Voyager Reviewed! (by a pedant) S6E04: TINKER TENOR DOCTOR SPY

[@Unlimited_Lives]

Today's Thought Experiment: Aliens are watching your fantasies to see if you're worth conquering! What do you imagine to convince them you're not worth the hassle?

[@mcewanalex]

In year employment reviews. Nobody would have that as a fantasy....

[@tomsenior7405]

Eastenders and Corrie broadcast 24/7 on every channel. No-one wants any of that guff.

[@Nx57ytre]

I scare the shit out of them with my internet browser history.

[@ptonpc]

Considering a lot of them involve me being alone. I doubt aliens would grant me the mercy.

[@tonyjackson4078]

My own poor self confidence would probably garner more pity than dreams of conquest.

[@colonelquack]

It's campy, but I love when the ECH gets gets his four pips.

[@johnfehsenfeld3261]

Totally agree, that they appear one at a time is brilliant.

[@crystalheart9]

That was cool!

[@ag47391]

Pound shop Sontaran, love it!

[@kelvin1316]

It frustrates me no end in modern life when a political figure/leader makes a choice to go in a certain direction, gets given more information, changes that direction based on the new information (i.e. making a more informed decision) but is criticised for doing a "u-turn" rather than a "thank goodness they didn't drive use at 1000mph into that 50ft thick steel reinforced concrete wall and saw reason". Or just mocked for not seeing the "obvious" to begin with.

[@Unlimited_Lives]

Precisely. We've allowed the rise of a system where people are vilified for acting on new data. The world is too complicated to assume you know everything when you start a course of action. And that's before we consider how voters are treated the exact opposite way and told they should change their minds every election cycle. Utter doublethink bollocks.

[@danielyeshe]

​@@Unlimited_LivesYou're probably familiar with it already but Yes (Prime) Minister talked about this in the context of opinion polls. Essential you can get any answer you want depending on how the survey is phrased.

[@Unlimited_Lives]

I've never actually watched Yes Minister or Yes, Prime Minister despite those likely being right up my alley. Caught an episode here and there but never sought them out. Best stick them on the list. Cheers for reminding me of them.

[@danielyeshe]

​@@Unlimited_LivesYou're welcome. It is very funny and the three principal actors play off each other so well.

[@dm121984]

​@danielyeshe Yes Minster/Prime Minster is a great show and highlights the way governments tend to work whilst pretending they work the way they should. As for modern politics, unfortunately media consolidation has hugely reduced the number of view points that get to see the light of day. After all, if your newspaper is owned by a massive multinational conglomerate, your opinion piece on taxing said organisations doesn't get past the editor; and most of the other newspapers are in the same situation. On the flip side, independent news has never been easier to publish with the internet. Its never been harder to get it read though. Because it's so easy, every nut has their own news outlet. So in short, the rich have a ton of proxy power and independent reporting is always at risk of being drowned out with the white noise of the net.

[@jonyprepperisrael60]

the Hirogens are an interesting idea, basically a Bureaucratic pirates, two words you never thought would be combined together

[@Scerttle]

I gotta say, I've binged your entire catalogue of these vids over the past week or two (seasons 1-5) and after catching up I was worried about how much of a drag it would be to wait for each new video. But the rate you cover this is impressive and it hasn't felt like a drag waiting at all. Several points to your work ethic.

[@littleblackcat2273]

@2:04 - "Pound Shop Sontarans" had me lol! 🤣

[@Fawkes42]

I like to think that the Doc was offered a whole bunch of options for quarters and, like with his name, was just hit with massive choice paralysis

[@Unlimited_Lives]

See, that's the thing. It would have taken a single scene with him entering an empty room, them umming and ahhing before going back to sick bay. Closes the whole thing down. His choice not Janeway's. As things stand it makes her look like an arse, which runs contrary to all the progress she's made.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

@@Unlimited_Livesyeah, a lot of things where just a little 5 second scene would explain things and flesh out the characters. Not just with this, but showing characters come from the holodeck together talking about what they did there before plot happens. Or typical hallway talks that get interrupted, but the person joining the conversation comes from a greenhouse or torpedo manufacturing room. It doesn't need any big explanation, but simply showing things in the background would make the ship more real.

