Persistence of Vision (episode)

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"Persistence of Vision"
VOY, Episode 2x08 Production number: 124 First aired: 30 October 1995
←	23rd of 168 produced in VOY	→
←	23rd of 168 released in VOY	→
	{{{nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered}}}th of 168 released in VOY Remastered
←	383rd of 727 released in all	→
Written By Jeri Taylor Directed By James L. Conway
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You may be looking for Persistence of Vision Digital Entertainment.

Voyager crew members experience disturbing and violent hallucinations.

Contents 1 Summary 2 Log Entries 3 Memorable Quotes 4 Background Information 4.1 Awards 4.2 Video and DVD releases 5 Links and References 5.1 Guest Stars 5.2 Co-Star 5.3 Uncredited Co-Stars 5.4 References

[edit] Summary

B'Elanna Torres and Harry Kim try to create a makeshift holoprojector so The Doctor can materialize in Engineering. However, it only makes his image appear as a few inches tall. A very stressed Captain Janeway is ordered to take some time off in a holodeck by the Doctor as per Starfleet regulations that in the absence of a counselor, the ship's doctor takes over. While she's there running Janeway Lambda one, the plot diverges from the original story, and Lord Burleigh professes his undying love for her.

Back on the bridge, a Botha vessel is approaching. Janeway is called to the bridge, where Neelix explains that the Botha are not very welcoming to visitors. The alien ship hails them, and they are confronted by a figure obscured by bright light.

Janeway goes to lunch in the mess hall, where Neelix is cooking. Janeway sees a plate of cucumber sandwiches, the same one she saw in the Holodeck. Neelix then serves her tea in the flower cup one of the girls in her program broke. Janeway goes to Engineering to investigate these strange occurrences. She has Ensign Kim and Lieutenant Torres run a diagnostic on the Holodeck systems. Nothing out of the ordinary is found. Janeway goes to sickbay, where the Captain tells The Doctor that she's been seeing images from the holodeck around the ship, mostly of the little girl from her holonovel. While she's there, she experiences another hallucination, but this time Kes sees it too; the little girl appears, but then seems to travel towards and into the Captain. The Doctor tells the Captain to go to her quarters and get some rest.

Insider her quarters, the Captain hears her fiancé Mark's voice speaking, but cannot find it. She opens the hallway door, and sees Mrs. Templeton with a knife she uses to try to kill Janeway. Janeway calls for security and is suddenly seen in sickbay, fighting with Tuvok instead of Mrs. Templeton. Janeway is hallucinating again. Kes says that she can again see the hallucination as well. Janeway hands over command to Commander Chakotay as a precaution.

The Botha ship hails Voyager. The man Janeway spoke with earlier demands to know their intentions, what types of weapons they have and their defensive capabilities. Tuvok interrupts the conversation with a warning that two cloaked ships have been detected flanking Voyager. The vessels de-cloak and start firing on Voyager. Ensign Kim notices that the other vessels are being controlled by the lead ship. Voyager's shields are penetrated, and the Botha being orders their surrender. Janeway returns to the Bridge and demands to see who the alien really is, and is confronted by an image of her fiancé, Mark. The other bridge staff, however, are surprised to see close relatives instead. Tuvok sees his wife (T'Pel), Tom Paris sees his father. Tuvok becomes unresponsive and carried away by his hallucination, and very soon everyone on the bridge is affected, including the Captain.

Lieutenant Torres is in Engineering, attempting to discover the cause of the hallucinations. Her theory involves creating a symmetric warp field to block the effects. However, she is carried away by a hallucination concerning her hidden affection for Commander Chakotay before she manages to finish the work.

Soon, everyone on the ship is catatonic, apart from Kes and The Doctor. They decide to attempt to finish Torres' work. Kes heads to Engineering, and is almost diverted by a hallucination of Tom Paris with heavy plasma burns. However, she focuses on the job, and continues on her way.

In Engineering, she manages to communicate with the Doctor, and they attempt to create the warp field. However, a hallucination of Neelix arrives, and tries to stop her, first with reasoning, then with painful hallucinations about her face blistering and burning. The Doctor tells her to concentrate, and look at Neelix to send the hallucination back to him. This works, and the fake Neelix falls to the ground in agony, and reverts back to his real form (the Botha alien).

Kes is successful in establishing the warp field, and everyone is woken from their catatonic state. The Botha recovers, but then vanishes, along with the other ships, leaving the crew wondering if he was ever with them or not.

[edit] Log Entries

• Captain's log, supplemental. We have no explanation for the mysterious disappearance of the telepathic alien. We can't even be certain that he was actually here. He seems to have left us with any number of unanswered questions.

[edit] Memorable Quotes

"You're a powerful little thing."

- Botha Alien, speaking about Kes

"I'd really like to accommodate you, but you see...I'm not really here."

- Botha Alien, when confronted by Captain Janeway

"It's not even tempting."

- Tom Paris to Captain Janeway when his father shouts at him from the view screen

[edit] Background Information

• The Botha alien uses a Kazon ship as one of his illusionary vessels. The other illusionary ship is not identified. However, the studio model for the Talarian observation craft was used for it, and this time it was redressed with a purple glow from its nacelles.
• Lindsey Haun, who played Beatrice Burleigh in this episode and "Learning Curve", would later play Belle in "Real Life".
• "Persistence of Vision" was the working title for the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season two episode "Shadowplay".
• This is the only episode of the series to address B'Elanna's attraction to Chakotay, however the issue was raised in the novel Pathways by Jeri Taylor, who also wrote this episode.
• The color of the warp core changes in this episode from a pinkish-blue to a whitish-blue and stays this way until the end of the series.

[edit] Awards

• This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series (along with DS9: "Our Man Bashir").

[edit] Video and DVD releases

• UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 2.2, 11 March 1996.
• As part of the VOY Season 2 DVD collection.

[edit] Links and References

[edit] Guest Stars

• Michael Cumpsty as Lord Burleigh
• Carolyn Seymour as Mrs. Templeton
• Stan Ivar as Mark Hobbes Johnson
• Warren Munson as Owen Paris
• Lindsey Haun as Beatrice Burleigh
• Thomas Dekker as Henry Burleigh
• Patrick Kerr as Bothan Inflitrator
• Marva Hicks as T'Pel

[edit] Co-Star

• Majel Barrett as Computer Voice

[edit] Uncredited Co-Stars

• Richard Sarstedt as William McKenzie
• Tarik Ergin as Ayala
• Louis Ortiz as Culhane
• Kerry Hoyt as Fitzpatrick

[edit] References

Ashmore; biogenic field; Botha; coffee; ice cream; cucumber sandwich; electrolyte; fried murt cake; Janeway Lambda one; Davenport, Lucie; Engineering; Lieutenant Hargrove; holonovel; holo-projector; Johnson, Mark; Kazon; Libby; magnetic plasma constriction; Mithren; Mollie; Mozart; niccel strips; piano; psionic field; Seltin pâté; Seltin wood fungus; Starfleet's interactive database; telepathy; vegetable bouillon; Vulcan; Vulcan lute; wood throk

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