revulsion voyager

Revulsion (episode)

• View history
• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 1.6 Act Five
• 2 Memorable quotes
• 3.1 Production history
• 3.2 Production
• 3.3 Cast and characters
• 3.4 Continuity
• 3.5 Reception
• 3.6 Video and DVD releases
• 4.1 Starring
• 4.2 Also starring
• 4.3 Guest star
• 4.4 Uncredited co-stars
• 4.5 Stand-ins
• 4.6 References
• 4.7 External links

Summary [ ]

A man slumps to the floor, dead from a bloody wound to the back of the head. Another man drags the corpse away, then scrubs away the bloodstains. But as he scrubs, he begins to fade in and out, as if in a malfunctioning transporter . He immediately goes to a console and sends out a hail, identifying himself as an HD25 isomorphic projection , and calling for help.

Act One [ ]

Tuvok is promoted to lieutenant commander

Aboard the USS Voyager , Captain Kathryn Janeway , her senior staff and much of the crew are in the mess hall , holding a promotion ceremony for Lieutenant Tuvok . Lt. jg Tom Paris evokes laughter with an account of a particular prank he and Ensign Harry Kim pulled on Tuvok involving his security console and the replicator in his quarters playing the message " live long and prosper " with certain actions. Janeway recounts how Tuvok corrected her in front of three admirals for failing to observe proper tactical procedures during her first command. Her ego was bruised, she recalls but, she adds, he was correct. She applauds him, stating that she has come to rely on his insightful and unfailingly logical advice. Citing his outstanding service as chief tactical officer and security chief , she pronounces him promoted to lieutenant commander and attaches a black pip to his collar, adding it to the two gold ones he has, indicating his new rank . With typical Vulcan stoicism, he thanks the captain and assures all present of his continued service to the best of his ability.

Paris and Torres share a kiss

The formal part of the proceedings over, those present mingle as refreshments are served. B'Elanna Torres makes to leave, but Paris catches up with her in the corridor. He states that it is ridiculous that they have not spoken in three days, since Torres told him that she was in love with him, to which Torres agrees, acknowledging that they need to talk. Paris explains that he is is aware of the extreme conditions of their situation during the exchange, and says he understands that she probably didn't mean it. Looking extremely uncomfortable and vulnerable, she corrects him, stating that she did mean it, but she does not expect him to reciprocate. She begins to babble about "forgetting the whole thing" but is interrupted by Paris, who tells her to "shut up" and passionately kisses her. They are interrupted by The Doctor , and an embarrassed Torres takes her leave. The Doctor informs Paris that, due to Kes ' departure, he has been granted permission by the captain to begin training a replacement, and Paris is "unfortunately" the most medically qualified person on board.

Kim and Seven meet to begin designing the astrometrics lab

Meanwhile, in the mess hall, Captain Janeway and Neelix discuss Neelix's first official assignment as ambassador, an upcoming mission with the Arritheans , and Commander Chakotay takes Kim aside. He has an assignment for him: upgrading of the ship's astrometrics laboratory . It will be beyond state of the art, utilizing Borg as well as Starfleet technology. He will be working alongside Seven of Nine . Kim becomes quite nervous when told this, as his last collaboration with her proved quite physically painful but, not having a choice, he acknowledges the order.

The bridge calls Janeway and informs her of a distress call from a ship five light years away, and is advised to bring the Doctor up with her.

The Doctor is very excited to see that the hailer is a hologram like himself. He pleads with Janeway to allow him to go to the ship, citing that he is the obvious choice to render assistance to a hologram. Janeway is still wary of sending the Doctor on away missions, since his program could be lost if the mobile emitter were to be damaged. However, his eagerness wins her over, along with his suggestion that Lt. Torres accompany him to watch over him. She decides to send them by shuttlecraft , to allow Voyager to keep its appointment with the Arritheans, telling the Doctor they'll rendezvous with them afterwards.

A very uneasy Kim enters a darkened Cargo Bay 2 . Reluctantly, he calls to Seven of Nine. She responds as she descends a ladder and Kim becomes visibly nervous. They begin to discuss plans for the initial phase of the lab's design.

Dejaren stalks Torres and The Doctor

The Doctor and Torres head for the stricken ship using a shuttlecraft . They discuss the Doctor's worry about leaving Paris in charge of sickbay, and the conversation then drifts to the change in his relationship with Torres, something she is very keen not to discuss. At this point they arrive and beam aboard. As they begin to look Torres, tricorder in hand, goes to a console and begins working at it. The isomorph appears behind them, in the shadows, stalking them. He picks up a hammer-like object and sneaks up towards them quietly. Oblivious to the danger, the two officers banter. The Doctor's holographic nature is mentioned.

Upon hearing this, the isomorph dematerializes, dropping the object, and re-materializes on the other side of the room, as if he had just come in. The noise of the object hitting the floor alerts the officers. The hologram apologizes for frightening them and steps forward and the officers introduce themselves.

Act Two [ ]

The hologram's name is Dejaren and he is disappointed to learn that only The Doctor is a hologram. Torres scans him as he flickers and believes she can repair his holographic projectors . He shows her where they are and she begins repairing them.

The Doctor asks him what happened to the crew. Agitated, Dejaren responds that the ship had left their home planet Seros eight months prior. There had been six members of the crew, all flesh and blood. Two of the crew, it seemed, had become infected with a fatal virus which quickly spread to the others. Unlike The Doctor, Dejaren has no medical subroutines , thus there was nothing he could do except stand by and watch them all succumb to the illness. After they all died, the ship's neglected systems started to malfunction, including his holographic systems.

Torres returns and informs Dejaren that she has temporarily stabilized him but she needs to repair his primary holomatrix and asks him where it is. He informs her that it is down below, but warns her that that deck is flooded with radiation ; she would be killed instantly. He points her to an alternate interface on the deck they are on and she goes to it.

Kim remonstrates Seven for her disregard of protocols

Back on Voyager , Kim and Seven of Nine continue designing the astrometrics laboratory. Seven's nature as a former drone drives her to be as precise as possible but she makes a mistake, which Kim points out, somewhat to her distress. She also shows a flagrant disregard for procedures she finds inefficient or unnecessary. Seven, using her left hand which still has remnants of a Borg exoskeleton , reaches into a power coupling despite its extremely high energy level, which could cause severe injury or death. Kim sternly warns her not to do this again, whether the exoskeleton can handle it or not; safety protocols dictate that the power be shut off first. Nonchalantly, she acknowledges his warning.

On the derelict Serosian ship, Torres works on Dejaren's holomatrix while The Doctor is in another area, scanning. Dejaren is with him, admiring his mobile emitter , which allows The Doctor to go to areas without holographic projectors. Dejaren mourns his own inability to do so. The Doctor tells him about when he was first activated and how he had to deal with the initial discourtesy of being treated like a mere tool. But, he adds, he has gradually gained the respect of the crew, who now view him as an equal. He has, he continues proudly, even developed hobbies: art , literature and music . He suggests that Dejaren could do the same.

Dejaren seems frightened by the suggestion but The Doctor assures him that the way he has handled this crisis will speak well in his favor. He finishes his work and puts away his scanner, not noticing the bloodstain it had been obscuring. Dejaren casually wipes it away with a rag before he can see it.

Torres continues working while Dejaren enters behind her, startling her. He goes up to her, passing close to a ripped-out power cable on the floor, still crackling with energy. Torres sternly warns him to be more careful, lest he destabilize his matrix completely, destroying himself. He offers her food, which she takes and nibbles. He looks at the open bulkhead with agitation. He bemoans the condition of the ship, saying that he feels like a part of it, as it sustains him. Torres sympathizes with him.

Dejaren's psychotic rage

His reaction is completely unexpected. He disparages her, retorting that she is an organic , existing apart from her ship, thus she could never understand. Raving manically, he mocks her and all other organic lifeforms , calling them repulsive. He exists, he sneers, as pure energy but she, like all organics, depends on food and water to survive, " grinding up plants and animals with teeth, swallowing it into a pit of digestive acids ", shedding hair and skin, leaving her oily sweat on everything. She is, he yells, a "filthy animal" and he is ashamed to be made in the image of an organic. Completely shocked, Torres just stares at him. His raving ends and he apologizes. She quickly leaves but his look, as he watches her go, is very sinister.

Act Three [ ]

Torres enters the area of the ship where The Doctor is working and informs him of Dejaren's behavior. She voices her opinion that he should be deactivated as his behavior denotes psychosis . Further, she had discovered that there was nothing wrong with the environment on the lower decks; Dejaren lied about them being irradiated. She suggests that he is hiding something down there.

These revelations disturb The Doctor. He suggests Dejaren's behavior may be the result of the traumatic ordeal he has endured. That may be, Torres agrees but she still intends to find out what is down below. She asks The Doctor to keep Dejaren occupied while she goes and checks on the lower desk. He agrees, just as Dejaren enters, holding a holographic fishbowl containing a holographic fish which he calls Spectrum . Torres casually leaves as The Doctor engages Dejaren in conversation about his "pet".

Back on Voyager , Kim and Seven continue their work on the astrometrics lab. They endeavor to remove a data node containing Borg navigational data in order to access it. When they pull it from its socket, Seven of Nine sustains a deep laceration on her hand. This distresses her greatly because, as a drone, she would have healed almost instantly from such an injury. Kim immediately takes her to sickbay .

In The Doctor's absence, Paris, a trained medic , oversees sickbay. He warns Seven to be more careful, as she no longer has her Borg healing factor and could have severed her carpal nerve which would require major surgery. Shaken, she leaves.

Kim angrily rebukes Paris for his perceived insensitivity towards her, frightening her with his talk of severed nerves and major surgery. Paris, amused, correctly deduces Kim's infatuation with her, but seriously warns him not to pursue it. Kim leaves after weakly denying the accusation.

Act Four [ ]

Back on the derelict vessel, The Doctor keeps Dejaren occupied as Torres searches the lower decks. She is looking, not only for anything out of the ordinary but also for Dejaren's main holomatrix controls, so that she can shut him off. Moving carefully along the darkened corridors, she comes to a chamber, opens it and enters. Lights automatically come on. Horrified, she sees the bloody remains of the dead Serosian crewmen strewn on the floor.

Dejaren tries to kill Torres

She now realizes the truth: there was no viral infection. Dejaren's manic anti-organic rant was far more ominous than she had realized. Having gone insane, he murdered the crew, loathing their organic nature, which means that her life is now in jeopardy. Hurriedly, she searches for his matrix controls and finds them.

Above, The Doctor listens to Dejaren as the latter tries to persuade him to leave Voyager and join him on his ship instead. Dejaren begins to argue his perspective to The Doctor: the organics treat holograms like mere tools, he insists. He has spent his entire existence cleaning up after them. He has learned now that this does not have to be the way of life and will not give control of the ship to any organic. The Doctor tries to reason with him, stressing that, as technological entities, they need maintenance that only organics can give. Dejaren rants that this is untrue: they do not need nourishment, nor do they suffer from disease, therefore they , not organics, are the higher form of life.

Torres accesses Dejaren's matrix, triggering an alarm. Furious, Dejaren transfers himself to her location. Horrified, The Doctor rushes there on foot.

As Torres works on Dejaren's holomatrix controls, he materializes behind her. She swings a fist at him, but he becomes intangible, rendering the punch ineffective. He then makes his hand partially intangible and sticks it into her chest, squeezing her heart. She gasps in agony, but manages to touch a button on a control panel that shuts him off before blacking out. As he vanishes, he screams in rage and frustration. The Doctor enters, finds her lying unconscious, and tends to her.

Act Five [ ]

Aboard Voyager , it is late at night. Kim is working on the astrometrics lab schematics alone in the empty mess hall. Seven enters in response to his summons. He informs her he had an inspiration concerning the lab's design. At her request, he hands her the PADDs on which he has outlined his idea. Refusing his offer to sit, she comments on the low lighting in the room, insufficient to see the PADD's displays properly.

Kim begins flirt with her. Smiling, he calls the light "relaxing" and offers to take her to the holodeck to watch the Ktarian moonrise simulation .

Kim is stunned by Seven's unexpected sexual advances

Seven's response makes Kim extremely embarrassed. She notes aloud his attempts to engage her in idle conversation and his dilated pupils whenever he watches her body. She asks him point-blank if he is in love with her. Kim, not expecting such bluntness, blurts out that he is not. Her next question embarrasses him further: does he wish to copulate ? He stammers that he does not, but she notes the elaborate ritual of seduction and how roundabout it is compared to the Borg method of simply assimilating a species they want. Nevertheless, she concludes, she is willing to "explore her Humanity ". Advancing on him, she instructs him to remove his clothes. Kim stutters that he was only being friendly and suggests they end their work for now. Seven matter-of-factly agrees and returns to Cargo Bay 2, leaving Kim to slump back in his chair, looking badly shaken.

The Doctor revives Torres and informs her that he has found the bodies of all six murdered crewmen. He also informs her of the damage Dejaren did to her heart, which she confirms when pain stabs through her chest when she tries to rise. The Doctor tells Torres he needs to get her back to Voyager so he can treat her heart, however Dejaren has blocked their com link to the shuttle. She stumbles to a console to try to get through. She asks for her toolkit , which he goes to retrieve.

On the way, he sees Spectrum in his bowl on the floor, and realizes that Torres did not deactivate all the holographic projectors. He hurries back and finds Torres again lying unconscious on the floor, this time with a bloody head wound. Dejaren stands over her with the same hammer-like instrument he first tried to sneak up on them with. He wails in psychotic anguish at The Doctor's perceived betrayal of a fellow hologram. The Doctor tries futilely to reason with him.

They engage in taking physical blows at each other, a useless exercise, as each simply phases the others' blow through himself without harm. Then, however, Dejaren attacks The Doctor's mobile emitter, knocking it off-line and deactivating his program. Gleefully, he picks it up.

Torres comes to and struggles to stand up but fails. Dejaren advances on her, hammer in hand. Torres scrabbles away, through corridors, closing doors after her. Dejaren merely phases through them and continues pursuing her. Eventually, he chases her into the room where his psychotic state was first revealed to her. The broken power cable still lies on the floor. Dejaren enters; having had to leave his bludgeon on the other side of the closed doors, he reaches to strangle her with his bare hands.

Torres destroys Dejaren

Torres scrambles backward to the console near the cable and activates power to the cable, which begins to crackle with energy. She seizes it and plunges it into Dejaren's chest, completely destabilizing his matrix. A vacant look appears on his face as his program is destroyed, permanently. Torres repairs the mobile emitter and re-activates The Doctor. She informs him of Dejaren's fate, and they leave to go to the shuttle.

Chakotay has a laugh at Harry's expense

At the start of the day, Kim enters Chakotay's office to report to him on the progress of the astrometrics lab. He reports that the schematics are complete. Chakotay commends him on their quick work and turns his attention to the construction phase. After what happened the night before, Kim very much prefers not to work with Seven in any way again. He nervously suggests that an engineering team would be better to handle the construction.

