To say that “Star Trek: Voyager“‘s Emergency Medical Hologram developed past his programming could be an understatement.
He was developed as a part of a job lot (the Enterprise-E had its personal equivalent EMH in “First Contact”), and solely got here on-line as a result of the USS Voyager’s authentic physician was killed en path to the Delta Quadrant. And but this photonic doctor shortly established himself within the ready room of “Trek”‘s best medical doctors — in reality, there’s little greater than a laser scalpel between him and the equally irascible Dr McCoy.
After all, his distinctive medical experience — pre-programmed by his creator, Dr Lewis Zimmerman, to whom he bears an uncanny resemblance — is relatively much less noteworthy than his distinctive bedside method. From the second of his first activation, he was effortlessly (if not at all times deliberately) humorous, a welcome distraction from the intense enterprise of his crew’s epic voyage dwelling. “I am a physician, not a peeping tom/battery/dragonslayer [and many more; delete as appropriate],” turned a well-recognized, McCoy-homaging chorus.
It was additionally clear from the off that the EMH is descended from the identical lineage as Spock, Knowledge, and Odo, outsiders who see humanity from a unique perspective, and subsequently develop over the course of their respective sequence.
Satirically, actor Robert Picardo had initially been sceptical in regards to the position earlier than he set foot in Voyager’s Sickbay. “I turned down the audition for the Physician, as a result of it simply did not sound attention-grabbing,” he instructed StarTrek.com. “It seemed like an automaton. I requested to learn for [Talaxian chef/morale officer] Neelix as a substitute.”
That half in the end went to Ethan Phillips, however Picardo was invited again to audition for the Emergency Medical Hologram, beating a reported 900 different wannabe holographic medical doctors to the position. And regardless of these preliminary reservations, Picardo got here to appreciate he had arguably the most effective position in “Voyager”.
“I acquired the half with out understanding that the character could be the Spock-like character,” he stated. “The character who initially inherited that was Knowledge, who had no emotion and longed to be an actual boy in the identical approach as Pinocchio. I believed that, as a result of Tuvok was a Vulcan character, he would take care of these points. As soon as I noticed that I had gotten the plum position, it was a pleasant shock. I went from pondering I had the dullest position within the present to believing I’ll have the most effective position within the present.”
Few characters in “Star Trek” historical past have had a extra satisfying story arc than the Physician did throughout seven seasons of “Voyager”. He developed a ardour for opera (one thing that is continued in “Starfleet Academy”), and wrote a success polemical holo-novel referred to as “Photons be Free”.
He turned so well-liked with the “Trek” fanbase that the writers crowbarred in a futuristic holo-emitter from the twenty ninth century — successfully Arnold Rimmer’s arduous gentle drive from “Crimson Dwarf” — that allowed the Doc to set foot outdoors the confines of Sickbay and go on away missions. He was additionally given company to deactivate himself when not required, and the chance to offer himself a reputation. After just a few early efforts failed to stay, he ultimately settled on “Joe”.
However the Physician wasn’t simply pretending to be “an actual boy”. On Voyager, he lived the entire human expertise, to the extent he appeared completely certified to behave as a mentor to Seven of 9 whereas she rediscovered her personal humanity following her de-assimilation from the Borg. Certainly, being a instructor got here to really feel like his most pure calling, when he acquired a job instructing cadets in each “Star Trek: Prodigy” and now the distant way forward for “Starfleet Academy”.
However the eight centuries which have handed since Voyager made it dwelling have left a mark on the Physician. The wrinkles on his face could also be synthetic — he launched an ageing subroutine to his holomatrix to make his friends really feel extra comfy — however the trauma of watching generations of associates dwell and die may be very actual.
“That’s 800 years of digital reminiscence, the place the reminiscence of a beloved colleague from 793 years in the past is as contemporary and clear as somebody you noticed yesterday,” Picardo instructed SFX journal. “Solely science fiction can provide an actor a problem like that to attempt to wrap your thoughts round! For a human actor who’s definitely as involved with the problems of mortality as anybody else my age, it’s a humorous leap of religion to attempt to put these private issues apart and picture what this should be wish to have generations of natural colleagues develop previous and die round you. It’s acquired to affect your curiosity in creating interpersonal relationships in future.”
In “Starfleet Academy”‘s newest episode, “The Lifetime of the Stars”, we see how being immortal has prompted the EMH to construct emotional limitations round himself. Whereas complete centuries have handed, the ache of watching his youngster die in a holographic simulation (“Voyager” episode “Actual Life”) continues to be an excessive amount of to bear — even with holographic cadet SAM’s (Kerrice Brooks) life within the steadiness (prompting a mission again to her photonic homeworld of Kasq to avoid wasting her) he finds it not possible to open up. He is been doing every thing he can to stop her seeing him as a mentor, and now — as she’s mendacity on her deathbed — he cannot even carry himself to carry her hand.
“The one factor that permits me to bear my infinity isn’t having to like anybody,” he admits to Captain Nahla Ake, a long-lived Lanthanite character who additionally has some expertise of dropping the individuals she loves most.
However even whenever you’re practically as previous as Yoda, it is attainable to shock your self — and the viewing public.
The unconventional configuration of spacetime in Kasq’s neck of the woods gives a singular alternative. In an echo of the Physician’s experiences on Gotana in “Voyager” episode “Blink of an Eye” — throughout which he watched centuries of improvement on an alien world — three days on Earth is equal to 5 years on the holographic homeworld. This time dilation provides the Physician the prospect to spend 17 years (or simply over per week, relying in your standpoint) giving SAM a childhood. This ready-made father determine is precisely what she must anchor her glitching holomatrix.
And so, some 30 years after the Physician first requested us to state the character of the medical emergency in Voyager”, a personality who began out as comedian reduction hundreds of sunshine years from dwelling has properly and really grown up.
Some sci-fi icons are immovable constants, and we frequently love them for it. However the Physician’s capacity to evolve — and exceed that authentic programming — makes him really timeless.
New episodes of “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” debut on Paramount+ on Thursdays.
