Star Trek: Voyager (TV Series) Retrospect (1998) User Reviews

The galaxy is a complicated place

[GreyHunter · 8/10 · 29 December 2019]

...and try to examine this episode in terms of complexity.

While I understand the furor over the treatment of the (metaphorical) rape victim and the indications that it was an (unintentionally) false accusation, one of the most fascinating aspects of the evolution of Star Trek over its various incarnation and series is the way the underlying themes and plots grow both heavier and more complex. TOS was...well, it wasn't exactly the most profound and deep of series. It was groundbreaking, but still a product of its times, when there was far less freedom on TV to explore the more troubling aspects of the world. TNG gradually evolved from less-than-inspiring early seasons to become far more complex and insightful than TOS ever was (and that includes most of the early movies, Wrath excepted.) With DS9, they started pushing the envelope almost immediately, bringing in issues of society and religion, war crimes. slavery, genocide, terrorism, and...oh, all the usual things you'd expect from a station located on the precipice of continuous warfare. Voyager has continued the tradition of exploring issue in more depth, if unevenly so in the first 3 seasons. And then we have this episode...

The attempts from certain portions of society to minimize the suffering of rape, especially by blaming the victim or overreacting to anecdotes of false accusations make this episode a fraught one indeed. Despite saying, and believing, that the outcome here is a dangerous one, I actually think that the writers managed to make an intelligent choice. In TOS or at least 2/3rds of the run of TNG, the episode would have ended with the accused proven guilty, the accuser vindicated, and the world returned to its balance. It feels good, it feels right (unless you are one of those angry men who can't handle the fact that rape is a serious problem in this world and among our species) and nobody would have complained (except aforementioned men.)

But....the world, and the galaxy, apparently, is not a simple feel-good place. Humans are complex creatures. Due to her nature, Seven of Nine is more complex than most. She's dealing with a horrific past, a confusing present, and a future that promises to make dealing with her past even more horrific. And that's exactly what this episode is really about. Not the metaphorical rape that appeared to occur in this episode, but by the metaphorical *life-destroying* rape that absolutely did happen when she was a small child. It's not about a false accusation of rape, it's about a true accusation of rape. As she becomes more human, she has become more cognizant of the horror done to her. Just a few episodes ago, she considered being assimilated, and her life afterwards, to be the best thing that ever happened to her. But no human that thinks like a human would take that perspective. She's starting to think like a human, feel like a human, and that includes being appalled and angry at what was done to her, like any rape victim should and would.

This was a troubling episode, no question, with an apparently troubling moral. Beneath that apparent moral, I think, is a far more complex and meaningful one, though.

A crock pot of right/wrong/perception/reality/personal values/assumptions.

[thevacinstaller · 8/10 · 22 November 2021]

It's an interesting episode and certainly controversial to some. I did not perceive the message of the episode to be about victim shaming but more of a statement on passing down judgement based on emotion before evidence is weighed. The episode is a bit murky in providing a clear answer to what actually happened ------ Kovin was willing to commit suicide rather then be captured? Was this extreme response a commentary on the slippery slope of false accusation or evidence that he did actually violate SO9?

We get an ending that is left up to your personal interpretation based on your life experience and values ------ I think that is pretty awesome.

At times poorly written, but the message is interesting....

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 23 February 2015]

When the show begins, an arms merchant and Janeway are conducting business. However, out of the blue, Seven of Nine sees the man and attacks him--claiming he had assaulted her. No one witnessed anything like this but with the disjointed story she gave, the Doctor very quickly concludes she'd been violated. His belief in this was so intense that his objectivity did seem very questionable. So what really happened?

Back in the 1990s, a major hot button in psychology was the notion of repressed memories. Many folks had recently undergone therapy and recovered memories involving sexual abuse and as a result several well-publicized prosecutions occurred. However, many psychotherapists believed that these memories were either implanted by bad therapists or were simply a witch hunt--while others felt that these memories were ALWAYS true and should not be ignored. I was very aware of this debate, as I was a therapist during this time and had investigated the phenomenon as part of a graduate school project. This time period and debate is the context for "Retrospect". Back in the 90s, the debate was very much ongoing, though today most in the field would hold such memories having little value.

