[VOY] Season 4, Episode 17: Retrospect
Rating: 2
I suppose this episode attempts to tackle the subject of false memories: Memories that are actually planted or created during the process of ‘uncovering’ something repressed. It’s a dark, serious topic, and “Retrospect” tries unsuccessfully to delve into the complicated matter. There’s a lack of clarity in the approach – I’m not really sure the ‘false’ (I guess?) memory is even the product of The Doctor’s attempt to find the repressed information. Also, because the Doctor is the one unwittingly doing the planting there isn’t much nuance as to his motives, (we know he’s a good person) so it’s all basically just a horrible accident.
Read more at Memory Alpha
Notes:
Janeway negotiates with an arms dealer to get some better weapons
Janeway lets Seven have some more responsibility because she’s been behaving
so she punches him
The Doctor thinks she is getting weird because she’s repressing memories
They dig around in her mind and she recalls being assaulted by the arms dealer
She remembers him stealing nano probes and using them on someone
If only they had someone who could get into his mind to see if it is true
They carry out an investigation and find some nano probes laying around
This guy doesn’t like how things are going so he splits
But then this microscope seems to support that guy’s story
They track him down, but he thinks its a trap
His shotty weapons cause his ship to blow up
Then the Doctor and Seven feel really bad
It bothers me a little bit that there was never really an explanation for Seven’s memories, yet they seem to decidedly come down that she was wrong. This isn’t handled confidently at all- either give the audience more of an indication how her memory could be false, or really commit to the verdict being unclear, as well as the fallout from that lack of clarity.
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