Chakotay appears confused, asking Kim if he does not want to supervise the construction after all the work he put into the design. Kim nervously declines. Chakotay gravely asks him if there is some sort of problem between him and Seven. He blurts out no, then almost trips over himself seeking dismissal to leave. Chakotay sternly orders him to state what is going on. Kim falteringly tells him of what happened the night before, making sure to be very vague on the details. He refers to the incident as merely basic " Borg-Human cultural differences ." Chakotay matter-of-factly tells him that Seven said otherwise.

Kim looks as if he is about to retch. Stammering badly, he asks Chakotay if Seven spoke to him about what took place. Chakotay tells him that Seven said that her opinion is that they are making progress, but she is confused by what she called " our 'complex social interactions'. " Kim weakly feigns confusion as to what she meant by that. Chakotay again complements him on his work, but makes it clear that he will stay on the project and work with her. Dismissed, Kim miserably leaves. Chakotay watches him go and when the door closes, he breaks into an amused smile and laughs.

Torres and The Doctor, having returned to Voyager , are in sickbay, where The Doctor works on her heart. Paris comes to see her, concerned. They suggestively make plans to "meet" later in her quarters, with The Doctor humorously commenting that he is detecting "increased hormone levels". Paris makes to leave, stating that he is going to check on Kim, who is apparently "having a nervous breakdown". The Doctor, hearing this, begins to feign Dejaren's psychotic behavior, manically ordering Paris to remain and clean up the sickbay from his "oily residue on every hypospray" and "sloughed secretions on every console." But before the two officers get too alarmed, especially Torres, he smiles, revealing the jocular nature of his actions. He states that a little clutter never hurt anyone, and that he thinks the sickbay should have a "more organic" feel. Paris inquires to Torres as to the reason for The Doctor's odd behavior, to which she cryptically replies " it's a long story ".

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Had I known this commendation entailed ritual humiliation, I might have declined. "

" During my three years on Voyager, I have grown to respect a great many of you. Others [sideway glance to Paris and Kim] I have learned to tolerate. "

" B'Elanna, this is ridiculous. It's been three days and we haven't said a word to each other. " " I know, we have to talk. " " About what you said. I mean, the part about being in love with me. I realize you were suffering from oxygen deprivation and we were literally seconds away from death, so I know you probably didn't mean it. " " Oh no, I meant it, but I don't expect you to reciprocate. Really, you can just pretend that I didn't say it. In fact let's just pretend that I didn't... " " Shut up. " [passionately kissing her]

" The captain had authorized me to recruit someone with advanced medical training to help out in sickbay. Unfortunately, the most qualified crewmember is you. " " You want me to be the new nurse?! " " If that's the title you prefer. It...will only be temporary, three duty shifts a week. Report to sickbay at 0600 hours. Bring a tricorder, and a smile. "

" I always wanted to learn Borg. " " That is difficult to believe. " " I was kidding. It was a joke. "

" I don't know much about Borg women but my advice to you is: don't. "

" When I was first activated I was regarded as little more than a talking tricorder. "

" This is going to get tedious. "

" I exist as pure energy, but you depend on food and water to survive. Frankly, I find it disgusting. Look at you. Look at you! Grinding up bits of plants and animals with your teeth. Secreting saliva to force it down your esophagus into a pit of digestive acids. You can't even stand to think about it yourself. What a repulsive creature you are, constantly shedding your skin and hair, leaving your oily sweat on everything you touch! You think that you are the height of intellect in the universe but you are no better than any filthy animal! And I am ashamed to be made in your image! "

" 59.2 percent. " "I beg your pardon? " "That's how much power went into life support. 59.2 percent – just to keep them breathing, warm, comfortable. " "They do require quite a bit of maintenance, don't they? " "I should know – I spent my entire existence cleaning up after them – when they were busy sleeping, or eating, or engaging in their slovenly carnal pleasures! "

" I just spent the last ten minutes hearing his views on biological life. Let's just say they're a bit unconventional. Did you realize that we organics are a bunch of inferior, disgusting animals? " " Now that you mention it... "

" I see the way your pupils dilate when you look at my body. "

" Oh, you're getting blood everywhere... "

" Are you in love with me, ensign? " " Well... no. " " Then you wish to copulate? " " No! I mean... I ... I don't know what I mean. "

" We...we had a misunderstanding. " " About? " " Oh, it's nothing really important. Just your basic Borg-Human cultural differences. " " Really? That's not what she says. " (Fearful stuttering) " You... you... you... you spoke... you spoke to her? "

" All of these elaborate rituals of deception... I didn't realize becoming Human again would be such a challenge. Sexuality is particularly complex. As Borg, we had no need for seduction, no time for single-cell fertilization. We saw a species we wanted, and we assimilated it. Nevertheless, I am willing to explore my Humanity. Take off your clothes. " " Uh... Seven... " " Don't be alarmed. I won't hurt you. "

" I'm sorry about the mess. I haven't had time to clean up. [bemused look from Torres] It was a hectic day! I treated two broken bones, an upset stomach and a lacerated hand. " [flirting] " Does this mean you're too tired to meet later in my quarters? " " Are you sure your heart can take it? " " I'm detecting elevated hormonal levels. If you two don't take it easy, I'll have to declare a medical emergency. "

" The last time we worked together I struck you at the base of your skull and attempted to contact the Collective. " " These things happen. "

Background information [ ]

Production history [ ].

• Production number: 011-40840-173
• Final draft script: 7 July 1997 [1]
• Working title : "Delirium" [2]
• Day 1 – 9 July 1997 , Wednesday – Paramount Stage 8 : Bridge ; Paramount Stage 9 : Int. shuttlecraft , sickbay
• Day 2 – 10 July 1997 , Thursday – Paramount Stage 9: Jefferies tube , cargo bay 2
• Day 3 – 11 July 1997 , Friday – Paramount Stage 8: Mess hall , corridor
• Day 4 – 14 July 1997 , Monday – Paramount Stage 16 : Int. Serosian vessel – bridge
• Day 5 – 15 July 1997 , Tuesday – Paramount Stage 16: Int. Serosian vessel – bridge, small compartment, iso-matrix chamber
• Day 6 – 16 July 1997 , Wednesday – Paramount Stage 16: Int. Serosian vessel – bridge, lower deck, iso-matrix chamber
• Day 7 – 17 July 1997 , Thursday – Paramount Stage 16: Int. Serosian vessel – bridge, iso-matrix chamber, small compartment
• Additional scene – 11 August 1997 , Monday – Paramount Stage 8: Int. Chakotay's office
• 2nd Unit – 21 August 1997 , Thursday – Paramount Stage 16: Int. Serosian vessel – bridge, small compartment, iso-matrix chamber ( green screen )
• 2nd Unit – 22 August 1997 , Friday – Paramount Stage 16: Int. Serosian vessel – small compartment, iso-matrix chamber
• Airdate: 1 October 1997

Production [ ]

• This installment of Star Trek: Voyager was initially scheduled to be after the episode " The Raven ". ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 113) Ultimately, however, this installment was both produced and aired immediately before that one.
• Besides directing this episode, Ken Biller worked as a writer/producer on Star Trek: Voyager . He studied the craft of directing throughout the third season , in preparation for this episode. " It was totally energizing. I'm the kind of guy who always wants a new challenge, " Biller stated. " Once I got on the set it was great, in part because my background was in directing theater. The actors and I had always had good relationships. We would socialize and kick around, but to get out there and work with them was great. The crew was incredibly supportive. I was really pleased with it. " ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine  issue 18 ) Biller also said, " It was a fun show to direct. To me it was sort of like a little John Carpenter film. I tried to make it scary [....] It was a great experience. I'm fortunate in that I had my first TV directing experience with a friendly crew, a crew that likes me and wants to help me, and see me succeed. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 83)
• Leland Orser found that the episode's production period sped by. He later said, " I've been doing a lot of movies lately where we have all this time to shoot scenes. On Voyager , we were shooting scene after scene. It goes very quickly and you just have to be so much more on top of your character, on top of your lines. " The actor also recalled, " We literally wrapped on Friday night and I was on a plane Saturday night. " ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine  issue 16 )
• Despite being happy with the installment in general, Ken Biller was not entirely satisfied with the episode's final edit. " There are always a few things you look at and wish you could change, " he commented. " There were a couple of suspense sequences that didn't pan out quite the way I wanted [....] It got cut down a bit in the editing. " ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine  issue 18 )
• Many elements of this episode are reminiscent of the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho . In particular, much of the dialogue and camera angles from the scene where Dejaren brings Torres a plate of food directly parallels similar dialogue and camera setups in the scene in Psycho where Marion and Norman eat sandwiches.
• According to the call sheet for Wednesday 9 July 1997 , Kate Mulgrew and Jeri Ryan had to leave the production after filming Mulgrew's bridge scene. They were attending a Television Critics Association convention. Ryan was back on set and in makeup at about 4:00 pm.

Cast and characters [ ]

• The scenes of this episode that involved Dejaren actor Leland Orser had to be filmed in a limited number of days, as Orser was very busy at the time. He later said of the Star Trek: Voyager staff, " They said they had this incredibly special guest star part on Voyager that I might be interested in. I was just about to go to London to shoot Saving Private Ryan . I had four days, and that was it. The Star Trek people said we could get it done in four days, so I said yes. " ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine  issue 16 )
• Ultimately, Leland Orser was very pleased that he had accepted the role of Dejaren for this episode. " If you've seen the show, " he commented, " you know it's one of those opportunities you can't miss as an actor. Dejaren was just this wild, out-there, emotional character. " Orser went on to further describe Dejaren, likening him to a child or "a wild-child, a boy in a man's body" whose needs and emotions were very simple. In addition, Orser opined, " It was a great character. " He also liked how the episode initially portrays his character as an apparently innocent hologram that The Doctor and Torres will help, before it is revealed that Dejaren is actually a mass murderer who goes on to cause a great deal of trouble for his visitors from Voyager . ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine  issue 16 )
• Leland Orser especially enjoyed the opportunity to work with Robert Picardo and Roxann Dawson . " They all told me how lucky they are, and they are lucky, " the actor observed. " It's a very, very nice group of people. Everybody was extremely nice to me. Bob was great and so was Roxann. " ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine  issue 16 )
• For his part, Robert Picardo was delighted to work with Leland Orser. " I thought Leland was extraordinary in that show, " Picardo said of "Revulsion," while interviewed midway through the fourth season . He further said of Orser, " He's one of the finest guest actors we've ever had. " ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine  issue 18 ) Picardo also enthused, " Leland Orser was just splendid in that role, and a pleasure to work with [....] He was the heart of that show. When you have a great guest star like that, it loosens up everybody in the regular company. I thought he did a wonderful job. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 86)
• Director Kenneth Biller was impressed with not only Leland Orser but also the pair of regular cast members who acted alongside him. " I got a fantastic guest star, Leland Orser, " remarked Biller. " I [also] had two really good actors from our cast to work with, Bob Picardo and Roxann Dawson. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 83) Additionally, Biller raved, " Our actors – Bob Picardo and Roxann – were great, and Orser was terrific. He's an extraordinary actor. " ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine  issue 18 )
• Executive producer Jeri Taylor was also impressed by the performances in this installment, especially those of Robert Picardo and Leland Orser. Taylor remarked, " I thought it was [...] very nicely played. Whenever you get Bob Picardo with a good guest star, you get good things. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 36 , p. 13)
• Robert Picardo was a fan of this episode in general, noting, " I thought 'Revulsion' was excellent. " ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine  issue 18 )
• The scene in which Seven of Nine orders Harry Kim to undress was one of two scenes that were used to audition actresses for the role of Seven. " [It] was not one of my favourites, " related Jeri Ryan . " I personally found it terribly predictable and a bit cheesy. If it had been that scene alone there wouldn't have been a question in my mind; I would have never done the audition. " ( TV Zone , Vol. 29, p. 16) Ryan believed that not only did it seem as though Seven of Nine is developing a sense of humor in this episode but also that this development was premature for the character. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 83) Specifically, she complained later in the fourth season, " Early on [...] we had an episode where I intentionally cracked a joke, and it was just too early for the character. I think the producers realized that too. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 37 , p. 15) This complaint was despite the fact that Ryan understood that Seven was ignorant about sexual interaction. ( Time Capsule: Seven of Nine , VOY Season 4 DVD )
• Harry Kim actor Garrett Wang liked his own scenes of this episode. Midway through the fourth season, he said, " I've had some nice scenes providing some comedic elements, like those scenes with Jeri Ryan in 'Revulsion.' " ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine  issue 17 ) Wang did not, however, enjoy discovering that Kim wouldn't become romantically involved with Seven of Nine by the episode's conclusion. The actor related, " If you think about it, you're reading through the script and you're looking at it. It says, 'Kim invites Seven to the mess hall, under the guise of doing work. But, in reality, he's trying to put his moves on her.' And as an actor, I'm like, 'Hey! This is great! You know? And I'm having a scene with the babe of the show, you know? Okay.' And the immortal words come about: 'Seven of Nine says to Ensign Kim, "Do you wish to copulate?"' And at that point, I like... I'm flipping through. 'Does he-does he-does he change his mind ?' No. 'It doesn't even happen?!' " Grinning broadly, Wang continued, " And I just threw the script on the wall ! I'm like, 'This is ridiculous!' [....] So, that was a sad day. " ( Time Capsule: Harry Kim , VOY Season 4 DVD )
• Co-executive producer Brannon Braga liked the entanglement that Kim finds himself in with Seven of Nine. " I thought it was audacious, saucy and controversial, " Braga remarked. " I loved the idea that Kim got in a little over his head. Picking up on women is bad enough for him, but [with] a Borg woman, he's way out of his league. I think it was true to Seven's character, because she saw right through his romantic manipulations, and asked him if he wished to copulate. That's what a Borg would say. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 83)

Continuity [ ]

• Paris states that the events of " Day of Honor " occurred three days earlier and " Scorpion, Part II " occurred a month earlier. " Nemesis ", which aired between Day of Honor and this episode, involved Voyager searching for Chakotay for "more than two days", technically allowing it to very narrowly fit between the two events. However, the stardate indicates that Nemesis actually takes place between " The Gift " and Day of Honor , since Nemesis is placed 103.8 stardate units before Revulsion , a far too big gap to pass in only two or three days. Nemesis was actually filmed as the third installment of the season.
• In common with Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation , the artificial being in this episode has a gold complexion.
• Tuvok is promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander in this episode. Throughout about half of Season 1 , Tuvok wears a lieutenant commander's insignia in an apparent costuming error, but is continually addressed as lieutenant.
• This is the last episode in which Seven of Nine wears her silver catsuit. This version was so restricting that Jeri Ryan had trouble breathing and passed out. It was replaced with a brown version, the design of which would persist through most of the rest of the show with occasional color changes.
• Paris and Torres talk about Torres' confession of love for him, referring directly to the final events of " Day of Honor ".
• Paris teases Kim for his strange interest in women, mentioning a past infatuation with a hologram, referring to the events of " Alter Ego ".
• Neelix receives his first official assignment as Voyager 's ambassador in this episode. Janeway first considered appointing him to this role in " Macrocosm ".
• The Doctor's quest to find a name, which started with his request for one in the first-season episode " Eye of the Needle ", is referenced in this episode when he tells the isomorph that he doesn't have a name, and says it's "a long story".
• The Doctor recalls that he had to "ask for … the ability to turn [his] program on and off". However, this modification was in fact a suggestion by Capt. Janeway in " Eye of the Needle ".
• The Doctor also recalls that he had been "known to act strangely", possibly referring to the events of " Darkling ".
• Chakotay states, " We'd like to enhance the astrometrics lab. It hasn't been upgraded since Voyager left spacedock. " However, in VOY : " Shattered ", the Janeway from 2371 exclaims that Voyager doesn't have an astrometrics lab. Chakotay may have been exaggerating, in which case the astrometrics lab was constructed sometime after Voyager left spacedock, but not before the events of " Caretaker ".

