So how about a a vote. How many people think he did it? This is not a
court of law, so just your best guess will do. (Note from Phil: I don't think the creators gave us enough evidence to venture anything more than a guess!)
Shon Libby: I've got some anti-nits:
Giving 7 a lie detector test would have been futile, b/c she believed that
her recovered memories were true, therefore she would pass the test even if
the memories were false.
If the accidental discharge of the weapon caused 7 to pass out, I am fairly
certain that she would not have any idea of how much time had passed when she
regained consciousness (assuming being unconscious is like being under general
anesthesia and basically short-circuits your internal time sense).
Lisa Solinas: Now this stank. It's like, "Night of the Living
Nanoprobes."
Why why why are Borg nanoprobes vulnerable to those blasts? It seems like bad
design if nanoprobes are skittering around your cube, sticking their little mechanical arms
in front of them....
This is officially a part of the "Hirogen Arc" a ripoff of DS9's "War Arc". But they
don't feature the Hirogen; there's only a casual reference from Tom to them.
One possibility: Kovin is discovered to be smuggling nanoprobes to the Hirogen to
make a weapon. Voyager destroys nanoprobes. End.
A good episode is like a piece of weaving. If you don't tie off the ends, it all collapses.
What is going on here?
I doubt it's just a memory of Borg assimilation. The procedure was entirely different. How
could the Borg come up with taking nanoprobes from a person they were assimilating? Also, in
"Raven", Seven remembers herself as a little girl. If she were remembering her assimilation,
why would she see herself as an adult?
And supposing, just suppposing, that the scene Seven saw was her own assimilation.
Then why would they stop assimilating her to assimilate another person?
These people don't realize something. Even if there is the slightest bit of evidence
suggesting that Kovin didn't extract any nanoprobes, that doesn't mean Seven was
wrong. It doesn't mean he's innocent. As a Vulcan, Tuvok should say that.
Janeway refuses to blast Kovin. For crying out loud, Kirkanization is down the drain.
This guy is hammering her shields down, and after that he's going to hammer the hull
down. Firing would be perfectly ethical, especially since more people would die if
something didn't happen.
If an investigation would ruin Kovin, wouldn't the Magistrate say, "Now, wait, let's
think for a moment...."
Seven reacts badly to having the biobed arm arc over her. Where does this phobia
come from? [It's a little too "Schisms" for me. I thought someone was going to whip
out a pair of scissors]
Where does the chemical blocker come from? Once it's gone, Seven has this memory.
Does this sound like "Equilibrium"?
I think there's another reason that Janeway didn't want to reinitialize the Holodoc.
"Turn you back to a paranoid, ice-cold, obnoxious guy with a major attitude problem?
What sort of a loony do you think I am?"
They gave the wrong impression in the preview. My parents almost forbade me
because they thought Seven was going to be raped. And would Janeway react more
strongly to a rape that to stealing her nanoprobes? Probably not.
Couldn't the doc tell.... somehow.... if Seven's hand had been burned and healed in
the last few days? Wouldn't certain cells be younger?
Incidently, often Starfleet installations also have voice recordings. There was "The
Undiscovered Country" where a recording of Kirk's is played at the trial. And there is the
DS9 episode "Tribunal" where a recording is altered to pin blame on O'Brian.
Kirk Johnson of Roselle, IL: Seeing how quickly you "professional" nitpickers get your nits on the web site, "Retrospect" is old by now. Anyway, here's what I noticed:
The doctor says he has been downloading psychobabble techniques into his
program. Didn't he learn his lesson in "Darkling?" No offense, doc, you're
one of my favorites, but this seems just a bit foolish after that other
incident.
Did anyone else recognize Kovin? In fact, he was the security officer on
board the Enterprise E in First Contact.
This is just my opinion, but Janeway should've shot back at Kovin when he was
attacking them. Isn't there something in protocol about that, I mean if your
shields are destroyed and you're under attack? (Phil, do you know if there
is?) Surely Tuvok would've intervened and said it was "logical" to return
fire. But only the Magistrate has the right idea? All in all, I thought this
was a good episode, especially with its concern with the mind (I always like
episodes that deal with the mind), but Janeway's decision is, if I may say so,
foolish.
Dustin Westfall: Yet again, most of mine were taken (I have to work Wednesday nights
sometimes, so I can't catch it until Sunday), but here's a couple I
didn't see.
Part of Covin's sales pitch is that people will fear Voyager by
reputation alone. Janeway seems to like the idea. My, what a short
memory she has. Remember back in season 1 when no one would help Voyager
because of their reputation involving the Kazon? Does she really want
everything to be like that, again?
Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see the restraining bar(the one that the
bio-bed reminded her of) in Seven's flashback.
It has been alluded to, but I think I'll just say it: Why would anyone
use this assimilation weapon? Wouldn't it turn their opponent's into
Borg, giving them adaptive personal shields, and assimilation tubules in
order to assimilate the person who turned them into Borg?!?!?
Finally, after Coven disables the sensors on Voyager, why are there
still stars on the viewscreen?
Bradley Hastings: While watching Retrospect this morning I noticed something. When the
Doctor is questioning Seven, she remembers what Kovin was doing to her
but, when they take her nanoprobes the tubules are on her right hand.
When Kovin uses the dermal
PLEASE NOTE: This file is frozen. I think we've done all we're going to do on it! You're welcome to send addition nits but I will simply keep them on file for future inclusion in a possible Voyager Nitpickers Guide.
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Copyright 1998 by Phil Farrand. All Rights Reserved.