So is this any good? Well, I did love that the film discussed the phenomenon but too many times the writing was poor. An important debate was occasionally one-dimensional in its discussion. But, overall it's not a bad episode...just one that has some flaws.

What happened to their weapon upgrades?

[Herr67 · 6/10 · 29 April 2014]

I have read the other reviews and agree that it is unclear, for better or worse, what actually happened to Seven of Nine. The writers tried to trick the viewer at the end, in a way, by introducing doubt about the evidence collected. But it was only doubt and not a conclusion one way or the other.

What I would have liked to know is: did they get that super weapon from the arms dealer? There have been many episodes where the Voyager crew seem to acquire advanced tech from their contacts along the way but rarely do they seem to keep any of it. It's frustrating, like when you see people running under fire who leave behind perfectly useful weapons and ammo dropped by the enemy.

This was one of the details I appreciated about the Enterprise series; they upgraded as they went on their journey and used it.

The exception to this up to now in Voyager is the integration of Borg technology provided by Seven of Nine.

But What Was the Truth?

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 2 September 2018]

Seven becomes the center of attention when she accuses a weapons trader with extracting Borg material from her while she was unconscious. If it weren't for the details, it would be a rape situation. The crew rallies to her defense and she is convinced she was violated. The problem is that the even is stuck deep in her subconscious. A man dies, even as his innocence is presented. There are some real moral issues at work here and unresolved matters. Seven is attempting to find her human side with emotions being the hardest. The question is whether the Doctor introduced her memories..

Living with ones mistakes

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 3 February 2010]

After the crew of the Voyager meet up with an arms dealer by the name of Kovin Seven of Nine starts feeling anxious. The Doctor thinks he can get to the cause of her problems with his as yet unused counselling programs. As he talks her through what happened it seems that Kovin might have taken some of her Borg nanoprobes against her will and injected them into somebody else. When the Captain is informed they return to see Kovin but he denies all the accusations. An examination of his lab doesn't reveal the device Seven recalls being restrained on but there are some of her nanoprobes which should be dormant but aren't. Threatened with arrest Kovin transports to an orbiting ship and attempts to run. Tuvok continues to examine the evidence and comes to a disturbing conclusion: Kovin was probably telling the truth.

It was nice to see an episode where the crew of Voyager were seen to make some mistakes which had negative consequences which they will have to live with.

... a devastating quip

[snoozejonc · 7/10 · 26 May 2023]

Seven of Nine has difficulties in relation to memories of a specific event.

This is a good episode with some strong character moments.

Seven, The Doctor, Janeway and Tuvok have interesting material and their respective actors do a great job with it. Some of it is overly talky, but that is the nature of Star Trek as it is a philosophical show.

Although the writers reportedly toned down the sexual assault aspects of the story, it still comes across as a rape metaphor, but I do not think it is as badly done as some commentators make out. It is a fact of life that people get falsely accused of crimes and there should be emphasis placed on them as victims in those circumstances.

The main problem here is that there is no follow up support for Seven after what she has been through, regardless of the memory issue. If there had been more emphasis on helping her recover (despite big plot reveal) and no so much on how guilty she should feel about something that was not her fault, then there wouldn't be so much hysteria. I think the writers lost sight of certain aspects of the plot in order to focus on character development for her and the doctor, plus their commentary on the importance of impartial investigations.

I like the idea of the actual events remaining ambiguous, as it emphasises how difficult obtaining the truth can be in certain situations. That being said, there is always a risk of an audience reacting badly when it's not spelt out.

a moral dilemma with a twist

[fabian5 · 8/10 · 2 July 2012]

A reviewer complained that the writers should have shown that Seven of Nine's memories were false but I think this is besides the point. How could they do so within the constraints of a 42-43 minute episode? The more important issue is how does the Doctor deal with his misdiagnosis of Seven's false dreams as Kovin violating her body? The Doctor simply suggests to Janeway that she delete his psychological programming subroutine; Seven meanwhile begins to experience the painful human experience we know as remorse.