Reception [ ]

• This episode won the approval of Jeri Taylor, who commented that she "thought it was wonderfully written." ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 36 , p. 13)
• This episode achieved a Nielsen rating of five million homes, and an 8% share. [3] (X)
• Seven questioning Kim over whether he wished to copulate was the subject of some negative viewer response. Brannon Braga commented, " I know it rubbed a lot of people up the wrong way [....] If it caught some people off guard, that's exactly what we wanted to do. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 83)
• Likewise, Garrett Wang faced some public humiliation for the fact that Kim replies negatively to Seven's question. Wang commented, " I definitely was unable to 'live that down,' from the fans' standpoint [....] From that point forward, after the episode aired, fans everywhere were... you know, I'd be in Pittsburgh, I'd be in Germany, it didn't matter where I was – they'd come up and they'd go, 'Oh. Oh, you lost out!' You know? I mean, everyone 's just like always shaking their head! They're like, 'I can't believe you...' As if I was the one that told the writers: 'Make sure that I don't copulate with Seven of Nine, please. You know, I should turn that down, as Kim. I'm very... I have high morals and I'm not going to get into there.' " ( Time Capsule: Harry Kim , VOY Season 4 DVD )
• Cinefantastique rated this episode 3 out of 4 stars. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 81)
• Star Trek Monthly  issue 38 , p. 61 scored this episode 3 out of 5 stars.
• The unauthorized reference book Delta Quadrant (p. 203) gives this installment a rating of 5 out of 10.
• After working on this installment of Voyager , Leland Orser had what he considered an auspicious coincidental experience. " I get on my plane, fly to London, check in to my hotel, order room service and turn on the TV, " Orser remembered. " I look at the screen and what comes on, but Bob Picardo's face! I had just gotten into my room and Voyager was on. It was so strange, but I took it as a very, very good sign. " ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine  issue 16 )
• The reason why Jeri Ryan believed that the producers shared her opinion that this episode includes premature humor from the character of Seven of Nine was "because we then backed off from doing that." Ryan, speaking midway through the fourth season, concluded, " [The incident] was swept under the carpet, and we haven't done any more humor – the character has gone back to being a little more stoic. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 37 , p. 15)

Video and DVD releases [ ]

• UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 4.3, 6 April 1998
• As part of the VOY Season 4 DVD collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway

Also starring [ ]

• Robert Beltran as Chakotay
• Roxann Dawson as B'Elanna Torres
• Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris
• Ethan Phillips as Neelix
• Robert Picardo as The Doctor
• Tim Russ as Tuvok
• Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine
• Garrett Wang as Harry Kim

Guest star [ ]

• Leland Orser as Dejaren

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

• John Austin as operations division officer
• Craig Cady as dead Serosian
• Stuart Coleman as dead Serosian
• Kelli Coloma as Dorado
• John Copage as science division officer
• Lisa Croisette as command division officer
• Andrew English as operations division officer
• Kevin Finister as operations division officer
• Caroline Gibson as operations division officer
• Sue Henley as Brooks
• Kerry Hoyt as Fitzpatrick
• Andray Johnson as command division officer
• David Ko as command division officer
• Susan Lewis as operations division officer
• Arthur Murray as command division officer
• Louis Ortiz as Culhane
• Keith Rayve as command division officer
• Jennifer Riley as science division officer
• Hallie Singleton as command division officer
• Simon Stotler as operations division ensign
• Audra Whaley as operations division officer
• Unknown actor as Culhane (voice)

Stand-ins [ ]

• Cameron – stand-in for Jeri Ryan
• Sue Henley – stand-in for Kate Mulgrew and utility stand-in
• Mark Kosakura – stand-in for Garrett Wang
• Susan Lewis – stand-in for Roxann Dawson
• Lemuel Perry – stand-in for Tim Russ
• J.R. Quinonez – stand-in for Robert Picardo
• Keith Rayve – stand-in for Robert Duncan McNeill
• Richard Sarstedt – stand-in for Robert Beltran and hand double for Robert Picardo
• Simon Stotler – stand-in for Ethan Phillips and stand-in and hand double for Leland Orser
• Piper Taylor as hand double for Roxann Dawson

References [ ]

2365 ; 2371 ; 2373 ; ability ; admiral ; alphanumerics ; amusement ; animal (" filthy animal"/"inferior, disgusting animal "); antimatter radiation ; antimatter waste ; apology ; Arrithean ; assimilation ; astrometric projector ; astrometrics ; automaton ; bedside manner ; behavior ; biological creature ; Borg ; Borg Collective ; bruise ; career ; carnal pleasures ; carpal nerve ; chest ; chief security officer ; chief tactical officer ; Class 2 shuttle ( unnamed ); console ; copulate ; creature ; cup ; dampening field ; death ; digestive acid ; distress call ; duty shift ; ego ; energy ; engineering kit ; engineering team ; esophagus ; exoskeleton ; family doctor ; fish ; freedom ; gigawatt ; hair ; HD25 Isomorphic Projection ; " head over heels " ( head , heels ); heart ; " higher form of life "; holodeck ; hologram ; holomatrix ; holographic technology ; holotechnology ; hormone ; hostility ; Humanity ; humor ; hypospray ; image ; internal sensor ; isomagnetic conduit ; isomorph ; isomorphic projection ; Janeway dress-down witness admirals ; Jefferies tube ; Klingon ; Ktarian moon ; Ktarian moonrise simulation ; laceration ; " live long and prosper "; logic ; lunatic ; medical diagnosis ; Milky Way Galaxy ; millimeter ; mobile emitter ; navigational sensor ; nervous breakdown ; nurse ; optical assembly ; organic being (aka " organics "); oxygen ( oxygen deprivation ); patient ; perforation ; pericardium ; plant ; power cell ; power supply ; primary isomatrix ; programmer ; projection control ; promotion ; pupil ; reactor core ; replicator ; rhetorical question ; safety procedure ; saliva ; schematic ; seduction ; sense of humor ; Seros ; Serosian ; Serosian crewmembers ; Serosian vessel ; sexuality ; shedding ; skin ; social interaction ; social graces (aka socially inept ); Spectrum ; single-cell fertilization ; square millimeter ; sweat ; teeth ; teeth grinding ; thoracic assembly ; tricorder ; universe ; unnamed planets ; unnamed star ; ventricle ; virus ; Vulcan ; Vulcan salute ; Vulcan tea ; water

External links [ ]

• " Revulsion " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " Revulsion " at Wikipedia
• " Revulsion " at the Internet Movie Database
• " Revulsion " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
• 1 Daniels (Crewman)
• 3 Calypso (episode)

Star Trek: Voyager (TV Series)

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Star Trek: Voyager

“Revulsion”

Air date: 10/1/1997 Written by Lisa Klink Directed by Kenneth Biller

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan

"I'm just trying to make her feel like part of the team." "'Part of the team'? You sound like Chakotay." — Harry and Tom

Review Text

Nutshell: Fairly diverting, but slight.

"Revulsion" is of the breed of episode that's inoffensive and reasonably entertaining, but fundamentally nondescript. Sure, it has its moments of relevance, but overall there's not much meat to it. It works as an hour-long diversion, and then it's easily forgettable. The two key words of this week: "amiable" and "lightweight."

If you take "Revulsion" to its most basic level, that is, to look at it in the broadest of senses, it isn't very compelling. There's an A-plot, in which an alien hologram terrorizes Lt. Torres and the Doctor when they're on an away mission; and a B-plot, in which Harry is assigned to Seven of Nine for a ship project, and finds himself in a number of awkward personal situations.

On the surface it's somewhat bland. Rather, this is a show that relies on its little snippets of dialog and moments of in-context humor to get the job done. At its best, "Revulsion" is a slight and light comedy episode. At its worst, it's a superficial thriller.

Now, there's certainly nothing wrong with that. But given the last few episodes of Voyager— shows that featured situations where the characters had more pressing psychological or emotional issues to address—"Revulsion" provides a plot that is a little too perfunctory in the most important of ways, despite the fact that it manages to be enjoyable and relaxing in the process. It's like " Day of Honor " in that it's a largely "standard-issue" storyline, but it's unlike "Day of Honor" in that there's no real payoff.

The A-story seems promising on the surface, but as it progresses it unfortunately proves itself the weakest aspect of the episode. We have a holographic ship's servant program named Dejaren (much like the Doctor in design and physical capability), and he's in danger because his holo-system is damaged and the crew of his ship is dead. Enter Torres and Doc, who come to his ship to help him; continue with some relevant exposition between Doc and Dejaren on the nature of holographic existence and coexisting with biological people; move on to a scene where Dejaren loses his cool and relates to B'Elanna his manic contempt for "filthy, animalistic humanoids"; and then end with lots of cheap thrills, dark lighting, and several of Dejaren's attempted murders of B'Elanna Torres.

This plot is problematic, because it purports to make highbrow statements about the quality of life for an artificial lifeform (a well-traveled Trekkian theme, to be sure), but it only ends up being a half-witted thriller motif. Some of the scenes between Doc and Dejaren are nicely portrayed—I especially liked Doc's story of how he slowly earned the equal respect of the Voyager crew, and how he was granted the ability to turn his program on and off—but the story doesn't take the idea far enough. It's dropped in favor of the thriller angle, which has far too many extended moments of cliché for for my tastes.

Yes, I appreciated the fact that Klink's script made Dejaren a character who felt driven to murder out of revenge for his crew's apparent persecution and prejudice toward him. And Leland Orser's performance as the maniacal Dejaren is commendable in its energy. (It's also surprisingly similar to what he's done before. I've only seen him in one other role: a minor character in David Fincher's Seven , where he played a peripheral victim to a rather ghastly crime. He brought a severe sense of nervousness and torment to that role, and it's a characteristic that has carried over into Dejaren.)

But the way the plot unfolds leaves much to be desired. For starters, I don't think it was a good idea to reveal up front that Dejaren was a killer. Showing us in the teaser that he murdered his own crew made the rest of his actions mostly predictable. And, in defense of Torres' understandable skepticism, it's hard to look for character subtleties in a guy who comes at you with a hammer.

Ultimately, Dejaren is just your stock Mad Killer. The episode seems to acknowledge this by its final acts of predictable horror-movie terrorism, as Dejaren mercilessly stalks Torres through the ship before she can deactivate his program. No points for guessing that an exposed cable established early in the episode will eventually be used to "nullify" Dejaren (to use a " Nemesis " term) in the episode's finale; any genre devotee will have predicted this from the onset.

I'm most bothered that Dejaren's "death" means so little to the Doctor. Given how interested Doc was in learning about other sentient holographic beings, you'd think he would react to the unfortunate circumstances surrounding Dejaren's necessary demise. But what reaction do we get? A non-reaction. The episode doesn't seem to care in the slightest what Doc thinks of the situation (that is, beyond the lighthearted joke of him "lightening up" around humans, which is too upbeat and, if you think about it, virtually a non sequitur under the circumstances.)

The B-story is light, but amusing and even somewhat relevant. Seven of Nine needs to develop a personality someday, and if ever there were someone more qualified to be relentlessly friendly to her and urge her to lighten up, it's Harry Kim. The twist, of course, is that Harry finds himself in over his head, especially when he realizes he has a crush on her complex personality.

Tom's argument to Harry (to be careful of a crush on a former-Borg, that is) makes a good amount of sense—although his snide comment about Seven having "assimilated enough people" seems to conflict with his attitude in "Day of Honor" when he said "everybody has a past." Consistency, anyone?

There are a few riotously funny scenes, like when Seven misinterprets Harry's friendly gestures as a human seduction. (The Borg are not one for wasting words, and "You wish to copulate?" is about as direct a phrase as any.) There's also a hilarious closing scene between Harry and Chakotay, that highlights a cruel sense of humor on the commander's part. Beltran's performances are really starting to make me sit up and take note; he was absolutely a joy to watch in this scene.

This plot is mostly light comedy, but there's a good scene when Seven cuts her hand and realizes that she actually needs medical attention . She's accustomed to the instant regeneration of the Borg Collective, but it's something that is no longer. When she murmurs "I am weak," it really hits home. You can tell she's frustrated and vulnerable inside, and it's easy to sympathize with her. Jeri Ryan continues to deliver credible performances of a character who is still quite lost in her new world.

Moving on to some enjoyable little tidbits that are off the main path of the two main stories:

• The episode follows up to "Day of Honor" with the awaited on-screen Tom/B'Elanna kiss, though the moment is ten seconds nearly lost in the rest of the unrelated story. (But at least the episode did let us know where Tom stands on the issue.) And for those wondering why it's only been "three days" since "Day of Honor" supposedly took place: You may want to keep in mind that last week's "Nemesis," which aired the week after "Day," was actually filmed first. "Day" was originally intended to air after "Nemesis"—one week before "Revulsion." Why the schedule was changed is beyond me, but such is the case with studio networks, I suppose.
• I liked the idea of Doc choosing Paris as the temporary medical assistant. It was good for some humor, and it made sense considering Paris was a temporary nurse back in the early moments of first season. It's also nice to have an acknowledgment that Kes needs to be replaced.
• Doc's dialog was amusingly acerbic and sharp-edged this week, along the lines of his earlier characterization. Picardo did a wonderful job of integrating this sharp-edged wit into Doc's lighter, amicable persona. He's a man full of sarcasm and insults, yet he says things in a way so the other characters know he's just kidding. We all know someone who's like that. I've always liked those types of people, and I like Doc as well.
• Tuvok's get-together for his promotion to lieutenant commander was fun—especially the anecdote about Paris & Co. programming the computer so that his press of every button would make it say "Live long and prosper." Cruel, but very amusing.

It's a shame that the story's main plot involving Dejaren wasn't handled with much apparent inspiration. I enjoyed much of this episode as a compilation of short little cuts of dialog and character interaction. But it just doesn't do much on the broad story terms.

Next week: The Borg are back—again—when Seven of Nine attempts to flee Voyager to return to the Collective. Maybe she'll even get to crash her first shuttle.

Previous episode: Nemesis Next episode: The Raven

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Comment Section

51 comments on this post.

Harry is one smooth guy

Harry is an idiot! If I was him, and Seven said to me "Do you wish to copulate?", I would have said: "Yes please, but not here. How about my quarters?!". Seven's body...hmmm... as Q2 said: "Perfection"!

they might have salvaged this episode by having Doc react the opposite way and thus setting the stage for 7x20 Author, Author.