[@crystalheart9]

I really enjoyed this episode a lot. The potato head people (that's what I call them) were so funny especially the first one who was afraid of losing his job because of his mistake. I loved the ending where the Doc took over and actually saved everyone by threatening to use the non existent photonic cannon. Great episode from beginning to end and the Doc is my favorite character on the show.

[@heidifedor]

Probably my favorite Voyager episode.

[@kirkeverist1335]

Playing the role of Phlox in this episode: Jay Leggett, a gifted improviser and comedian, who well understood how much can be communicated in the shared fiction of an improvised world.

[@pedrocortez3485]

Woooohoooo, a doc episode. And a good one. Too bad its gonna have to wait til this afternoon cause im currently at work right now eating lunch at the press box at sofi stadium. Up voting now.

[@geordie170101]

You, sir, are an absolute joy to listen to...

[@Unlimited_Lives]

*Groucho Marx hand gestures* "Tell that to my ex-wife."

[@geordie170101]

“I hear you were an adequate husband…to be fair I’d a quit a lot sooner than she did” 😉

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

The moment when he is just singing about hyposprays is glorious. Same for the moment when he turns to comnmand. How the rank pips show up one by one. And when reality and the daydreams start flowing together and he proper hallucinates and knows that something is up and he immediately goes to get help with it shows that the Doc has enough of a psychiatrist in him.

[@SpotTiger]

One of my favourite episodes, honestly. Loved how theatrical and over the top Doctor's fantasies were!! I personally love the scene where the pips on his collar spawn in a sequence, as the music swells! 😆❤️❤️❤️

[@crystalheart9]

That was an awesome surprise.

[@lonedragon3261]

I love the title. He tinkered with himself and became an unwitting (and unreliable) spy as a result.

[@KertaDrake]

It's kind of hilarious that the Doctor's fantasies are basically just Captain Proton played somewhat straight.

[@noahlogue]

Doc deserved his freedom, he didn't turn murderous A.I. after gaining sentience.

[@tonyjackson4078]

It was pretty strange how the Doctor was treated. I mean Seven was very content to have her alcove in the cargo bay, but would have REALLY been such a strain on ships resources to give him his own quarters? Not to be morbid, but plenty of crew died during the trip that openings for empty space shouldn't have been an issue.

[@Unlimited_Lives]

I ran the numbers in a previous episode based on the currently available Intrepid schematics (I forget which video...) and the conclusion was: Loads of spare rooms. She just didn't give him any. That choice continues to baffle me, even from a narrative point of view. If you decide later on that the Doc having his own quarters is too much of a logistical faff, do it for one episode then throw in a line saying it wasn't to his tastes. Story over, problem solved, Janeway not presented as an arsehole.

[@dm121984]

​@@Unlimited_LivesI assume it was either a) the writers forgot outright (most probable in my view), b) they didn't want to spend any budget on setting up a room for him on the set of voyager, or c) the writers got so use to the status quo, they just resisted the change out of habit.

[@Unlimited_Lives]

Most likely the first, I agree, but it bugs me as the quarters set was designed to be modular so it's everybody's. An undressed set of basic quarters, that he spends 30 seconds in before realising it doesn't feel like home, would have put the whole thing to rest.

[@Rorikon215]

I'm not really arguing the point passionately here or anything, but in TNG and Lower Decks ensigns, and presumably anyone who is a crewman (which should be far more numerous than we've seen before on any Star Trek series surely?), have to share quarters. That might have been acceptable for a short voyage but I'd imagine there would be plenty of lower ranked crewmembers expecting more space after 5-6 years.

