Critical Care (Star Trek: Voyager)

Last updated
"Critical Care"
Star Trek: Voyager episode
Episode no.Season 7
Episode 5
Directed by Terry Windell
Story byRobert Doherty
Kenneth Biller
Teleplay by James Kahn
Featured music Dennis McCarthy
Production code250
Original air dateNovember 1, 2000 (2000-11-01)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Repression"		Next →
"Inside Man"
Star Trek: Voyager season 7
List of episodes

"Critical Care" is the 151st episode of Star Trek: Voyager , and the fifth episode of its seventh season.

Contents

This episode focuses on the plight of the EMH, who has been stolen and is forced to work at an alien hospital. [1] [2] While working there it is confronted with various medical ethics questions he must overcome. [1]

It originally aired on November 1, 2000 on UPN. [3]

Plot

The Doctor's mobile emitter is stolen from Voyager by an alien trader named Gar and sold to an overcrowded hospital run by the hardnosed Administrator Chellick. When the Doctor is activated and told to get to work on the patients of overcrowded and underequipped level "Red", he protests his kidnapping, but must comply due to his Hippocratic Oath.

The Doctor quickly learns that this hospital is run in a strict manner by a computer called the Allocator, which regulates doses of medicine to patients based on a Treatment Coefficient (TC) value assigned each patient. He is told that TC is based on a complex formula that reflects the patient's perceived value to society, rather than medical need. One patient, Tebbis, has a terminal condition that requires a drug the hospital can provide, but Tebbis's TC is too low to warrant it. When the Doctor begins to question the system, the Allocator assigns him to level "Blue." Level Blue's facilities and quality of care are dramatically better and more modern than Red's. He learns the patients on this level have a much higher TC than those where Tebbis is warded, and that the Allocator prioritizes their prophylactic care over those lower-TC patients who need emergency care. The Doctor is able to convince the nurses to provide him with extra doses of medicine, which he smuggles to the lower level and administers to Tebbis and others. Chellick discovers his scheme and forcibly restricts the Doctor to Level Blue.

Meanwhile, the Voyager crew tracks down Gar, who had stolen the Doctor's program, and Neelix tricks him into revealing the place where he sold the Doctor. Voyager sets course there.

The Doctor learns that Tebbis has died despite the fact that continued injections would have saved him. He figures out a means to escape Level Blue to continue to try to save the other patients in the lower levels. Chellick learns of this and arrives to stop the Doctor, but the Doctor injects him with some of Tebbis's blood, infecting him with the same condition. Mistaking him for the late Tebbis, The Allocator assigns Chellick a low TC, preventing him from getting the proper treatment. With this leverage, the Doctor convinces Chellick to move the low-TC patients, including himself, to level Blue to receive care. Voyager arrives to rescue the Doctor as Chellick's orders are carried out. Back aboard ship, the Doctor considers if his ethics subroutines have failed as he willingly infected Chellick, but Seven of Nine assures him that they did not, which means he acted entirely of his own accord.

Academic response

In Teaching Medicine and Medical Ethics Using Popular Culture this episode was suggested as part of curriculum to teach medical ethics. [1] They note the episode touches upon the concepts of justice, beneficence, and the allocation of medical resources. [1]

Home media releases

On December 21, 2003, this episode was released on DVD as part of a Season 7 boxset; Star Trek Voyager: Complete Seventh Season. [4]

Related Research Articles

The Doctor (<i>Star Trek: Voyager</i>) Fictional character from Star Trek: Voyager

The Doctor, an Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH), is a fictional character portrayed by actor Robert Picardo in the television series Star Trek: Voyager, first aired on UPN between 1995 and 2001. He is an artificial intelligence manifest as a holographic projection, and designed to be a short-term adjunct to medical staff in emergency situations. However, when the USS Voyager is stranded on the far side of the galaxy without medical personnel, he is forced to act as the starship's permanent chief medical officer. In an example of the Star Trek franchise's exploration of artificial intelligence, a simple software program becomes a major character in the show.

Kes (<i>Star Trek</i>) Star Trek character

Kes is a fictional character played by Jennifer Lien on the American science fiction television show Star Trek: Voyager. The series follows the crew of the starship USS Voyager, stranded far from home and struggling to get back to Earth. Kes joins the crew in the pilot episode "Caretaker", opening an aeroponics garden and working as the medical assistant to the artificial intelligence known as the Doctor. She is a member of a telepathic alien species known as the Ocampa who have latent psychic abilities and a life span of only nine years. Her storylines focus on encouraging the Doctor to develop his humanity and dealing with her Talaxian boyfriend Neelix's jealousy. She also seeks to expand upon her mental capabilities, leaving in the fourth season after her powers threaten to destroy the ship. She reappears in a season six episode and features in Star Trek: Voyager novels and short stories.

Star Trek: Voyager is an American science fiction series created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor. It aired from January 16, 1995, to May 23, 2001, on UPN, with 172 episodes over seven seasons. The fifth series in the Star Trek franchise, it served as the fourth after Star Trek: The Original Series. Set in the 24th century, when Earth is part of a United Federation of Planets, it follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager as it attempts to return home to the Alpha Quadrant after being stranded in the Delta Quadrant on the far side of the galaxy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuvok</span> Fictional character in Star Trek: Voyager

Tuvok is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise and a main character in the television series Star Trek: Voyager. Tuvok is a Vulcan who serves as the ship's second officer, Chief of Security, and Chief Tactical Officer. He was portrayed by Tim Russ throughout the show's run from 1995 to 2001, as well as in subsequent portrayals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vidiians</span> Fictional alien race in the Star Trek franchise

The Vidiians are a fictional alien race in the Star Trek franchise. Developed by Star Trek: Voyager series' co-creators Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor, they serve as recurring antagonists during the show's first two seasons. They are represented as a nomadic species suffering from a pandemic known as the Phage, which destroys their tissue. A society with highly developed medical technology, the Vidiians harvest organs from corpses and living beings to stall the progression of the Phage, and experiment on other alien species in an attempt to develop a cure. Vidiian storylines frequently revolve around the aliens' attempts to take Voyager crew members' organs, though a Vidiian scientist named Danara Pel serves as a love interest for The Doctor. The alien species have made minor appearances in the show's subsequent seasons, and have been included in novels set in the Star Trek universe.