- Leland Orser's performance is perfectly on-target, and that, for me, saves the episode from being mediocre (disturbed individuals seems to be his specialty, though he did play the very different role of Colonel Lovok in DS9's "The Die is Cast"). - It's kind of stupid that when the Doctor recruits Paris he doesn't mention Kes' name, he just says that he needs a new assistant. - I think the reason they probably changed the airing order is that Seven of Nine didn't appear in "Nemesis" and they wanted to show more of her at the beginning of the season. The production order definitely makes much more sense.

Chakotay cracking up at the end of his scene with Harry is hilarious. I suppose we could see this episode as the beginning of the 'holo-arc' that continues almost to the end of the series, in that it's the first time we see another 'sentient' holographic entity, and note the Doctor's reaction to them.

If it wasn't for the B-story this would be a worthless episode. There doesn't appear to be any real motivation behind the mad hologram and his actions are all to predictable as you say. Add the fact that Leland Orser's performance, while adequate for some I'm sure, is over the top and just too damned creepy for me. Not to mention the fact that his voice is about nineteen different shades of annoying. On the other hand he'd be perfect on a show like Dexter. As a blood slide.

Yes, the two weaknesses were showing the murders first and the doc's lack of reaction. We didn't need the preview -- one look at Orsen told us the story. And we missed some nice character development not knowing more about the doctor's reaction other than his decision to lighten up. But there were so many other gems I'm surprised you didn't give it the full three stars.

Jo Jo Meastro

This wasn't anything special, but it was good. Being a fan of horror films I liked the slasher-esque hologram plot. His dialog and his insanity was nicely done, as was his murderous rampages. It felt like the writers (and actors and directers etc.) were paying a homage to all the slasher greats. The character interplay was very nice and reminds us why we tune into this crews' adventures every week. I hope to see more of Seven and Harry together. His shining optimism and unfaltering humanity could be pushed to the limit by Sevens' struggles to seperate herself from her ingrained Borgness, and she could be 'saved' from darkness by the blaring light of Harrys' humanity providing that she doesn't break his spirit in the process....well this is what I'd like to see if they pursue a Seven and Harry pairing, even if it was to stay in the form of friendship. I'd give this good but not excellent episode a 3/4.

I'm catching this episode now on a quiet post-call morning but I have to say.... After Dejaren's outburst to B'Elanna about how, among other things, he's ashamed to be made in her (organics') image, I can't say I understand why she's willing to stick around on this ship. As she says, he's a lunatic, and even without the dramatic irony of the teaser, I would have gotten myself off that ship without delay. Why she's willing to stick around yet alone snoop around the mysterious lower deck is beyond me.

HolographicAndrew

@Josh Yeah I totally agree. I had the same thought watching this episode. It also struck me as odd that B'Elanna would try to strike a hologram. I guess it sort of makes sense since it's possible for a hologram to be struck in some combat simulations... Overall I liked this episode, some interesting ideas and good performances all around.

Despite its predictability near the end of the main plot, this is a nice character outing with some great guest performances and a hilarious subplot that is worth the price of admission alone. Regarding the supposed "non-reaction" by the Doctor; he was there to help Torres after a near fatal heart injury caused by Dejaren plus witnessed her getting clobbered upside the head with a tool before being attacked himself. It seems reasonable enough to me that that would be grounds for his reaction or lack thereof (whether or not Doc felt Dejaren could be fixed). The scenes involving Kim and Seven ranged from mildly amusing to outright hilarious and further proves Ryan's capabilities as an actress. The understated dry wit and comedic timing were superb. Wang's performance as a nervous schoolboy was surprisingly effective and made for the pairing of these two a smart decision. All in all, not quite up to par with the last several episodes but it is definitely a worthwhile showing. 3 stars.

No mention of Kes when Doc goes looking for her replacement. Her name isn't dropped at any point. This is disappointing to me. I've complained about this before, but the fact that Doc has apparently accepted the fact that Kes is gone and he's moving on without missing a beat annoys me.

I thought this was another outstanding episode. Leland Orser does a wonderful job giving us a whack-job hologram. Roxann and doc are central to this one so I know it's going to be good right off the bat. It was pretty creepy and graphic for a Star Trek episode. The 7/Harry time was side splitting. Just HILARIOUS!! I also like how Chuckles is starting out this new season. Very strong. I'll go a tad bit higher and rate this a 3.0 episode. I probably should give it a 3.5 but I've ranked the last 5 episode that high or higher so I might be soaring a bit here :-)

I can't speak for anyone else, but the Doc's lightheartedness at the end almost (but only almost) works for me. The Doc was getting very close to Dejaran, and felt very sympathetic to Dejaren's plight. He, like Dejaren, felt a great deal of animosity towards the organics when the show first started. He, like Dejaran, was treated like an object at first. And I think he, like Dejaren, has a feeling of superiority compared to organics. And while he has certainly been treated much better of late (even being present and at the head table for Tuvok's promotion), he might still be feeling some resentment towards the rest of the crew. Perhaps, with his only friend just recently leaving the ship, general unpleasantness could be circulating around whatever passes for the Doc's brain. So yeah, for the first half of the show, the Doc was feeling closer to Dejaren than anyone else around. Then he finds out that all of those feelings, all of that empathy he had with Dejaren, turned out not so wonderful. The Doc's new best friend turned out to be a homicidal nutcase. And what's worse, the nutcase's purported reasons for being homicidal were all things that the Doc also felt to some extent. That, right there, could be an eye-opener. And could be enough for the Doc to try to completely rework his attitude. After all, how often are youths told to stay away from a toxic environment? Unbeknownst to the Doctor, Dejaren was a very toxic environment. And so, upon introspection, the Doc decided a change in attitude was in order. Rather than feel superior to his crewmates, he would need to start feeling empathy for them. He would need to start identifying with them more. Hence, the joking and such. The problem is, of course, that it's precisely the wrong thing to do. After all, showing empathy towards your fellow man by tossing an uncomfortable joke out there doesn't seem the best way to do it. And showing a break from the thinking that caused that craziness by, well, pretending to be the same crazy... not smart. Ah well, maybe it's just the Doctor not being human, good enough excuse as any I guess. But if that was in fact the reasoning they had for having the Doc joke at the end, it could have been done better. It also probably would have been better if the Doctor was the one to Terminate Dejaren instead, to give him a bit more closure and possibly give a bit more serious of an ending. Still, it was a decent enough episode.

So the psycho hologram says that all the people on his ship are dead and neither the Doc nor Torres think of asking where the bodies are. Also, the psycho tells the Doc that they were killed by a deadly virus that spread from person to person. That suggests that it's contagious and airborne and Torres is at risk. But no one thinks of that. As for Harry, the clueless 14 year old virgin, I'm even more creeped out by him trying to eventually get Seven to fuck him than I was about Neelix and Kes. Yes, Neelix is a pedophile, but perhaps the Ocampa species are built for pedophilia, considering their short life span. But Seven is human. She was assimilated by the Borg when she was 6 years old. This means that, sexually speaking, she has the personality of a 6 year old. Human pedophilia grosses me out, even though she technically has the body of an adult.

Oh yeah, and why was the psycho hologram grunting when moving the dead body in the first scene? Holograms don't get physically tired, nor do they strain muscles.

John, lol .... good one.

John, Never thought I'd be defending Neelix, but he is not a pedophile. Because of the way the Ocampa lifespan works, Kes at 1 or 2 was physically and mentally like a 20 year old human - regardless of her chronological age. Since they only live 9 years, should he wait until she is 9-12 years in the grave before getting involved with her? :)

I think Jammer got this one wrong. This isn't "The Quality of Life" with Holograms. It is a character episode for The Doctor, but Dejaren isn't shown to give us more compassion for holographic life, but rather to show the difference between well-developed holographic lifeform like The Doctor, and a twisted, unsocialized, patholigical holographic life form like Dejaren. If anything, I would compare this more to "Datalore". We get to see why The Doctor is unique, even from other holographic life. It's also interesting that The Doctor's first away mission is one in which he encounters life so different than his own. That's a Voyager staple, for sure. In fact, my working theory is that everyone in the DQ is an ass, and next week's "The Raven" will validate this further. The 7of9 stuff is awkward. Would any man really say no in Harry's situation? That whole scene could've been scripted better. All in all, 3 stars for me.

Diamond Dave

I haven't said this much since the early series of TNG, but this was an excellent premise that suffered from fairly poor delivery. The concept of a disturbed hologram, and the Doctor's reaction to that, could have been really interesting. But instead we got a low budget slasher with some scenery chewing to boot. The Seven/Harry story on the other hand was light but well-handled. There is a very dry wit developing here that is welcome - and her frankness in the face of Harry's bumbling made for a hilariously uncomfortable scene. Overall though - "This could get tedious" indeed. 2 stars.

grumpy_otter

I like this episode just fine--but mostly because all the acting in it is very good. If it has a fault, it's the writing. But my main comment is that Jeri Ryan is such a wonderful actress, and this is the first episode where we really get to see how good she is. And that makes me angry. Stuffing her into that ridiculous T & A suit is insulting. I am glad that she was able to transcend her obvious purpose and show us what she is capable of.

I agree about the suit and especially the heels. Anyone else notice the nifty tracking shot early on, from when Tuvok stops talking to when the distress call comes in? Pretty sophisticated!

I saw what was coming the moment they introduced that hologram. This was Anthony Perkins in space. He did act the part well. And I knew long before it was revealed that he had murdered his crew. The Harry/Seven thing was funny, but a throwaway since they didn't end up sticking with it.

Your the nastiest. dirtiest scum if the earth...uh,,,no offence' lol quite humorous and predictable Just ignore the seven of nine garbage

Utter bilge, this episode. Irredeemable.

I want to punch Harry in the face.

I wouldn't call an abused hologram going insane and killing his whole crew "light." But it's not a great episode by any means. Dejaren's craziness is telegraphed from a mile away; in the teaser, really, because what other hologram acts and talks like that? Leland Orser turns in a good performance but they should have had him dial it back and, you know, maybe not done the scene where he's dragging a bloody corpse across the floor. The added suspense of us not being sure what's wrong with this character would have made for a stronger episode. The Harry and Seven scenes were surprisingly good, actually. And the Harry and Paris scene, and hell, even the Harry and Chakotay scenes weren't bad. That's rare. Seven's outfits, especially this early one, were a slap in the face to Jeri Ryan and the viewers. "LOOK SEE?! LOOK SEE?! Borgg chik iz teh HOTTORZZZZ111! Plz 4 teh love of Grod watch r show!!!" That is the level of thought that went into this. Lowest common denominator. Ryan's acting, however, is golden. This is like a lot of Voyager episodes: potentially great, but settles for average.

John: "As for Harry, I'm even more creeped out by him trying to eventually get Seven to fuck him than I was about Neelix and Kes. Yes, Neelix is a pedophile, but perhaps the Ocampa species are built for pedophilia, considering their short life span. But Seven is human. She was assimilated by the Borg when she was 6 years old. This means that, sexually speaking, she has the personality of a 6 year old. Human pedophilia grosses me out, even though she technically has the body of an adult." Christ John, I honestly believe you may have some issues to work out.

"Anyone else notice the nifty tracking shot early on, from when Tuvok stops talking to when the distress call comes in? Pretty sophisticated!" That was done well. :)

I disagree about the anecdote that Tom and Harry shared in the opening. It was another bit of childishness by Tom in particular, those pranks are only funny to elementary school students. I was happy when Janeway brought it back to a mature conversation.

Startrekwatcher

2 stars. Meh. This episode very barebones. The A story just went through the motions and just sat there. The Middling B story with Kim and Seven didn't do anything for me. It is in an episode like this where TNG-lite seems appropriate. TNG in its heyday got right down to business without pointless teasers and it's episodes were solid from start to finish. voyager on the otherhand resorted to this lightweight fluff and uninteresting plots. TNG had a gravitas that Voyager had briefly before jettisoning it for very silly inconsequential stories

I think the main idea here is that the Doc is initially taken in by and sympathetic to Dejaren because he relates both to Dejaren's feelings of persecution and also to some extent with his disgust with the biological life forms around him. We get the Doctor's smug mockery of the Tom/B'Elanna relationship, for instance, as well as his general distaste with Tom as slovenly individual and the one he regrets to have to work with in sickbay. Dejaren's madness seems to stem in part from the difficulty dealing with being persecuted by a large group of people (whether that's on racial lines, as is sort of the "isomorph vs. biological beings" metaphor, or even being bullied or isolated for unrelated reasons, like personality) is that either he could respond by viewing himself as inferior to the bio-bags who keep him locked away, or he could start to view their treatment of him as unfair and start to develop resentment and an angry feeling of superiority. The Doctor's managing to demand fair and equal treatment was a difficult arc for him and is not really over, and even there it relied partly on the Doctor having a good attitude, partly on having someone like Kes who was willing to fight for him, partly on the Voyager crew's willingness to extend him certain rights, and partly on blind luck, as with the mobile emitter dropping out of the future. Dejaren is a bit of a might-have-been ending to the neurotic doctor if things had gone a bit differently, though exaggerated beyond what is actually likely for the Doc, who is also programmed with the Hippocratic Oath. I like that the subplot with Harry and Seven also acknowledges on some level the ickiness of biological life forms, so that Seven also plays a bit of a Doctor outsider-to-humanity role and her flat, matter-of-fact reaction to the biological reality of copulation makes Harry deeply uncomfortable; he needs to be bought dinner first, to try to put a bit of a line between him and the bodily functions at the heart of his inappropriate crush. While the Doctor gets to the "well, maybe I should be more accepting of messiness" ending and so we see that he has "learned his lesson" not to be too superior about his biological friends, I think the episode really needed to have the Doctor confront Dejaren in the climax instead of having B'Elanna be the one to best him in order to make what was really a pretty slow-moving story have a real character payoff. It's also notable that neither the Doc nor B'Elanna seem to bother investigating whether Dejaren's official story checks out for a long time, which is strange since if he's telling the truth, how do they know B'Elanna won't contract this mysterious illness? The subplot ties in with the main plot obliquely (as I said) and I think having some sort of in-universe acknowledgment of the sex appeal that was one of the reasons for the introduction of Seven as a character and *certainly* of her improbable attire is probably appropriate rather than the coyness the show usually does. Ryan is good as always. But Harry's hapless reaction to her feels incomplete and not all that funny, though I can't quite put my finger on why. The scene with Tom really does seem strange given Tom's dialogue in Day of Honor (and the fact of Harry's willingness to overlook Tom's past when they first became friends), and I feel like it would have been better to give B'Elanna that scene, though of course it would require either swapping someone else out to accompany the Doc on the away mission or moving things around to other episodes. It's an ep I actually enjoy talking about slightly more than I enjoyed watching it; I think it was unsatisfying and slow, but with some interesting elements. 2 stars.

