Star Trek: Voyager — 4x17 — Retrospect

Aired 1998-02-25

SpaceOpera.com rating:1

Average reader rating:4.53

Synopsis

Seven of Nine experiences repressed memories.

Remarkable scenes

The first scene depicting the test firing.
Tom regarding the haggling session: "That guy's worse than a Ferengi."
The experiment proving Kovin's innocence.
The destruction of Kovin's ship.

Review

Another episode depicting Seven of Nine having hallucinations and personal issues. Thanks to that, an innocent man dies and Voyager didn't get that really cool "isokinetic canon." And that's pretty much it. Seven of Nine and the doctor make a big mess, get someone killed, and Janeway forgives them. Aside from the remorseful ending, this episode is truly not in the spirit of Star Trek and I'm completely unfond of it.

8 reader comments

So Seven is Tawana Brawley and Doc is Al Sharpton except he eventually shows contrition and never does it again. I think that about sums up this episode.
by Rick | 07/16/2013 at 10:36 pm

I think the idea of this episode is an interesting concept to explore in a TV show. Sure the ending is unsettling, but it shows the subject of pre-judgement vs objectivity, which, in my opinion, fits in Star Trek quite well.
by Inga | 10/09/2013 at 8:06 am

"…this episode is truly not in the spirit of Star Trek and I'm completely unfond of it." That's exactly why I liked it! This episode explores the darker side of our subconscious. It teaches the doctor a lesson in humbleness. And most importantly, it reinforces the previous episode where Seven is Janeway's counter balance - yin and yang. I don't know if this dynamic continues, but I hope it does. Seven is a kick-ass bitch, and Janeway needs her ass kicked sometimes. Chakotay is too nice and lame to really do it, even though he tries sometimes.
Seriously, who are you to judge what the "spirit of Star Trek" really is? TOS had a lot of dark episodes, like the one where Kirk is split into his good half and bad half. Try to think of Janeway/Seven in the same way.
by thaibites | 08/23/2014 at 10:56 am

I wonder if Janeway was able to keep the cannon?
Seriously, though, I thought this episode was awful. Sure the whole thing about repressed memories not being reliable was kind of interesting, but it was overshadowed by a far more troubling problem: namely, Seven effectively made a false rape accusation. The takeaway of this episode was that women should not be believed when they claim they were assaulted, because even if they themselves truly believe it happened that's still not necessarily reliable. It's a very frustrating and troubling message, for sure.
by Dstyle | 06/14/2015 at 6:46 pm

Disturbing?
What is disturbing here is that what they discovered about the Borg nanoprobes regenerating disproved 7 Of 9's accusations. Yet, Janeway, the doctor …and everyone else (even among the {re}viewers here) seems to believe it did. Terrible, disturbing lack of logic. Truly not in the spirit of Star Trek and I'm completely unfond of it.
by QuasiGiani | 08/11/2017 at 3:22 am

The comment I made was supposed to say:
"What is disturbing here is that what they discovered about the Borg nanoprobes regenerating IN NO WAY DISPROVED 7 Of 9's accusations. Yet, Janeway, the doctor …and everyone else (even among the {re}viewers here) seems to believe it did. Terrible, disturbing lack of logic. Truly not in the spirit of Star Trek and I'm completely unfond of it."
by QuasiGiani | 08/12/2017 at 5:17 pm

Thank you QuasiGiani for pointing out that HUGE flaw in logic. The findings of that experiment may have been consistent with Koven’s story, but in no way proved or disproved either Koven’s or Seven’s claim. All evidence up to that point was still ‘inconclusive’. This is what’s really not in the spirit of Star Trek, it’s just bad science. Other than that I’d say this episode okayish.
by Pim | 04/30/2018 at 9:40 pm

Unlike seemingly a lot of other viewers I actually thought the episode was done rather well. It shows that decisions have actual gravitas, that emotional preoccupation may lead to misjudgment, and that misjudgment may lead to undeserved harm to others. There are far too many instances in Voyager otherwise where high risk decisions are kept unreflected because they lead to success by sheer luck, or where harm resulting from high risk decisions is seen as collateral or glanced off entirely. It's a nice change to actually see someone doing something wrong and having to live with the guilt.
by Turbo | 06/22/2020 at 7:11 am