Star Trek: Voyager — 7x05 — Critical Care

Aired 2000-11-01

SpaceOpera.com rating:7

Average reader rating:5.48

Synopsis

The Doctor is stolen.

Remarkable scenes

The graphics in the teaser.
Tom and Harry discussing Hockey with Nausicaans. Sounds nasty.
The idiot EMH on Voyager.
Janeway's and Tuvok's investigation.
Janeway professing Tuvok her boyfriend.
Voyager apprehending Gar.
The doctor's revenge.

Review

We've seen the doctor stolen before, but never for the purpose of using him as a doctor. This episode is uniquely remarkable in this respect, and well used he is. We're shown an alien society which has very strict policies on who can be treated in a hospital which is determined by social status. The way these policies are presented makes them seem understandable, even if a bit chilling. It's not until late in the episode that it's revealed that it might all just be Chellick's sick little scheme for using resources more efficiently. In truth, neither is made entirely clear. the most remarkable aspect about this episode is the doctor's use of torture on Chellick to invoke change. The ends most certainly justified the means, but the doctor's methods to me seemed just about as chilling as Chellick's (former?) policies. But then, you're supposed to fight fire with fire, right?

4 reader comments

A great episode. A great script. Perfect use of the doctor. Yes, it was an alien of the week episode and yes he did "do harm" to get the system to change. These are minor quams. However I believe the issue of the doctors morals was a great one to explore. Last time the doctor did harm was when his ethical subroutine was disabled. This time the harm was done under his own will. This shows his growth and his need to handle tough decisions responsibly….on a side note, Gar looks like a reject from the cats musical.
by Corporal Crust | 03/23/2007 at 10:20 pm

And why is it that I see so many fat aliens wearing metallic spandex. But yeah, still a good episode.
by jaylong | 04/30/2007 at 6:06 pm

Aw man, Jim O'Heir (Jerry from Parks and Rec) was the cuckold whose wife had run off with Gar! Geez, poor guy can't catch a break anywhere!
by Dstyle | 07/31/2015 at 2:57 pm

Captain Kathryn "The Gloves Are Off" Janeway's style of situation handling seems to have rubbed off on the crew. The Doctor makes Chellick a patient in his own hospital. Tuvok considers a forced mindmeld with Gar, and Neelix even gives Gar food poisoning to extract information. You may not approve of their actions, but no denying that this crew has clearly had enough of being slapped around in the Delta Quadrant.
Since we never really see any authority figure higher than Chellick, it's hard to say exactly how much of this is in his hands and how much he is contracted to provide. But even as I spent most of the episode cheering the Doctor's secret efforts to care for the Level Red patients, I have to admit his actions toward Chellick caught me a little off guard…and showed how desperate he was to fight this system.
by Mike L. Jackson | 06/27/2017 at 12:08 am