So Seven knows everything the Borg know? Is that it? How can that be? I wouldn't think every single drone would remember everything the Borg knew once they were separated from the collective. Voyager finds a ship full of dead people, with a hologram sending a distress call, and they drop off Torres and the Doc and leave. See you later! Hope everything works out while we are gone! Bye! Silly. Why would this maintainence hologram have a full personality and emotions and be sentient and all that if they just have him locked in a room to clean out antimatter waste? The people who made him would be sadists if they did that, and probably deserved to die. And why are there emitters all over the ship for him if he never leaves that room anyway? And why would he go insane? He's a program. Unless he was programmed to go insane. How would he know how to create a holographic fish? He's pretty advanced for an antimatter waste disposal hologram. Makes no sense. And as other's said, the hologram guy says everyone died of a virulent plague, but they don't ask one single question about it, or worry that Torres might get it. Torres can't go to the lower deck because of antimatter radiation supposedly, but the Doc could, so why wouldn't he investigate? And once he went all mental on Torres, they would have left immediately and waited for Voyager to get back. All that is very stupid. Torres shut down all the emitters, but somehow forgot some I guess(?) and so the hologram shows up again, and he is still able to go anywhere in the ship. So what did Torres shut down exactly? If hologram guy reached in and grabbed her heart somehow, and punctured it, she would not be walking around and acting all normal, she would be dead. Yet after that, and being clobbered in the head with a hammer, she can still run around and stuff. And when Voyager gets back, they just leave the ship there and take off I guess, since no one says anything about it. Like maybe trying to contact the homeworld of the ship or investigating this species or this advanced hologram or their ship or anything. Nope, they just fly away. The stuff with Seven and Harry was alright, but Wang can't act to save his life. 2 stars.

Jammer: "Leland Orser's performance as the maniacal Dejaren is commendable in its energy. (It's also surprisingly similar to what he's done before. I've only seen him in one other role: a minor character in David Fincher's Seven, where he played a peripheral victim to a rather ghastly crime. He brought a severe sense of nervousness and torment to that role, and it's a characteristic that has carried over into Dejaren.)" It's kind of funny that the above holds true even if you replace "David Fincher's Seven" with "Jean-Perre Jeunet's Alien: Resurrection".

“Tom's...snide comment about Seven having "assimilated enough people" seems to conflict with his attitude in "Day of Honor" when he said "everybody has a past." Consistency, anyone?” The appeal to consistency would only be valid if normal, flawed human beings always acted in a logically consistent manner. Since they don’t, I don’t really see the problem. Furthermore, Tom’s offer of friendship to Seven in “Day of Honour” and his joke about her assimilating lots of species’ is entirely consistent with his characterisation as basically a nice guy who likes to take the piss a lot. Sure, the joke itself (note that it was referenced by Harry as such, who immediately reprimands Tom for joking too much) was a bit close to the bone and mean, but it doesn’t automatically signify he has no sympathy for Seven. Especially as the point behind the joke was an appropriate observation.

The Dejaran character ruined this episode for me -- just found him too annoying and the idea of a mad killer hologram brutally killing its human shipmates was one I couldn't give a shit about. Plenty predictable with Torres ultimately zapping Dejaran -- think we've all seen this sort of thing many times before. I liked the B-plot of Harry and 7 and their awkward moments as well as Paris and Chakotay's contributions. Some decent VOY comedy here. This is a good continuation of the integrating 7 into the ship's crew arc and Harry, the lovestruck fool, does a good job just being himself. And they were working on an important project too -- the astrometrics lab. But with Dejaran flipping out on Torres and then her not being able to get her point through to Doc (putting everything so politely) -- itnearly gets her killed. It was as if it was setting up for her to go through some Friday the 13th / Scream nonsense. And what's a real letdown is it's hard to take any of Dejaran's complaints about how his organics treated him since he's gone psycho and we know that from the opener. A much better episode for sentience among holograms is "Flesh and Blood". The part where Dejaran tries to rip out Torres' heart (or something like that) -- this really was farfetched. How should she be even able to then deactivate him and continue the fight? It was just silly. Too bad the episode focused on the meaningless plot of the psycho killer hologram as I thought it was cool that some new roles were being established on the ship with Paris helping Doc, Tuvok's promotion and even Neelix as ambassador. Paris and Torres follow up their romance too. So there was some good continuity and prospects for things going forward set up here. Can't quite get to even 2 stars for "Revulsion" so 1.5 stars it is for me. The psycho killer hologram -- was his plan to lure whoever to fix his system and then kill them unless they were holograms...and then what? I suppose the episode needed to have something to it other than just daily life on the ship and developing working relationships with 7. I just found the Dejaran hologram character too irritating and the A-plot unoriginal, farfetched and predictable. But there's all kinds of potential with the 7 character.

Had some of your basic horror movie contrivances, as in, why does our heroine go into the dark basement with her high heels on? But you either like the genre or you don't. Our killer was definitely sufficiently creepy. I thought the beginning, with Tuvok, set the tone . . . Tuvok being tweaked about his robot like nature, but showing a dry sense of humor at the end of the scene, telling them all to "live long and prosper." Seven displays, and talks about having, a sense of humor, and then Doc does this as well. The ep puts Tuvok, Doc, and Seven all in the same bag, and in general, explores what it means to be human as opposed to lacking in humanity and empathy. Kept me entertained, some laughs and some character development. I'm in for the next one.

On paper the A plot actually kinda reminded me of DS9's excellent Chimera, although it's handled with none of the grace of that episode. Dejaren is just never sympathetic in the way the story needs him to be, and the Doctor never has to make any kind of difficult decision with regards to him, since it's B'Elanna who turns him off both times. Harry's flirtations in the B plot are fine at first, but he starts coming off as a bit of a creep in a way that I don't think was intended. I did like Seven's very straightforward response though, she's just adding a whole new dimension to the show that I'm very much enjoying.

I should also mention that the Tom/B'Elanna romance is really working for me. McNeill and Dawson have great chemistry, and the writers have actually put the work in to get us here, instead of just deciding on the fly that they'd get together and compressing it to a single episode.

Sleeper Agent

The premise has plenty of potential, but unfortunately we end up with a result that could've been more. As some have already pointed out, the story and the distressed hologram should've been written/played with more subtleness - I believe it could've been up there with the best, was it more a psychological thriller instead of a classic slasher. I also agree that the over-eager Doctor in the beginning didn't fit well with the no-f^cks-given Doc in the second half. A part from that it's a very solid episode with no real weak spots. The B'Elanna/Tom relationship is being handled very satisfactory, both actors with terrific performances that add nuance to respective character. 3 Stars, so far season 4 is killing it.

This was a bad episode. Not horrible by any means but it just could not get any more middle of the road and uninspired. It wasn’t quite at that level where it’s so boring that just watching it feels like homework but it was flirting with being that bad. Seeing Harry Kim squirm was kind of entertaining. Oh and Paris kissed B’lanna. That’s about it. Next.

I liked it, mainly on the strength of Dejeren's actor. I completely believed that he was a slave tortured to the point of insanity, which made me pity him even when he was ranting hysterically or trying to murder Tores. If he were a human enslaved and tortured by holograms, would we even consider him a villain for destroying those holograms?

The Tuvok roast in the beginning was a wee bit cringey.

I think the rumors are true... Harry always goes for impossible women, yet when given an easy opportunity for the hottest lady in the quadrant, he gets cold feet. Because his true crush is on... Tom Paris.

"Revulsion" had excellent production values and I thought it was particularly effective. I really couldn't stand 'sicko hologram dude'....at all. He was completely gross. But my real gripe is with the EMH on this occasion, let me tell you. He let us all down with his nonchalance just at the time when warm-blooded sentient life forms everywhere needed him most. I actually said aloud "bust him to buck-private" (and believe when I say that I am a Robert Picardo fan and that I think that the character of the Doctor is great)...but man, the EMH was really completely asleep at the wheel and left poor Torres completely exposed. No 'Cracker Barrel gift card ' for the EMH this year. I've had it! Episode really got my blood up.

The set and color design for this episode is quite special. Once we move to the alien ship, we get an almost monochromatic color scheme, with lots of blacks and deep greys, against which the white of Dejaren's skin seems to dramatically pop. Back on Voyager the cinematography is similarly better than usual; it's more brooding than is typical, with new red shadows and red lights in a couple rooms (most notably Chakotay's office). Other standouts are Dejaren himself, powerfully acted by Leland Orser. He's a flesh hating hologram, tired of servitude, a cool concept which gives his murders some originality. As Jammer points out, however, the direction is atrocious in the final third of the episode. There's no imagination here, no energy, and the whole thing is cut in the most lazy way possible. Kim's little arc with 7of9 has also not aged too well. It has a sleazy quality, the audience asked to leer at 7of9 via Kim. I've noticed 7of9 has a similar hairstyle to season 1 Janeway. Was this intentional?

@Brian (December 20, 2015) "Never thought I'd be defending Neelix, but he is not a pedophile. Because of the way the Ocampa lifespan works, Kes at 1 or 2 was physically and mentally like a 20 year old human - regardless of her chronological age." I agree. And I didn’t think I’d ever defend Neelix (the most annoying character in any incarnation of Star Trek) either.

As misconceived as the Ocampa and Neelix's relationship with Kes both are, it does seem a little off-base to frame it as pedophilia. After all, what if Sarek married Amanda when she was younger than would count as sexual mature for a Vulcan woman? It doesn't seem like pedophilia would apply in that circumstance.

I got a very strong Christian Bale “American psycho” vibe from Dejaran. He even looks like him. Also, h found seven’s acting during the Harry “sex” discussion to be off. It’s not consistent with how her character has acted throughout the whole series. The little high pitched inflections made her seem like another person.

Definitely a three-star episode.

In all these years, not one word about the glorious uninterrupted shot during Tuvok's reception? Voyager plots can sometimes be middling, but every once in a while, we get these random cinematic gems. It really serves to keep me watching.

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Star Trek: Voyager – Revulsion (Review)

Revulsion is a solid episode elevated by a superb guest performance.

The most notable aspect of Revulsion is the guest appearance of veteran character actor Leland Orser. Orser’s screen presence is striking, making an impression with supporting role in high-profile films from The Bone Collector to se7en to Alien Resurrection to Daredevil . He has also worked reliably in television, holding down regular roles in shows like E.R. and Berlin Station , while recurring in series like 24 and Ray Donovan . To modern audiences, he is likely recognisable got his work as a fixture of the Taken franchise.

Not just holo praise.

Even within the Star Trek franchise, Orser is very much a recurring fixture. While never a steady player like J.G. Hertzler or Jeffrey Combs, Orser made quite an impression. He played the changeling posing as Tal Shiar operative Colonel Lovok in The Die is Cast on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , making the most of a rather minor role in one of the series’ most memorable two-part episodes. He would also do good work as the venal Loomis in the otherwise disappointing Carpenter Street during the third season of Star Trek: Enterprise .

However, his guest appearance in Revulsion on Star Trek: Voyager remains his most distinctive turn in the franchise. Playing Dejaren, a psychotic and fragmented hologram who murdered his crew, Orser singlehandedly elevates would could easily be a tired genre exercise. Revulsion is a solid episode, but one that sticks in the memory almost entirely due to the casting.

To be fair, the Star Trek franchise has always been lucky when it comes to guest casting. It is difficult for even the most carefully-chosen guest star to salvage an unworkable script, but they can add a certain je ne sais que to an episode that might otherwise be considered average or forgettable. For example, Resistance works in no small part due to the pathos mined by Joel Grey, while Business as Usual is an entirely predictable morality play held together by the work of Steven Berkoff, Laurence Tierney and Josh Pais.

On paper, there is very little of note about Revulsion . In theory, it is just another example of the series’ endearingly trashy genre stylings, indulging that same charming pulpy science-fiction horror vibe as earlier episodes like  Phage , Cathexis ,  Faces , Projections , Persistence of Vision , Cold Fire , Prototype , Meld , The Thaw , Macrocosm , Alter Ego , Coda and Darkling . Perhaps an extension of late episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation like Phantasms , Dark Page , Sub Rosa , Masks , Eye of the Beholder or Genesis , these episodes were more comfortable with outlandish genre material.

Here’s Dejaren!

Indeed, Revulsion even offers Voyager ‘s take on a distinct trashy horror subgenre: the slasher movie. In some respects, Revulsion is a companion to The Darkness and the Light or Empok Nor , two fifth season episodes of Deep Space Nine heavily influenced by slasher films. This is not entirely surprising. Although many critics had written off the genre towards the end of the eighties and into the nineties, only to be revitalised in the middle of the decade by the smash success of Scream . Naturally, this inspired a wave of imitators of highly variable quality.

Revulsion is very consciously a slasher film. It wears its references on its sleeve, most pointedly in the sequence where Dejaren presents Torres with a light snack. “You nibble, like a fish,” he remarks to her. This is an overt reference to a similar scene in Psycho , in which Norman tells Mary that she eats “like a bird.” While Norman goes off on a tangent about how little people understand birds, Dejaren uses the observation as a springboard to talk about what he finds so fascinating about fish.

Something fishy is going on here…

Still, in terms of plotting, there is not a lot going on in Revulsion . In comparison to other  Star Trek episodes, it lacks the political commentary that underpinned The Darkness and the Light or even the big mid-episode reversal that marked Empok Nor . The narrative is fairly linear. The teaser makes it very clear that (barring a major twist) Dejaren is homicidal. When the EMH and Torres arrive, it is only a matter of time before the episode builds to the climax of Dejaren stalking Torres through the ship before she gets the upper hand at the last minute.

To be fair to Lisa Klink’s teleplay, Revulsion hits all of the necessary beats. Although the script packs relatively few surprises, there are a number of effective sequences. Dejaran’s initially attack upon Torres is incredibly unsettling, as he uses his hand to reach inside her chest and disrupt her heart beat. Similarly, the reveal that Torres hasn’t deactivated all of the holographic emitters is very effective, with both the audience and the EMH figuring that out when Dejaren’s holographic fish is still visible in the control room. It is an effective execution of a classic horror trope.

Full spectrum warrior.

And there are certainly elements of the episode that do hint at more interesting ideas. The first act deals with the fallout of Paris and Torres’ encounter in Day of Honour , hinting at the kind of long-form storytelling to which Voyager never committed. The EMH’s interactions with Dejaren hint at what will become a recurring motif for the character, subtly adapting the holographic medical officer so that he might have a unique niche following the arrival of Seven of Nine. At the same time, Revulsion doesn’t necessarily do a lot with these ideas.

However, the presence of Leland Orser serves to anchor the script. Orser is an actor who can channel intensity quite well. Indeed, much of his best work in the nineties found the actor conveying a sense of panic and desperation in the face of a truly horrific situation; consider his abridged role as an ill-fated guinea pig in Alien Resurrection or his very brief role as a peep show patron in se7en . There is a lot of that in Dejaren, a character in a relatively mundane position who has been subjected to an impossibly horrific situation and just snapped.

Spielberg, right ahead!

Orser’s performance is all the more notable for the fact that it was shot under incredibly tight circumstances. Justifiably proud of his work on the episode, Orser explains that it came right before one of his bigger roles of the decade :

Those were – that’s a lot of Trek roles by the way, and I think it’s pretty unusual to have played that many in the franchise, you know? The Homicidal Hologram was one of the greatest roles, ever. And I actually finished shooting that part in the middle of the night, before I got on an airplane that night before I had to fly to London to shoot Saving Private Ryan.

It is the very rare Star Trek guest star who goes direct from their work on the series to a shoot with Steven Spielberg. It is certainly an interesting contrast, particularly given that Orser’s role in Saving Private Ryan is markedly different than his work in Revulsion .

“His excuse doesn’t scan.”

