Template:Realworld The crew relaxes in Paris's latest holodeck creation: an idealized 19th century Irish village, where Captain Janeway falls in love with a holographic character.
Summary
Tom Paris creates a program in 19th century Ireland, a town called Fair Haven. He wants it to be a place where the crew can unwind. It goes into great detail. The Doctor is even a priest.
However, a neutronic wavefront approaches just as Captain Janeway enters and looks around. The crew is recalled as Seven of Nine tracks its course. Since B'Elanna Torres concludes they can't go to warp, and impulse engines are not enough, the Captain decides to ride out the storm.
Later that night, Janeway reminisces with Neelix about bad weather, and Neelix brings up a potential morale problem. The requirement to batten down the hatches and sit still is a very difficult situation. Neelix suggests they keep Fair Haven running all the time. Janeway agrees.
She stops in soon, and talks to the bar keeper, Michael Sullivan. She doesn't intend to stay, but she is intrigued enough by him she stays up all night, including games of rings, arm wrestling, and a lot of talking. She only returns to the "real world" after Michael's wife enters the pub, looking for him.
Once she returns to her ship, it being the afternoon, she gives Paris permission to expand the simulation to Holodeck 2, and arrives on the bridge just in time to feel the wave hit. They sustain minor damage from the front of the wave.
- "Captain's personal log. It's been ten hours since the storm hit. We estimate another three days before we're clear of it. The crew's in good spirits, and many of them have taken the opportunity to visit Fair Haven. I met an interesting man there, and for a while I almost forgot he was a hologram. We weren't exactly compatible, but then again, Mr. Paris didn't program him to my specifications."
With this in mind, she begins to modify him. She complicates his personality, and increases his level of education, and deletes his wife. In the mess hall, the enhancements to the scenario continue by Paris, Harry Kim, and Neelix, but these are about how realistic to make it.
When Janeway returns to the simulation again, she meets the improved Mr. Sullivan. She now hits it off well with him, as he talks about poetry, and shows much more curiosity. As they continue to talk, he asks her what she's looking for in a man. That is when Chakotay walks in. He is surprised, but stays out of the way, and heads off to meet Neelix at the Ox and Lamb.
On the ship, as they chart the wave front and find another rough patch two days away, Chakotay asks her about the book of poetry she's reading, and makes it clear he is asking about him. She says that it is merely an interest in Irish culture, nothing more. She admits her modifications, but reminds Chakotay he is just a hologram. Chakotay, however, does not criticize; he thinks its nice to see her having a little fun.
Next time in the program, she fully enjoys an Irish Jig, and then, breathless with the moment, suddenly tells the computer to remove all other characters except Michael. She finally kisses him, and enjoys it greatly to say the least. But back in her quarters, she recycles all of the Irish literature. When Neelix invites her to an event, she wants to stay in reality for a while.
In the program, Neelix is the bartender; Michael was out of commission. He believes "Katie O'Clare" doesn't love him, and he does her. All he knows is that she's gone. He starts a fist fight with Paris, which ends up in a brawl, and back on the ship, the Doctor has to treat them all (except the holograms, of course).
When the Captain walks in, they all skip over the reason the fight got started. She takes a walk with the Doctor, who explains that the hologram has a broken heart, and there is no malfunction. The Doctor wants to make sure that she is not also having trouble, and offers his ear.
She does finally admit she is having a problem with falling in love with a hologram. She created something that was just her type, and her ability to tweak things to perfection. That's the problem.
The Doctor explains it metaphysically. What difference does it make if he is a hologram? If he makes a joke, she laughs. If she doesn't alter Sullivan's parameters to create every tiny perfection, and instead explores the imperfections, then it could be a reasonable relationship for a Captain stuck in the Delta Quadrant.
Back on the ship, the storm hits that worse spot she detected earlier. The shields start having difficulty being maintained, and they begin to be pulled along with the wave. Chakotay sees the only way out is to channel all power to the deflector emitters – including the holodecks, without the proper shutdown sequence to preserve the running program. She gives the order to do it. Just in time, the deflector beam begins dissipating the energy, and they approach the perimeter just before their shields failed.
