The Doctor learns that someone has erased several of his memories. Yet the fact of that is not as shocking as the reason for it: a moral conundrum that his ethical subroutines cannot resolve threatens to corrupt his entire program.
This is an interesting stew of an episode with a lot of ingredients -- as you might note from the three credited writers on the story. I think it's wise that this episode isn't too much of just one thing, though. The mystery of the Doctor's missing memories is intriguing at first, but the audience figures out that Captain Janeway is responsible well before the "encyclopedia anatomy transparencies" revelation of her holographic representation. The decay of the Doctor's faculties is potent, but also too similar to a previous episode's subplot to fill more of the run time here. Janeway's moral conundrum is interesting, though the nature of the choice and the stoic way she approaches it feels pretty reminiscent of "Tuvix." But because none of these elements are the sole focus of the episode for long, each is able to provide good moments.
In the early going, it's fun that the Doctor turns to Seven of Nine as an investigator. There is a conspiracy here, but it predates her arrival on the ship, so she is unaware of the context and willing to help. The episode seems to want us to figure out the "who" before actually revealing it, knowing that the "why" is far more interesting. So it gives us knowing looks between characters, and an apparently immovable moral stance by Janeway. Most effectively, it puts Seven in the position of moral advocacy for the rights of an individual (not a Collective), and then allows Janeway to be moved off that "immovable" stance because of it.
As the episode segues into "how we got here," we get an interesting blend of emotional trial and science fiction trappings. The Doctor has to make an choice to save one of two lives, and because he is a program who can experience a "run time error," he ends up breaking down as a result. But I find this the weakest part of the story. For one thing, there's a big "bump" getting into it, in the fact that Tom Paris is there at the moment of the decision. For the story to work, Paris can't "make the Doctor's decision for him," and yet it's unthinkable that he wouldn't lobby to save Harry Kim over some random ensign. Then there's the fact that the Doctor's breakdown doesn't have enough screen time to be gradual. The reality of the pace of making TV means that Robert Picardo doesn't have the time to craft a nuanced performance -- so he pretty much ends up ranting like a psychopath (as he did in a previous episode).
Finally, the episode focuses on Janeway as she reevaluates and reverses the decision she made. I love seeing a stoic leader reconsider like this, and I really love that the situation makes her seem more strong (not less) for doing so. Yet while I praise not revisiting a version of the Tuvix dilemma at length, I do think not quite enough time is given here either. I'm not sure the episode convincingly leaves us at a point where we believe in the Doctor's eventual recovery. It just sort of... ends. (Apparently, script writer Joe Menosky had an alternate version of the final scene that was heavily rewritten by show runner Brannon Braga, and Menosky insists his version would have been better.)
Other observations:
- The physical examination the Doctor gives Janeway early on in her ready room is absolutely ridiculous. What the hell kind of "medical techniques" is he using?
- Janeway drinks coffee at 2 AM? And doesn't have trouble sleeping because of it?
- Of course, Kes should be present in these flashbacks to the Doctor's past. (But isn't, for obvious production reasons.)
While I believe this episode had to be the sort of hodgepodge that it is, I also think it gets shorted for time in key areas, and consequently asks too much of its actors with too few scenes. It's still reasonably effective, though; I give "Latent Image" a B.
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