Eye of the Needle (episode)
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| This article is written from the Real World point of view |
 |
| "Eye of the Needle" | ||
|---|---|---|
| VOY, Episode 1x07 Production number: 107 First aired: 20 February 1995 | ||
| ← | 6th of 168 produced in VOY | → |
| ← | 6th of 168 released in VOY | → |
| ← | 351st of 726 released in all | → |
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| Teleplay By Bill Dial and Jeri Taylor Story By Hilary J. Bader Directed By Winrich Kolbe | ||
| 48579.4 (2371/2351) | ||
Voyager discovers a wormhole that leads back to the Alpha Quadrant.
Contents |
[edit] Summary
When the crew discovers subspace emissions often indicative of a wormhole, they are elated that they may have found a way home. Unfortunately, the wormhole is discovered to be only thirty centimeters in diameter, a little too small for USS Voyager to fly through, as Tom Paris put it. Tuvok, however, states that it might be large enough for a microprobe to penetrate the aperture and see where the wormhole leads. They do so. Captain Janeway speculates that the wormhole is in an advanced state of decay. It must have been collapsing for centuries. Ensign Harry Kim detects a subspace variance. Suddenly, Paris and Kim report that the microprobe has gotten stuck in an inter spatial eddy inside the wormhole. Dismayed, the probe sends a signal and the crew then realizes that someone on the other side of the wormhole is scanning the probe.
The Doctor is examining Lieutenant Walter Baxter as he quizzes Kes about his possible injuries. Baxter directs all of his comments to Kes as if The Doctor were nothing more than a tool. He asks Kes a question about The Doctor's abilities, but The Doctor responds. Baxter then asks Kes that if he needed surgery, would he be performing it. Once again, The Doctor responds saying, "Of course, and quite expertly, too." Baxter replies, "I don't know, I'd have to think twice." The Doctor replies, "Fine, and if you were lucky, you wouldn't die on the table while you were making up your mind." When Baxter's injuries are healed, he looks at Kes and says "Thanks." Dismayed at the way he was treated, Kes asks The Doctor if he noticed the way was treated. He tells her he is used to being treated like a hypospray. Kes asks The Doctor for more of a challenge. She wants to work Human anatomy. She then thanks The Doctor for his help. He smiles with a sense of respect.
In a senior staff meeting, B'Elanna Torres says that the microprobe will be destroyed in 72 hours. As they brainstorm, Kim has an idea to send a subspace carrier wave using the microprobe as a relay. While reconfiguring the signal generator, Kim talks to Torres about the family he misses at home. He asks her if there's anyone who would miss her, and she tells him that the Maquis are the closest thing to family she has.
After reconfiguring the signal generator, they send a series of sub-harmonic pulses. After a few minutes of intense waiting, Tuvok and Paris report that Voyager is receiving a signal coming from the wormhole. It is on the same carrier wave and amplitude. It originates in the Alpha Quadrant.
Kes enters the captain's ready room. She tells her that she is unhappy about the way the crew treats The Doctor. They ignore and insult him and talk about him as if he isn't there. Janeway has heard that he is brusque, rude, and lacks bedside manner. They are thinking about reprogramming him. Kes thinks it's not right. He is the medical officer and alive, self aware and communicative with the ability to learn. Janeway says he's been programmed to do that. Kes states, "Because he's a hologram, he doesn't have to be treated with respect or any consideration at all?"
Encouraged by the success of his test signal, Kim investigates the possibility of voice communication. Torres is worried about the subspace interference. They apply a narrow-band filter to compensate. Janeway sends a basic hail requesting a response. They get a response, but it is badly scrambled. They make adjustments and try again several times. Kim and Torres are successful in clearing up the signal, and the crew hears a message from a Romulan cargo vessel in the Alpha Quadrant sector 1385. Janeway tells the Romulan that they are a Federation vessel in the Delta Quadrant and they got pulled to their present location. The Romulan thinks she is lying and is instead a Federation spy vessel in the Alpha Quadrant. He cuts off communication abruptly. Tuvok tells Janeway that there are no shipping lanes in that sector and the Romulan ship is more likely to be a science vessel engaged on a secret mission. Janeway tells Harry to hail him continuously.
Janeway enters sickbay and activates The Doctor. He explains that he was in the middle of preparing a culture to test Lt. Hargrove for Arethian flu when Ensign Kyoto deactivated him. Janeway tells The Doctor she just wants to talk. He does so much now that he doesn't have the the luxury of being an emergency supplement anymore. He's become a full-fledged member of the crew. He thinks he's going to be reprogrammed. Janeway asks if there's anything she can do to help him. People often turn him off when he has work to do, and they leave him on when he has nothing to do. All he wants is a little consideration. Janeway suggests she will give him control over his deactivation sequence. He likes the idea. She asks, "Anything else?", but he's not sure how to respond.
While Janeway is sleeping, Kim establishes two-way communication with the Romulan and wakes her. She has the communication routed to her quarters. The Romulan is highly suspicious of a Federation starship claiming to be in the Delta Quadrant. The Romulan identifies his ship as the cargo vessel Talvath, but refuses to give his name. He analyzed their hailing frequency to show it originates in the Delta Quadrant, but he doesn't see how this is possible. He asks what her mission is in the Delta Quadrant. Janeway explains their mission was in the Alpha Quadrant and they were pulled against their will to their present location, and are now trying to get home. He still thinks they are Starfleet spies on a surveillance mission. She assures him they are no threat. If they were spies, they wouldn't be making this request: with no way to communicate with their friends and families, she asks him to relay a message for them. Each of her crew could write a short personal message. He would be welcome to read them all to see they are nothing but heart-felt words of some very lonely people. It would ease his apprehension if he could see she is who she says she is. He thinks by adding a signal amplifier, they may be able to establish a video link.
Kim and Paris get the communications frequency locked in, but they still have a problem with the phase variance in the subspace signal. Kim compensates and the Romulan appears on the screen. Janeway thanks him for maintaining contact. He remarks he's never seen a ship like Voyager before. She tells him it's new but not classified. She asks him if he's contacted his government about relaying their messages. They will take the request under advisement. She asks when he will have an answer. He tells her it is not his place to tell the Senate what to do. He says he has been on his mission for over a year. Janeway asks about his family. He tells her he has a daughter that's only seven months old. He's never seen her. She'll be two years old before he gets back. Voyager's crew left friends, family, and loved ones, and they may never see them again. Surely he understands how they feel. They would be grateful if he could relay their messages. Janeway tells Chakotay to have the the crew prepare their messages within the hour.
Suddenly, Torres runs onto the bridge, asking Janeway to talk to her in her ready room. Once inside, Torres excitedly tells the captain the phase amplitude of the visual link is within a few megahertz of meeting transporter protocols. It might be possible to use the probe as a transmitter to transport the entire crew back to the Alpha Quadrant. They must run a few tests first. Janeway tells Torres to use whatever personnel she needs and "Don't bother with secrecy. I doubt we'll be able to keep this quiet for very long."
Kes enters sickbay with her Human anatomy work complete stating, "It would be interesting to see an autopsy sometime." The Doctor asks her a few questions to test her. She asks if they do get back to Starfleet, she would like to go to medical school. He tells her if she continues like she is, by the time they get back, she may already have the equivalent of a medical degree. She then says, "Haven't you heard, we might be getting back soon." he replies, "I am the last one to hear anything on this ship." She tells him of the transporter possibility. He tells her he will not be joining them because he is fully integrated into the sickbay systems. She wants to download him but the program is just too large. She kisses him on the cheek and thanks him. He asks Kes to make sure he is turned off if she leaves.
Janeway tells the Romulan captain about their transporter theory and he is impressed. He agrees to let them transport a test cylinder. Kim and Torres are in transporter room one. They energize but still have a problem with the phase variance but are able to compensate. The transport is successful. Janeway now sets the idea of sending a Starfleet crew member to his ship but he declines stating, "The Romulan government would never allow Starfleet crew on one of their ships." He does, however, offer to transport over to Voyager. If successful, he will make arrangements to have a troop ship join him.
After more than 20 successful transports with the test cylinder, the Romulan transports over to Voyager. As Janeway suggests that the crew prepare to leave Voyager once and for all, Tuvok declares that they shouldn't do that just yet. He then turns to the Romulan and asks him the year. At first the Romulan seems skeptical, but then answers that by Federation calenders, the year is 2351. Tuvok concludes that the wormhole is a rift in not just space, but time as well. They have beamed the Romulan from 2351 to 2371. The Romulan visitor is a man out of time.
In the conference room, it is made clear that if Voyager's crew transports through the wormhole, they will be beaming twenty years into the past. Kim wants to do it. "It's better than spending the next seventy years getting back." Paris tells him he would be going back to a time when he was only two years old. Janeway acknowledges Kim's disappointment. "It seemed we were so close." The Romulan tells Janeway that in twenty years, he could tell Starfleet not to launch the mission which sent them there. Chakotay declines; they have already made such a big impact on the Delta Quadrant, that people and events in the Delta Quadrant would be drastically affected. With no other choice, Captain Janeway is left with her original request. She asks the Romulan to transmit their personal messages to Starfleet, in twenty years. "Of course, at the proper time I will transmit them." He would welcome a visit from them when they get back. He will be an old man though. He now introduces himself as Telek R'Mor of the Romulan Astrophysical Academy. Janeway states, "I promise you'll hear from us... because we will get back."
Tuvok gives Telek the chip with the crew's messages. Janeway thanks him for his help. Telek stands on the transporter pad and Torres beams him back through the collapsing wormhole once again compensating for the phase variance. As Janeway prepares to inform the crew that their messages are on the way to their families, Tuvok delivers some bad news. A data check on the Romulan scientist indicated that the man died in 2367, four years before Voyager left the Alpha Quadrant. Torres speculates that perhaps he left a will telling someone else to deliver the messages, or he gave the chip to the Romulan government. Unfortunately, there's no way to know. Captain Janeway is extremely saddened to hear this, but knows the only thing they can do now is to keep heading towards home.
