Unforgettable (episode)
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.
| This article is written from the Real World point of view |
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| "Unforgettable" | ||
|---|---|---|
| VOY, Episode 4x22 Production number: 190 First aired: 22 April 1998 | ||
| ← | 89th of 168 produced in VOY | → |
| ← | 89th of 168 released in VOY | → |
| ← | 516th of 726 released in all | → |
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| Written By Greg Elliot and Michael Perricone Directed By Andrew Robinson | ||
| 51813.4 (2374) | ||
Chakotay meets a woman who claims that they fell in love a few weeks before, but he doesn't remember her any more.
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[edit] Summary
When the USS Voyager is collecting deuterium, they are suddenly hit with proton particle charges. They find it is a battle between cloaked ships, and when one of them is destroyed, the female pilot of the remaining ship asks for Chakotay by name, much to his surprise.
When her ship begins to destabilize, they attempt to beam her aboard, but they cannot get a solid lock. As a result, an away team is sent over to stabilize the ship. Chakotay soon finds the pilot, and after getting her out from under some wreckage, beams her to sickbay. The Doctor is perplexed that when she is scanned, the data disappears instantly. Fortunately, his visual diagnosis says she'll recover.
Upon regaining consciousness, she asks for asylum, which Captain Kathryn Janeway grants. When she is alone with Chakotay, she explains why she cannot be scanned, and none of them can remember her: her species emits a pheromone which blocks memory cells and repulses technological scans. She says her name is Kellin, and she is a Ramuran, a member of a race whose society is closed off on the inside, and it was her job to track down someone who happened to be hiding on Voyager. She found them, and after she left, a computer virus wiped all traces of her being here. She came back to request asylum from the others of her race, and because she fell in love with Commander Chakotay.
As they should be, everyone (including Chakotay) is skeptical of her story. Harry Kim and Tuvok attempt to search for physical evidence of her tampering.
Meanwhile, Chakotay hears the long version of their story. He continually "tries to jump to the end," because he does not remember feeling anything for her, and her feelings are her focus.
During the story, however, two more cloaked ships attack him. By trusting Kellin with the ship's sensors, she manages to get Voyager to detect them. The ships run when their cloaks fail. Kellin then offers them to make them permanent, and in so doing, needs a command level officer according to protocol to assist with the command overrides. Chakotay goes with her.
The modifications go well, but he finds he can't sleep. He explains to Neelix in the mess hall later that he is bothered by his lack of memory, and feels he cannot trust her. If it is a deception, it is a very personal one. Neelix, however, tells him that it's his own feelings that he doesn't trust.
Later that night, she visits him in his quarters. He admits he believes her story, but isn't sure about the feelings he had. She presses him for how he feels, since it was him that brought her back, her presence continually endangers the ship. When so pressed, Chakotay says he doesn't want her to leave.
They end up talking all night in his quarters. She tells him about the last day they spent together. She recounts how they caught her fugitive, and then, since he wouldn't remember her, she kissed him. That's when she knew he felt the same way about her she felt about him. Since she demonstrates as part of her story, he kisses back. The next day, she works with Harry Kim and Seven of Nine to develop a defense against the proton weapons.
Unfortunately, another tracer, Curneth, catches Kellin later that day in Chakotay's quarters, and uses a neurolytic emitter to partially erase her memories before Chakotay can stop him. Kellin then falls unconscious, and there is nothing The Doctor can do (possibly since his scans cannot reveal anything).
Chakotay gets angry at Curneth, almost beating him up from his anger. However, he manages to channel his anger into an attempt to talk him out of returning her, but it doesn't work very well. His position is too well rooted in his traditions.
So instead, he tries to tell Kellin her own story, that she is in love with him. This time, she finds him attractive, but his story still unlikely. He goes on and on, explaining his love for her just like she told him. She cannot see the point of staying to find out what was there, and she feels responsible to her people. She does, at least, admit she wishes they had met under different circumstances.
Since she will not stay, he has no choice but to release her to Curneth. Curneth also plants a computer virus to wipe all reference to either of them, and they are beamed back to their ship.
- "First officer's personal log, Stardate 51813.4. Maybe it would be best, as the Tracer said, to forget about Kellin and the time she spent here, but I don't want to do that. I want to remember."
In the mess hall, Chakotay tries to write down everything he can on paper, once again at night. He tells Neelix that he can't understand why she didn't fall in love twice like he did. Neelix explains that love is a mystery, and that if he knew the answer, then love would have lost its power.
[edit] Memorable Quotes
"So. You're going to realign your sensors with Seven's. Sounds like fun."
- - Tom Paris to Harry Kim
"I thought you might like to get something to eat-- unless your memories of our Mess Hall aren't good."
"As a matter of fact, I was quite fond of Neelix's food."
"Now, that's something that's hard to believe."
- - Chakotay and Kellin
"Basically, she was a security operative for her people. She's a trained expert in weaponry, surveillance, fighting skills. Any idea where she might fit in?"
"Mr. Neelix could use an assistant in the Mess Hall."
"Tuvok, that was a joke. Don't deny it-- you were trying to be funny."
"If you choose to interpret my remark as humorous, that is your decision."
"I do and it was."
"It's perfectly logical. All the qualities you mentioned would help in defending Neelix against the periodic wrath of the crew."
- - Chakotay and Tuvok
"When you mentioned Commander Chakotay's name, she flushed. He did the same when he saw her."
"What are you saying."
"I suspect the Commander and Kellin are engaged in a courtship ritual. It seems an unnecessary and complicated precursor to the act of procreation."
"I know you think so, but trust me, some people need those rituals."
"Explain."
"It's, it's usually considered a good idea if two people get to know each other a little before they become intimate."
"Why is that?"
"Because it's more comfortable. You spend some time together, you laugh, you talk. That makes it easier to, to get closer."
"But the end result is the same, is it not?"
"Well, I guess so."
"Then I fail to see what is accomplished by all the talk."
"Seven, if you don't get it, then I can't explain it to you."
"Obviously."
- - Seven of Nine and Harry Kim, refering to Kellin.
[edit] Background Information
- A race of people who can't be remembered first appeared in Neil Gaiman's 1996 BBC miniseries entitled Neverwhere, this episode appears to be partly inspired by that miniseries.
- This episode is directed by Andrew J. Robinson, who is best known for playing Elim Garak on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
- Michael Canavan previously played Tamal in the DS9 episode "Defiant".
- Roxann Dawson (B'Elanna Torres) does not appear in this episode.
[edit] Video and DVD releases
- UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 4.11, catalogue number VHR 4632, 2 November 1998.
- As part of the VOY Season 4 DVD collection.
[edit] Links and References
[edit] Guest Stars
[edit] Uncredited Co-Stars
- Tarik Ergin as Ayala
- Chuck Magnus as Reskat
[edit] Uncredited Stunt double
- Leslie Hoffman as stunt double for Virginia Madsen
[edit] References
almond pudding; baryon sensor; Bussard collector; carrot; champagne; cloaking device; computer virus; deuterium; fried soy meal; ice cream; magneton sweep; memory wipe; Mikah; milk; neurolytic emitter; pheromone; polarization cloak; proton beam; Ramura; Ramuran; Ramuran starship; tea; tracer
| Previous episode: "The Omega Directive" | Star Trek: Voyager Season 4 | Next episode: "Living Witness" |
