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Latent Image Airdate: January 20, 1999 Written by: Joe Menosky (Teleplay); Eileen Connors and Brannon Braga & Joe Menosky (Story) Directed by:Mike Vejar Short Take: Intriguing story and characterization Brief Summary: The Doctor stumbles onto a mystery - about himself Review:"Latent Image" could have very easily been Trek Lite - a nice story, a little intrigue, but nothing special. This wouldn't have been bad. Because I can only see episodes on Sunday (that's why the reviews are so late), I get wind on what they are about even without trying, so I knew what happened here. Still, what we got was good. The mystery presented was an intriguing one. It seemed all so body-snatcherish, with suggestions that first Janeway, then Tuvok was someone under someone's control. Old Voyager would have done exactly that. These aliens from 18 months ago would have somehow caught up with the ship and proceeded with their evil plans for it. Nice popcorn TV, but nothing good. Though I can't believe I am saying it, Braga Voyager actually gives a damn about the characters, too. This is not your father's Star Trek: Voyager. "Latent Image" was a lot smarter than similar episodes of its type that Trek has done - the TNG episode with Commander Macduff comes to mind - not because it had all sorts of plot twists that David Mamet would be proud of, but because it made the mystery involve a character, and his decisions. This wasn't your usual medical ethics drama. It wasnt high flown principle tthat you can pontificate on. It was the reality of the sitation. Every has trashed modern Trek as too harsh. Modern Trek IMHO works when it is harsh in the way reality is. And decisions like that are reality. It just did a lot of things right, from asking "What is the nature of a being?" to creating a smart thriller that only clued in you one piece at a time. (Naughty how those memories came to us in a way to think that stuff from the birthday party was sinister). Are you nothing more than your memories? Was it ok to tamper with the doctor, considering how much the crew depends on him? Is he really little more than a toaster? Good questions, not answered necessarily, but left there to make the episode both engaging and thought provoking. It seemed to say a lot about being sentient, too. A computer is all logic and would never be so small in its reasoning. But we are, every day. Want proof that Doc is human? He is petty and makes even the most important of decisions based on small rationales, even they can even be called rationales. I'd go crazy too if I wasn't use to being so selfish. Even the attempt to be Important was well done, I thought. I think if they showed too much of his counseling, it would have looked like it had all the answers. Of course, we don't have all the answers. We're in that dark wood, just like in La Vita Nuova, with not a of lot of understanding as to why we are there and even less direction. Some short takes: - The interest in photography was a bit of retroactive continuity, but it worked because it only gave us pieces of the mystery at a time with these simple photos that can so easily fool you. - They also let director Vejar have fun flashing images by. He's good at that. - Yes, it's odd that the ensign was never mentioned, but considering who the doctor usually deals with it, it is not horribly implausible. Rating: A Next week: Hmm, this looks like a stunt | |
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