Tuvok experiences flashes of a memory from his childhood that he cannot fully recall of being unable to prevent a young girl from falling in a chasm. These flashes are quite debilitating, and the Doctor recognizes it as a Vulcan condition that can only be cured by mind-melding with a trusted friend and searching for the full memory. Tuvok melds with Janeway, and they find themselves on the bridge of the USS Excelsior, under the command of captain Sulu. It remains unclear why he has brought them to that memory, until the Doctor discovers that this repressed memory is actually a virus that masquerades as a memory.
Tuvok is old. It's odd that he doesn't also look old, given prior examples of Vulcan aging. There's Spock, who looks quite aged in the most recent movie, where he is still just in his hundreds, but that can be explained by him being half-human. Sarek, on the other hand, is gray-haired and a bit wrinkly even in his 130s (classic trek movies), and downright old when he died at just over 200 in TNG. I guess I'm not really complaining, because I'm happy for Tim Russ to play the part, but he is maybe a bit sprightly for someone in his 110s.
The meditation/building exercise that Tuvok does to try to regain his focus is pretty cool, especially considering that this scene was only added to lengthen a too-short episode. It seems like a very Vulcan way to go about things: take the symbolic elements of rebuilding one's composure and make them physical. It also gives us some more of the Tuvok/Kes relationship, which I believe I just got done asking for.
Tuvok's back-story, about leaving starfleet (which he had joined at the "urging" of his parents) for fifty years is also a great touch. His reason for returning is soundly Vulcan, and only happened because Russ was dissatisfied with the original (unaired) reason as being un-Vulcan and asked for a new one. Older Vulcans are consistently characterized as being less conservative, which I think is a nice contrast with humans. It's probably a factor of both their society and longer life, but younger Vulcans seem to very often be less tolerant of human emotion/distaste for logic, but with time and wisdom come to see how the two species complement each other well.
Sulu is always great to see, and The Undiscovered Country is my favorite of the Trek movies, so it was a treat to get a tribute to it. This was Voyager's contribution to the thirtieth anniversary year of Trek, and it was tastefully done. Trials and Tribble-ations, DS9's contribution, was certainly more fun, but I'm happy with them both.
One thing that this episode has that its counterpart does not is a cool sci-fi hook. The idea of a virus that disguises itself as a memory is interesting, and the idea that is disguises itself as a painful memory in order to avoid detection is fascinating. Not exactly the way things work in there, but it is still a great idea. The author, Brannon Braga, is often (at least partially) blamed for the downfall of Trek; he'll often be the one to take the very flimsiest of a "science" idea and force it into being the reason for a full-length episode (see: Non Sequitur or Threshold, just follow the links in the "Bottom 5" sidebar). But when he takes the time to make his ideas believable, or at least emotionally compelling, he gets good results.
Watchability: 4/5
Bottom Line: Cool idea, good Tuvok development, and it is fun to see Sulu in action again.
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