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Synopsis

Voyager gets a distress signal from a ship with an unconscious female Vidiian lifesign. They beam her to sickbay and the Doctor immediately works on resuscitating her. The patient has a cortical implant which the Doctor transmits to a holomatrix, saving her brain from deterioration. The Doctor arranges for the computer to assemble a holographic representation of the patient. An incredibly beautiful moment is when Denara Pel, the patient, looks at her face in a mirror, the Doctor’s voice droning out as Pel has her first look at herself, a complete stranger.

The Doctor pleads with Torres for her brain tissue, which will help Pel with her deterioration. Torres is reluctant, especially due to her former incident with the Vidiians, but when Pel asks herself, Torres agrees.

To celebrate, the Doctor takes Pel to Chez Sandríne. In their conversation we learn about Vidiian society and how eerily similar it is to today with “regulated social gatherings.” After she laughs at one of the Doctor’s jokes, we learn she hasn’t laughed in a long time. She insists to be called Denara (I go by the character’s last name, though) and she names the Doctor Schmullus. When they go back to sickbay, she thanks him wholeheartedly and he thanks her for the name.

Kes interupts the Doctor performing a self-system-check, and she offers that he’s in love and should tell Pel how he feels about her. So, he does that, in front of Kes and in the middle of a medical procedure. The surprised Pel obviously rejects him (softly, gently, that they’re relationship should remain professional).

He seeks help from Paris, who, after hearing the full story, says he should give it another go and that he probably caught her off guard. Kes talks to Pel and confirms what Paris says. A date is arranged on the holosuite, in a car on Mars with a nice view. The Doctor offers her cheesy gifts: flowers, chocolate, a soft teddy, but she wants to be shown the constellations and heavenly bodies. He says he learned how to dance. They kiss.

They’re going to revive her and activate the tissue, but Pel has poisoned herself. She’s convinced no one will love her as her original self, and that her time spent as a hologram is far superior than living with the Phage. The Doctor pleads and compels her to go through with it.

The episode ends with them dancing in Chez Sandríne.

Thoughts

I think what makes this rom com so compelling is that both love interests have such interesting stakes. The Doctor’s programming is adapting, and it’s allowing him to,…love? How novel! As for Denara, her neural material body is degrading, and unless they can successfully graft the neural tissue, she’ll die in a matter of days.

There’s all the classic beats of a rom com: the cute-meet, the deepening of their love, the first obstacle, the proclaiming of their love, the crisis; Pel’s motivations for making their love “come to odds” are interesting, at best. I empathize with the Vidiians, as a diabetic, a race in pursuit of a cure is all too familiar to me. I also empathize that Pel wasn’t permitted the treatment she desired, and was ultimately coaxed into changing her mind. I just don’t quite like that attitude of living with illness being considered suffering – it seems out of character for Pel. While the Phage seemed grotesque and monsterous before this episode, Pel brings in some much needed world building to even off their society. Her being a doctor makes me question why, with her mission to help others, her illness would be worth ending her life for. Nonetheless, it compels the doctor to proclaim his love in the most romantic way possible, and this scene, as contrived as it is, brings me to waterfall tears each time. The dance scene at the end is just the chef’s kiss.

There’s the B-plot in this episode of Paris being punished by Chakotay for his poor behaviour. Meanwhile, Mike is trying to contact Seska and finally manages to do so. At this point, the audience doesn’t know that these two plots are related. Paris, along with Janeway and Tuvoc, are trying to sniff out the mole, Mike; we just don’t know that Paris is acting, yet. As a viewer now with hindsight, I think it’s apparent the actors knew the big picture, playing these characters as large as they need to be.

I’m watching the thrilling conclusion to it all next week, Basics, both episodes ~ LLAP

This was originally posted on Feb 2, 2021. Transported to neocities on Feb 14, 2026.