Living Witness

"Living Witness" is the 91st episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager, the 23rd episode of the fourth season. This episode takes place in 3100s, when an AI program called The Doctor (played by Robert Picardo) is re-activated by aliens.

"Living Witness"
Star Trek: Voyager episode
Episode no.Season 4
Episode 23
Directed byTim Russ
Story byBrannon Braga
Teleplay byBryan Fuller
Brannon Braga
Joe Menosky
Featured musicDennis McCarthy
Production code191
Original air dateApril 29, 1998 (1998-04-29)
Guest appearances

The events from Voyager's time in the Delta Quadrant, in the 2370s, are viewed through the eyes of history as museum spectators observe recreations of the past, nearly 700 years after the initial events. A backup of the Doctor's program is found and reactivated, allowing him to set the record straight. The episode deals with the topic of historical revisionism and is considered by critics as one of Voyager's best episodes.

This episode was directed by Tim Russ, who also plays Tuvok on the series.[1]

Setting

The episode is partly a review of events in 2374, partly the experiences of a copy of the Doctor’s hologram program in the year 3074, and partly a review of these two time periods by historians in an unspecified more distant future.

Plot

The episode opens with a scene on the "warship Voyager", an alternate Voyager with a brutal, sadistic crew. The Vaskan ambassador requests their military aid against their enemies, the Kyrians, but the crew goes above and beyond what is necessary, committing genocide against them with biological weapons and executing the Kyrian revolutionary hero Tedran. The scene is then revealed to be a recreation by a Kyrian museum exhibit, seven hundred years later. In the actual course of events, Captain Janeway had agreed to provide the Vaskans with medical supplies in exchange for dilithium crystals. Tedran and the Kyrians boarded Voyager to stop the deal, which they thought was a military alliance. During their time on the ship, they stole a data module carrying a backup copy of the Doctor.

Quarren (Henry Woronicz), the curator at the museum, has found the Doctor's backup module three weeks prior. He is able to activate it using Voyager's own tools. The Doctor, upon seeing this biased simulation of history, is appalled and offers to show Quarren the correct version of events. Initially, the Doctor's claims that Voyager was unfairly depicted by the Kyrians are ignored, and he is told he could be held accountable for war crimes when he presents his story to the Commission of Arbiters. The Doctor states, however, that a presently non-functional Starfleet medical tricorder would settle the issue of who killed Tedran.

After fending off an angry mob of Vaskans intent on destroying what they now know to be a museum of false history, the Doctor initially wishes to abandon his quest to set the record straight and says that the truth may cause more harm and violence. Quarren objects, saying that the tension between the Kyrian and Vaskan cultures has already reached the breaking point. Quarren stresses that both races on his planet need to hear the truth about the real course of events on Voyager. This persuades the Doctor to continue searching for the tricorder.

The episode ends an indeterminate number of years later, as the museum's new curator explains that the two species finally made peace thanks to the Doctor's efforts, with Quarren living long enough to see peace made. Following the peace, the Doctor served as the surgical chancellor for the Kyrians and Vaskans for many years, but eventually he took a ship and departed for Earth, saying that "he had a longing for home".

Reception

In 2012, Den of Geek ranked "Living Witness" the second best episode of Star Trek: Voyager, behind "Year of Hell".[2]

SyFy ranked "Living Witness" as one of the top ten episodes of Star Trek: Voyager in 2015.[3]

In a 2016 article highlighting the best episode from each Star Trek series, Digital Trends gave "Living Witness" an honorable mention.[4] TrekNews.net ranked this the second best episode of Star Trek: Voyager, in 2016.[5]

In 2017, Space.com rated "Living Witness" as the 6th best Star Trek episode overall out of its seven hundred plus episodes.[6] The Hollywood Reporter rated "Living Witness" the 3rd best episode of Star Trek: Voyager,[7] and the 34th best episode of Star Trek overall.[8] In 2012, Den of Geek ranked this the 2nd best episode of Star Trek: Voyager, noting the "evil Voyager" segment as entertaining.[9]

In 2017, Den of Geek ranked actor Henry Woronicz as the character featured in this episode, Quarren, as the 7th best guest star on Star Trek: Voyager.[10]

In 2017, Vulture listed this episode as one of the best of Star Trek: Voyager.[11]

In 2019, CBR rated "Living Witness" the 6th best 'holodeck' episode of the Star Trek franchise.[12]

In 2020, The Digital Fix said this was a "superb episode" for Robert Picardo's AI doctor.[13]

In 2020, ScreenRant said this was the 7th best episode of Star Trek: Voyager, based on an IMDB rating of 8.8 out of 10.[14]

In 2021, Ancient World Magazine noted this episode for subverting the expectations of those that are familiar with the show, and for exploring the relationship between history and the present.[15]

References
  1. "Star Trek: Every Actor Who Also Directed Episodes Or Movies". ScreenRant. 2021-04-09. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  2. "Top 10 Star Trek: Voyager episodes". Den of Geek. 3 October 2012. Retrieved 2019-07-02.
  3. Granshaw, Lisa (2015-01-16). "20 years later: Our top 10 episodes of Star Trek: Voyager". SYFY WIRE. Archived from the original on 2019-02-23. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
  4. "The Best Star Trek Episodes from Every Series". www.digitaltrends.com. December 2016. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  5. Michelle (2016-02-23). "10 Best 'Star Trek: Voyager' Episodes". TREKNEWS.NET. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  6. Entertainment, Elizabeth Howell 2017-09-20T16:19:28Z (20 September 2017). "The 10 Best 'Star Trek' Episodes Ever". Space.com.
  7. ""Year of Hell" - 'Star Trek: Voyager' — The 15 Greatest Episodes". The Hollywood Reporter. 23 September 2016. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  8. ""E2" - 'Star Trek': 100 Greatest Episodes". The Hollywood Reporter. 8 September 2016.
  9. "Top 10 Star Trek: Voyager episodes". Den of Geek. 3 October 2012. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  10. "Star Trek Voyager: 10 Great Guest Performances". Den of Geek. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  11. Bastién, Angelica Jade (2017-09-25). "A Beginner's Guide to the Star Trek Universe". Vulture. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
  12. "Star Trek: Ranking the 20 Best Holodeck Episodes". CBR. 2019-01-04. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  13. "Star Trek: Voyager Revisited - Season Four". Television @ The Digital Fix. 2020-07-23. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  14. "Star Trek: Voyager: Top Rated Episodes, According To IMDb". ScreenRant. 2020-04-19. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
  15. Brouwers, Josho (4 March 2021). "Living witness - Constructing the past on Star Trek: Voyager". Ancient World Magazine. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
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