Voyager is within range of a vast communications network reaching all the way to the Alpha Quadrant, and Seven of Nine is able to tap in and detect a Federation starship on the far side. When efforts to send a conventional signal fail, the crew decides to send a holographic message in the form of the Doctor, who is transported through the network to that distant ship... only to discover that it's been taken over by the Romulans. Only he and the ship's own Emergency Medical Hologram can save the day. Back aboard Voyager, the crew waits helplessly for word from the Doctor, and Paris faces the possibility that he might become the ship's physician if the Doctor fails to return.
It might say something about my feelings on Voyager's standard format that I think one of their best episodes so far is the one to fundamentally change that format. Yes, the ship is still lost in the Delta Quadrant at the end of this installment, but Starfleet knowing they're out there gives everybody hope. The Doctor's delivery of Starfleet's message to Janeway, "you're no longer alone," makes for a surprisingly moving final scene.
That said, the tone of everything before that final scene is decidedly different. It feels like on paper, it shouldn't work for such an important premise with such high stakes to be played for comedy. But the Doctor is the most effective comedic character on the show (though the writers seem to think it's Neelix), and having him interact with a holographic doctor who's even more prickly than he is is simply a good "scene suggestion" for an episode to be "improvised" around.
Andy Dick is an interesting casting choice for the episode, bringing a behavior and delivery quite at odds with Star Trek in general. It's perfect for a making a "comic duo" of he and the Doctor, and leads to plenty of great moments. (This exchange is gold: "Stop breathing down my neck." "My breathing is only a simulation." "So is my neck!") Dick's guest performance is tainted somewhat if you have knowledge of his subsequent atrocious real-life behavior, but to watch older entertainment is to be forced to confront thoughts and feelings on this topic with unfortunate regularity.
Where I think the episode loses momentum a bit is in cutting back to Voyager as often as it does. One scene away from the Doctor's Alpha Quadrant adventure makes sense to me: show us the helplessness of just waiting, have the characters talk about the prospect of letters from home, introduce the threat of the Hirogen (appearing for the first time!). But the subplot of Paris worrying about becoming the ship's doctor just doesn't work for me. It cuts away from the tension so frequently that it makes the Doctor feel like he's in less danger than he really is, and it regresses Paris into a bit of a whiner.
Other observations:
- The Doctor turns out to be a good "spy" in this episode, though not a very good doctor. When he first arrives on Prometheus, he awakens a crewman long enough to deliver an ominous line or two and then die.
- "Multi-vector assault mode," a sort of Super Saucer Separation, is a fun gimmick. Though basically butt dialing it at the end of the episode to save the ship is a bit of a cop-out.
- Great Star Trek pedigree among other guest stars in this episode. The Romulan captain is Judson Scott, who played Joachim in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. And the first Hirogen, Tiny Ron, played the Grand Nagus' silent valet Maihar'du on Deep Space Nine.
- Neelix just has to manufacture jeopardy on some scale at all times. Here, his food experiments give a bunch of the crew heartburn.
- The bridge and sickbay of Prometheus are two neat sets. You could never have the regular main ship of a Star Trek show be that white and pristine; it would be simply impossible to keep it clean.
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