"The Breach" is the twenty-first episode of the second season and forty-seventh episode of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise. It originally aired on April 23, 2003, on UPN. This episode was written by Chris Black and John Shiban from a story by Daniel McCarthy; Robert Duncan McNeill directs. Guest stars include Henry Stram, Mark Chaet, Laura Putney, D.C. Douglas and Jamison Yang alongside the main cast of the show.

"Latent Image" is the 105th episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager airing on the UPN network, the 11th episode of the fifth season. The show has stories about a spacecraft, the eponymous USS Voyager, traveling back to Earth after being lost on the other side of the Galaxy; the episodes typically focus on problems encountered by its crew. In this case ship's holographic medical program, "The Doctor", finds something amiss in his program's memory. In the typical style of the Star Trek franchise, the story uses science fiction to explore the philosophical issues, in this case, of medical ethics, personhood, decision making, and human rights.

"Virtuoso" is the 13th episode of the sixth season of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager, 133rd episode overall. It was aired on January 26, 2000, on United Paramount Network (UPN). USS Voyager, the fictional starship and the show's primary setting, is making its way slowly back to Earth from the other side of the Galaxy when they encounter Qomar aliens. These advanced aliens are intrigued by the singing abilities of The Doctor, indeed by music itself which despite their advanced technology they have not yet discovered.

"Life Line" is the 24th episode from the sixth season of Star Trek: Voyager, the 144th episode overall. It is one of the episodes in the Star Trek universe in which characters from elsewhere in the franchise are extended by Voyager. Reginald Barclay and Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation make appearances, and in addition Jean-Luc Picard is twice mentioned by Troi but not seen. This is also one of the few episodes where a character actually arrives in the Alpha Quadrant, and the only Voyager episode which has a cast member receiving a writing credit.

"Ethics" is the 116th episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. The 16th episode of the fifth season.

"Renaissance Man" is the 170th episode of Star Trek: Voyager, and the last standard-length episode of the seventh season. The succeeding episode, "Endgame", is a double-length episode and the series finale.

"Lineage" is the 158th episode of the TV series Star Trek: Voyager, the 12th episode of the seventh season. B'Elanna and Tom Paris struggle through the pregnancy of their child.

"Repentance" is the 159th episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager airing on the UPN network. It is the 13th episode of the seventh season.

"Imperfection" is the 148th episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the second episode of the seventh season. The ex-Borg Seven of Nine has a medical technology crisis that must be resolved by the crew of the USS Voyager, lost far from Earth in the 24th century. This episode involves the cybernetic Borg aliens, which were previously introduced on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Q2 (<i>Star Trek: Voyager</i>) 19th episode of the 7th season of Star Trek: Voyager

"Q2" is the 19th episode of the seventh season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. It initially aired on the UPN network as the 165th episode of the series, and was directed by Star Trek: The Next Generation castmember LeVar Burton.

"Author, Author" is the 166th episode of the TV series Star Trek: Voyager, the 20th episode of the seventh season. This episode focuses on the character "The Doctor" (EMH) and on impact of a novel and explores the meaning of AI.

"Drive" is the 149th episode of Star Trek: Voyager, and the third episode of its seventh season. The Voyager crew participates in a space race, but not all is as it seems to be. Meanwhile, B'Elanna and Tom Paris work on their relationship.

"Nothing Human" is the 102nd episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the eighth episode of the fifth season. It was the final episode written by series co-creator Jeri Taylor.

Inside Man is the 152nd episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager, and the sixth episode of its seventh season. This continues the story arc previously established in "Pathfinder" and "Life Line", Voyager episodes featuring the Star Trek franchise characters Reginald Barclay and Deanna Troi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olive View–UCLA Medical Center</span> Hospital in California, United States

Olive View–UCLA Medical Center is a hospital, funded by Los Angeles County, located in the Sylmar neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is one of the primary healthcare delivery systems in the north San Fernando Valley, serving the area's large working-class population. Olive View is also the closest county hospital serving the Antelope Valley after High Desert Hospital was converted to an urgent care clinic in 2003.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Kendal, Evie; Diug, Basia (2017-10-20). Teaching Medicine and Medical Ethics Using Popular Culture. Springer. ISBN   978-3-319-65451-5.
  2. ↑ Erdmann, Terry J. (2008-09-23). Star Trek 101: A Practical Guide to Who, What, Where, and Why. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   978-1-4391-1787-3.
  3. ↑ Heath, K. M.; Carlisle, A. S. (2020). The Voyages of Star Trek: A Space-time Continuum. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN   978-1-5381-3697-3.
  4. ↑ "DVD Talk // Star Trek Voyager: Complete Seventh Season // Paramount // Unrated // December 21, 2004". www.dvdtalk.com. Archived from the original on 2010-10-10. Retrieved 2021-02-25.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.