It helps that Orser manages to walk a very fine line with Dejaren, presenting a character who is at once pitiable and monstrous. It is important that Dejaren is presented as a sympathetic character, given that he is introduced dragging a dead body through the bowels of an eerily empty space ship. Without that sense of desperation and without the faintest hint of compassion for the deranged hologram, Revulsion would be nothing more than a countdown to Dejaren’s psychotic break with Torres and the EMH.

Dejaren is very much a conventional movie monster in his sense of “otherness.” One of the more interesting aspects of Revulsion is the seriousness with which it tackles the question of what it must be like to be a hologram, how fundamentally different it must be. “Seeing the ship ripped apart like this, it’s… I… I guess I can’t help feeling a kind of affinity for this vessel,” Dejaren confesses to Torres. “It sustains my existence. Sometimes I feel like it’s a part of my body, my soul. That probably sounds silly to you.”

Dude needs to lighten up.

When Torres claims that she can understand, Dejaren immediately rejects her presumption. “You couldn’t possibly understand how I feel,” he warns her. “You’re an organic. You exist apart from your ship.” There is a fundamental difference in how Dejaren and the EMH exist as compared to the bodies inhabited by Janeway or Torres. The rest of the crew is “flesh and bone and blood” , while the holograms are “pure energy.” There is a massive gulf between them, an uncanny sense of otherness which Revulsion mines quite effectively.

Voyager has broached this idea on a number of occasions, with writers like Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky using the unique composition of the EMH to literalise his psychology in episodes like Projections and Darkling . However, Revulsion uses that clear distinction between organic and inorganic life to suggest something truly alien about Dejaren. The character might just be Leland Orser made up to look like a seventies Doctor Who villain with gold skin and some veins at his temple, but he does feels like something more innately unsettling.

Holo promises.

Even the title plays into this. “Look at you,” he goads Torres. “Look at you. Grinding up bits of plants and animals with your teeth. Secreting saliva to force it down your esophagus into a pit of digestive acids. You can’t even stand to think about it yourself. What a repulsive creature you are! Constantly shedding your skin and hair, leaving your oily sweat on everything you touch. You think that you are the height of intellect in the universe, but you are no better than any filthy animal and I am ashamed to be made in your image!”

There is something to be said about how Voyager reacts with discomfort and unease to this sense of difference, suggesting that Dejaren’s recognition of his own “otherness” is tied to his dysfunction. This is perhaps an extension of the Star Trek franchise’s long-standing anxiety concerning transhumanism, demonstrated through its recurring horror stories about cyborgs or genetic engineering. However, it also plays very specifically into the conservatism of Voyager , the idea that the EMH is a “good” hologram because he doesn’t acknowledge these differences as much as Dejaren does.

Eating it up.

In fact, Dejaren’s wonderfully unsettling rant about the horrors of human (and Klingon) digestion is particularly interesting because it contrasts with the scene of Seven of Nine learning to consume solid food for the first time in The Raven . Although Seven reacts with some puzzlement to this “inefficient” form of nourishment, she does not share Dejaren’s revulsion. In fact, Seven learning to eat food like a regular humanoid is presented as a major step forward for her character, an example of how she has integrated into the crew. In contrast, Dejaren’s discomfort with normative behaviour is used to “other” him.

This sense of “otherness” is even coded in biological terms. Dejaren is uncomfortable with basic bodily functions, squeamish about blood and disgusted by ingestion. There is even a psychosexual element to Dejaren psychosis. Revulsion plays into that classic horror movie trope of the repressed monstrosity. At its core, the episode is ultimately about Dejaren trying to murder Torres (whose biology he finds repugnant) so that he can run away with the EMH.

Dejaren has been literally (storage) closeted for most of his existence.

David Greven discusses this subtext in Gender and Sexuality in Star Trek , acknowledging that Dejaren is pretty heavily coded as gay:

In the episode Revulsion, he meets a (regrettably psychotic, homicidal) fellow hologram who attempts to enlist the Doctor into a war against “organics”, their flesh and blood oppressors. This episode plays like an abortive same-sex romance, with the Doctor encouraging the increasingly unstable other hologram to travel with him through the stars. Played by the inimitably neurotic panic-eyed Leland Orser, this deranged hologram, who loathes organics, is like a dark parody of the stereotype of the fuccy, fastidious, point-perfect gay man.

Of course, Revulsion is hardly the most sensitive example of homosexual subtext in the franchise’s history.

Blurred lines.

Again, Revulsion is simply playing into the expectations of the genre. Many classic horror movies like  Frankenstein or  The Bride of Frankenstein threaded homosexual imagery through their narratives, a risky proposition. In some regards, it was the only way to get those themes on screen at the time. However, itself presented sexual deviation as something monstrous and horrendous. It is intensely frustrating to see that subtext as one of the few ways that Star Trek will acknowledge homosexuality, given how far television had come in the nineties.

Dejaren very clearly wants to run off with the EMH, breaking free of societal constraints and living as the person that he is instead of what the people around him expect him to be. “Join me,” Dejaren urges. “Leave Voyager. Escape your prison. Together we’ll take this vessel and explore the galaxy.” To Dejaren, the mobile emitter represents liberation and freedom. The EMH is able to escape his (metaphorical) closet (but literal sick bay) in a way that Dejaren simply cannot.

Well, that’s gonna stain.

Indeed, the theme of sexuality represents a very strange thematic bond across the primary and secondary plots of the episode. Like  Blood Fever and  Darkling before it, Revulsion is an episode about transgressing sexual mores. In some respects, the episode is very knee-jerk and conservative in that respect. Dejaren is “deviant” , in the sense that he is monstrous. Kim is quite happy to indulge in heteronormative stereotypical socially acceptable romance with Seven of Nine, but retreats when she empowers herself within those constraints.

There is also an even more uncomfortable subtext lingering below this portrayal of Dejaren. Revulsion hints surprisingly heavily at the idea that Dejaren may have been sexually abused. “I spent my entire existence cleaning up after them,” he confesses to the EMH. “When they were busy sleeping or eating, or engaging in their slovenly carnal pleasures.” No sooner has he mentioned “carnal pleasures” than he confesses, “They took advantage of me.” And all of this is set against the EMH’s refusal to actually listen to what he is saying.

He’s breaking up.

Of course, Star Trek would never explicitly acknowledge this idea, but Orser has acknowledged that his portrayal of Dejaren was influenced by that idea :

“If you wanted to write an ideal fantasy part for yourself, this was the part,” Orser nods. “There was so much meat to this character. Here was this guy who had basically been locked in the closet for his entire life. Who knows what that crew did to him, and used him for?” Dejaren expressed disgust with humanoid bodily fluids and secreting enzymes, leading the actor to imagine that he might have been sexually abused. “I thought it was a perfect study in some kind of psychiatric and psychological abuse – you know, behind every person who commits a crime, there’s a story,” the actor adds.

Orser communicates that very effectively, and it is very strong idea. As much as Dejaren is a monster, he remains a sympathetic character in his own strange way.

Window of sanity.

However, there is also something slightly problematic in that. After all, it plays into the broader idea that victims of abuse are fundamentally “broken” while playing more specifically into the idea that homosexuality is a result of sexual dysfunction rooted in sexual abuse. Revulsion works in spite of that, partially because these themes are very move woven into the fabric of the genre in which it is dabbling and partially because it never steers too hard into them.

Revulsion is also notable for being the first episode of the fourth season to focus on the EMH. The EMH is very much Voyager ‘s breakout character, but he also faces an existential challenge at this point in the run. Earlier episodes like Lifesigns and Real Life suggested that the EMH was going to follow in the tradition of Data, the strange alien who is learning what it means to be human. However, the arrival of Seven of Nine in Scorpion, Part II somewhat usurps that character arc and function. So what happens to the EMH?

Em…. hh?

Revulsion is the first episode to really hint at the idea of the EMH as a champion of holographic rights, as the representative of an emerging species of artificial organisms. While taking the time to once again acknowledge how great the casting was, Robert Picardo singled that aspect of the episode out to Cinefantastique :

Picardo enjoyed the shoot. He said, “He was a wonderful actor. We always speak of them after they’re gone as if they’ve passed on. Leland Orser was just splendid in that role, and a pleasure to work with. He was just about to go off and appear in Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. In fact, he had to get on a plane the next morning after he finished. He was the heart of that show. When you have a great guest star like that, it loosens up everybody in the regular company. I thought he did a wonderful job.” He added, “I got to do sort of a hologram’s rights. I categorically wanted to stand by him, and give him the benefit of the doubt, which I did until it turned out that he was truly wacky.”

There have certainly been early episodes touching on the EMH fighting for recognition that comes freely to his organic counterparts, such as arguing for the ability to turn himself off in Eye of the Needle or acquiring the mobile emitter in Future’s End, Part II . However, the broader question of holographic rights and holographic life become a focal point of his arc in these later seasons.

The rights stuff.

Message in a Bottle finds the EMH teaming up with his holographic replacement. In Latent Image , he wrestles with the crew’s right to rewrite his personality for their own utility. In Flesh and Blood, Part I and Flesh and Blood, Part II , the EMH finds himself caught up in a larger struggle for holographic rights that can explicitly be traced back to the fourth season through its connections to The Killing Game, Part I and The Killing Game, Part II . The one of the final EMH-centric episodes of the series, Author, Author , presents holograms as a slave race.

While Revulsion does not wrestle with these ideas in any grand sense, it does nod towards them. There is the very faintest suggestion that holograms have come to exist as a twenty-fourth century serving class. They do the dirty work, the thankless jobs. In some ways, the commonalities of the EMH and Dejaren harken back to the moral dilemma proposed by Picard and Guinan in The Measure of a Man . They are the representatives of a new species that has been careless created and condemned to something resembling slavery.

The way that Dejaren has been treated is shocking. Simply shocking.

Dejaren is presented as the member of an oppressed underclass who effectively belongs to the same nascent race as the EMH. Their experiences are acknowledged as common and shared, even if they never met and share no direct relation. “Until the crew got sick, I never even left the antimatter storage chamber,” Dejaren asks. “Do you know what it’s like spend your life trapped inside a tiny room, not knowing what’s beyond the door, what the world is really like? Nobody coming to see you or talk to you unless they want something?”

The EMH explicitly presents his journey as a march towards recognition of his basic rights as a self-aware being. “When I was first activated I was regarded as little more than a talking tricorder,” he states. “I had to ask for the privileges I deserved. The right to be included in crew briefings, the ability to turn my programme on and off. It’s taken some time, but I believe I’ve earned the respect of the crew as an equal.” This idea forms the cornerstone of many of the later episodes focusing on the EMH as a character.

A Dejaren transition.

There are even suggestions that this could become a broader political movement on the part of sentient holographic lifeforms everywhere, that the EMH might have become an inadvertent standard bearer. When the EMH suggests that Dejaren could have these opportunities, he balks. “My programmers on Seros would never allow that,” Dejaren insists. The EMH assures him, “Then you’ll convince them.” Seven of Nine makes a journey to individuality, while the EMH makes a journey towards recognition as an oppressed minority.

Of course, Seven of Nine does more than just cast a shadow over the primary plot of the episode. As with the bulk of episodes in the early fourth season, Revulsion dedicates at least a subplot to the crew’s newest arrival. In this case, Harry Kim is assigned to work with Seven of Nine to help build the new astrometrics lab. It will first appear in Year of Hell, Part I , and will become one of two standing sets (including the cargo bay) that serve as a character hub for Seven of Nine.

Seven’s heaven.

There is something disconcerting in the gravity that Seven of Nine exerts on Voyager only five episodes after her debut. The character seems to be warping the show around her, altering both the geography of the fictional starship and the roles of the characters in order to better suit her own needs. The character of Seven of Nine feels almost a narrative cuckoo, displacing the production to her own advantage. She already exerts incredible influence, even in an episode where she is simply the focus of the comic relief subplot.

Revulsion is notable for its particularly sensationalist subplot, in which Harry Kim develops a sexual attraction to Seven of Nine leading her to proposition him in the mess hall. This is a downright creepy scene for a character who has been established as having the emotional intelligence of a child, particularly given that the scene exists so that it can be heavily showcased in the trailers and the teasers. As with Darkling and Blood Fever , there is a sense that the Voyager production team want titillation rather than sexuality.

It’s hammer time.

This was obviously a controversial approach to Star Trek , particularly against the relatively conservative backdrop of the Rick Berman era. Several of the cast even acknowledged their discomfort with the use of Seven of Nine to cynically insert sex (but never sexuality) into the show. As Tim Russ explained to The Star Trek: Voyager Magazine :

“As an individual, and as an actor on Voyager for all these years, it’s my feeling that 30 years of Star Trek did not become 30 years of Star Trek by portraying actors and actresses as you would on Baywatch. That’s not the gist of Star Trek, even the original series, and it’s still not,” he argues. “Seven of Nine is a dynamic character, and she has been a very good addition to the show. Seven of Nine has some very practical pluses, in that she’s an ex-Borg and she knows a lot of the countless alien species we’ll be encountering [in the future]. She’s also familiar with the vast areas of space we’ll be travelling through, all the way back to the Delta Quadrant. That’s invaluable to us as a crew. “She’s also a good source of internal conflict and friction. And for Jeri, it’s a great character. To play that character arc, to show her learning curve as she goes from Borg to human, is a revelation to watch and, I’ve got to imagine, a great challenge for an actor to play. So, in all of those respects, I think the addition of Seven of Nine is a very positive thing. Do I think we could have toned down the sexual aspect of it? Yes. I don’t think it was absolutely necessary to have her blast onto the scene in a skintight suit. I think it takes attention away from the actors who are working with her in a scene, and I also think it detracts from Jeri’s own talents. It’s hard enough to get a character to portray these moments and to play the dynamics without distractions. In the end, though, I think it’s working out fine and, again, Seven of Nine has developed into a very important character.”

Russ is entirely correct in this. Jeri Ryan is one of the strongest (if not the strongest) members of the Voyager ensemble. She does sterling across these final four seasons of the show. However, so much of her introduction to the cast and her impression in popular culture is anchored in the ridiculous choices made early in the season with regard to her costuming and her presentation.

Regenerating some sexual tension.

Revulsion tries to build a comic relief subplot around the possibility of the character’s first sexual experience. This is more than a little uncomfortable, for several reasons. Most obviously, Seven of Nine is still emotionally a child, adapting to human for the first time since she assimilated at the age of six. The EMH’s decision to dress the character in an overtly sexual catsuit specifically designed to emphasis her curves is a little creepy in this light, as is some of the way that Kim behaves towards her.

There is also the simple fact that  Star Trek has historically coded assimilation survivors as the victims of sexual assault. This is most obvious in the handling of Picard’s assimilation in Family and Star Trek: First Contact , but it also bleeds through into the portrayal of Seven of Nine’s time with the Borg in episodes like Retrospect and Survival Instinct . It is a logical comparison, given the fundamental violation of self and identity suggested by assimilation into the Borg Collective. It also makes playing Seven’s sexuality for laughs somewhat ill-advised.

“Just call me Doctor Love.”

