THE PLOT
Voyager is attempting to extract photonic energy from a protostar, which could potentially boost their energy efficiency by up to 15%. But after a containment breach, there's a malfunction in the holodeck, causing the off-duty Harry Kim to disappear.
Amazingly, his absence is actually noticed! Chakotay and Tuvok go into the holodeck, which is still running Harry's holo-novel: Beowulf, with Harry playing the mythical warrior. No sooner have they arrived than they are informed that Beowulf - Harry - died in battle with Grendel. There is no body, however, leaving the two insisting on finding Grendel to confirm Harry's death. But when Grendel arrives, it is in a burst of photonic energy - which apparently destroys Chakotay and Tuvok just as it did Harry.
In hopes that the three missing officers' patterns are still within the holodeck, Janeway comes up with a new plan. Another officer will be sent in to study Grendel. But this time, they will send someone who should be impervious to physical harm: The holographic doctor!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Janeway: Prior to this episode, Janeway has mostly regarded the doctor as a "thing," a computer program that's an annoying necessity. Kes may have pushed her to treat the doctor with a modicum of respect, but it's only here that she finally starts to interact with him as a person. Even that only comes after his first trip into the holodeck. Her initial briefing with him is fairly cold and curt. But after he returns and insists that he wants to go back in to "finish what (he) started," Janeway finally shows some warmth to him. In the final scene, she is talking with him in such a way that she seems to finally be regarding him as a proper officer, though future episodes will prove out whether or not this is a permanent bit of progress.
The Doctor: Nervous when given his mission to the holodeck. As he tells Kes, he knows everything there is to know about treating wounds and about every piece of equipment in the sickbay, but he has "never even seen a sky, let alone Vikings and monsters." Prompted by Kes to pick a name for himself before the mission, he selects "Dr. Schweitzer." He interacts very stiffly with the Viking warriors, unable to truly relate on their level. When prompted to take part in a swordfight, he loses patience, declares the fight "absurd," and simply makes himself non-corporeal so that his opponent's sword passes harmlessly through him. But when "Grendel" attacks, and it becomes clear that the photonic energy can do real harm to him, the doctor reacts with genuine fear. Robert Picardo is a delight from start to finish, and his prominent role is one of the main reasons this bit of silliness is as watchable as it is.
Kes: Her interactions with the doctor continue to be a highlight of the series. She recognizes the doctor's anxiety about the mission, and pushes him to talk to her about it. She points out that this is his chance to prove that he truly is "a Starfleet officer," rather than just a hologram, and points out that no one ever really knows what is going to happen on an Away mission. Though the content of this talk could come across as tough, Jennifer Lien's demeanor keeps Kes sympathetic, giving the doctor support rather than a kick in the backside. Is it sad that the friendship between a hologram and one of the more underused supporting players is the most human relationship on the show?
Harry Kim: It would figure that when it came time for a Voyager regular to vanish into a holodeck malfunction, it would end up being hapless Harry. Though he's barely in the episode (a mercy), I think it says a lot that when there was a need for someone to kick-start the plot by simply not being present, they chose Harry. Even when Harry reappears at the very end to deliver his one line of the episode, there's no follow-up on what happened to him from his perspective. I'm tempted to guess that the writers realized that since it was Harry, nobody really cared.
THOUGHTS
Even in the Delta Quadrant, when there's a need for a quick hazard to pad out the episode count, the writers still have the holodeck to turn to. Naturally, the culprit is Technobabble. The opening seconds of the episode tell us that Voyager is attempting to extract photonic energy from a protostar. But wait! There is a slight breach in the annular confinement beam!
Sigh. If the writers really want to do Beowulf, can't they do it without first slopping waves of gibberish at us?
That gripe aside, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Heroes & Demons. The "holodeck malfunction" episode is a somewhat tired standby. But the twist of having the characters interacting with a very familiar work of literature makes it interesting, even in the First Act when this seems to be a Chakotay and Tuvok episode. Then, having established Chakotay and Tuvok as the leads for this episode, the first commercial fadeout pulls a switch on us. Chakotay and Tuvok are removed from the action. Instead, the hero of this piece is going to be... the doctor?
Thrusting Robert Picardo's balding, arrogantly intellectual, middle aged doctor into the role of action hero in Beowulf is inherently amusing, and the episode isn't afraid to have a bit of fun with that. From him boring the Vikings with a tale of heroism involving a measles outbreak, to being barely able to lift a Viking sword for a duel with the shifty Unferth (Christopher Neame), to reacting with evident discomfort at the romantic overtures of the beautiful Freya (Marjorie Monaghan), Picardo's doctor is a charmingly unlikely action hero. In this version of Beowulf, the hero's first encounter with Grendel ends with him squawking in a panic: "Get me out of here!"
Both episode and actor also recognize when to drop the comedy and let things turn serious. Picardo is effective in showing the doctor's genuine anger against Unferth during their final confrontation. He also does well in dealing with "Grendel" and while reflecting on what happened with Janeway afterward. Really, Picardo doesn't put a foot wrong in his performance, and that's already no surprise - He established himself as the show's standout performer quite early on, and has continued to live up to that.
Though fun, this is no great episode. The entire setup, with the holodeck and the Vikings, is fairly silly. Making the holodeck into the setting for a first contact situation does lend some added resonance, particularly given the parallels in the science fiction story to the story of Beowulf (crew members are taken away from the community by a powerful non-human life form)... but it's still mainly an excuse for the doctor to play fish out water with some Vikings. Finally, I was disappointed that there was no follow-up scene discussing how Harry, Chakotay, and Tuvok had experienced their bizarre captivity. All kidding about "it's Harry so who cares" aside, I'd think Janeway - or even the doctor, for that matter - would be interested in what, if anything, these crew members had experienced. The script doesn't even ask the question.
Still, for a holodeck episode that begins with Harry Kim yet again placed in jeopardy (how long until a pantomime villain ties him to railroad tracks?), this is surprisingly enjoyable.
Overall Rating: 7/10.
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