Star Trek: Voyager (TV Series) Persistence of Vision (1995) User Reviews

Hallucinations

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 7 July 2010]

The captain is working a little too hard; missing meals and not taking time off to relax. When the Doctor notices how snappy she is getting he orders her to go the the Holodeck to relax. She doesn't get to spend much time there because she is soon summoned to the bridge as they are approaching potentially hostile space. After receiving a message from the 'Botha' they arrange a meeting but before they can meet something strange starts to happen; at first it is almost insignificant things but soon the captain sees holodeck characters in the ship's corridors. It is assumed at first that this is due to stress but as she is being examined in sick bay Kes sees one of these characters. Soon other crew members become effected they come to the conclusion that they are under the influence of something the Botha are doing but before they can block them almost everybody is totally under their effect. Only Kes and the Doctor are able to resist and as Kes gets closer to blocking the Botha's effects she starts to be effected too.

This was an interesting story that kept me thinking as to what the cause would be and even after it became obvious that it was an alien effect there was still a bit of a surprise at the end when the culprit was exposed. It was nice getting to see Kes take a leading part again as she is one of my favourite characters, Jennifer Lien is great in the role.

Mixed bag of an episode

[dirvingman-62136 · 6/10 · 14 January 2021]

There's elements I like in this episode, but they are mainly undone by elements that I do not like - resulting in a somewhat average and confusing episode.

The overall concept, I really like. An unknown presence is causing catatonic hallucinations across the ship. This lends itself to some truly terrifying scenes, as when Janeway is attacked by one of her hallucinations, various shots of crew members standing around glassy-eyed, when Kes is the last person who can stop it but is succumbing. The reveal of an alien causing it all, as well as the mystery of why and how, also hints at an intriguing villain that, I'm guessing, unfortunately won't actually show up again.

The execution of the concept leaves a lot to be desired. The escalation of the condition that is afflicting the crew goes from 0 to 100 too quickly. Seems like it's just Janeway and then out of nowhere, everyone gets affected.

The use of technobabble in critical sequences also deflates the episode quality. I, for one, felt like the explanation of Kes' power is rushed and therefore, confusing. When The Doctor goes "use the mirror!" in the climax, I'm left wondering what the hell he's talking about. Oh, she can mirror her hallucination onto the alien! Sorry, that was not intuitive given the information the episode gives.

I give it a slightly positive score overall, mainly because it pulls off some genuinely creepy scenes that may be the most unsettling that Star Trek has done yet.

No one eats cucumber sandwitches.

[thevacinstaller · 6/10 · 4 April 2020]

The real questions posed by this episode is the idea that people actually have cucumber sandwiches? This is a thing? I could potentially see some alpha fitness instructor doing this ---- but kids? This sounds like some form of punitive punishment to me.

On my mothers side of the family they have a history of schizophrenia and the horrific hallucinations that result from that. Certain people affected with this know the hallucinations are not real while others cannot tell the difference. In an early seen I felt that Janeway's performance showed what terror it must be to have to go through these experiences and it landed hard for me as people who had been close to me had to endure such events on a daily basis.

The overall point of the episode to me revolves around the exploitation of personal weakness. With most of the crew members this involves seeing visions of loved ones but for Lt Torres her weakness is a lust for that stoic commander Chakotay. That came out of nowhere and I can't recall if they go anywhere with that storyline.

We get some character development for Kes being the savior of the ship and overcoming her hallucinations to ultimately save the ship with the doctors encouragement.

It's an interesting plot but the motivations of the alien creature causing this to happen remain an unknown so the impact if not what it could have been.

Nightmare In Space

[Bolesroor · 2 February 2011]

So far, Voyager has been more of a horror movie than a sci-fi series, and nowhere is that more evident than here in this episode, in which the crew is tortured and tormented by an alien able to read their minds and cause hallucinations personally tailored to each crew member's darkest fear and deepest desire.

This is a nightmare in space, as an exhausted Janeway, ordered to the holodeck by a concerned Doctor, is repaid for her moment of relaxation with a cruel series of visions and vicious attacks on her psyche. For the first time in Star Trek history I get the feeling that the writers actually dislike their characters, and that stranding them in space for a lifetime was just the start of the real punishment.

We're only 24 episodes into the series and Kes has been forced to eat beetles, the Doctor has had his existence stolen by a malfunctioning holodeck, Tuvok has abused Maquis crew members under the guise of Starfleet training... Kim has been exiled to an alternate reality, Neelix has had his lungs stolen, and Chakotay has had his essence sucked out of him. These aren't characters... they're victims.

What's never solved in this episode- which even the Captain confesses "raises any number of unanswered questions"- is WHY this alien chooses to torture them, what he gets out of his pain and suffering and obvious sadistic tendencies. If he can cause hallucinations why not just appear disguised as a recognizable crew member and sabotage the ship? Maybe because this way we wouldn't get to see Janeway's long-lost husband appear and question her fidelity, or hear Tom's vindictive Father call him a failure... we certainly wouldn't get to see Bellana's nasty sexual affair with Chakotay or hear Kes screaming in madness as blisters on her skin erupt with puss and blood.