[@keeperofnecronomicon]

Or maybe he’s shown to have quarters but is never there. As he doesn’t eat sleep or shower. And sick baby either has a patient and he need to be there. Or it’s empty and whatever could do in is quarters he could do in sickbay. But then I also think the writers should have remembered the doctor is actually a program and the hologram is simply a projection.

[@mb2000]

7:06 Janeway questions the morality of viewing the Doctor’s daydreams, but we established in “Cathexis” that the ship constantly records the brain waves of the entire crew!

[@xedalpha1]

I do love episodes like this. Solid character exploration but funny too.

[@redpointt]

What a fun episode, but it also does explore the complexity of the doctors existence and his relation to his crew mates. It’s interesting to see how he’s changed over time, and how his treatment has to. In a way, I suppose I always routed for the doctor in a similar way as I did for Data Excellent review and I appreciate the thoughts on Janeway too. As much as she can make some odd choices at times, there is an underlying openness, she may have her mind set in many situations , but there is a little door open for change, which we do see

[@ourladyofguadalupebotanica6732]

A Doctor-centric episode. Some of my favorite episodes centered around the Doctor. Who didn't ball their eyes out after watching 'Real Life.'

[@redpointt]

@@ourladyofguadalupebotanica6732 same for me, my favourites! In a way I always wanted the doctor to discover life, and that episode was really hard, but also really real. I wish we got a little bit more of a glimpse into “Blink of an Eye”. Let’s see the review on this channel hehe

[@SatanRomps]

These keep me going. Tysm for posting so much. ❤

[@Unlimited_Lives]

Thank you! It still surprises me when people tell me these things are actively beneficial to them. I hope they remain so for you.

[@BintyMcFrazzles]

If you ignore the, "I'm not holophobic, but...." element to this, I do enjoy the episode. If only for when The Doc activates the ECH, and we get a close-up of the pips appearing one-at-a-time on his collar, and when the Borg say, "Designation unknown" and the Doc replies, "Not for long." LOVE IT! The look we see in his face is a great! Robert Picardo is superb.

[@AvatarRiku]

I’d have gone with discount Sontarans but it’s good to know spicy brains think alike; barring US-UK linguistic differences.

[@Unlimited_Lives]

You know, I debated with myself whether I should use "dollar store Sontaran". Discount would have sidestepped the issue.

[@Rorikon215]

Hehe I'd have been pissed if you'd used "dollar store". Especially given the DW connection (not sure if you know, but they supposedly are physically based on Sontarans, it's not just a happy coincidence).

[@akmi1931]

Glad he didn’t. I hated the Sontarans. Awful characters on Doctor Who.

[@AvatarRiku]

@@Unlimited_Lives off-brand, discount brand, store brand or value brand are also viable alternatives Edit: that being said I’ve had some very good discount brand Oreos

[@fxitfastah]

woof!

[@thespyofcharles]

along the lines of daydreaming, i thought the Doctor should have had an episode where it shows what he does when he's deactivated. I know he's said he goes into a void when he's not on, but I thought it'd be cool if he had a dream life while he slept. where he could defragment, meditate, or even sleep if he wanted to. run scientific experiments, study, read... explore his humanity.

[@schiz5674]

Brilliant stuff!! 😂

[@Unlimited_Lives]

Thank you!

[@jordanloux3883]

You know, the hierarchy would be great in Lower Decks. I can see Boimler infiltrating one of their ships and just being so seduced by the bureaucracy of it all.

[@Doctoranthetardis]

Hey the end sketch is my favorite part.