Once again, Lieutenant Baxter is in sickbay. He pulled his hamstring while working out. He is still directing all his comments to Kes. With newfound confidence, The Doctor tells Baxter that if he has a comment for him to direct it to him. In addition, if he has another workout-related injury, he will notify his superior officer. Baxter replies, "I need to work out." The Doctor tells him, "I'm not telling you not to work out, I'm just telling you to use a modicum of common sense." Kes states, "I don't think he'll make the mistake of ignoring you again." Maybe the rest of the crew will treat him like a Doctor instead of a tool. The Doctor now thinks of himself as a member of the crew. He gives Kes a list of things he wants added to sickbay to be delivered to Janeway. In addition, The Doctor makes his first personal request: a name.
[edit] Log Entries
- "Captain’s log, stardate 48579.4. The crew has been scanning constantly for anomalies that might help us shorten our journey home. Ensign Kim has reported an exciting discovery – a subspace disturbance which may be a wormhole."
- "Captain’s log, supplemental. Encouraged by his success in transmitting a signal to the Alpha Quadrant, Mr. Kim is investigating the possibility of establishing a voice link with whoever is at the other end of the wormhole."
[edit] Memorable Quotes
"There is of course a 75% chance the wormhole will not lead to the Alpha Quadrant."
"Very true. But you could also say there's a one in four chance it will. Those aren't bad odds."
- - Tuvok and Janeway
"If I had to get treatment for something serious, if I needed surgery for instance, would he be performing it?"
"Of course and quite expertly, too."
"I don't know. I'd have to think twice about that."
"Fine, and if you're lucky, you wouldn't die on the table while you were making up your mind."
- - Walter Baxter and The Doctor
"Mr. Tuvok, you may begin evacuation procedures."
"I suggest we delay that for the moment, Captain. I'm afraid I found the reason for the unusual phase variance."
"What is it?"
"Captain, what year is it?"
"What year?"
"If you please."
"By your calendar, the year is 2351."
"But...this is 2371."
- - Janeway, Tuvok, Telek R'Mor and Chakotay
"Captain, I did not want to mention this until after our guest had left. I checked the computer's databanks for a Romulan scientist named Telek R'Mor."
"And?"
"I'm sorry to report that Doctor R'Mor died in 2367."
(sadly) "That was four years ago."
"And that is correct...before he would have sent our messages."
- - Tuvok and Janeway, after Telek R'Mor left
[edit] Background Information
- Ethan Phillips (Neelix) does not appear in this episode.
- This is the first of three appearances by the Romulans in Voyager episodes.
- This is one of the very few episodes in any Star Trek series where the Gregorian year is explicitly identified, in this case 2371.
- In this episode, the Voyager crew gives letters to a Romulan that cannot be given to their intended recipients. In TNG: "The Defector", a Romulan gives the USS Enterprise-D crew a letter that also cannot be given to its intended recipient.
- As Starfleet did not learn of Voyager's circumstances until season 4's "Message in a Bottle", it is clear that they never did receive the crew's letters. Torres surmises at the end of the episode that, in spite of R'Mor's death prior to 2371, he may have passed Voyager's chip onto the Romulan Government.
- The events of this episode represent the first time (aside from the series premiere) that the Voyager crew has a possibility of returning home.
- This episode was the first appearance of Vaughn Armstrong on Voyager.
[edit] Video and DVD releases
- UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 1.4, catalog number VHR 4004, 29 August 1995.
- As part of the VOY Season 1 DVD collection.
[edit] Links and references
[edit] Main cast
- Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway
- Robert Beltran as Commander Chakotay
- Roxann Dawson as Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres
- Jennifer Lien as Kes
- Robert Duncan McNeill as Lieutenant Tom Paris
- Ethan Phillips as Neelix
- Robert Picardo as The Doctor
- Tim Russ as Lieutenant Tuvok
- Garrett Wang as Ensign Harry Kim
[edit] Guest stars
[edit] Co-stars
- Tarik Ergin as Ayala (uncredited)
[edit] References
Alpha Quadrant; anatomy; Arethian flu; covariant isolator; epicondylitis; Federation Astronomical Committee; Hargrove; Harry Kim wormhole; incus; Kyoto; malleus; medical degree; medical school; microprobe; micro-wormhole; Miral; physiology; Romulans; Romulan Astrophysical Academy; Romulan Senate; Romulan science vessel; Romulan troop ship; Sector 1385; signal amplifier; signal booster; spinach juice; stapes; subspace field mechanics; Talvath; temporal displacement; temporal shift; test cylinder; Torres, John; transporter; vegetable bouillon; verteron; Voyager, USS; wormhole
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