This is a far cry from Tribble County, in which swashbuckling sci-fi characters inhabited a world built expressly for them and their high-minded, mind-blowing adventures. These are REAL people trapped in the Star Trek universe, and the realities of such a fictitious mission are for the first time played for pain and misery instead of glory and enlightenment.

These are the voyages of the Starship Voyager... its continuing mission: to explore dark alleys of the mind, to seek out new pain and nightmarish realities, to darkly go where no "Trek"has gone before...

GRADE: C

OK...What's Real and What Isn't?

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 15 August 2018]

While this offering keeps our attention, there is such a thing as a dream world where we can't accept our own senses. Once again, we are made to believe what we see is what we get. Well, as time moves along and the crew is inundated with hallucinations and the ship is all messed up, we are again put in that netherworld. Sometimes I am happy to see the experimentation with reality and the attempt at a unique plot...but sometimes it would be nice if a cigar were just a cigar. One wonders how one would continue to function if he had to live under these cosmic rules.

Katie Mulgrew saves this one

[snoozejonc · 6/10 · 18 July 2022]

Captain Janeway experiences hallucinations of a holodeck program.

This is an okay but forgettable episode.

I like the opening segment that shows Janeway dealing with the various demands associated with leading a crew, but as soon as the oddities kick in it feels to me like it's going down a clichéd route of visions that incapacitate and attempt to develop characters.

Most of the visions are relatively uninteresting, apart from one that involves Janeway in a bit of action and a good transition to the next scene. I think it gets better as the story starts moving towards a conclusion and the focus moves on to Kes and the Doctor. However, for me the strongest aspect of the episode is Katie Mulgrew's performance.

I have never been a great fan of Star Trek stories that involve the crew hallucinating. The only one that ever worked for me was 'The Game' because it is a decent parody of gaming culture.

Searching for a vision....

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 12 February 2015]

Throughout most of the first couple seasons, "Star Trek: Voyager" sure seemed like a show that was looking for direction and purpose. While some folks rated every episode super-high, some strongly disliked them--and it's a sure sign that the show had a much harder time finding an audience than previous Star Trek series. "Persistence of Vision" is yet another show that really does little to advance the show's plot and is stuck aboard the ship--two things that clearly would indicate that the show was in severe trouble.

When the show begins, Captain Janeway is once again in the awful Gothic novel that I so truly hated in previous shows. However, oddly, after she leaves the holodeck she occasionally sees these characters throughout the ship. Later, some alien force begins projecting hallucinations in order to keep the ship from advancing any further.

The bottom line is that the quality of this show just isn't as good as earlier Trek shows. It's filled with gibberish, holo characters but no interesting aliens nor a plot that engages the viewer. Rather poor overall.

"Because I can"

[tomsly-40015 · 4/10 · 13 December 2023]

While this episode starts promising when Janeway suddenly starts to see elements and characters from her holo novel appear on the ship and everyone first thinks she is just stressed and needs to rest, the end of this episode is really bad.

When the episode progresses the whole crew seems to see illusions and freezes in a catatonic state. One by one the crew is incapacitated by images in their minds. Only Kes and the doctor are left to save the day. Which they of course do. But the explanation at the end is rather unsatisfying. Obviously some alien played mind tricks on them because "he can". We never learn who he is and what his motivations are. Writing an episode with "Because I can" outcome is just lame, because then everything can happen and nothing has any meaning in the end.

Star Trek: Voyager - Persistence of Vision

[Scarecrow-88 · 4/10 · 15 January 2017]

Perplexing plot has telepathic aliens, defensively protecting their area of space in the Delta Quadrant, using a psionic field which causes a psychoactive effect on the crew of the Voyager, resulting in delusions based on latent fantasies, desires, thoughts, and troubles buried inside. Brought to the surface, when officers succumb to what they (think they) see, their attention to reality is reduced to a catatonic state, rendering them useless. When only the Doctor and Kes remain, it will be up to them to use the warp core to produce a "resonance burst"…but the Bothan telepath will try to use a hallucination of Neelix and boils/lesions on her face to render Kes also inactive, but her own telepathic abilities just might prevent that. Baffling open-ending regarding the Bothan onboard the Voyager and their ships outside leaves less-than-satisfying results…just disappearing, they leave everyone on the Voyager questioning what exactly happened. I felt rather disappointed with such a lack of resolution. When asked why the Bothans did that to them, the response is, "Because we can." Umm, okay… This episode includes Torres confronted with lust for Chakotay, Janeway becoming attracted to a holographic program's aristocrat, Tom Paris encountering his disapproving father, Tuvok speaking with his wife and experiencing Vulcan, Kes walking past Paris injured, etc. Janeway's hallucinations of her holographic program appearing while walking about the ship creates an intriguing development but the Bothan conflict's eventual "defeat" (or was it?) just fails to end on a high note. Sadly, this could have been a real gem but ultimately results in a misfire. Too bad. All the technobabble in the world can't rescue the show every time.