Customer Reviews

Star Trek - Voyager, Episode 17: Projections [VHS]

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The doctor materializes in sickbay to discover the entire ship has been abandoned and heavily damaged. In his attempt to figure out what happened he runs into Torres who with the captain stayed behind to try to save the ship from a warp core breach. Janeway is on the bridge unconscious so B'elanna transfers him there to assist. Later on he is approached by Barclay who says he is a real person who is suffering from kenoplasmic radiation exposure and can't be freed. The only way he can save his life is to destroy the ship!!!!!

On a "Star Trek" series the most interesting character for the writers ends up being the least human member of the crew, and on "Star Trek: Voyager" that would be the Doctor since everybody else is organic. In Episode 17 "Projections" (Written by Brannon Braga, Aired September 11, 1995) the Emergency Medical Hologram project is activated because of an emergency. The Doctor (Robert Picardo) discovers that most of the crew has abandoned the ship. Torres explains that "Voyager" was attacked by the Kazon and that she and the Captain stayed aboard to stop a warp core breach. Janeway has been injured and by using the newly installed holo-emitters the Doctor is sent to the Bridge. But it is while helping Neelix fight a Kazon that the Doctor is stunned to find that he is bleeding and is informed by the computer that he is not an EMH but its creator, the real Dr. Lewis Zimmerman. When the Doctor orders the computer to shut down the holographic system, everyone disappears-except the Doctor. Then Reg Barclay (Dwight Schultz) shows up, says he is Zimmerman's assistant, and things get really weird.

The main problem with "mystery" episodes like "Projections" is that you have no chance to figure out what is really going on with the protagonist. You just watch and wait, knowing that eventually somebody will show up and explain the situation. The Doctor will agonize over the decision and in the end will either do the right thing or effectively eliminate himself from most future episodes (hey, Tasha Yar had her best episode after she died on "STNG"). My other complaint is that the episode seems like it is coming up with something significant reagarding the Doctor, but it is really just a holographic mind game. There are much better episodes down the road dealing with this character which further serve to make this one look hollow in retrospect.

This episode was okay, but I wouldn't call it a significant contribution to Season Two of Vogager.

In this episode, which involves principally the character of The Doctor, we begin to question what's real and what's hologram...interesting premise, since we thought we had all of this settled!

We arrive that this confused state through the workings of none other than Reg Barclay of "Star Trek The Next Generation" fame! It turns out that Reg is back at Jupiter Station running a holodeck program that has gone terribly wrong...and informs the doctor that his next decisions will be crucial to his own holo-survival!

Robert Picardo, as ususal, does a good job with his part. But I was not overly impressed with the way this episode was written - somewhat confusing in parts, and didn't do much to get Voyager Season Two off to a running start!

This is a bit boring, and kind of a whos real and who is not real. Basically the doctor is told by the computer that he is real, and everyone else is a hologram and that he is really on a holodeck testing long field assignements and will die if he does not get off the holodekck. Now he is accompanied by Barcley from TNG. He uses his new holodeck control by going back and forth throough time, as proof that is it not a dream. Until he gets a message from Chakotay saying it is........