[@jonyprepperisrael60]

episodes like this are the reason I bought a 93$ signed poster of the EMH. second favorite doctor's episode and in my top 10 VOY episodes

[@dm121984]

I like this episode, the doctor is acting in character and at the same time the fantasties are a window into silliness, Janeway is relatively good, and the aliens are amusing and yet believable. I will say, as far as i recall, the doc is allowed to remain running most of the time and even uses the holodeck frequently. This in spite of the issues they had back in season 2 (i think) where he literally ran out of memory, and the solution was a repair job they can't repeat (I won't go into the bizzaire silliness of that issue). As for crew quarters, there is a sort of legit reason; the writer's seem to imply that if the doc goes offline for any reason out of sickbay, his program is lost or damaged? They're really inconsistent about that. Tbf, Janeway not giving him crew quarters at this point is largely down to the writers forgetting he ever asked and a lack of desire to spend money on a set for the docs quarters. Edit: also, i wondered why a hologram, who has no biological drives, had so many daydreams about women coming onto him, but then his personality is largely based on Lewis Zimmerman, who based on his apparence in DS9, very much likes the ladies.

[@Here_is_Waldo]

I like to pretend that the future-tech that is the mobile emitter explains why the Doc no longer has memory issues. It could have done some hand-wavium tech magic to make him capable of running forever without suffering any memory issues.

[@dm121984]

@@Here_is_Waldo tbf, I have to write off all hologram tech issues when it comes to voyager, as the writers mostly seem to have no concept of how software works, nor the difference between hardware and software.

[@deeconstruction8163]

The Thumbfaces strike me as the product of Pakleds futzing around with stolen Sontaran cloning tech.

[@spikeoramathon]

gee, I wasn't thinking that they had *thumbs* for faces.... quite another appendage. Especially with those collars, and the way they peek out .... On the doc's inequality - his complaint wasn't handled just by Janeway and Chakotay, but paraded in front of the entire bridge crew. If it had been Crewman Jones, nobody but Chakotay and Janeway would've known and it certainly wouldn't be bandied about on the bridge.

[@Unlimited_Lives]

Good point. Bringing it up on the bridge was a dick move, and one I should have caught. (also: thumbs don't get demonetised...)

[@ZipplyZane]

That "Congratulations EMH" banner appears in his fantasies, right? If so, then we have a bit of insight that he thinks of his personal name as EMH. Or that, at least, that's what he expects the crew to refer to him as.

[@Unlimited_Lives]

Interesting idea, but I'm afraid it says ECH so more likely a reference to his "promotion". You raise a salient point though. How does he think of himself?

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Besides all the names he thinks about nicking from famous scientists, the most logical name would be one with the initials E.M.H.

[@wormwoodpearl1]

I don't know when I've seen maladaptive daydreaming approached in sci-fi, or indeed aside from Walter Mitty

[@der.Schtefan]

One of my favorite episodes, if not THE best. The best Katherine Hepburn TV series ever.

[@GnomePickles]

The entire ship got jury rigged holo emitters for a minute, you cannot tell me you cannot rig up some holo emitters in a set of quarters for the Doctor. It would take Harry maybe an afternoon, if you can pull him away from his clarinet.

[@zEropoint68]

one might argue that it is not possible to maintain command unless one possesses the ability to introspect and reevaluate their positions. a leader leads from the front. it's called _taking responsibility._

[@kyuven]

In another case of the Lower Decks writers learning from the VOY writers' absolute blunders, at one point the four main characters are all promoted and get their own quarters (ensigns have to bunk in shared living space, Lt Jr Grades get their own quarters or can share with others) While two of the members get their own without much fanfare (Mariner and Tendi) and I don't even think we've seen their rooms yet, Boimler has an entire subplot of an episode dedicated to getting passed around to different quarters. First he gets a nice, spacious room...right next to the nacelle, meaning it's constantly searing bright. Next he gets a room between two holodecks with the worst soundproofing in existence, so he has to listen to Shaxs and T'Ana's relationship drama on one side and Freeman's self-aggrandizing speeches before massive holographic crowds on the other. Then he resigns himself to sleeping in the Jeffrey's Tubes, where he's interrupted by Rutherford and Livik trying to one up each other. Finally, Rutherford gets promoted (which was its OWN silly subplot.) and they decide to bunk together...and get the Nacelle room again. Which, as it turns out, had a dimmer switch on the window because Starfleet ship designers aren't actually that incompetent. So in one episode they basically shit on VOY *directly* by having crew get new quarters, and shit on VOY indirectly by having every single main character, even the provisional transfer from Vulcan High Command, out rank Harry Kim. Lower Decks is a great show but the little stuff under the surface makes it even funnier. And they are VERY aware of VOY's foibles too, considering they've done two episodes focused on the ship itself and the cast, and made quite a few cutting references to the whole Threshold plot. The borg nanite assimilated animatronic threshold newts taking over Voyager (Now a museum ship), which were only stopped with the power of cheese were were my favorite. Now if we wanted to be generous we could actually suggest Lower Decks' explanation as a reason for why the Doctor and Seven never receive quarters: Since he doesn't have a rank, the computer would probably default to assigning him to a bunk area with the ensigns, which he wouldn't like. And dealing with that would be too much of a pain in the ass. Of course this is completely debunked by Harry Kim having his own quarters. So there's that.

