The Doctor is missing some memories from awhile back, and it looks like there may be saboteurs or even an alien invasion involved. Actually, it turns out to be both, but that's not even the interesting part.
What happened was The Doctor, Kim, and a redshirt were on a shuttle when an unknown alien species boarded and started blasting away. Both the humans were mortally wounded, and after transporting back to Voyager, The Doctor realized that he only had the time to save one of them. Naturally, he chose his friend Harry and let the redshirt die on the table. Later on, The Doctor couldn't get over the fact that his choice directly caused the death of the ensign. Furthermore, he was appalled that he made the decision simply based on the fact that he considered Kim a friend, and had not seen the ensign for months. He went berzerk, even becoming violent, while he wrestled with his decision. They described it as a feedback loop (because everything is a "feedback loop") between his original program's ethical routine and his new evolved personality. So they zapped the whole thing from his memory so he could get back to being an EMH.
But the episode isn't just about dealing with guilt and pain, it also is an examination of what The Doctor is, and if he has rights. I guess the supposition is that we wouldn't mess with a human's physiology after a traumatic event just so they could get back to work. But then again, maybe we would? My grandmother took antidepressants to cope with the loss of her son. I always thought antidepressants were for people with depression, not people that were sad because a sad thing happened. Isn't that messing with her physiology after a traumatic event so that she could just move on? Also, people who act violently and refuse to blend in with society, whatever their reasons, lose their rights all the time when they are incarcerated or even committed.At first Janeway makes the case that The Doctor is no different from any other piece of equipment on the ship, and that if they have the power to fix him it's their prerogative to do so. But then she shifts and decides that he is an evolved life with a soul that they created, and therefore they are responsible for looking after him. I think that's a tremendous leap, and I just don't understand what makes a hologram a person. Voyager uses the language a lot that The Doctor has exceeded his programming and therefore is special. This is all based on the fact that his program has been running for so long. So given enough time and unique stimuli, does any old computer program gain a soul? If I ask a chess computer to choose what I have for breakfast, have I just created a new life form?
In the end, she lets The Doctor work through his grief like the rest of us would. She even makes sure that he is never alone during the process. The ending isn't handed to us, which I like. We're left to assume that he struggles for awhile but pulls out of it. He seems better when he realizes that the captain is sick and his doctor duties kick back in. All in all "Latent Image" is a Good episode. The bit of mystery in the beginning is intriguing, and we only find out what happened as The Doctor finds out, which is a good bit of storytelling. It also broaches some important questions about the nature of humanity. My only question: is the only setting on that camera inside-out mode? Ewww.Published August 6, 2018
No comments:
Post a Comment