'Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy'

Stardate: Unknown
Written By: Billy Vallely
Directed By: John Bruno
Rating: ***3/4 (out of 5)

When the Doctor started singing in the Teaser, and Tuvok started crying I was surprised! But when the Doc started singing "Tuvok I understand, you are a Vulcan man; You have just gone without, for seven years about; Paris please find a way, to load a Hypospray" etc then I knew this couldn't be real. And it turns out the Doctor was just day-dreaming, a function he has been experimenting with.

The Doctor has also put forth a proposal to Janeway, to create an ECH, Emergency Command Hologram! The ECH is actually not a bad idea, it involved uaing the Doc to be able to command Voyager in case of an emergency, the Emergency Command Hologram.

The Doctor has daydreams about Janeway, B'Elanna and Seven all wooing him at a staff meeting, Janeway getting the Doctor with her "academy injury!" When his ECH proposal is dropped he imagines that the ECH is actually created and he is attending a party to congratulate him!

Than the aliens come in. These aliens are watching the Doctor's program, well, actually they are watching all his daydreams, and they believe the Doctor is someone everyone loves by watching these daydreams. The aliens are never given a name, but they are funny little guys. My sister, Megan, said the looked cute. I suppose they do, but the makeup is very well done.

Another of the Doctors daydreams is that he saves the ship from a Borg attack, and he finally gets to try out the ECH, his uniform changes to red and the pips appear, a "nice touch" like Janeway says later. The Doc destroys the Borg ship with a Photonic Cannon, a weapon that the Doctor designs

The aliens see all this and they decide to launch an attack against Voyager believing they are a major threat and that Voyager has many many resources that they can use.

The Doctor starts to daydream whether or not he wants to and he believes something is wrong. So he asks B'Elanna, and there is a problem. The Doc starts again to daydream that B'Elanna and Seven are fighting over him, and a Warp Core Breach starts. The Doctor isn't sure if it's real, but goes ahead to eject the Core anyway. I loved the Computer saying "Warp Core Breach a lot sooner than you think" and "Last chance to be a hero Doc, get going!"

The Doctor can not stop daydreaming and is taken to sickbay where Janeway and B'Elanna discuss what they are going to do. While they discuss viewing these daydreams in the holodeck, the Doc is in the background doing all sorts of rubbish. I love it when he runs into the force field and says "Excuse me miss!!" and blowing out the candles was funny too!!

When the crew view these imaginings they see the Doc's ECH and also B'Elanna crying over the Doc for not liking him. B'Elannas face and gruff "I've seen enough of this" is hilarious!! There is a touching scene next where Janeway is giving the Doc a medal in one of his Fantasies and he says, "All I ever wanted was to help the people I love."

Now, the little alien guy figures out he's made a mistake and can't say anything to his superiors, so he contact's the Doctor telling him of the attack, and says that the Doc has to be sitting in the Captains Chair to avoid the Alien being demoted.

This is one of the best parts of the show when the Doc is in the captains chair confronting the aliens!! Janeway is telling him what to say from Astrometrics, but he keeps mucking it up and eventually the Doctor gets out of it by using a Corbomite Maneuver kind of trick. The Doc says he is charging up the Photonic Cannon and the alien's back off.

Upon first viewing "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy" wasn't as funny as I expected it to be, I think because I watched "Barge of the Dead" only two minutes ago! But on the second viewing it was very funny. It's an original concept that is executed well, Bob Picardo does an excellent job throughout the entire episode, but Bob's always really good. An episode that says that it is okay to daydream, as long as other people don't find out what your daydreams are! "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy" also shows us how the Doc has a love/hate relationship with many of the crew, but no matter what happens this little hologram is someone everyone can't get enough of. Well, I can't anyway!