[@matthewfitzpatrick4290]

Best. Voyager. Ever

[@jords175]

I’m neurospicy, and I choose to use calming/safe and totally distracting from the hyperactive brainy brain thoughts that go a million miles an hour at bed time (and while I sleep… like. Throughout the whole night 😅). I just wanted to say - thank you 🙏🏻. You’ve become my go to regular nightly binge audio of choice. I used to listen to the sleep with me podcast (he’s an acquired taste - and you HAVE to either sub to his patreon, which I did for 4 or so years lest you be bombarded with *extreme* next level advertisements). But he is spicy too and enjoys trek. He’s done about 20 hours maybe 30 hours of commentary watching TNG episodes and there are all night long KZbin compilations of the trek episodes he does. Thankfully with all ads removed. But that got a bit tiresome after about 4 years, so I switched it to John Michael Godier short videos about astronomy and space etc. Also highly recommend. Soothing af voice too 😍. But now my friend - this is definitely something special and it’s only gotten better. I have been a watcher/enjoyer of your videos since start of you watching season two or the end of season one? Bloody fantastic job and I am so thankful because you have become just my nighttime buddy it feels like. Makes me look forward to bed and Voyager used to be my security blanket. I appreciate your hot takes on everything as well it’s hilarious. Also can I just say how incredibly thankful I am and stunning it is that you have toned down the intensity of the intro tune. It is far easier to sleep to now. My dream is you release videos that go for seven hours or whatever and just a compilation of you reviewing every single episode back to back so it goes for a full night of sleep ha ha. I would pay for that. But also I’m broke so KZbin premium does it for me. But yeah you’ve totally got a market there I think! 😂 🎉❤ ily!

[@Unlimited_Lives]

I'm glad these have been of use to you. Each of the seasons are in their own playlists if you want something to run a little longer. I'm not sure there's a great demand for all-the-everything-in-one-go, but I've been playing with the idea of public-domain audiobooks so you might get something a little longer at some point. No promises, but we'll see.

[@danielyeshe]

Pondshop Sontarans is the perfect destination!

[@ptonpc]

You'll figure something out Spacedog! I don't know about this episode. It just seemed, for me, to be a "Hey, do you know we have a comedy / embarrassment quota? Let's splurge it now"

[@Unlimited_Lives]

Fair point. I can absolutely see how this comes across as Just A Lighter Episode.

[@spacey_432]

Harry... not you TOO!!!

[@pleappleappleap]

It's the attack of the potato people!

[@kestrelgaming554]

In sci-fi this is a very interesting and confusing subject. Is a hologram a lifeform and does it/them have rigths ? Do like when I'm made to think in a episode 🤔 and do love Doctor Love Space Dog too 🐕 Woof

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

And not just Star Trek-style holograms, but robots and synthetic beings in general.

[@kestrelgaming554]

Yes, I was thinking about Red Dwarf but robots and computer AI's too. The mind just boogies 🤯

[@nunnayorz5836]

Thumb face? Space potatoes was right there.