Brannon Braga has historically rejected these criticisms of the way that Seven of Nine was handled, often pointing to the overt sexuality of the original Star Trek in marked contrast to the more conservative and sterile Berman era :

The fact that she was a beautiful woman was just, to me, a benefit. A lot of people thought it was in poor taste that we had a buxom babe, but I’m like, “Have you actually watched TOS?” That was babes on parade. Kirk would be considered a sex addict by today’s standards. A certain sensuality has always been at the heart of Star Trek. So I’d dispute that criticism of Seven. I thought the character was a great addition to the show. And it kind of lit a fire under the cast, too. It was very controversial. We got rid of Kes and brought in Seven of Nine, and some people in the cast were upset about it and some thought it was cool, but at the end of the day I think it did all the right things creatively to the show, in my opinion.

There is a minor irony in Brannon Braga asking whether fans have ever watched the original Star Trek , given that famously declined to watch the series when he began working on the franchise .

A prosperous relationship.

However, there is a pointed difference between the handling of sexuality on Star Trek and the handling of sexuality on Voyager . To be fair, a lot of the sexuality in Star Trek is problematic and uncomfortable, but the show was always more willing to acknowledge sex as a thing that happened between consenting adults. The shot of Kirk putting his boots back on after hooking up with Deela in Wink of an Eye was actually fairly risque in the context of sixties television.

In contrast, Voyager would rather Torres fought to the death than have sex in Blood Fever , while refusing to punish Vorik for his psychosexual assault upon her. (The EMH similarly gets a “pseudo-sexually assault Torres and get out of jail free” card in Darkling , while Chakotay simply doesn’t get punished for stunning her in Unity .) There are elements of that to Revulsion , in the way that it makes clear what it is and is not comfortable with when it comes to matters of sexual activity.

Give his head peace.

As with Dejaren, Seven is portrayed as almost sexually deviant for her rejection of heterosexual norms. Kim’s crush on Seven of Nine is presented as something cute and affectionate. Paris makes fun of him for it in Revulsions and Torres cracks a joke about it in The Raven . However, late in Revulsion , Kim makes an awkward attempt to advance their relationship by inviting her for a late-night meeting in the mess hall to mood lighting and then suggesting that they take a romantic stroll together in the holodeck.

Kim claims to have had some “midnight inspiration about reconfiguring astrometric projectors” , and invites Seven for coffee in a mostly empty mess hall. This seems quite strange of itself, given that Voyager presumably operates on a shift schedule and there must be some people either getting ready to come on or go off shift even after midnight. Either way, the lighting on the set makes it clear that it is night on Voyager, in the style of The Conscience of a King . “This light is insufficient,” Seven states, matter-of-factly. Kim responds, “But it’s relaxing, don’t you think? After hours, quiet.”

A static character?

There is something just a little predatory in this, given how Kim is using a work assignment to repeatedly push Seven into situations where they might become intimate; summoning a co-worker to a mood-lit late-night coffee and suggesting a romantic stroll on the beach is probably enough to count as workplace harassment at the best of times. He is one step away from suggesting some light R and B to help him think or a light massage to help her loosen up. Revulsion seems to find all this endearingly goofy, which is in marked contrast to how the episode treats Seven of Nine’s response.

Seven sees through Kim’s attempts at flirtation, and explicitly calls him out. She does not reject or rebuff his advances, but simply removes the pretense around them. “I’ve noticed your attempts to engage me in idle conversation, and I see the way your pupils dilate when you look at my body,” Seven informs him. “Obviously you’ve suggested a visit to the holodeck in the hopes of creating a romantic mood. Are you in love with me, Ensign?” When he stutters, she presses the matter, “Then you wish to copulate?”

Conscious coupling?

If the show absolutely has to sexualise Seven – and to be clear, it absolutely doesn’t – then this would not be the worst way to do it. Allow the female character who has emerged from a harrowing trauma her own sexual agency and identity, allow her to embrace the way that the show has sexualised her. Acknowledge that sex is not a scary thing or a bad thing, and that it is possible for people to talk about romance and sex in straightforward ways without playing games with one another.

Voyager is a nineties television show. It should be willing to move beyond the rigid gender roles suggested by Kim’s ill-judged attempts at seduction. Day of Honour offered the conventional “two characters confess their love while facing imminent death” trope that has been a standard for decades, as Paris and Torres acknowledged long-buried feelings while running out of oxygen as they floated in the void. It would be interesting to see a more relaxed and grounded portrayal of romantic or sexual interactions on a ship that is stranded alone on the other side of the galaxy.

Bedside manner.

However, Voyager is simply not that adventurous. Blood Fever and Darkling made it clear that Voyager was never a show that would deal with sexuality in a candid and straightforward manner. So when Seven of Nine asserts her own sexual agency by cutting through Kim’s attempts at seduction, the show reacts in mock horror. Kim is frightened and emasculated. He stutters, he backs away. He practically trips over himself trying to get out of the room. Yes, Seven’s forthright sexuality is presented as a joke on Kim, but it is still treated as a joke.

To be fair, Jeri Ryan does the best with the material that she can. Indeed, a lot of these early episodes seem like the writers trying to get a sense of Ryan as a performer, figuring out how to write Seven so that the character plays to the strengths of the performer. The subplot in Revulsion serves as a nice demonstration of range. The Gift was a nice showcase of Ryan’s dramatic abilities, which will be reinforced by The Raven . In contrast,  Revulsion demonstrates that Ryan can play comedy.

Her matter-of-fact delivery of dialogue concerning Kim’s attraction to her very much positions her as a spiritual successor to Leonard Nimoy and Brent Spiner. “Don’t be alarmed,” she assures Kim. “I won’t hurt you.” Ryan pitches the performance at just the right level, playing the character with a blend of Nimoy’s well-concealed sarcasm and Spiner’s wide-eyed innocence. Given the role that the producers intend Seven to play on Voyager , this augers well for the character.

Revulsion is notable as the first episode of television to be directed by Kenneth Biller. Although there are other figures to have both writing and direction credits like Tom Benko or Robert Picardo, the only Berman-era writing staff member to migrate to the role of director. Indeed, Biller would return to the director’s chair for the Seven-centric One later in the fourth season. Biller is one of the rare  Star Trek production team members to work repeatedly as both a writer and director.

The darkness. But not the light.

In fact, the only other Star Trek production team member to work so consistently as writer and director is John Meredyth Lucas on the original Star Trek , who remains the only writer to direct his own script with Elaan of Troyius . (Although David Livingston does have a story credit on The Nagus , which he also directed.) In some ways, Biller’s willingness to move between the role of writer and director offers an example of how the television industry was changing during the nineties.

This increased flexibility was more strongly reflected in other nineties shows like The X-Files , where writers would frequently direct their own scripts as something approaching a prelude to auteur television. These days, it is not uncommon for writers and showrunners to step into the role of director on a television series. David Chase wrote and directed the final episode of The Sopranos . Vince Gilligan, Thomas Schnauz and Peter Gould would direct their own scripts for Breaking Bad . Matthew Weiner would direct several of his own episodes of Mad Men .

A gold-standard guest star.

Obviously, Kenneth Biller’s work as a director stands quite apart from that broader shift in television production. While Revulsion is hardly the most visually dynamic or striking episode of Star Trek , Biller does a solid job. He hits all the requisite beats. As he explained to Cinefantastique :

This was writer/producer Kenneth Biller’s first directing gig. He noted, “It was a fun show to direct. To me it was sort of like a little John Carpenter film. I tried to make it scary. I got a fantastic guest star, Leland Orser. I had two really good actors from our cast to work with. Bob Picardo and Roxann Dawson, and it was a great experience. I’m fortunate in that I had my first TV directing experience with a friendly crew, a crew that likes me and wants to help me, and see me succeed.”

The experience seems to have made a positive impression on the writer. Although Biller would only direct one more episode of Voyager , he would work steadily as a writer and director across the rest of his career, writing and directing on series like Smallville and Perception .

Tuvok and roll.

Revulsion speaks to the general jump in quality between the third and fourth seasons of Voyager , a solid script is elevated by its performances. Ryan is already proving a valuable addition to the cast, while Orser does great work in what could easily have been a thankless role.

You might be interested in our other reviews from the fourth season of Star Trek: Voyager :

• Scorpion, Part II
• Day of Honor
• Scientific Method
• Year of Hell, Part I
• Year of Hell, Part II
• Random Thoughts
• Concerning Flight
• Mortal Coil
• Waking Moments
• Message in a Bottle
• The Killing Game, Part I
• The Killing Game, Part II
• The Omega Directive
• Unforgettable
• Living Witness
• Hope and Fear

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Filed under: Voyager | Tagged: closet , dysfunction , jeri ryan , kenneth biller , Leland Orser , murder , review , seven of nine , slasher , star trek , star trek: voyager , Television |

6 Responses

I don’t know if you’ve read Michelle Erica Green’s review of this episode, but I really enjoy and agree with her savage tearing apart of the b plot in this episode: “It’s kind of amusing that [Harry Kim] can’t manage to fake chemistry with his Dream Borg, who’s a ridiculous male fantasy in ways other than her appearance – swaggering, inconsistent, sniveling when I’d expect her to be strong and aggressive when I’d expect her to be uncertain. She’s afraid of an injured hand, but not of losing her virginity with a stranger? This creature was obviously invented by men…adolescent men.”

As for the A plot, I really felt that the decision to show the hologram was the killer all along at the beginning, really detracted from the episode. This episode could have played up its debt to Psycho, and depicted him as a warm if a little odd individual before revealing his true psychotic nature. Alternatively, it might have been interesting if there had been misdirection. For example, maybe have one of the original crew of the station survive, but still open with the hologram cleaning up the body. Then continue on as normal, and have the audience believe that the hologram was the murderer only for the twist to be that it is actually the surviving member of the station who has set up the hologram. This would force the audience members to analyze their own assumptions and prejudices. Unfortunately, a recurring theme with Voyager, as you have observed, it to take the conventional way out. Not just this episode, but also the later two parter in Season Seven, “Flesh and Blood” has a potentially grey figure in the holographic resistance fighter, Iden, but then he eventually becomes just a genocidal maniac for the convenience of the narrative.

Yeah. The script is not great, although I think it’s basically functional. Revulsion works I think primarily as a guest-star-driven vehicle. Orser is phenomenal here, in a role that would be unwatchable in the hands of a lesser actor.

And Green is entirely correct in her criticism of how Seven of Nine is written. It’s that teenage boy sexuality I think I talked about earlier in one of the reviews… maybe The Gift?

I never really understood why the Doctor was so big on rights for artificial intelligences. They always wind up going mad. The albino doc, the Equinox doc, the Nazi doc, the talking bomb. If I recall correctly, one of them even proclaimed himself the Holographic Jesus!

In fact, I can only think of two holograms he met who turned out to be okay. The Cardassian girl (irony) and Andy Dick.

I suspect it was more storytelling necessity than anything else. If Seven is the new “Data”, then Voyager’s old “Data” needs a new angle to stop him becoming obsolete. So… let’s make him an artist…? And… eh… did we ever follow up on The Measure of a Man?

Like The Gift, I think Revulsion is only half a good episode. I enjoyed all the scenes on the alien ship and that is due to, like you said Darren, the casting of Leland Orser. It’s not exactly surprising that Dejaren (why is he never called that in the episode?) turns out to be a homicidal lunatic, what with the very casting of Orser who’s made a career out of playing psychos and crazies. Although, you could make that same criticism of Brad Dourif’s casting as Suder so there was no mystery to whether or not he killed Crewman Darwin in Meld, but that still didn’t stand in the way of a classic episode of Voyager (and there are not many of them).

Revulsion is not in the same league (although they are both hobbled by annoying subplots) but when Orser’s around, it works very well. Dejaren is a fascinatingly pitiable creature. I must say your observations Darren about Dejaren being the victim of sexual abuse never occurred to me (probably because he’s a hologram) but it does tie in with the episode’s deliberate attempts to paint Dejaren as a 24th Century Norman Bates (they should have cast Orser in the 1998 remake).

Revulsion reminds me of the way Darkling tried to tell a 24th Century Jekyll/Hyde story with the Doctor but I found Revulsion a far more satisfying spin on the same idea. Although Leland Orser is made up to be a pasty-faced, stuttering neurotic, his performance never lapses into cliche the way Robert Picardo’s did. Although Dejaren has already descended into madness by the time he’s encountered by B’Elanna and the Doctor, Orser has a sure grip on the character. He’s careful never to overplay Dejaren’s insanity until it becomes appropriate. He’s especially impressive when he brings B’Elanna something to eat and travels the route of subservience to complete dementia all in the space of a single scene.

Since he was designed as the ship’s holographic janitor, eight months of being mistreated by the crew have brought on a dangerous obsession within Dejaren as he comes to view the organic crew as only another germ for him to eradicate. Ken Biller milks those scenes for all the suspense he can get, like B’Elanna’s discovery of the dead crew on the lower deck, Dejaren trying to crush her heart and the climax where she disrupts his matrix by driving a live, electrical cable through him before he can finish her off. There is something scary about an enemy that can touch you that you can’t and Leland Orser is a powerful presence at all times.

But I don’t care for the subplot because it marks the start of one of my least favourite arcs on Voyager – Harry’s crush on Seven of Nine. Tom is quite right about Harry’s pursuit of impossible women that began with Marayna in Alter Ego and will continue right up to the end of the series (although Tom’s sudden hostility towards Seven is totally out of step with his offer of support in Day of Honour). These episodes contain some of Garrett Wang’s worst performances, perhaps because he’s not a strong enough actor to carry off something meaty like Robert Picardo, Kate Mulgrew or Jeri Ryan.

A relationship with Seven of Nine is not as perverse as Neelix’s with Kes since Seven is a grown woman, and certainly she’s the best thing about the subplot (although I did like Chakotay’s feigning ignorance about what happened in the Mess Hall, a rare example of Beltran managing to be funny) as she makes the leap from sexually ignorant to sexually aggressive. The key is the way Jeri Ryan plays it so perfectly straight – Seven has no understanding of romance, nor does she have the time so with typical Borg thinking, she jumps straight to the head of the class and scares Harry completely off. Certainly without Ryan the subplot would be a whole lot worse. But Revulsion is made by the perfect casting of Leland Orser, which turns the episode into another good one for this season.

Don’t forget that Leland Orser was also in Sanctuary Darren, even though it was an entirely throwaway role, not worthy of an actor of Orser’s calibre, Dejaren says eating and not reading and he never (not ever) left the antimatter storage chamber. Did you mean Jeri Ryan does sterling work? One is a S4 episode and I thought Renaissance Man was the last episode about the Doctor. Dejaren is an HD-25 isomorphic projection but what does the HD stand for – certainly not High Definition?

And, yeah, Ryan and Orser are both better than the material they are asked to play, but Orser has the luxury of being able to elevate his entire plot while Ryan is just a bright spot in a larger misbegotten arc.

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• Star Trek: Voyager

The Doctor and Torres go on a away mission to a space station after receiving a distress call from a holographic crewman. Ensign Kim and Seven of Nine work with each other again and start to get to know each other.

Leland Orser

Cast appearances.

