This is just something that The Docs programming can't help him with, another reviewer hit it on the head: the doctor cannot do any harm. We have also seen that he can deliberately disobey orders. Which he does in this case, but only in his quest to make sure that no harm is done to voyager or her crew. But the problem is, he can't do it until he has the perfect opportunity.
Unfortunately the doctor is being manipulated. He is being manipulated by that one race that understands him more than he understands himself. I did not really want to reveal who that was in my review but I have to: he is being manipulated by the race that I have named "the Googys" (after the original actor who played one of them, and whose features adorn their makeup: Google Gress).
The difficulty here is that these two former members of "the Heirarchy" had opportunity to study the doctor in great detail after their first encounter with him, and in fact this caper had been in planning for a long time. They know how to dig the knife into the doctors photonic back and twist, and as this episode goes on we can see that it is really getting to the doctor.
But it just shows how ingenious and creative the doctor can be, and he eventually discovers a way of extricating himself from this conundrum, which he does with some finesse and a level of subtlety.
We've seen the doctor in previous episodes do everything that he has done in this episode. It's just that here, we see him doing all of it all at once! He is a doctor, he is an Opera singer as well as a jazz piano player, he is an emergency command hologram, he is a secret agent! He is a... photonic!
And it has taken him seven years to at last, become comfortable with what he is and finally to have pride. Which is another one of his problems because he overdoes it.
The Googys know how to use all of this against him to make him do what they want.
So generally the whole episode is waiting for the doctor to have that one opportunity to bust out of his expected modes of behavior.
I don't consider this episode substandard in the least, and it was the perfect lead-in to "Endgame".
Also there are some ingenious technical gags, and those just make it all the more worthwhile. You just have to ask "how did they do that"?
As this episode moves from the teaser into the episode, you know that something is wrong but you just can't put your finger on it, and then suddenly, when you least expect it...
Unfortunately the doctor is being manipulated. He is being manipulated by that one race that understands him more than he understands himself. I did not really want to reveal who that was in my review but I have to: he is being manipulated by the race that I have named "the Googys" (after the original actor who played one of them, and whose features adorn their makeup: Google Gress).
The difficulty here is that these two former members of "the Heirarchy" had opportunity to study the doctor in great detail after their first encounter with him, and in fact this caper had been in planning for a long time. They know how to dig the knife into the doctors photonic back and twist, and as this episode goes on we can see that it is really getting to the doctor.
But it just shows how ingenious and creative the doctor can be, and he eventually discovers a way of extricating himself from this conundrum, which he does with some finesse and a level of subtlety.
We've seen the doctor in previous episodes do everything that he has done in this episode. It's just that here, we see him doing all of it all at once! He is a doctor, he is an Opera singer as well as a jazz piano player, he is an emergency command hologram, he is a secret agent! He is a... photonic!
And it has taken him seven years to at last, become comfortable with what he is and finally to have pride. Which is another one of his problems because he overdoes it.
The Googys know how to use all of this against him to make him do what they want.
So generally the whole episode is waiting for the doctor to have that one opportunity to bust out of his expected modes of behavior.
I don't consider this episode substandard in the least, and it was the perfect lead-in to "Endgame".
Also there are some ingenious technical gags, and those just make it all the more worthwhile. You just have to ask "how did they do that"?
As this episode moves from the teaser into the episode, you know that something is wrong but you just can't put your finger on it, and then suddenly, when you least expect it...