Trekathon 540: Extreme Risk (VOY)

Tom builds a shuttle, B’Elanna finds a [black dog](http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/index.cfm).

The crew of Voyager have a lot to learn about dealing with depression. The Doctor has absolutely no idea about how to treat it, even with his massive medical database. Janeway thinks the answer is to elevate the stakes and take her off duty. And Chakotay seems to be a student of TV Freudian psychoanalysis, because the ‘once you’ve talked about it everything will be OK’ trope I complained about five episodes ago pops up again. Depression just isn’t like that. It’s not a logical or rational approach to anything. Oh, and then it’s entirely cured at the end of the episode.

Still, apart from the cure it’s pretty good. B’Elanna is basically engaging in a sophisticated form of [cutting](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-harm), which is quite consistent with her mental state. I’m not entirely sure why the holodeck even has an option to allow turning the safety protocols off, though. Seems like a risky thing to allow for no good reason.

(I did like the Macgyver-esque sequence in the shuttle at the end though).

540 down, 197 to go.


Posted

in

by

Tags: