Lifesigns (episode)

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"Lifesigns"
VOY, Episode 2x19
Production number: 136
First aired: 26 February 1996
← 35th of 168 produced in VOY →
← 34th of 168 released in VOY →
  {{{nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered}}}th of 168 released in VOY Remastered  
← 406th of 726 released in all →
Written By
Kenneth Biller

Directed By
Cliff Bole
49504.3 (2372)
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The Doctor falls in love with a Vidiian patient whose life he saved.

Contents

[edit] Summary

[edit] Teaser

Tom Paris arrives late to his duty shift on the bridge and provides several obviously false excuses (even saying that he'd had to deliver Ensign Wildman's baby). Commander Chakotay doesn't believe any of it, informally reprimanding him for being late the third time in a week. Before anything more can happen between them, Tuvok announces that USS Voyager has received a subspace distress call from a small, unarmed spacecraft. The weak lifesigns aboard the vessel indicate one passenger: a Vidiian female. Captain Janeway orders Ensign Kim to respond to the hail, but the distressed ship does not respond. Because there are no other Vidiian ships in the sector, Janeway overrules Paris' suggestion that they may be falling into a trap and decides to have the woman beamed directly into sickbay.

As the woman lies unconscious and slowly dying in sickbay, Kes and The Doctor attempt to treat her. They find an extremely complex bioneural implant in her parietal lobe. The Doctor's scans find that the device is storing her synaptic patterns and processing her neuroelectric impulses: essentially, she has a cortical stimulator built in to her body. While the device is functioning normally as far as they can tell, the nerve cells to which it connects are dying, severely reducing its function. Whatever they do, they need to act fast or their patient will soon be brain-dead.

Since The Doctor believes she is too far gone at this point for more conventional medicine, he decides to transfer the synaptic patterns stored in the device into the holo-buffer. He then creates, piece by piece, a holographic body for her: this will serve the dual purpose of allowing them to talk with their patient and providing a template of a healthy Vidiian body to aid them in treating the ailing one they have.

[edit] Act One

Chakotay reports to Janeway in her ready room that the ship's navigational logs indicate that the patient was en route to a remote Vidiian colony about ten light years from Voyager's present location. Chakotay then turns the conversation to the behavior of Tom Paris. Although crew discipline is his responsibility as first officer, he wishes to discuss the problem with Janeway before taking action. While she shares his concerns, Janeway puts her trust in Chakotay to make a wise decision.

As the patient's synaptic patterns stabilize, The Doctor prepares to transfer her mind into the holographic body he has created for her while her physical body is in stasis. She awakens confused and groggy, wondering where she is and why she is healthy. The Doctor explains what he has done, giving her a mirror so she can see her healthy-looking self. The patient starts crying for joy, overwhelmed at the idea of seeing herself healthy once more. She reveals that she was first diagnosed with the Phage at seven years old, and started receiving replacement tissue and organs shortly afterward. She is also fascinated by the fact that The Doctor is a hologram himself, and asks his name. Though he has to admit he has none, she introduces herself as Denara Pel, a hematologist who had been helping to treat an outbreak of the Phage on Fina Prime and had been on the way back to her home colony when her disease worsened. They get started working to heal Pel's body, as her mind cannot survive in the computer for more than a week. Pel sees her physical body on the biobed and becomes briefly distracted before getting to work.

[edit] Act Two

The Doctor discusses with B'Elanna Torres his plans to extract a segment of her parietal lobe to transplant into Pel. Because her DNA is resistant to the Phage and compatible with Vidiian DNA, she is a perfect donor candidate. However, Torres has reservations about the procedure, remembering the last time she had been recruited to help the Vidiians. (VOY: "Faces") He begs her to reconsider, reminding her of the need for urgency and saying that while the treatment won't cure her, it will likely greatly prolong her life. Pel enters, expressing her sympathy for Torres and what the Vidiians had done to her. Pel asks for Torres' understanding: her species has been dying of the Phage for centuries and are obsessed with curing it. Compassion simply isn't that common in such a desperate situation. However, she is willing to accept her fate should Torres choose not to undergo the procedure. Taken aback, Torres chooses to help Pel.

As they perform the surgery, The Doctor and Pel discuss his unique abilities as an Emergency Medical Hologram. Once it is over, all there is to do is wait: it will be a day or two before they know whether it was successful. The Doctor suggests shutting Pel's program down temporarily, as that would slow the degradation of her neural pathways in Voyager's computer. Pel, however, is too energetic to want to be shut down: she wants to tour the ship. The Doctor suggests reading Voyager's medical database as an alternative, but then decides instead to take her to Chez Sandrine on the holodeck. Neelix introduces himself to her and a holographic gigolo asks her to dance, but The Doctor abruptly turns them both away. Pel finds the attention refreshing after a lifetime of being shunned for illness. The Doctor starts telling his "life story" in the form of statistics: dates, the number of surgeries he's performed, et cetera. What would be a boring recitation of numbers becomes an example of The Doctor's dry sense of humor, as he lists curing Neelix of "a bad case of the hiccups" as his crowning medical achievement. Pel thanks him for the laugh, as she hasn't had anything to laugh about in "a very long time." They watch a young couple dancing, and an awkward silence ensues because neither of them know how to dance themselves. Pel then chooses to name The Doctor "Shmullus" after her uncle, who also used to make her laugh.