The Captain tells the Doctor to grow up and learn from this experience since he's still helping the rest of the crew with their own psychological issues too. Its good to see a Voyager episode come about where the Doctor and Seven admit that they made a terrible mistake on Kovin and work to prevent a future misjudgment. The Captain does say that she had some concerns with Kovin's belligerent attitude towards her and the crew but she never accused him of anything.

A Good Take on A Bad Subject

[joeyg-149-99444 · 7/10 · 13 December 2019]

This episode is clearly an analogy to rape, or more accurately, the accusations of rape and the impact of them. Seven has a triggered memory of the antagonist "violating" her, after he pushes her out of the way of the console. We get to see her vivid memory of the experience in a flashback and the man's very emotional response to the accusation. We see the doctor take a very protective role when it comes to Seven's case. Tuvok and Janeway seem to want to uncover the truth before making their decision. And again, we see the falsely accused man's side of things. "Even accusations of violations *in diplomacy* are enough to ruin you!"

I like the episode in that it tackled (even in the 90s) an extremely tough subject and that it also showed the side that no one wants to see...the falsely accused. Especially this day and age, when it is quick to just shout out "rape culture". They made a point to state that serious accusations should be seriously investigated. What I didn't like was that the execution of that investigation was poor in this episode. If CSI can do properly, Voyager could have too (especially with all the insane, and sometimes unbelieveable technology they have at their disposal...which wasn't utilized!). There was also no closure on Seven's "supposed" memories other than "perhaps"...but I think that was by design to indicate that we, as outsiders to the situation, will never know the truth of something that took place between two individuals. (Yes, I know there were two others in the room in the flashback, which also was overlooked in the investigation).

What they wanted us to see was that Seven was integrating her memories from her time with the Borg...nanoprobes, examining tables, assimilating the other man, and her (and others) violation of mind and body with her being forced to work with someone she didn't want to work with and his domineering, aggressive and aggravating attitude. His pushing her out of the way was the trigger. Then her temporary blackout from the disruptor discharge.

The episode was very controversial in the fact that a lot of people have the belief that a woman would never lie or ever be confused about something so serious. Although this does happen. As a man who could at any time have this happen (it hasn't, bythe way), I was glad to see an episode like this. Not everyone who is accused of rape is a rapist, but they are guilty in everyone else's mind until they are proven innocent, even then...most will still believe he is guilty and the the evidence is wrong or inconclusive. An accused rapist is a rapist whether innocent or guilty. That was the point of this episode, to show us that accusations should be taken seriously. Because it is "enough to ruin you!"

I will state again that the execution should have been better, it seems they just rushed the episode.

What about the lab assistant?

[ariarose13 · 3/10 · 5 June 2018]

In Seven's memory she remembers a lab assistant.. but there was no attempt to find the witness. A huge misstep in the handling of a sensitive subject. This episode was poorly written, focused to much on he said/she said and less in actual investigation.

I love everything about this episode

[js-carr · 8/10 · 9 August 2013]

This episode explores the unintended consequences of overactivism and over enthusiasm in any cause, even a seemingly just one, where a person's actions in defense of a phantom "cause" have real social consequences for bystanders. As much as we want to sympathize with 7 of 9 in the beginning, we are given clues early on that something is amiss. I picked this up with Tuvok's comments in the briefing room. The doctor early on identified with a victim mentality in the patient and let that cloud his judgment until the end. The result was disastrous, with the loss of life and the stain of remorse upon both the doctor and 7 of 9.

In real life, the consequences may not be as dramatic. Someone could lose their reputation, their standing in the community, or their liberty, all over someone's vague memory recollection. This could be true of any case that comes before a court today.

