Synopsis:
A rescue mission puts Torres and the Doctor in the
hands of a psychopathic hologram.
In the midst of a ceremony celebrating Tuvok's promotion
to Lieutenant Commander, Voyager receives an automated distress call sent
by Dejaren, an alien hologram, who says that his crew is dead and he needs
help. The Doctor, anxious to meet a fellow hologram, tracks the source of
the transmission and is assigned to the rescue mission along with Torres.
Upon their arrival on the disabled Serosian ship, they meet Dejaren, who
is pleased to see another "lifeform" like himself.
The hologram says that his crew became infected with a
deadly virus, which killed them all. Dejaren is awed by the Doctor's
freedom and abilities; his crew never let him out of his chamber or
treated him as anything other than machinery. Later, as Torres works to
repair Dejaren's systems, Dejaren lashes out at her verbally, castigating
her organic body and way of life. Torres shares her concerns about the
hologram with the Doctor and informs him that Dejaren lied about the lower
deck being filled with harmful radiation. Perhaps there's something down
there that he doesn't want them to see. Although the Doctor empathizes
with his fellow hologram, he agrees to keep Dejaren occupied while she
investigates.
As he talks to Dejaren, the Doctor begins to realize that
Torres was right. The hologram is pathologically bitter toward
"organics." On the lower deck, Torres finds the bloody bodies of
the crew and it's clear they didn't die from a virus. As she hurriedly
tries to deactivate Dejaren's program, the homicidal hologram appears and
nearly kills her before she manages to shut him off.
Meanwhile, aboard Voyager, Harry Kim is assigned to work
with Seven of Nine on the new Astrometrics lab. Kim is uneasy working with
the Borg, but their detail provides them with the basis of a friendship.
However, Kim is rattled when Seven of Nine interprets his pleasantries as
romantic seduction and she decides to further explore her resurgent
humanity.
On the Serosian ship, the Doctor and Torres find that the
hologram has disabled their communication link to the shuttle. As they
work to restore it, Dejaren reactivates himself and knocks out Torres. He
disconnects the Doctor's mobile emitter, causing the Emergency Medical
Hologram to disappear. Torres awakens and flees, but a murderous Dejaren
pursues her. Finally, she manages to destabilize his matrix with an
isomagnetic conduit, deactivating him for good, and brings the Doctor back
on-line. Both return to Voyager with a new appreciation for the Doctor's
unique -- and stable -- personality. |

Doctor aboard a crippled alien ship
Overall Rating: A good episode
with lots of continuity and mentions of other episodes and events. I even
got a chuckle out of Harry's pathetic come-ons to Seven. I love Torres and
the doctor also intrigues me so this episode was one of the better ones in
my opinion.
Subtext Rating: None
Tape worthy? Yes, if for no
other reason than to see Seven make Harry run away like a scared little
boy. That's my girl!
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