The pair return to sickbay, and The Doctor has to deactivate Pel's program for a few hours to slow her program's degradation. Before she goes, Pel thanks The Doctor and tells him what a wonderful time she had, and they nearly kiss. After an awkward moment, he wishes her good night and deactivates her program.

[edit] Act Three

In the mess hall, Chakotay sits next to Paris and asks if anything is bothering him. Paris laughs at Chakotay's "sudden concern for [his] feelings", saying that his problem is Chakotay himself. When Chakotay asks him to elaborate, Paris expresses his frustration that Chakotay won't let him do his job half the time, and that he can't take initiative or be creative with Chakotay around. He then stands, shouting that he isn't the only one who has a problem with how Chakotay runs things, and sardonically asks to be excused. As he leaves, everyone in the mess hall – including Michael Jonas – watches him.

Lorrum, Jonas' Kazon-Nistrim contact on Culluh's ship, is very interested to hear of the exchange. He praises Jonas and then orders him to sabotage Voyager's warp coils. Jonas demands to speak to Seska, but Lorrum refuses to allow it, on orders from Culluh. Jonas in return refuses to damage Voyager, telling Lorrum to have Seska contact him if Culluh has a problem with it, and ends the communication.

In sickbay, The Doctor is busy running a level 2 self-diagnostic, as he has been experiencing lapses in concentration. While he thinks there is a malfunction in his tactile acuity subroutine, Kes suggests that perhaps he might be attracted to Pel. The Doctor thinks this is impossible, as he isn't programmed to handle romance, but Kes points out that his programming is adaptive. Nervous about what is happening to him, The Doctor describes what he feels and experiences around Pel and says that he doesn't want his program to adapt right now. He finds his thoughts consumed by her in her absence and unsettled in her presence: quite disconcerting feelings for one so used to being in total control. After a few moments of deliberation, he asks Kes how to go about exploring a romantic relationship – "hypothetically, of course." Kes recommends forthrightness: "tell her how you feel."

While performing maintenance surgery on Pel's physical body, The Doctor tells Pel of his attraction to her and his desire to enter a romantic relationship. Pel and Kes are both dumbstruck, to the point where The Doctor asks if Pel understands what he said. Unfortunately, Pel tells him that she'd prefer to keep their relationship professional, and they return to the medical procedures.

In Sandrine's, The Doctor asks Paris for advice on how to recover from rejection, citing doctor-patient confidentiality when Paris pries for details. Paris recalls a particularly bad breakup he endured in his first year at Starfleet Academy, saying that while "the first one is always the hardest to get over," things tend to get better over time. When Paris figures out that The Doctor is asking for himself, he offers to give him more specific help.

Pel is sitting on a biobed in sickbay, waiting for The Doctor. While he is gone, she speaks with Kes about her feelings for him. She reveals that the awkwardness of the situation was the deciding factor of her rejection; The Doctor was just so blunt. Kes suggests that Pel and The Doctor should spend some time together alone.

Paris guesses that Pel is simply shy and that The Doctor's approach scared her off. He suggests that The Doctor take her someplace special, to take time to court her rather than being so blunt. The Doctor expresses reservations about what to do, but Paris has an idea.

[edit] Act Four

The Doctor waits for Pel in a holographic 1957 Chevrolet convertible on an equally holographic Mars. Pel arrives after a delay, and after a few awkward moments and explanations, he gives her a bouquet of red roses, a box of chocolates, and a teddy bear and turns on the car's radio. He offers to try dancing, as he's just downloaded the subroutine that would allow him to do so, but she prefers just sitting for a while and stargazing. The Doctor points out Earth and several other astronomical highlights in the sky. They kiss deeply and embrace facing the stars.

On the bridge, Paris is late again. Chakotay says it's all right, as they don't need him: Grimes will take Paris' place at conn for the shift, and every shift until Paris starts taking his job more seriously. Captain Janeway supports the decision all the way. As Chakotay starts guiding him off the bridge, Paris shoves him roughly to the floor and Janeway has Tuvok escort Paris to the brig.

Seska contacts Jonas in his quarters to give him advice on how to implement his sabotage of the warp coils. Because she doesn't want to raise her child with the Kazon, she fully intends to take Voyager, and that means having Jonas sabotage it. She begins to detail the plan, saying that they will meet Voyager at a planet called Hemikek IV.

Meanwhile, The Doctor is feeling much more comfortable around Pel, and hopes their relationship will continue after they perform the synaptic transfer. However, before the procedure begins, they discover that Pel's brain is rejecting the tissue graft: they cannot continue the transfer.