We know that human memory is flawed, even eye-witness testimony can prove to be inaccurate, and this episode reminds us that no matter how much we want justice, or retribution, for a victim, we had better make plain sure that person is actually a victim before we destroy other lives in pursuit of that cause.

inexplicable change of mind for everyone based on a one minute investigation

[musicglenn · 6/10 · 30 November 2021]

In their very brief and surface-level investigation, the doctor and tuvok find one possible piece of "evidence" to support 7's claims of being assaulted and memory-wiped, but when that one piece of evidence seems to not be conclusive, they all suddenly decide that Corin must be innocent - what??? That was the flimsiest investigation possible, not even following up on their own suggestion to look for alterations in the laboratory or hidden sections. It took all of 1 minute. I know, they can't take too much time in a 40 minute episode, but for the crew to all suddenly change their mind based on this is rather absurd. They should view this as a still-open case, needing more evidence to convict, not a declaration of innocence. Sometimes the glossing over of important points is a little too much to handle. If someone I knew was claiming to have been raped and this passed for a thorough investigation I would be really pissed!

Loved the story and build up, didn't like the ending

[dcobbimdb · 5/10 · 11 December 2012]

Interesting episode that I really wanted to like and while I did like the overall story and the build up, however bottom line I like satisfying endings and that's where things fell short. Good or bad I don't care, as long as it leaves you with something

I love Seven's character and other than her good looks she brings a lot of intrigue to the show, so the thing that just rubs me the wrong way is her getting the short end of the stick lately. Previously tensions build in the Hunters & pray episodes where she goes head to head with Janeway, ends up saving the ship from certain destruction, but gets punished and disappoints the captain in the process. Finally we have Retrospect which is basically a rape episode, similar to the kidney thieves urban legend. There's no doubt in my mind that Kovin violated her and took the nano probes, none at all. Her fully regained memories looked genuine and pretty clear and don't show any evidence of it being a transposed memory from a previous experience.

Now no evidence to support the crime and show irrefutable proof of the violation is basically the same as a woman accusing a man of raping her where the evidence cannot be conclusively determined, it's the same thing. In this case though we know Seven's character would never falsely accuse someone of this crime, and Kovin certainly comes off as an unlikable shady arms dealer with potentially a huge motive in harvesting her nano probes for weapons use.

What nobody here mentions and what I don't get is why Tuvok never offered to mind meld with Seven. While his Meld probably would not be admissible as evidence, you would still think it would be a good way for him to at least corroborate her story, or if it indeed was a transposed and previous memory he would be able to help make her aware of that and further seek the truth. But they obviously want to leave this episode wishy washy and right in the middle. In the end did Kovin deserve to die if he was guilty? No, but he escapes, runs, and then almost destroys Voyager when cornered. Those are certainly not the acts of a falsely accused person, especially after they tell him the evidence is now in his favor. The episode leaves you thinking Seven got raped, and has the weight of his death on her shoulders. Pretty empty and weak...

Better than the last episode but lower rated for some reason

[cheesus-895-673869 · 7/10 · 10 October 2019]

I can be noted that this episode was not written by the same writer as the last. I have noticed some reviews coming from anti-male writers. The episode is indeed balanced and does represent some real life situations. People react in the way in which people do in real life.

I would say the whole point of the episode is examining the notion of questioning emotion over logic. People with "witch-hunt" types of mentality ( always guilty regardless of whether they can be proved innocent) won't like it. The reason for this is because the episode reflects real life.

Unlike the last episode people stay in character this time. 7 of 9 (contrary to some people) IS taken seriously and people do seem to jump to conclusions probably because she is one of their own.

In no way does the episode suggest that a woman's rights are less than male's... none whatsoever. It is purely reflecting on the need to use sound judgement and seek the truth in an objective manner. There are plenty of times when perpetrators of some form of violation are truely guilty; some of those people get away with it and some don't. There are also several incidents where innocent people get wrongly convicted or have their life destroyed because of false allegations. It is just life.

The reviews stating with absolution that she was raped are mind-boggling

[txriverotter · 6/10 · 26 June 2022]

During the Doctor's attempt to bring her memories back, you can see in her memories that she's flashing back and forth between the sick bay and Kovin's workshop. She even sees another alien reaching out to her for help, for heaven's sake, from a sick bay bed. It's clearly a mish-mash of memories of her time with the Borg, maybe even including her own assimilation.

The Doctor was so pleased with himself over his new subroutines, then he immediately jumped to Seven's defense, quite ridiculously. No real psychiatrist, with any ethics, would act this way.

