Voyager's crew has been Brainwashed yet again, this time into a work force in a prosperous city. The only crewmembers to escape abduction are Chakotay, Harry and Neelix. Oh, and a special returning hologram from the past...
Contains examples of:
- Abandon Ship: This results in the crew's capture by Quarrens and touches off the plot.
- Afraid of Hyposprays: Brainwashed!Tuvok. Turns out that they bring back memories of his brainwashing.
- Batman Grabs a Gun: The Doctor brandishes a phaser and doesn't hesitate to use tough tactics to fend off Salvage Pirates. Clearly the ECH program supersedes the Inconvenient Hippocratic Oath of an EMH.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: In "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy" the Doctor asked for a program to be developed so he could be made captain in case of a catastrophic emergency. Reality proves to be not as fun as his fantasies in that episode.
- Big Blackout: Janeway nearly triggers a blackout by accident early on courtesy of an input error. This becomes a Chekhov's Gun when she does so intentionally during the climax, lowering the planetary Deflector Shields so that Voyager can beam her and the rest of her crew back aboard.
- Brainwashed: Yeah, seems so, at least from a flashback we briefly see of an injured Tuvok being restrained and injected by several aliens. Everyone acts pretty much like they do already, with the exception of Tuvok himself; his emotions run free, presumably because repressing them is part of Vulcan philosophy, which he no longer remembers.
- But since Chakotay and Neelix volunteered (the former with a little alien disguise), they are not brainwashed, and can help the others escape.
- Call-Back: The Emergency Command Hologram makes a return, for real this time!
- Captain's Log: With Janeway brainwashed on Quarra, Chakotay and the Doctor do the honors.
- The Chains of Commanding: Out of everyone, Janeway is the happiest in her new role as Cubicle Drone, released from the stress of her role as captain. She's even able to enjoy a romantic relationship for the first time in years, and specifically balks at the idea of taking on more responsibilities.
- Chekhov's Lecture: Voyager is able to contact Chakotay from outside the Quarren system by using a "triaxialating frequency on a covariant subspace band". Janeway remembers this later on, allowing her to contact Voyager during the climax.
- Cliffhanger: Janeway agrees to move in with Jaffen. Great, the last thing she needs is more attachment to this false life.
- Company Town: Quarra one-ups this by being a company planet.
- Conflict Ball: The Doctor versus Harry Kim re who outranks the other.
- Crew of One: And the Emergency Command Hologram doesn't do badly either, fending off an attempt by Salvage Pirates to seize Voyager.
- Critical Staffing Shortage:
- The Quarrens appears to suffer a civilization-wide shortage for reasons unknown, and are desperate to acquire skilled workers.
- After the crew of Voyager is forced to Abandon Ship, the EMH (or, rather, ECH) is the only one left. The return of Chakotay, Neelix, and Harry does help, but they're still four people on a ship whose normal crew is 150.
- Diagnosis: Knowing Too Much: Kadan does this to the Voyager crew, as well as the majority of the workers at Quarra's power plant. Tuvok loses the conditioning he was given, and desperately tries to convince Seven of Nine (named her human name "Annika" under her conditioning) that they have been abducted. Doctor Kadan claims that Tuvok has "Dysphoria Syndrome", before forcing treatment on him to erase his memories and puts him back to work.
- Don't Explain the Joke: Dammit, Tuvok! Don't ruin Jaffen's joke!
- Escape Pod: We finally see Voyager's escape pods in action.
- Exposition Already Covered: When Janeway starts her job at the power plant.Supervisor: Now you'll be monitoring the primary reactor coils. They process more than eight thousand—
Janeway: Eight thousand metric tons of tylium per second at ninety-four percent thermal efficiency. I memorized the specifications. - He Knows Too Much: Doctor Kadan's assistant, Ravoc, learns of the "Dysphoria Syndrome" conspiracy and threatens to report Kadan. The next we see of Ravoc, he's now a patient with "Dysphoria Syndrome."
- Holding Your Shoulder Means Injury: Chakotay, after being shot.
- How We Got Here: The Doctor (in ECH mode) explaining to Chakotay what happened to Voyager that forced the crew to Abandon Ship.
