Author, Author (2)

 DVD, Voyager S7 (Author, Author) (2)

A fun dance across genres, this was one of the last Doctor-centric stories of the series, so it's fitting that it has both comedic and dramatic elements worthy of such a standout character. They were realising at this point the end was nigh and there were certain plot threads to do with this disparate crew's personal circumstances on an individual level that pointed to the ramifications of their eventual destination at journey's end: some, such as the Maquis were no longer going to be an issue or Starfleet would have brought it up in their occasional communications with Voyager, but others had more pressing issues: the Doctor was merely an advanced hologram Starfleet's eyes, Seven's only connection to Earth was a lost childhood, and Neelix wasn't even from that region of space, and to a lesser or greater extent all these are explored here. It's always been difficult not to look at the series in the light of how 'DS9' finished out its run with a huge ten-part story to wrap up the many plots and arcs, and while some parts of that were questionable or didn't quite work (Dukat/Winn, Ezri/Worf, for examples), on the whole it did justice to what was the most complex and satisfying Trek series ever made. With 'Voyager' they tended to react to the shadow of 'DS9' by trying to do the opposite, and while I'm not going to get into the series finale here, it's nice to see they didn't entirely drop the ball on the story-lode of potential, even if perhaps they were introducing solid developments a little too late to be able to capitalise on them.

The major change for Trek's universe is quite clearly the idea that holograms could be classed as people in much the same way as Data drove forward the issue of whether he could be considered life and had personhood (a deep cut reference to 'The Measure of A Man' comes with the Doc's publisher saying he could be the next K'Ratak, a Klingon author first mentioned in that episode!). The situations aren't quite the same because although both androids and holograms were designed to be tools, something humans could use for their benefit, the former was designed with the plan of developing innate desires to become more like his creator, while the latter was a computer program. The line between recreational holograms and their status as sentient life had been blurred for some time thanks to the Doctor, but he was existing in a pocket of the universe and not having any effect on wider society, and though 'DS9' had also played with the issue thanks to Vic Fontaine, who knew his own limitations and had no wish to exceed them, there was no serious attempt to examine what the essence of holographic life was and they'd remained tools perhaps due to the ease of creation - you can make endless numbers of holograms, there isn't actual physical manufacturing involved, it's all much more ethereal and the use were mainly for fictional creations rather than beings that would learn and grow. Of course any hologram could have that potential, just as any mechanical device could be developed further, but the spark of life has to be more than mere data (no offence, Data!). The Doctor was unique because he'd been allowed so much latitude (eventually), had the benefit of technology from the far future, and the necessity to develop rapidly for the survival of the crew more than himself.

All this is just skirting the issue, I don't think holograms would have become generally sentient or why have them at all, there has to be a reason for their existence in the same way animals bred for food would have little purpose without that end goal. At the same time it did throw up all kinds of questions about the future of the 24th Century and what it would be like, one reason why I always hoped for more Trek post-'Voyager,' and had to make do with jumping back in the timeline for 'Enterprise' (as much as it was pleasing to have the 22nd Century fleshed out), and reboots/prequels the only successor until the coming of the questionable 'Picard,' which pretty much ignored any interesting in-universe plot threads and continued on with its galaxy-destroying serial of the year as pioneered by the weak 'Discovery.' I notice even 'Lower Decks,' set only a few years after 'Voyager,' almost never shows any holographic crew, I can't even remember an EMH aboard. Does this mean Starfleet pulled back from developing such useful tools due to the Doctor, or is it simply the case the writers didn't know what to do with the idea and decided to leave it alone? Thanks to 'DS9' and 'Voyager' you'd have expected holographic assistants to have become more prevalent as the technology improved, but there's not really much to be gained by looking for answers in modern Trek, for all its pretty effects it's often largely quite vacuous and the opposite of satisfying intellectual exploration of ideas.