In this day and age, where we see how badly someone's reputation can be damaged by a mere accusation from someone, and that false confessions have been responsible for the incarceration of many innocent people, you'd think people would slow up and think before pushing someone to the brink.

In the end, the Doctor and Seven deserve to have to live with their guilt. Seven's tho, was the result of the Doctor pushing her to believe that her SINGLE recovered memory was an absolute. He bears more responsibility for Kovin's death than anyone.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions

[serradillamate-alejandro · 7/10 · 10 July 2021]

This episode resonates as a divisive one nowadays because of the public outrage against the traditional blaming of victims of rape.

The problem is that people are missing the point. The episode message is not "don't believe victims", or "rapist deserve rights" but "try to be impartial and listen to facts, because you can do some irreversible damage".

People are not ok with this episode because for them this is about bad people and rapists and it souds like a criticism against cancel culture but this is why it's so important. It is not good to prejudge people.

If the episode was about an alien society not being fair to another species as an analogy of racism this would be reviewed as a good episode. Problem is that plot has been done so much times it has no longer impact.

I remember Sagan book of the world and its demons talking about how in the middle of the satanic panic in the 70s there were some cases where some psychiatrist led to some disturbing jailing just because they believed they were doing good to victims. Same with cases of witch huntings in ancient times.

People have issues. There are some distrustfull people out there and we need to help victims showing compression and believing them but also corroborating facts and analizing if the acusations are true. It's about if we are going to accusate and judge people in the most neutral possible. Because prejudging someone in our thrive for social justice can make us do injustice too.

Succeeds at creating controversy but is disappointing.

[wwcanoer-tech · 7/10 · 4 November 2021]

To write a whodunit episode, the writers must pay attention to every detail, but here they don't, so the viewer is left unsure of the voracity of investigation and it's conclusion.

I have problems with:

• the doctor's initial memory recall procedure appears fairly reasonable (he doesn't lead her too much, just asks for detail) but his later conversations with Seven, that push her to be angry, feel wrong. The writers are likely looking for a way to get Seven to explore new emotions but this just felt wrong. The doctor would not do that. More natural would be if Seven's observation of the Doctor's anger led to Seven feeling angry.

• The doctor said that there was "an artificial mechanism blocking Seven's memory and when he removed that block the memories were revealed." This is damning evidence that is never mentioned again.

• As everyone comments, they don't do a good job searching for other rooms or other staff that Seven remembers and don't try examining Kovin for thoron radiation from the overload. They don't look for where he might hide nanoprobes or visitors who could have taken them away.

• The emotional journey of Kovin felt unnatural. Immediate indignation and fear would be normal. He explains that the mere accusation is enough to end his career, therefore it would be far more logical for Janeway to offer to start the investigation on their own, then they would easily go back to his lab, telling others that it's to look at more weapons. During that search we could see Kovin getting more and more nervous as they find potentially incriminating evidence, but when the doctor says that the nanoprobes being activated is proof of their extraction, Kovin should get scared and run. No need for a weapon. Then Janeway can contact the authorities to request approval or assistance to catch Kovin. When they catch up to Kovin with the authorities it's then believable that he feels doomed, cornered, so natural for him to lash out, but having his weapons overload is boring (so common). Much more natural would be having him pushing his ship beyond its speed limits or trying to hide or lose them in some dangerous place, where his panic causes him to make a mistake and die.

Thought provoking

[Kaleko · 8/10 · 29 May 2011]

I found this episode rather good as it introduced a moral dilemma and showed character development.

Seven's character was advanced as she discovered new emotions such as anger and regret. Surprisingly to me, she also showed evidence of compassion in response to Kovin's death, even despite her almost irrational anger towards him prior (thanks to the Doctor's encouragement!) She had stated earlier in the episode that she wanted him to pay and would be satisfied with nothing less, after being shown evidence supporting his innocence. Seven rarely changes her mind and so it was a surprise to see her do so at the end of the episode.

Yes it was frustrating to be left with the question- Did Kovin do it or not? However some may feel that it is satisfying to be left with this dilemma to create an open-ended thought-provoking episode. I am on the border here. I do feel it would have been more satisfying to see that in the end, Seven's memories were accurate.

