Darkling (episode)
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.
| This article is written from the Real World point of view |
 |
| "Darkling" | ||
|---|---|---|
| VOY, Episode 3x18 Production number: 161 First aired: 19 February 1997 | ||
| ← | 60th of 168 produced in VOY | → |
| ← | 59th of 168 released in VOY | → |
| ← | 456th of 726 released in all | → |
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| Teleplay By Joe Menosky Story By Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky Directed By Alexander Singer | ||
| 50693.2 (2373) | ||
The Doctor alters his personality subroutines while Kes contemplates leaving Voyager.
Contents |
[edit] Summary
- "Captain's log, stardate 50693.2. We've been in orbit above an outpost of the Mikhal Travelers. This loosely governed race of explorers has extensive knowledge of the territory ahead of us, which they are willing to share."
In hopes of improving his performance as a physician, The Doctor undertakes a personality enhancement project on the holodeck, incorporating several accomplished historical figures' traits and temperaments into his personality matrix. But he also adopts several aberrant character traits from those non-fictional figures and is soon over taken by a dangerous, cruel Mister Hyde-like personality.
[edit] Teaser
Captain Kathryn Janeway talks with a Mikhal Traveler, who is later revealed to be called Nakahn. They're in his lodge at the Mikhal outpost, and he's animatedly telling the captain the incredible story of one of his travels, involving a monstrous, living asteroid. Kes comes in with Zahir, the Mikhal pilot with whom she's been working on the transfer of medical supplies to the outpost. Zahir picks up the last part of Nakahn's story, and it's immediately obvious that he's skeptical of it. When he makes that clear, tempers flare and there's a short argument between the two Mikhal, but eventually, Kes, Zahir and the captain are left alone. Zahir explains to the captain that there is no such thing as a living asteroid in the space ahead of the USS Voyager, but points out that the asteroid in question is rich in vorilium, whereupon the captain decides that might be worth a detour.
Later, The Doctor is in the holodeck, discussing passion with Neelix and the holographic simulations of two historical figures: Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Byron. He's taking note of their arguments on a PADD. When Kes comes in and asks him what's going on, he explains to her that he's working on a "personality improvement project." He's been interviewing all the holographic versions of important historical figures in the database, including Socrates, Leonardo Da Vinci, and T'Pau, in order to select the character traits he finds admirable, and merge them into his program. In this manner, he hopes to accomplish, among other things, an improved bedside manner, a fresh perspective on diagnosis, more patience, etc. He adds that he could have used her assistance on his project if she hadn't been "otherwise engaged" on the planet, making it clear that he's not happy with this "infatuation" of hers with the Mikhal Travelers, whom he considers to be "risk-taking thrill seekers with no responsibility to the ideals of exploration." Kes counters that she finds them intriguing, especially Zahir, but The Doctor simply advises her to "take a cold bath" and walks away.
[edit] Act I
The Doctor currently is in sickbay with Lieutenant Torres. She's complaining of nausea, after having ingested a small salad down on the planet, despite The Doctor's prior warning that Klingon physiology lacks the enzymes to digest the vegetation of that planet. The Doctor reacts to this in a rather uncharacteristic way, coming awfully close to her, and when Torres tells him to back off, he instructs the computer to isolate the recent additions to the EMH program, and hold them for review. He then explains to Torres the project he's been working on, whereupon she tells him to be careful with adding behavioral subroutines to his program, as they have a tendency to interact with each other in unpredictable ways. The lieutenant promises him to take a look at his program after her shift in engineering, and as she leaves sickbay, The Doctor deactivates himself.
Meanwhile, Kes is with Zahir on the planet. They're walking an old path in a wooded area, left behind by other spacefarers like Zahir in long forgotten times. When they reach the end of the path, Kes discovers a strange kind of inscription in a rock. According to Zahir, it says "My course is as elusive as a shadow across the sky." Kes thanks Zahir for the evening, and they kiss, while a cloaked figure appears in the background watching them intently.
[edit] Act II
Back on Voyager, a dreamy look in her eyes, Kes bumps into Tuvok in the corridor, who reminds her that it's 0300, and that she has an away team report due at 0800. Kes assures him she hasn't forgotten and leaves. A few moments later, Kes enters sickbay, where The Doctor, who's working on a report Kes should have done but forgot, gives her a lecture about becoming increasingly unpredictable. She lashes out that everyone's treating her like a child and that she's not a child anymore, then assures The Doctor that she knows he cares about her and that she won't forget that. Then she goes to finish the report.
