Voyager Flashback: Retrospect

One shouldn't be surprised to find, when watching TV episodes that are 25 or 50 years old, some content that makes you recoil a bit -- or to perhaps feel grateful that social progress has been made.  Star Trek ages better than most television, no doubt because it's future-looking and grounded in inclusive ideals. But even it can have the occasional episode that doesn't age well. Voyager's "Retrospect" is one of those.

Janeway is negotiating for upgraded weapons technology from an alien arms dealer with a distasteful personality. He turns out to be a predator when Seven of Nine recalls being captured and subjected to a medical procedure in his lab. But is the memory genuine, or the product of latent memories from her time with the Borg? And to what degree is the Doctor scrambling those memories as he tests out new psychological subroutines?

It is simply a fact than human memory is unreliable. It's well documented that with the passage of time, people can come to recall -- in vivid detail -- events that never actually happened, while genuinely believing them to be true. The writers of Star Trek: Voyager came across this information and were inspired to create this episode that they intended to be all about Seven experiencing a false memory.

The problem is that the memory happens to be about a skeevy man violating a woman. Even at the time, the writers say they knew this put the story pretty close to the topic of "date rape," which they hoped to steer around. With the passage of 24 years, it seems clear that they did not. Watching "Retrospect" today, you hardly think about the intellectual curiosities of false memories as you watch this clear example of everything the MeToo movement stands for -- and see Star Trek kinda take the wrong side.

I say "kinda" because this episode does not quite go so far as to argue that we should "not believe women." B'Elanna is a witness to an early physical altercation between Seven and the alien Kovin, and she says he provoked it. When Seven later comes forward with her memory, Janeway immediately does what every Star Trek captain does when a crew member claims some wild science-fiction experience -- she believes Seven and investigates things seriously.

But in the course of the investigation, the episode means for us to understand that Seven is actually mistaken. Kovin is telling the truth. The threat to his reputation is meant to be more serious than the possibility of what was done to Seven. Corroborating evidence for Seven's story can't be found. (You'd think they could scan the planet for the Borg drone she remembers Kovin creating in his lab!) The episode that starts out believing Seven ends up with the audience meant to understand that everyone (including her) knows she was wrong. And sure, this is one weird sci-fi case that isn't deliberately commenting on all cases. But it's awfully cringe-worthy that this rare episode dealing with the topic chooses to depict that "the accused man was absolutely, 100% telling the truth."

As uncomfortable as all that is to watch, there are at least a few good elements in the mix. This is a good story arc for the Doctor, as he starts out literally thinking himself to be better than everyone else (talking about the "lower standards" of the rest of the crew), and realizing in the end that he is quite fallible. Robert Picardo gives a strong, impassioned performance. Though it's maybe another problem that this is a better Doctor episode than a Seven episode, as he paternalistically pushes Seven to feel a rage she herself was not inclined to feel.

Jeri Ryan gives a good performance in the episode too -- as she usually does when asked to stretch beyond the most rigid version of her character. The way director Jesús Salvador Treviño films the episode is intriguing too, with unusual camera work for the show, and a particular style within the flashbacks that subtly untethers the events from reality.

Other observations:

• The episode certainly opens with a big impression, as Voyager uses a spiky space drone for target practice.

• There's mention of the Hirogen in this episode, but I can't help but miss their presence after so many good episodes featuring them.
  

"Retrospect" was probably meant to be Star Trek: Voyager's Rashomon. (Every TV show gets around to that idea if it runs long enough.) But today, it stands as more of a monument. Yes, we still have a long way to go... but at least we've come farther than this. This episode is a watchable, though uncomfortable, C.