I believe that while the end of the episode seems to point towards the characters agreeing it was a mistake, I do not. There must have been a reason for Seven's response to Kovin and the medical bay. She did not have this reaction during her countless visits prior. While the investigation did not find conclusive evidence, I believe that further investigation would have.

However, in the event that Seven's memories actually originated from her Borg life, this also makes the episode a good lesson. To try to be objective and not judge someone based on simply not liking them. Many times when an innocent is attacked we love to place blame. And if someone is already irritating (like Kovin, as expressed by multiple crew during the episode) then we easily place the blame on that person with limited evidence without considering we could be wrong.

It is episodes like these, which make you think deeper about morality and society, that make Star Trek good for the soul.

Handles Rape Culture Unevenly

[mkvonbergen · 5/10 · 8 June 2013]

Two favourite characters (Seven and the Doctor) take center stage in this episode, with both taking strides towards greater responsibility and maturity. The scenario itself (Did Kovin violate Seven or not?) is also intriguing, a good thought-provoking premise for the show.

Yet essentially the scenario boils down to did Kovin *rape* Seven, and I think the show leans too heavily towards blaming the victim. On the one hand, I take the point that accusations of rape are a heavy, dangerous thing to throw around willy-nilly. Kovin certainly suffers from the accusation of (possible) rape, regardless of whether the accusation is true or not. Unfortunately, it's not the lesson our culture needs to be learning right now. Witness (fifteen years after this episode aired) the Steubenville rape case, in which the rapists and not the victim earned the media's sympathy. Something similar happened here: As a previous reviewer said, it's never proved whether Seven's restored memories are true or false, yet it is Kovin and not Seven who ultimately receives the sympathy and compassion of the crew. Seven is left to feel guilty for her part in destroying Kovin. This seems like a classic example of blaming the victim: Seven may have been raped, but it is she who is to feel guilty, not Kovin.

Despite the fact that the case is not concluded either way, I wish that Voyager had more consistently offered support to the victims of abuse and assault, instead of supporting the status quo. Even some balance, compassion for *both* parties, would have been more helpful than the one-sided interest in Kovin seen at here. As it is, this episode seems to contribute to rape culture.

A surprisingly bold treatment of he-said, she-said

[RogerBorg · 8/10 · 27 January 2022]

Enjoyable escapism? No, it's far too sincere.

Particularly well written? Not really, the characterisation is all over the place.

A satisfying resolution? Quite the opposite, it's very frustrating.

But that's why I enjoyed this episode a lot more than I thought I would from the bare premise. Because it tackles the issue of "my truth" head on, neither confirming nor denying that we should #BelieveHer.

And that's exactly the problem with any accusation of any unwitnessed crime based on two people's conflicting stories. There is no magical solution, no mind meld, no see-the-past machine.

Just flip the coin, and destroy at least one reputation, or at least one life, if not two.

Don't wander off alone with a stranger, and don't close the door. What a curiously mature and unexpected conclusion.

The problem here is the writing "tells" instead of "shows" with the plot twist

[LordManhammer · 4/10 · 29 April 2021]

I don't know a lot about screenwriting, but one basic rule does seem to hold when I find a particular movie or show unengaging: a writer must show why something is true, rather than simply tell the viewer. As an easy example, if a character is smart, it is not enough for other characters to keep saying things like "boy, that Person is sure smart!" You've got to give them clever lines to prove their intelligence.

Another reviewer here complains about how often Voyager plots "flip-flop," meaning a new emotion is thrown in that the characters suddenly take up, as a cheap way to carry out a plot twist. I agree, and the problem with this episode is that Janeway and the Doctor insist by the end that they weren't giving Kovin a real chance. The Doctor thinks he was too caught up in trying to protect Seven, while Kovin rubbed Janeway the wrong way and she might have let her dislike bias her.

I won't touch on the problematic victim-blaming nature of this episode because it has already been done so admirably by other reviewers. I'll speak instead to those others who think the episode nailed its "a person isn't guilty until proven innocent" message: this episode fails because at no point are the characters shown treating Kovin unfairly, believing he must be guilty and refusing him a fair attempt to prove himself. To the contrary, the writers have Kovin behaving guilty, being very crude and defensive every time he opens his mouth. I rewatched the episode to look for signs of impartiality, but everything about Janeway, the Doctor, and Tuvok's investigation seemed fine.