The next morning, Kes enters the captain's ready room, looking battered, and after having handed her the report, asks to have a word with her. She then proceeds to tell the captain that she wants to spend more time with Zahir, and asks to be granted permission to temporarily leave the ship. The captain tells her to think about it for a few more days, and Kes leaves.
That evening, Zahir and Tuvok are discussing which route Voyager should take to avoid the Tarkon sentries. Kes interrupts them and tells Zahir that she wants to spend time with him but must catch up on her sleep. Later Zahir walks the same path where he was with Kes the day before. Suddenly, he seems to hear something and pulls his weapon. He appears to have discovered something horrible on the ground before him, but then he gets knocked off a cliff by the same cloaked figure that was there the day before. A few moments later, the cloaked figure enters Nakahn's lodge and pulls his cape off his head, revealing that he is The Doctor, with a curious expression in his eyes. He drags Nakahn's hands into the fire, then demands a ship and safe passage off the planet.
[edit] Act III
Kes enters sickbay the next morning, and activates the EMH. The Doctor appears to be back to his normal self. When Kes tells him Zahir has been found unconscious and that he needs medical attention, nothing in his behavior suggests he knows anything about it, and he's immediately prepared to help. However, as they reach the transporter room, Torres stops them, telling The Doctor she needs to run a full diagnostic on his matrix, because something is wrong. While running the diagnostic, she explains to him that, while all the historical personalities he's chosen to incorporate into his program had some very admirable traits indeed, they also had less desirable attributes, and all those, combined within The Doctor's personality, have caused his program to destabilize. She then asks him to deactivate himself so that she can purge his matrix of the added elements, but when he attempts to do so, it doesn't work. He merely shimmers a bit.
Meanwhile, by the turbolift, Tuvok is explaining to Captain Janeway that the one who attacked Zahir has curiously left no tangible evidence of his crime at all on his victim. Also, Zahir cannot recall anything. Tuvok and the captain make their way to sickbay, and when they enter it, they find Torres unconscious on the floor. Tuvok activates the EMH, and although he's a little irritated, he seems to be his normal self. He diagnoses Torres with delayed anaphylactic shock from the salad she ate the day before, and puts her on a biobed for a few hours of observation.
After Tuvok and the captain are gone, however, The Doctor starts to shimmer again, and when he reappears, he's got the strange look in his eyes once more. He grabs a few hyposprays and goes over to Lieutenant Torres.
[edit] Act IV
After waking her with one of them The Doctor tells her he simulated the anaphylactic shock using a drug, and as she discovers that he has paralyzed her from the waist down to get her cooperation, she quickly realizes he's a new personality, created from the new subroutines. He tells her she is correct, and that he wants to know from her how to delete The Doctor from his matrix, threatening to torture her if she doesn't. When Lieutenant Torres still refuses to help him, and his subroutines visibly begin to destabilize, he turns to the historical figures in the holodeck for help.
Meanwhile, Tuvok is interrogating Nakahn before going back to the scene of the crime, and it's clear that he suspects him.
A few minutes later, Kes finds The Doctor in the holodeck, surrounded by all kinds of malfunctioning holograms. He explains to her that he's the new master of the EMH, and the old Doctor is locked up inside him, then takes her hostage and transports off the ship, after having created a dispersion pattern so that Voyager won't know where to look for them.
[edit] Act V
On the bridge Harry Kim reports an unscheduled transport. At the same time, Tuvok reports to the captain that he has found residual holographic signatures at the scene of the crime.
Meanwhile, The Doctor and Kes are in the lodge, waiting for Nakahn and the scout ship. The Doctor is attempting to remove the EMH from his program and Kes talks to him and for a moment. Explains to him that both should survive. It almost seems as if she's going to manage to convince him that a place can be found for both him and the original Doctor, until Nakahn enters and tells him he won't be able to escape, because Janeway and her crew have cordoned off the entire area. The Doctor flees, planning on taking the ship onto another continent, but the captain manages to clear up the dispersion field enough to get a lock on Kes' and The Doctor's location and transfers the coordinates to the away team on the planet.
Not long thereafter, the away team finds Kes and The Doctor, and Tuvok blocks their path using a phaser to shoot some rocks down. The Doctor then threatens to jump off a cliff with Kes, and eventually does so, but right at that moment, the captain manages to beam them up to the ship. Torres then rids The Doctor of all the extra subroutines. Kes enters and The Doctor explains his gratitude that Kes has decided to remain on board Voyager with those that know her and care for her.