[@nisselarson3227]

What episode are you talking about? EMH requesting quarters? I still wonder why you keep bringing that up, I have *no* recollection of this. I do recall the very early episode where Janeway asks the EMH after prompts from Kes, what he wants, and that is to be able to turn himself on and off. Season 4 you say? Must be one of the least memorable episodes...

[@Unlimited_Lives]

Future's End (part 2). Post adventure celebration in the mess hall. DOC: You know Captain, I've always wanted a little more privacy. Perhaps under the circumstances, my own quarters. JANEWAY: One step at a time, Doctor.

[@nisselarson3227]

@@Unlimited_Lives Ahh that explains a lot.

[@mattrossesq]

You can buy space clouds 10 for a penny? Where? I've been way overpaying for years at 5 cents each...

[@FizzleFX]

Dic was promoted before Kim 🎉

[@DabbertjeDouwe]

No buddy, can't give you this one. It wasn't a holodeck simulation, you missed. A first, I think?

[@13palmerluke]

Given that the doctor has presumably seen Seven naked, I find it problematic that the nude painting fantasy was treated with such glibness by the people who witnessed it...

[@PJFrye]

Thoth is pronounced tote.

[@Unlimited_Lives]

I'll pass your realism feedback on to the computer core from a haunted spaceship, currently trapped in the body of a cartoon dog with no face and voiced by a Windows XP text-to-speech program. (my understanding was that the currently accepted pronunciation is a best guess based on assumptions, and a matter of some debate)

[@TenniellesChannel]

💪😷👍

[@misterlau5246]

🧐 ZERO points Mister Posh... 🧐 A simulation? No way. If we accept simulation is a training program, which usually is, the doctor is an active member, holographic or not. I think "emulation of a biological doctor" That's the better way to address this temperamental program. And a program with AI with daydreams mean in today's real life it has the famously infamous "hallucination state" which is common to all big data learning models. You misguide it and there's no way it can get out of giving you bad responses until you cease with the thread of the conversation and it resets the madness... I did like this episode, I'm an engineer and a nerd. Y eso me hace apreciar de different manera this episode. Like I program him and later he's diverging from its expected function... 🤔 😬

[@inthestudy]

I'm doing a rewatch, and your comments on U-Turns game me a familiar twinge of discomfit. The point is not entirely unfair, but I have to look at this from our shared reality of British politics. When Boris Johnson U-Turned on avoiding the second lockdown, he was doing something he'd been told was necessary weeks earlier. When Sunak eventually cancelled Eat Out to Help Kill Grandma, he was stopping doing something he was unambiguously warned against before he did it. Not only were they warned, it was plastered across the front of every newspaper in the country and being publicly called for from every corner of society. In neither case can they argue "we weren't told". You don't get a parade for stopping doing something you should never have done in the first place. If the government cancelled the Rwanda scheme tomorrow in favour of a sane asylum system I'd acknowledge it being the correct decision, but I wouldn't celebrate them for it when it was clear the whole thing was bollocks the day it was announced. They don't deserve a reward for that. There's other contexts we can look at. Cancelling HS2 is another. There's a lot of valuable arguments (environmental, economic, sociological) to say that destroying a huge track of valuable stuff to build a slightly faster way for people to commute to London was a stupid idea. However; once you'd done the worst of the damage, cancelling it was pointless. Better to have the flawed benefits than have the damage done but with nothing to show for it. And Starmer cancelling the Green plan is another type of bad U-Turn. He cancelled something genuinely valuable and meaningful; on the offchance it was used to reduce his political power. I may be able to see the twisted logic he's using, but it doesn't make it less of a disaster for the future of Britain, and I'm not congratulating him for that either. A U-Turn that is laudable is one made for the greater good (unlike Starmer's and HS2) and as soon as practical after the information becomes available that the U-Turn is necessary. I genuinely can't think of an example from government that meets both those criteria. So bobbins to celebrating them.