Ultimately, the disappointment here is that we're told Janeway and the Doctor regret their actions, yet the writers didn't actually write them any actions to regret, and I'm left scratching my head why they think they behaved badly.

7 of 9 was right about KOVIN

[awbusa · 10/10 · 17 November 2020]

The INVESTIGATION should've looked for a hidden lab beneath KOVIN'S LAB because in alot of real life and fictional situations the BAD GUYS always have a SECRET HIDDEN BASEMENT to hide things they don't want anyone to find

1 mind meld from TUVOK and the INVESTIGATION would've been over and the TRUTH would've been revealed

A travesty.

[angelcelestine · 1/10 · 1 August 2016]

This episode is a travesty. It holds up the rape culture that warns us to be cautious when a woman accuses someone of rape; maybe she's lying, maybe she's confused, maybe it was all a "misunderstanding." Above all, we must never, ever ruin a rapist's life over an accusation.

In any other episode of STAR TREK wherein a regular crew member has an experience that is neither witnessed or experienced by anyone else, they are believed. Hands down. No questions. They are not required to prove anything, and the crew works on finding out exactly what is happening and how so they can fix it.

Why is it that in an episode that is so obviously a parallel to what happens when a rape victim accuses their rapist, is suddenly the crew member's perceptions and veracity challenged? I've seen Bryan Fuller quoted as believing they somehow managed to take out all the sexual aspects of this episode, and he is profoundly mistaken. How can he be correct, when Seven literally says "He violated me"? But no, she can't be telling the truth, she can't be perceiving the truth; it has to be something else, something more distant, something safer. In fact, we're left with the only other possible explanation being that Seven never suffered any trauma at all! No, it's just the memories of *other people's* trauma that are causing her to act EXACTLY LIKE A RAPE VICTIM.

Not only is she wrong, but it costs a man's life--which is exactly the wrong message to send in an episode so very obviously tied to rape and sexual assault.

I don't care what Bryan Fuller and Lisa Klink thought they were doing; this episode is far more about rape and sexual assault than it is about the dangers of misused psychology. Which, as someone with a degree in psychology, that is a WHOLE other can of worms for me.

This episode should never have been approved, let alone shot and aired.

Worst episode of Voyager

[Hughmanity · 3/10 · 30 December 2020]

This episode is so poorly written and delivers an awful moral to the story.

Seven of Nine is essentially raped (for her Borg tech) by an arms dealer named Kovin. The doctor helps her recover repressed memories and she accuses him.

Kovin's character does a complete 180 from being a brash, condescending and annoying bro to suddenly this pious "I trust you will treat me fairly" bit which I assumed was an act, but it was never really revealed that it was. That makes me think the writers were just changing the character to suit their needs as the story evolved, which is just lazy writing and a betrayal to the audience.

Then we have the Starfleet crew who comes to Seven's defense initially but on some 'evidence' that turns it into more of a "could have happened either way" situation, they all throw Seven under the bus and assume Kovin is innocent. Doesn't this just reinforce rape culture? They would get skewered for this ending in 2020, that's for sure.

Meanwhile Kovin is on his third personality of the show, where he's a suicidal maniac that won't listen to a word from anyone including "hey we know you're innocent and we were wrong" and he blows himself up. Huh?

This episode was so bad it made me angry and that's a new experience for me in watching Trek.

Poor writing

[nilsson_anders · 1/10 · 14 January 2009]

This is one of my least favourite episodes of Voyager, almost as bad as The Thaw. The fundamental problem with the episode is that at no point does it make it clear to the viewer that Seven's memories are false. In the episode the case against Seven's story grows increasingly stronger but all of a sudden everyone changes their minds with no explanations at all for where Seven's memories came from or why she had them.

As much as I may agree with the fundamental premise, that the testimony of abused people should not always be taken at face value, the episode would have done much more to serve this view if it had offered up an alternative explanation to Seven's memories, something they instead gloss over.