Written By: Eileen Conners, Brannon Braga & Joe Menonsky
Directed By: Mike Vejar
Rating: ****1/2 (out of 5)
It begins as a kind of mystery as the Doctor creates holo-images of the crew with his Holo-imaging Device for Medical purposes. As a result The Doc discovers that he operated on Harry, but neither of them remember it.
At this stage you�d be thinking �Not another �Scientific Method� episode� but the Doc soon discovers old holo-images from the time of Harry�s operation. These photos contain pictures of an Ensign that he has never seen before. Just as he is getting further into his investigation someone deletes a number of his memory files.
He takes this up with the Captain who says she�ll do something. The Doc, in a very clever use of his holo-imaging Device, takes matters into his own hands; a snapshot of the person responsible for deleting his files; Captain Janeway, is soon created.
He confronts Janeway with accusations of conspiracies and soon discovers the true nature of the events which caused the Doc�s memories to be erased. On an away mission Harry and Ensign Jetal, the women from the photos, are attacked by an alien weapon. When treating them he had to choose which on to treat, thereby �killing� one of them
�Latent Image� quickly turns from mystery to a fully-fledged moral dilemma and character episode dealing with an important question - Is the Doctor sentient?
Seven of Nine becomes the instrument of debate against Janeway when she decided to erase the Docs memories again. Janeway says Doc is a machine while Seven argues that the �machine� has grown into something else. The arguments are interesting. Janeway has all the right comebacks, but we all know Seven is right.
Janeway comes prepared to erase the Docs memories but shows the Docs deleted memories to him. The Doc begins to experience the same symptoms of guilt, but through Seven�s guidance, Janeway decides to let the Doc deal with his conflicted thoughts.
The final scene is the best example of atmosphere, the beautiful music helping a lot, when Doc reads Lavita Nuova that Janeway has left for him. The words of the poem are very nice and the poem helps Doc feel welcome among the crew and it makes him feel more �human� than he is.
But is Doc sentient? He is a holographic creation bound by the restraints of holo-technology. He is very clever and adaptable. I think the key word there is; �adaptable.� Any sentient being adapts. Sentience means, according to my dictionary: �perceiving by the senses.� Does the Doc feel pain? Does he feel pain like we do? He certainly does have sense. He has ethics, but programmed into him. With all that in place I think the Doc is a sentient being. He may have been programmed to do different things but how are we much different? The Doc is probably a lot clearer than humans are because at least he knows his purpose in life. It�s a tentative �yes.�
Robert Picardo does one of his best performances as the Doc slowly deteriorates. There�s no doubt that of the many brilliant scenes in �Latent Image� the most powerful is in the Mess Hall when the Security Guards are holding him, he shouts �Why did I have to kill her? Why? Somebody tell me why?� Picardo has an ability to shout but not seem over-acted.
The other acting is good but Jeri Ryan�s acting was a little off this time around and off to the extent that I must mention it here. Nancy Bell was nice to see as Ensign Jetal, and she�s so good-looking and very cute!
Mike Vejar directs �Latent Image� as craftily and as strongly as he does always. Much of the directing here is extremely well done and makes this episode seems different from other Voyager�s. For example, the scenes before a flashback is shown, the final scene and the scene where we see someone coming into sickbay and deleting the Docs memories and the slow Janeway at Jetal�s funeral. The camera work is very good.
The screenplay helps with the story when the flashbacks occur. The mixed up flashes of the events are almost surreal. The actual flashbacks are good as the story goes; but continuity is a bit of a problem. Where�s Kes? This would�ve been a great opportunity to see her again! And the characters simply don�t look as they did �back then.�
�Latent Image� makes you think, it�s intelligent, it has a great story, great acting and great production values. What more can I say for such a wonderful episode? Well, I don�t know what, but this is why I watch Voyager and this is why you should watch Voyager.