Kate Mulgrew

Robert Beltran

Roxann Dawson

Robert Duncan McNeill

Ethan Phillips

Robert Picardo

Garrett Wang

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"Revulsion" was the 73rd episode of Star Trek: Voyager , the 5th episode of the show's fourth season, first aired on 1 October 1997 . The episode was written by Lisa Klink and directed by Kenneth Biller MA .

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• 2.1.1 Timeline
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References [ ]

Characters [ ], starships [ ], races and cultures [ ], locations [ ], states and organizations [ ], science and classification [ ], astronomy [ ], biology [ ], anatomy and medicine [ ], lifeforms [ ], materials and substances [ ], cartography and measurement [ ], technology and weapons [ ], occupations and titles [ ], other references [ ], appendices [ ], connections [ ], timeline [ ], external links [ ].

• " Revulsion " article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• Revulsion (Star Trek: Voyager) article at Wikipedia , the free encyclopedia.
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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS4E5Revulsion

Recap / Star Trek Voyager S 4 E 5 Revulsion

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This episode provides examples of:

• Absurdly Ineffective Barricade : When B'Elanna shuts a sliding door just in time to block him, Dejaren, being a hologram, simply walks through the door , though this does at least force him to drop his hammer and the Doctor's mobile emitter.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot : The EMH and B'Elanna come across a sentient isomorphic projection who is the only survivor on a space ship. He ended up killing his crew hours before contacting Voyager and lied about how his crew died. In the climax, he tried to kill B'Elanna twice and he suffered a minor Villainous Breakdown when the Doctor tried to reason with him. It turns out that treating a self-aware program like an unfeeling tool is a good way to have it go insane and murder you.
• All There in the Manual : The HD25 Isomorphic Projection is named Dejaren, but that name is never mentioned even though the subject of the Doctor's lack of a name comes up.
• Always Female : Implied in Tom's reaction to being drafted to help the Doctor. Tom: You want me to be the new nurse? EMH: If that's the title you prefer.
• Aesop Amnesia : Averted; B'Elanna stands by her Love Confession from "Day of Honor".
• Ambiguous Situation : It's ambiguous how much truth there is to Dejaren's claims of abuse, since we only have his word to go on and he is proven to be a liar.
• An Aesop : In-Universe ; the Doctor decides at the end of the episode that he's going to be a bit more tolerant of organics and their sloppy ways.
• Anguished Declaration of Love : Tom gives B'Elanna the opportunity to claim she didn't mean it , but when she says otherwise grabs her for a "Shut Up" Kiss .
• A Shared Suffering
• Attack Its Weak Point : Dejaren hits the Doctor's mobile emitter to shut him down.
• Ax-Crazy : Dejaren. He ended up killing his crew hours before contacting Voyager and he lied about how his crew died. In the climax, he tried to kill B'Elanna twice and he suffered a minor Villainous Breakdown when the Doctor tried to reason with him.
• Badass Armfold : Subverted when it leaves the Doctor's mobile emitter open to attack.
• " No! No! No, no, no, no, no! We don't need nourishment, we don't suffer disease. We're the higher form of life!"
• A standard Big "NO!" interrupted by static as B'Elanna switches him off.
• "No! No! No! You're unstable! You're a hologram that thinks like an organic! "
• The episode opens with Dejaren dragging away a bloody corpse, so his story of the Serosan crew dying of disease is clearly wrong.
• Played for Laughs when Doctor says it took a "few days" to get the social skills needed to interact with Voyager 's crew.
• Harry has no idea what Seven could have meant by " helping her learn more about our complex social interactions ".
• Chakotay also claims he has no idea what Seven was talking about, but after Harry leaves Chakotay breaks out in a big grin.
• Bludgeoned to Death : Dejaren attacks his victims with a hammer.
• Call-Back : Tom Paris is assigned to assist the Doctor again, as was his task in Season One before Kes took over the job.
• Canon Immigrant : Janeway relates her first encounter with Tuvok, which is taken from Jeri Taylor's novel Mosaic .
• Cassandra Truth : The Doctor doesn't take B'Elanna's concerns about Dejaren too seriously, that is, until the deranged isomorph shares his extremist views on organics with him personally.
• Dejaren is serving B'Elanna a tray of food when he nearly steps on a power cord exposed at one end. B'Elanna has to warn him to "Watch out!" Later, when the isomorph turns homicidal and corners B'Elanna, she uses said power cord to destroy him.
• The Doctor is given several warnings that his mobile emitter could be fragile.
• Dejaren shows the Doctor his holographic fish. Later Dejaren attacks B'Elanna and is only stopped when she shuts off all the holo-emitters. Then the Doctor catches sight of the fish in its tank and realises the holo-emitters on the bridge are still operating .
• The Comically Serious : Both Tuvok and Seven display their own dry wit in response to the inanities of their colleagues.
• Computer Equals Monitor : Zigzagged; B'Elanna deactivates Dejaren by turning off the computer, but shuts him down the second time by sticking the power cable into his hologram.
• Curse Cut Short EMH: Do you recall my own behaviour when I was first activated? Torres: How could I forget? You were a major pain in the— EMH: My point is, I too was somewhat alienated from the rest of the crew.
• Deadly Euphemism Dejaren: Oh, you're getting blood everywhere. I'm going to have to deactivate you.
• Tuvok: "During my years on Voyager I have come to respect a great many of you. Others I have learned to tolerate." (stares at Tom and Harry, who had just been telling everyone about a prank they played on him)
• EMH to Tom: "The Captain has authorised me to recruit someone with advanced medical training to help out in Sickbay. Unfortunately, the most qualified crewmember is you."
• Seven of Nine: "I understand the concept of humour. It may not be apparent, but I am often amused by human behaviour ."
• A smitten Harry is talking about how intelligent Seven is.
• Didn't Think This Through : The unstable Dejaren thinks he can do as he pleases with no consequence, seeing himself as a higher form of life, but when rightfully pointed out to him by the Doctor Isomorphics have their limits just as organics do, does he begin to freak out .
• Dies Wide Open : The episode opens with a crewman staring into space, then he's dragged off leaving a blood trail against the bulkhead .
• Distress Call : Dejaren sends one in the teaser.
• Do Androids Dream?
• Does This Remind You of Anything? : While ranting to the Doctor about why he disdains organics, Dejaren mentions his creators engaging in "carnal pleasures". Shortly afterwards, he murmurs that they took advantage of him, suggesting that he was raped.
• Double Entendre : Having seen Tom kissing B'Elanna, the Doctor works in as many as he can get away with. EMH: For a Klingon you have a decent bedside manner. Torres: Thanks. EMH: I wonder what kind of bedside manner Mister Paris will exhibit.
• Do You Want to Copulate? : Said by Seven to Harry Kim. He flees.
• Fantastic Racism : Isomorphics against organics.
• Fatal Attractor : Tom warns Harry against falling for a Borg. He doesn't listen.
• Feeling Oppressed by Their Existence : The unstable Dejaren views the ship not as his designated place of work but as an extension of himself, and absolutely hates organics touching and messing it up .
• The subject of AI-hologram rights becomes an important issue for the Doctor in later seasons.
• Harry and Seven are assigned to upgrade the Astrometrics Lab, which will be a new set in the series, first shown in " Year of Hell ".
• Final Girl : It's B'Elanna who shuts down Dejaren for good.
• First Injury Reaction : Seven is shocked when she cuts her hand, as she would have instantly regenerated as a Borg drone.
• Foil : Dejaren can be seen as one for the Doctor, as while the Doctor might occasionally complain about his treatment from the rest of the crew, he would never go this far and is genuinely seen as a friend by most of the organic crew.
• The Gadfly : Chakotay assigning Harry to continue to work with Seven.
• Go Mad from the Isolation : Dejaren was kept in a tiny room and barely interacted with the crew.
• Hidden Depths : Harry realises the Emotionless Girl he's working with is complex, emotionally vulnerable, and even has a subtle sense of humor. It's nice to know he can look past the catsuit.
• Hologram Projection Imperfection : Used in the teaser not only to show Dejaren is a hologram, but to provide the reason why he makes a Distress Call in the first place as his system is breaking down.
• When B'Elanna first realises Dejaren is a killer she takes a swing at him, only for her fists to pass through his body. Dejaren then plunges a hand into her chest and tries to puncture her heart .
• Dejaren swipes at the Doctor with his hammer—it passes right through him. So the Doctor casually tosses his tricorder through Dejaren, folds his arms and says, " This could get tedious." Unfortunately that leaves his mobile emitter exposed to Dejaren's second swipe.
• Tom to B'Elanna. "I need to go check on Harry; he's having a nervous breakdown. It's a long story."
• Then the Doctor pretends to be a Neat Freak to yank Tom's chain. Tom: What's up with him? B'Elanna: It's a long story. (end credits)
• Layman's Terms : Seven suggests using a "radical dislocation" to remove a Borg artifact, e.g. pull it out.

• The Main Characters Do Everything : Given that Tom is already in a crucial role as helmsman, there seems little reason to make him the Doctor's assistant as well, other than Rule of Funny .
• Moment Killer : The Doctor interrupts Tom and B'Elanna's First Kiss .
• And of course Seven of Nine's famous comment to Ensign Kim: Seven: I may be new to individuality, but I am not ignorant of human behavior. I've noticed your attempts to engage me in idle conversation, and I see the way your pupils dilate when you look at my body .
• Neat Freak : Dejaren. The Doctor is also a bit of this due to his programmed profession, but decides to take it up to eleven upon his return to yank Tom Paris' chain.
• No Guy Wants to Be Chased : When Harry suggests they spend some private time on the holodeck , Seven sees through his intentions and bluntly asks Do You Want to Copulate? , causing Harry to retreat in flustered confusion. In fairness taking up Seven's offer might be seen as taking advantage of her, given that she has No Social Skills .
• No Sense of Personal Space : Seven of Nine, as Harry discovers to his discomfort .
• No, You : "No, you're unstable!"
• Odd Couple : Tom Paris is roped in to help the Doctor in Sickbay. Harry Kim is assigned to work with Seven of Nine.
• Official Couple : Tom and B'Elanna finally hook up to become the only permanent couple on Voyager .
• On Three : Harry has to explain to Seven what this trope means. She describes it as " crude, but effective ".
• The Oner : Beginning something of a recurring trend across the next two seasons of Voyager , a glorious one: immediately after Tuvok's promotion becomes official, the camera follows B'Elanna and Tom from the mess hall to the hallway where they have their first kiss, then continues after the EMH interrupts them, allows Tom and the EMH's ensuing conversation to play out, returns to the mess hall, shows Chakotay and Kim talking about the astrometrics lab upgrades, and finally ends on Janeway's conversation with Neelix. Altogether, this shot is roughly two minutes in length.
• Paralyzing Fear of Sexuality : A large contingent of male fans ( and some female ) feel this is the only valid reason why Harry would turn down a guaranteed opportunity to have sex with Seven of Nine . Other fans have pointed out that if things had progressed to that point, it could clearly be seen as Harry taking advantage of her.
• Pet the Dog : Dejaren takes comfort in taking care of a holographic fish that he made to keep him company.
• Plot Parallel : While he has an ulterior motive on his part (whether or not he wants to admit it), Kim's stated reason for wanting to get closer to Seven is to help her adapt to being "part of the team", and though she is unconvinced of his sincerity, she does express a willingness to explore her humanity. Meanwhile, after seeing the sort of misanthropic insanity Dejaren has fallen into, the Doctor becomes more determined than ever to embrace his humanity (right down to adopting disorderliness and a bit of chaos to oppose Dejaren's obsessive Neat Freak nature). This will only continue going forward as the Doctor and Seven pursue this mutual Character Arc together.
• Power Cable Attack : Despite the fact that there's nothing to jab the cable into .
• Rapid-Fire "No!" : Dejaren, in one of his responses to the Doctor when he starts to have a breakdown.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech : Dejaren gives one to B'Elanna regarding organics in general, alerting her to the fact that he's completely off his rocker.
• Rebel Relaxation : The Doctor puts his feet up on his desk, after concluding he needs to unwind a bit—amusingly enough, in the same manner Paris did earlier.
• Recycled In Space : The similarities to a horror movie where a couple stumble across an isolated cabin with a serial-killing nutcase are obvious.
• The Roast : Hosted by Tom and Harry, of course, just before Tuvok's promotion.
• "Shut Up" Kiss Paris: About what you said. I mean, the part about...being in love with me. I realise you were suffering from oxygen deprivation and we were literally seconds away from death , so I know you probably didn't mean it... Torres: Oh no, I meant it...but I don't expect you to reciprocate. Really, you can just pretend that I didn't say it...in fact let's just pretend that I didn't— Paris: (grabbing her for a passionate kiss) Shut up.
• Squick : Dejaren's In-Universe reaction to organic bodily functions, from eating to mating.
• Suggestive Collision : Harry yanks Seven away from an exposed conduit, then realises he's got his hands all over Miss Delta Quadrant 2374.
• Tap on the Head : Dejaren uses a hammer to knock out B'Elanna. It's possible those Klingon forehead ridges she hates saved her life, because she wakes up quickly.
• Tragic Villain : Dejaren, reconstructed in that it's implied his disgust with organics isn't entirely because of his mistreatment and discrimination, but just the same, his contrast with The Doctor implies good treatment might have averted his descent into villainy. Then again, we only have his word for it since we never see any mistreatment, and the alien hologram was shown to be lying from the start.
• Turned Against Their Masters : Dejaren, but for very good reasons, mostly.
• Chronic Evidence Retention Syndrome : Dejaren hides the bodies of the crew on a lower level instead of having them Thrown Out the Airlock . This seems unusual given his obsession with keeping the ship clean; they may be like Serial Killer trophies for him to gloat over. It's also possible that he just didn't have the opportunity as his program started malfunctioning about that time.
• Low-Speed Chase : Dejaren does the ' Ominous Walk towards the Final Girl giving her time to grab something to kill you' stunt.
• Villainous Breakdown : Dejaren suffers one in the climax. He failed to understand why another holographic being would want to help organic beings when his existence was probably less satisfactory than the EMH's.
• Wall Slump : How the episode starts.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human? : Dejaren says the crew was abusive to him, and even hints at sexual abuse.

Delete Episode

One Summary

When Voyager enters a nebulous area of space with extremely high radiation, the crew finds they have a choice; put the entire crew into protective stasis for a one month journey through the nebula, or take a year and divert around the vast area of space. Only Seven of Nine and the Doctor will be able to remain awake a journey through the nebula. Capt. Janeway decides to trust the ship and crew to Seven and the Doctor, but the trip through the nebula soon shows signs of affecting Seven more than was thought. The question becomes, can she hold on to the control of her faculties long enough to make it through the long journey, with only the Doctor as her companion?

Star Trek: Voyager Season 4 Episodes...

Star Trek: Voyager Show Summary

While chasing a renegade Maquis ship in the Badlands, the USS Voyager and the Maquis ship they are chasing are pulled into a vortex, which sends them instantly to the Delta Quadrant. However, after the destruction of the device that transported them to the Delta Quadrant, the crew of Voyager and the crew of the Maquis ship must join together to fight their way back to their home in the Alpha quadrant, which is many years away. They will meet many foes and many obstacles along the way, but they will also bond as a crew, between those of the Maquis and those of Starfleet.

Star Trek: Voyager - One Synopsis and Schedule

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