The program is not a total loss, but only 10% of it – all of the fine details – could be reconstructed. Thinking of the Captain, Tom asks for her input on which 10%. She activates just the Michael Sullivan character, and tells him that she has to leave Fair Haven. She can't explain why when he asks, but does tell him she might pass by this way again. After a kiss, she ends the program, and makes one more modification before she saves the program: she has the computer deny her access to his behavioral subroutines.
Memorable quotes
"Oh, one more thing... access his interpersonal subroutines; familial characters... Delete the wife."
- - Janeway, modifying Sullivan's program
"Oh you know the story, girl meets boy - girl modifies boy's subroutines..."
- - Janeway, discussing Sullivan
"... And if there's something I don't like, I can simply change it."
"I've noticed that Humans usually try to change the people they fall in love with, what's the difference?"
"In this case, it works!"
- - Janeway and The Doctor, discussing Sullivan
"But, you are the captain. You can't have relationship with a member of your crew, they're all your subordinates. So where does that leave you? The occasional dailiance with a passing alien?"
- - The Doctor, to Janeway
"Gentlemen, please! Love thy neighbor!"
- - The Doctor, in the role of a priest, attempting to stop a bar fight
"Say ten Our Fathers and call me in the morning."
- - The Doctor's response to Seamus's breaking the Fifth Commandment ("Honor thy Father and Mother")
"Saints preserve us."
"I possess superior hand/eye coordination."
"That's not all that's superior."
"The lily and the rose are staging a competition on your face."
"Clarify!"
"The fullness of your lips and the paleness of your cheeks - it's enough to make a man faint."
"Then, in that case, perhaps we should sit down."
- - Seven and the holo-character Seamus, after Seven has hit the center six consecutive times while playing rings
"Temperance is a virtue."
- - The Doctor, in the role of a priest, when offered an alcoholic beverage
Background Information
- Originally titled "Safe Harbor". (Trekworld, June 1999)
- This was the first episode of Star Trek to air in the year 2000.
- When discussing the rewriting of the program, Paris and Janeway say it will take six or seven weeks to complete. The follow-up episode "Spirit Folk" originally aired six weeks later.
- Filmed on location at Universal Studios in California on a redress of their "Little Europe" backlot set, where the exteriors of Sainte Claire were also filmed for VOY: "The Killing Game". Some of the buildings can be seen in both episodes.
Video and DVD releases
- UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment): Volume 6.6, 14 August 2000.
- As part of the VOY Season 6 DVD collection.
Links and references
Guest star
Special guest star
Co-stars
Uncredited co-stars
References
barometer; betting pool; blood; blood pudding; "burning the midnight oil"; Castle O'Dell; County Clare; cream; creamed cabbage (cabbage); croup; "Danny Boy"; deciwatt; deflector beam; dizziness; Mossie Donegan; Doolin; Dublin; Eldon, Jane; evil eye; Ewan, Ray; facial hair; Fair Haven; Father; Fifth Commandment; fog; foot race; Galway; gastrointestinal distress; Gilroy; Gogarty, Sean; Guinness; Hail Mary; Hills Most Green, Hearts Unseen; holodeck; holographic research lab; Holy Island; impulse power; Indiana; intestine; inverse warp field; ion storm; Ireland; Irish; Irish language; Kilkee; Killalow; King of the Faeries; lamb; leprechaun; lightning; lily; limerick; mass; milk; monastery; Moore (hologram); Mulligan; mutton; neutronic gradient; neutron radiation; neutron star; neutronic storm; neutronic wave front; Katie O'Clare; open-door policy; Our Father; The Ox and Lamb; parasol; Paris 042; plasma conduit; priest; rings; rose; Ryan, Timothy; Saint Patrick's Day; sheep; shilling; space sickness; Sullivan's; Sunday; Swift, Jonathan; Talax; Taumgraney; tea; terajoule; thunderstorm; train; Trinity College; trout; vow of silence; weather; yellow alert
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Star Trek: Voyager Season 6 |
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