Customer Reviews

Star Trek - Voyager, Episode 64: Real Life [VHS]

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In this episode, the Doctor creates a perfect holographic family -- dutiful, adoring wife, obedient son and daughter -- they're "too perfect" and, with some tweaking from B'Elanna, the doctor's family becomes more realistic. His son starts hanging out with Klingons and wants to become one of them by participating in their warrior rituals; his daughter throws tantrums; and his wife's work schedule requires the Doctor to shoulder some of the household responsibilities. As his perfect holographic family life spins out of control, the doctor tries to restore order, and winds up, as his daughter says, "making a mess of things." When his son rebels and runs away, and his daughter is seriously injured at school, the Doctor attempts to terminate the Program to avoid the emotional pain. He's convinced to return and learns how important the emotional support of a family can be.

In "Darkling," Episode 61 of "Star Trek: Voyager," the Doctor (Robert Picardo) experimented with adding some sub-routines to his personality program based on famous people from the past. That particular episode in the Doctor's quest to become more human failed miserably. But in Episode 64, "Real Life" (Story by Harry Doc. Kloor, Telplay by Jeri Taylor, Aired April 23, 1997), the Emergency Medical Hologram gets right back on that horse in one of the better episodes in this particular on-going subplot.

"Voyager" comes upon a debris field that is apparently all that is left of the space station they were planning on visiting. Meanwhile down in Sick Bay the Doctor has created the "perfect" holodeck family consisting of his wife Charlene (Wendy Schaal), his son Jeffrey (Glenn Walker Harris, Jr.), and his daughter Belle (Lindsay Haun). Torres points out that the family is a little too perfect (think "Pleasantville," but with whiter teeth), and offers to make the program a bit more realistic. However, the Doctor is shocked by the results. Now his wife has her own job, his son is hanging out with the wrong type of kids (Klingons), and his precious daughter will not stop whining. To the Doctor's credit, instead of simply resetting the program he tries to deal with these all so human problems. But then things get too real.

The other plot line for "Real Life," having to do with a space tornado, becomes rather insignificant given what is happening with the Doctor and his holographic family. This is an important episode in his evolution because while it does have its comic moments, it also has a long-lasting effect on the Doctor. He still gets to be annoying from time to time, but beyond picking up the portable holographic emitter, the life lesson he learned from this episode might be the second most important moment in his entire Velveteen Rabbit story arc.