[edit] Memorable Quotes
"Men and women should refrain from enjoying each other. By that I mean to say, even their mutual glances must be free of all suggestion of carnality."
"Free of passion? One might as well be free of humanity."
- - Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Byron
"It is said the angels themselves take pleasure in their bodies of light."
"And you should take a cold bath. In such cases, it is the finest preventative."
"I'll keep that in mind."
- - Lord Byron, Mahatma Gandhi, and The Doctor
"In my opinion, you've become far too infatuated with these Travelers. From the away team reports, they seem iflicted with terminal wanderlust, risk-taking thrill-seekers, with no responsibility to the ideals of exploration. In short, bad news."
- - The Doctor to Kes
"I think I am detecting a reaction to your recent break-up with Mr. Neelix. The Mahatma would recommend a cold bath. Simplistic and no doubt effective."
- - The Doctor to Kes
"Any sharp pain? Heartburn? There is nothing like a heart that burns."
"If you don't want me to knock you into the next millennium, you'd better back off!"
- - The Doctor and B'Elanna
"The fine art of putting off an important task to the very last minute... then rushing through it. In my Academy days, I was the acknowledged master."
- - The Captain
"The flesh is weak, Kes. Never forget that."
- - The Doctor threatening Kes
"I swear this oath by Apollo physician, by Asclepius, by health and by all the gods and goddesses: In whatsoever place that I enter I will enter to help the sick and heal the injured, and I will do no harm."
- - The Doctor
"What am I doing here, and why am I wearing these ridiculous clothes?"
- - The Doctor
"Put those phasers away, before you hurt someone, and I have to clean up the mess!"
- - The Doctor
[edit] Background Information
- According to Robert Picardo, Brannon Braga wrote this episode after finding out that Picardo had played Eddie Quist, a psychopath/werewolf, in the 1981 movie The Howling. Picardo's make-up for the evil version of The Doctor, including a set of prosthetic teeth, was taken directly from that movie.
- Structures on the surface of the Mikhal Traveler's outpost were later seen again on the surface of Kelemane's planet at its most advanced stage.
- Metal structures, showing Kazon designs, seen in Nakahn's bar on the planet earlier appeared on Sobras in "Alliances" and later appeared again in Doctor Chaotica's lair.
- This episode gives us the first confirmation that holodeck characters are indeed hollow, possessing no internal structure.
- The Doctor ends the episode with an abridgment of the Hippocratic Oath.
- Since Voyager is shown to be traveling through normal space again, the crew's journey through the Nekrit Expanse must have come to an end sometime prior to this episode.
- According to the costumer tag of a sold costume on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay, extra Steve Ozuna appeared as an extra in this episode. The costume actually was not found on screen, so this has yet to be verified. [1]
[edit] Video and DVD releases
- UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 3.9, 21 July 1997.
- As part of the VOY Season 3 DVD collection.
[edit] Links and references
[edit] Guest stars
[edit] Co-stars
- Noél De Souza as Gandhi
- Christopher Clarke as Lord Byron
- Sue Henley as Ensign
- Majel Barrett as the USS Voyager computer voice
[edit] Uncredited co-stars
- Tarik Ergin as Ayala
- Holiday Freeman as Transporter chief
- Sue Henley as a Mikhal bar alien
- Susan Lewis as a Mikhal traveler
- Betty Matsushita as T'Pau
- Louis Ortiz as Culhane
- Lemuel Perry as a Mikhal bar alien
- Don Rutherford as Socrates
- John Tampoya as Kashimuro Nozawa
- Unknown performers as
[edit] Stunt double
- Tom Morga as stunt double for David Lee Smith
[edit] References
Aesculapius; alizine; anaphylactic shock; asteroid; cateline; Curie, Marie; da Vinci, Leonardo; dermal regenerator; EMH program 4-C; Hippocratic Oath (Hippocrates); H'ohk; ice pack; infrared; intraspinal inhibitor; Klingon Physiology; low-altitude ship; medkit; Mikhal Travelers; "moon creature"; navigator; osteo-regenerator; pilot; salad; scout ship; sex; Starfleet Academy; subspace wave guide; Sylleran Rift; Tarkan; Tarkan Sentries; Tropical Resort Simulation 3; vorilium
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