- Insult Backfire: The story that Jaffen tells in the tavern has someone insulting his father, to no effect. Apparently, Norvalans don't have fathers.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: When Jaffen learns the truth about Janeway being abducted and brainwashed, he helps her shut down the conspiracy and recover her crew, even though he'll never see her again once she returns to her real life.
- Kidnapped by an Ally: B'Elanna, not knowing that Chakotay is actually rescuing her from a false life.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: The form of the brainwashing; the Doctor has his work cut out for him with B'Elanna! Fortunately, Neelix helps out a little.
- Love Transcends Spacetime: Despite their memories being wiped, B'Elanna and Tom still form a connection.
- Mind Meld: Well, more like Mind Rape, but it's necessary to make Seven remember herself.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Dr. Kadan, who treats the Voyager crew's "Dysphoria Syndrome;" he deliberately aids in the involuntary erasure of over a hundred identities (that we know of, and the Quarren Minister of Health claims he's operated on several thousand) in favor of improving the Quarren workforce, claiming the labor shortage is a public health issue he's working to improve.
- Not Himself
- Tuvok laughing.
- Tom saying that space travel makes him sick. He also reverts to his Casanova Wannabe self from season 1, since he doesn't know that he's Happily Married.
- B'Elanna crying for help when she's being kidnapped (actually rescued) instead of beating the crap out of her abductors.
- Janeway is perfectly happy living on just one planet.
- Not So Stoic: Tuvok, even before the brainwashing—when Janeway (his captain and friend) is in real danger, he drops all pretense of being Vulcan. He also acts like this after his "Dysphoria Syndrome" (his actual life) is "cured."
- Pointy-Haired Boss: Seven as Chief Efficiency Officer.
- Series Continuity Error: Neelix says that Commander Chakotay is a vegetarian but in the previous episode he was eating Neuvian Quail prepared by Seven of Nine.
- Shooting At Your Own Projectiles: The Doctor disables two attacking ships by firing a torpedo and detonating it with a phaser blast.
- Shout-Out: Two races from Star Wars Legends!
- Spanner in the Works: Tuvok’s uniquely Vulcan mental fortitude starts breaking through his brainwashing without any outside assistance, allowing him to Mind Meld with Seven and eventually provide Voyager with much needed planetside allies.
- Stealth in Space: The ECH hides Voyager in a nebula, and has to use an encrypted Distress Call to contact the away team.
- Strapped to an Operating Table: The victims of the Quarren brainwashing.
- Suddenly Shouting: Tuvok after the forced Mind Meld with Seven."THIS ISN'T RIGHT! WE DON'T BELONG HERE!"
- Tactical Withdrawal:
- The ECH destroys the engines of a salvage pirate, but has to retreat into the nebula when reinforcements arrive.
- When the authorities refuse to hand over their crew, Chakotay flies Voyager out of the system to make it look like they've given up.
- After taking battle damage while recovering B'Elanna, Voyager is forced to retreat and come up with a new plan.
- Title Drop: They couldn't wait until they were out of the teaser, could they?
- Trojan Horse: Kim tricks the oncoming attackers into thinking Voyager's abandoned ship. The escape pods, which are easily "captured" by the enemy ships, are rigged to explode.
- We Will Use Manual Labor in the Future: Quarren society is at least as advanced as the Federation, but their world is so strapped for workers that they've resorted to kidnapping and brainwashing any aliens they can find.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: No mention is made of what happened to Naomi Wildman. Is she being used for child labor? Is she undergoing training in the hopes of making her a skilled laborer?
- You Are in Command Now: With the whole crew abducted, the Doctor — well, technically, the ECH — is left in charge of Voyager until Chakotay gets back. He and Harry then argue about who's in charge while Chakotay's on Quarra.
- You Are Number 6: The Chief Efficiency Officer is introduced addressing Janeway and Jaffen by their employee numbers. When asked if she whether she has a number or a name, Seven of Nine responds with her original human name, Annika Hansen.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Downplayed—Investigator Yerid is relieved of duty to keep him from investigating the conspiracy. It fails to stop him.
- You Have to Believe Me!: Chakotay trying to tell Yerid what's really going on before he's taken to be "treated" for Dysphoria Syndrome. It's enough to get Yerid suspicious.Chakotay: My real name is Chakotay! I'm an officer aboard the Federation starship Voyager! Members of my crew were abducted and their memories were altered, and they were put to work here! I can give you names, descriptions! Listen to me!
