545. RetrospectFORMULA: Schisms + Violations + The Raven
WHY WE LIKE IT: The crazy cannon in the opener.
WHY WE DON'T: So... they never finished installing that cannon?
REVIEW: Retrospect has the same basic set-up as Schisms (again - I guess it never hurts to suck up to the boss by paying homage to one of his episodes), with Seven growing progressively anxious until disturbing memories of medical violations are uncovered. This time, however, it's handled less tastefully, treated, basically, as a rape (and later, a childhood molestation). It's all fun and games when they amputate and reattach Riker's arm, but only violating a female character is somehow more exploitative.
Star Trek doesn't have a very good record when it comes to representing psychology, but here delving into repressed memory (and later false memory syndrome) is adequately, if gauchely, handled. At least the Doctor acknowledges that he didn't really know what he was doing when he basically "led the witness" under hypnosis. The accused, Kovin, really is a grade-A jerk, so either the story is blindingly obvious and he did it, or blindingly obvious and those are really distorted memories of her assimilation. Either way, the only real surprise is how badly Kovin overreacts.
It really feels like his extreme reaction and subsequent death are engineered to weigh as heavily as possible on Seven and the Doctor. A big lesson about remorse and all that. The Doctor asking to be rebooted is as extreme and suicidal and Kovin's actions, and a lot of this doesn't ring true. But I don't mean to say the episode isn't watchable. The investigation is well handled, with the dangers of having a preconceived idea on show. The Doctor and Seven are, as usual, quite good together.
Oh yes, and there's the matter of Seven having been punished for insubordination in the last episode. How's that going? Well, it's mentioned, but she's already pretty much off the hook, though technically on the road to earning Janeway's trust again. Hardly any difference with what we're used to, and it certainly doesn't prevent her from participating in the adventure this time.
LESSON: Sometimes a tubule is just a tubule.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: It's ok, but manipulative and ultimately unsatisfying.
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