Star Trek: Voyager (TV Series)

Retrospect (1998)

Robert Picardo: The Doctor

Photos 

Quotes 

• The Doctor : I often find my own patience being tested by someone like Mr. Kovin. Of course I generally respond with a devastating quip rather than a left hook.

• [Kovin has been killed in an accident] 

  Seven of Nine : As a Borg, I was responsible for the destruction of countless millions, and I felt nothing, but now... I regret the destruction of this single being.

  The Doctor : It's called remorse, Seven. It comes into play when you make a mistake... and you feel guilt about what you've done. Another new emotion for you to experience.

• The Doctor : Please, close your eyes, clear your mind, try not to think or to analyze.

  Seven of Nine : [after two seconds]  My mind is now clear.

  The Doctor : Seven, this isn't an exercise in efficiency.

• [last lines] 

  The Doctor : I'm a physician. I'm supposed to preserve life, not destroy it. I can't live with the thought that... I might do it again.

  Captain Kathryn Janeway : With any luck... that knowledge will prevent it from happening again. We all rallied around Seven, Doctor, myself included. I wanted her to know that she was part of this family - that we would support her, fight for her, no matter what. We let our good intentions blind us. We all bear responsibility for Kovin's death. And we all have to live with it. But to delete that burden would be the last thing any of us should do.

• The Doctor : When I started helping you improve your social skills, I'm fairly certain I didn't include a boxing lesson.

• The Doctor : It was my... urge to experiment - my infatuation with improving myself - that led to this tragedy. I fancied myself a psychologist, a ship's counselor, but I wasn't prepared for the complexities that come with such a responsibility. In my enthusiasm to help Seven of Nine, I lost my medical objectivity. I became a self-righteous advocate; I didn't stop to think for one second... that I might be wrong. That mustn't happen again.

• Captain Kathryn Janeway : [to the Doctor]  I think you'd better take a look.

  [the Doctor reluctantly goes over to the microscope station] 

  Seven of Nine : What do you see?

  The Doctor : The nanoprobes are regenerating in exactly the same pattern we saw in Kovin's laboratory. It appears to be a spontaneous response which could have been caused by the energy released from the thoron weapon.

  Seven of Nine : It doesn't matter. Kovin is guilty.

  Captain Kathryn Janeway : Seven, there's no doubt in my mind that you believe what you're saying. But is it possible... just possible... that the memories you and the Doctor recovered aren't accurate?

  Seven of Nine : How could that be?

  Captain Kathryn Janeway : During your time with the Borg, you were subjected to invasive medical procedures. You undoubtedly witnessed other victims being assimilated. Could that be what you're remembering?

  Seven of Nine : [to the Doctor]  You know that's not right. Tell them.

  The Doctor : Everything led me to believe that you were a victim. Your extreme response to Kovin in Engineering, your irrational fear when I was examining you. Something prompted that behaviour, and I believed it was a repressed memory of your ordeal with Kovin.

  Seven of Nine : That is what it was.

  The Doctor : But if I'm to be impartial, I have to acknowledge that your neurology is still something of a mystery to me. I can't be certain what triggered those memories, and we can't ignore the fact that this evidence supports Kovin's story, and not yours.

  Seven of Nine : You were the one who helped me to understand what happened and now you're denying it.

  Captain Kathryn Janeway : Seven, no-one's abandoning you, but we have to do what's right. We have to find Kovin and tell him what we've learned.

  Seven of Nine : The Doctor told me I would feel better when Kovin gets what he deserves.

  [Janeway looks at a very sheepish Doctor] 

  Seven of Nine : I want him to be punished. I won't settle for anything less.

  [Seven storms out of Sickbay and the Doctor for once looks rather lost for words]