I couldn't help but think of the state of Trek then and now in the Doctor's line about how his holoprogram exploring the life of a hologram aboard a starship was a serious attempt at social commentary, while Paris' parody of his work was an 'insulting farce,' because that really does sum up the situation very well! But enough about Trek as it is (despite the Doctor being the last old-Trek regular to join a modern series in 'Starfleet Academy'), let's enjoy what it was and should have continued being! It is a delight to see the Doc back to his insensitive ways as he always used to be, and it makes another pertinent point that resonates with today: not just the rise of artificial intelligence and what that might mean for humanity, but the victim culture we're all encouraged to subscribe to. In this case the Doctor expresses feelings of being hard done by through his literary outlet, whether it be the limitations of his life or dismissing the great gift that he should never have had for its damage to the timeline in the mobile emitter (think of how much he's done thanks to that - how could he possibly not have altered the timeline since it wasn't supposed to be invented until the 29th Century!), a boon he's presenting as a burden, the constant reminder of being different - it's all a matter of perspective, and in our modern culture where we have so much that we're constantly ungrateful for, as opposed to poorer parts of the world where people appreciate the little they have, it really shows where modern society has gone, the example of the Doctor's ingratitude only increasing.

Rather than celebrating the fact he exists at all, and that he was allowed to progress into sentience when at the start he was merely an emergency addition, he chooses to focus on the negative side of things, and that's not usually the Trek way, perhaps a hint of the darker path it was to tread in the 21st Century productions (I know, technically it's already being made in the 21st Century, but I'll always think of the series as being of the 90s). You can see they're trying to draw parallels with slavery and oppression, but it's not wise to be putting your idealistic futuristic heroes in the shade unless you really are making the point that even 24th Century humans aren't actually the 'evolved' beings Roddenberry wanted them to be, and accepting that even in fiction we can't really paint humanity as being Good. In one sense I'm fine with that, because I believe we're fallen beings, not an ever-improving group of animals that have somehow got to the level of 'civilised' and are only going to get better. Human nature doesn't change. The difference is that I view Trek as escapist drama, not that I believe in its reality as a signpost of our actual future (for the best in some ways: World War III is due this century...), so while I'm open to seeing individuals grow and change, overcoming prejudices or whatever, I wouldn't want the world to be considered inherently wrong in itself, as it would if holograms really were slaves. The stark difference is that humans were there already, while holograms were designed to be an addition.

There might be a case to answer for the humaneness of allowing holograms to develop as Doc and Vic had, but then they were special cases rather than what all holograms were designed to be. The shot at the end with all the Mark I EMHs (Emerging Menial Holograms?), breaking rocks like they're in some kind of penal colony, doesn't seem quite realistic to me - if they'd given it some context, like they're in an important Dilithium mine to keep Starfleet's ships running, then it might have seemed likely, but just using them for the sake of it smacks of writers trying to make a point. There's the impression there could be some kind of holo-revolution brewing as they tell each other of the Doc's holonovel, and that could have been a direction to explore had Trek continued in this era. Otherwise it leaves too much hanging and uncertain, and we already know the Mark I's were meant for short term medical assistance, so what would they be doing as miners? It doesn't make much sense so there is that slight irritation of a thread that was going to go nowhere. The issues at hand are as much about free speech and the value of reputation, and the defamation of such: whether it's fine to write a thinly veiled social commentary on those you work with on a day-to-day basis that will give readers (or viewers, or participators, however you describe a holonovel user!), a skewed idea of reality.

A far bigger question once again goes to the use of personal image! The crew really don't seem all that bothered about their bodies being co-opted for a holoprogram that anyone can see, it's more about the inconsistencies. On one hand I can understand they're much more relaxed about such things in the future (at least in Starfleet and in reasonable circumstances - Kira was furious to be the object of Quark's nefarious holoprogram back in 'DS9'), because they don't think cynically as a rule, but at the same time your face is yours and it's just always seemed wrong and an invasion of privacy when Holodecks recreate a living person, as far back as Reg Barclay in 'Hollow Pursuits.' They missed a trick here, since Reg is actually in this episode, but never has any scenes with the Doc where he might have reminded him of that time and how it didn't help endear him to his crewmates (although there are plenty of other good references to past Trek, such as the Doc's publisher also doing the Dixon Hill series that goes back to Season 1 'TNG'). In fact, other than the idea that Reg is behind the now regular communication with the ship, he was redundant, which is a waste of Dwight Schultz's talents in his penultimate appearance, as much as I like to see the little gang back home, though this time it's only he and Admiral Paris. I wish they'd developed the Starfleet HQ side of the series more, giving them their own stories that integrated with Voyager - to be fair they usually did that with Barclay, but not so this time.

Forgetting the personal problems the crew have with seeing doubles, it's great fun for us viewers when we get alternative versions of our familiar characters: 'Mr. Marseilles' with his ridiculous moustache (they never look good!), Chakotay as the Bajoran Katanay (which sounds right for the race), sporting a different large facial tattoo, B'Elanna gets to be human Torrey for the first time since Season 1's 'Faces,' I believe, and Harry is 'Kymble,' more like the evil Voyager crew as seen in 'Living Witness,' only this is a reverse of what happened there because the EMH was the one defending his crew's reputation rather than playing with it! Even Seven, in the guise of Three of Eight has blinky Borg lights that are deliberately excessive, and of course Tuvok is Tulak and gets to wear the evil goatee beard of the Mirror Universe, which probably explains why I'm always surprised when the actual Mirror Tuvok was beardless in his one appearance on 'DS9'! At the least, the issue of personal privacy and image is addressed, since the Doc claims the physical parameters were merely a starting point. Perhaps we can accept them as placeholders? The weird thing is that the episode skirts with parodying real life since here both the Doctor and Neelix are interested in writing, and in real life both actors did release a book based on their character, though I don't remember if that was before or after the series for either the Hologram's Handbook or Neelix' cookbook.

Neelix is, as generally the case, one who doesn't have much to do, but what he did made an impact - he's so diplomatic, giving up his precious comms chip where each person is allowed three minutes a day to contact someone on Earth, based on a queue of the higher number being closer to the front. On reflection, Neelix wouldn't have anyone to contact so it makes sense for him to give it up, but at the same time, neither did the Doctor until he got in touch with the Bolian publisher (another episode, another Bolian in a suit!), and it would have been interesting to hear whom he may have got in touch with - someone from Starfleet asking to support him in entering the Academy? Permission to live on Earth? Who knows, he certainly didn't expect to leave the ship, but the dissolution of Voyager's crew would have been one more fascinating aspect of returning home that would have given ample drama to mine. Another generous character is Seven. In her case she's somewhat afraid to make contact with her Aunt Irene, but when Harry graciously refuses to take her chip when offered she boldly takes the Borg by the horns and is delightfully apologetic to this long-lost family member (once again, a far cry from the embittered, hard-drinking misery of 'Picard' - touchingly, Irene calls her by the name Annika, an identity she rejects in the stupid later series, full of its cynical, negative destruction of characters). Torres, too, has a moment of healing with her Father (or at least the promising groundwork for it), a brilliant touch to get him back again after he'd appeared only a few episodes ago in flashback. Not forgetting Kim's parents (his Mum wants to know when he's going to be promoted and he makes a good point that it's a small ship and there's only so many posts aboard), whom we'd heard about from day one - it's all such pure delight that it makes you realise how much the series has been missing by being stranded so far from home.

The live image of Earth Admiral Paris sends Voyager was surprisingly moving since it's the first time they've seen Earth where it's not an alternate timeline or the past, but the genuine, real, contemporary Earth, many of the crew's home planet and the base of operations for the Federation and Starfleet, and it's momentous for them to finally be within 'touching distance,' almost. That's the quality of the episode, that it can jump from poignancy to comedy to commentary and has fun along the way. By the end we've had broad comedy, sensitive drama and finish up with practically a trial episode, so they crammed a lot in and my only complaint would be that it seems to rush by far too quickly. The characters are used well, Tuvok, for example getting his usual role of impeccable legal defence of a crewmate, and quite the gall of the Arbitrator (Joseph Campanella who died in his 90s in 2018), to tell a Vulcan his logic was flawed! But the right result came through in the end, both allowing the Doctor the value of an artist, while also leaving his personhood to be determined in future, a touch of what life would have been like for him had we been afforded time to sit with the characters back in the Alpha Quadrant. A mere taster, you could say, but what was there was very tasty indeed. There are some great links back to other guest roles: Barry Gordon (Broht), had been a Ferengi in 'DS9' (Season 1's 'The Nagus'), and Kim's parents had both appeared before, Robert Ito as another character, again way back in a first season, this time 'TNG' ('Coming of Age'), while Irene Tsu had previously played his Mother in Season 3's 'Favourite Son,' so a very nice touch they had her return. Just a shame they couldn't get the actor who played Dr. Zimmerman to reprise his role!

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