[edit] Act Five

The Doctor finds elevated levels of nytoxinol in Pel's body, The Doctor checks the hypospray Kes used to ensure she injected her with the correct drug. When he finds the hypospray contains cervaline as it was supposed to, he concludes that somebody must have deliberately poisoned Pel. Before he can call for Tuvok, however, Pel reveals that she herself administered the nytoxinol, knowing it would be fatal. She does not wish to be in that body again. The Doctor administers extra cervaline to reduce the rate of tissue rejection as they argue over whether she should return to her physical body. Pel would prefer to live a few healthy days with The Doctor, knowing they would be her last, than to spend the rest of her natural life in her Phage-infected body. She is sick of prolonging people's suffering, which is all she can do, and all she feels The Doctor is doing for her by making her go through with the transfer. She says in her adult life before Voyager, she was "just a disease," but has become more than that thanks to him, and fears that he will stop loving her when she becomes a disease again. The Doctor argues that before Denara, he was just a hologram, and now he has a life. Pel chooses to stay with The Doctor for as long as she can – in her physical body. They meet in Sandrine's for a final waltz before she leaves for her home.

[edit] Log Entries

  • Chief Medical Officer's log, supplemental. Test results indicate that the holographic body is functioning normally. The patient's synaptic patterns appear to be stable, so I'm now ready to begin transferring her cognitive and motor processes.
  • Doctor's personal log, stardate 49504.3. Inaugural entry. Kes and Mister Paris have conspired to get Denara and me alone together in a place Paris considers romantic. I've never felt more... uneasy.
  • Doctor's personal log, stardate 49507.2.The more time I spend with Denara, the more my programming continues to adapt. I look forward to perfecting my romantic skills once we've completed the synaptic transfer.

[edit] Memorable Quotes

"I never thought I'd see myself again."

- Denara Pel


"You're a computer simulation?"
"An extremely sophisticated computer simulation."

- Denara Pel and The Doctor


"Sometimes I think my people are so focused on trying to save lives, we don't know how to live anymore."

- Denara Pel

"Romance is not a malfunction."

- Kes

"Where are we exactly?"
"On a planet called Mars inside a primitive, land-based vehicle. It's called a '57 Chevy. Mr. Paris is quite an automobile aficionado; this is his program."
"What is it that we're supposed to be doing?"
"I believe it's called... parking."

- Denara Pel and Dr. "Shmullus"


"By the way, Denara, I've been meaning to tell you..."
"Yes?"
"I'm romantically attracted to you and wanted to know if you felt the same way."

- The Doctor and Denara Pel


"Mr. Paris, I assume you've had a great deal of experience being rejected by women."
"Thanks a lot, Doc."

- The Doctor and Tom Paris


"I have no intention of raising my child on a Kazon ship! One way or another, I am going to take Voyager, so you can either help me or suffer along with Janeway and the others!"

- Seska


"Denara, please... don't die."

- The Doctor

[edit] Background Information

  • This is the first and only episode in which we see what a healthy Vidiian looks like.
  • Tom Paris continues his indiscipline that first started in "Meld". This culminated with Paris having a scuffle with Chakotay on the bridge as Paris is 10 minutes late for his shift. Tuvok then escorts Paris to the brig.
  • The Doctor mentions a procedure by Leonard McCoy as he is discussing the neural implant on Pel's body with Pel.
  • When making an excuse for being late to his shift, Paris jokes that he thinks he may have missed his calling in medicine. This foreshadows his later duty as assistant to The Doctor.
  • In the original broadcast of this episode, the song playing on the radio while The Doctor and Pel are in the holographic simulation of Mars is "I Only Have Eyes for You". Although originally written in 1934 by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, the version used is the 1959 recording by The Flamingos. On the DVDs, the song "My Prayer" is used instead. It was originally Copyrighted in 1939, written by George Boulanger and Jimmy Kennedy.

[edit] Video and DVD releases

[edit] Links and References

[edit] Main Cast

[edit] Guest Stars

[edit] Co-Star

[edit] Uncredited Co-Stars

[edit] References

1957; 2253; appendectomy; automobile; axonal pathway; basal ganglia; bio-neural circuitry; brain; cardiovascular system; cerebellum; cerebral cortex; cervaline; Chevy; constellation; compound fracture; Crabtree, Susie; Culluh; Cygnus; delta band frequency; DNA; Doctor Alpha; Earth; EMH; emission nebula; endocrinology; Fina Prime; Foster; gigaquad; Greek; Greek mythology; hematology (hematologist); Hemikek IV; Hercules; Hercules (constellation); hiccup; Hippocrates; hives; holoemitter; hologram; humor; inaprovaline; Klingon; lectrazine; level 2 self diagnostic; Kazon-Nistrim; magnetic constrictor; Maje; Mala; Mars; Martian colonies; McCoy, Leonard; medicine; medical practitioner; My Prayer; nanofiber; neural tissue; neuralyte probe; neuro-cortical stimulator; nytoxinol; parietal lobe; phage; Platters, The; Pleiades Cluster; rose; Shmullus; Starfleet Academy; Stellar Cartography; suicide; synaptic pattern; submicron suture; tactile acuity subroutine; teddy bear; terahertz; tetrahertz; Utopia Planitia; verterium cortenide; Vidiian; Vidiian program Alpha; waltz; warp coil; Wildman, Samantha; Zimmerman, Lewis


Previous episode:
"Death Wish" 		Star Trek: Voyager
Season 2 		Next episode:
"Investigations"
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