VOY - Vis-a-Vis

[Riedquat]

Then why bother watching it in the first place?

45 minutes of escapism?

Anyway although we go on about continuity, and the lack of it being a bit grating, especially with Voyager, is there anything wrong with an episode that works purely as a self-contained episode? Not that it sounds like this one did.

[Ranchoth]

I've commented before that it's odd that Tom's qualification for being dragooned as the only nurse was that he'd taken "two semesters of biochemistry," and that was the closest thing to formal medical training anyone had...when they have at least one Xenobiologist onboard. Samantha Wildman.

And apparently, having their chief helmsman pull double, very critical, duties, in different parts of the ship, was judged a better idea than seconding or reassigning one researcher. Whose job is so unimportant that she rarely has contact with the senior staff, on a ship with no science officer.

Off-screen reasoning—yeah, I get it. For "dramatic potential," and/or they want to keep cast payroll down.

(Of course, other sci-fi shows might have just trimmed or cheapened-out some effects shots so they could afford a reoccurring supporting character because it'd fit the story...<insert wry reference to Babylon 5, here>)

On-screen, though? What if your one nurse gets hurt, or sick, or is busy flying the ship out of a prolapsing Einstein-Rosen bridge, or is sleeping?

And, after a little checking...you know how long the Army took to train enlisted Medics in WWII? About three months. The MODERN US Army, from what I'm seeing, takes 16 weeks.

This is without the advantage of staggeringly advanced medical technology to automatically diagnose and repair injuries, and also without the pressure of "we're stranded on the other side of the galaxy, 75 years from home, have no hope of relief, resupply, or new recruits, there are only 150 crewmembers, which is slowly dwindling due to attrition."

So, I guess what I'm saying is, they should probably have left a department or two a little shorthanded so they could draft one of the enlisted crewmen into being the Doctor's Loblolly Boy.

They'd probably be well off just building a few stasis chambers, and training someone to toss the more gruesomely wounded casualties into one, to be thawed out and treated at leisure, if and when the Doc got ever got overwhelmed. They could be the Ship's Igor.

[CrypticMirror]

Tom's real qualification, he's competent. Do you want your nurse being the one competent guy on the ship, or one of the drama magnets who'll inevitably get a storyline about either killing a guy or accidentally letting one die in a screw up? And that is how Tom Paris became ship's everything.

[Rocketboy1313]

I've commented before that it's odd that Tom's qualification for being dragooned as the only nurse was that he'd taken "two semesters of biochemistry," and that was the closest thing to formal medical training anyone had...when they have at least one Xenobiologist onboard. Samantha Wildman.

And apparently, having their chief helmsman pull double, very critical, duties, in different parts of the ship, was judged a better idea than seconding or reassigning one researcher. Whose job is so unimportant that she rarely has contact with the senior staff, on a ship with no science officer.

This also ignores the Marquis, who must have had someone working as a medic of some kind as they were all guerilla fighters. The idea of mass reassignment of crew just makes sense.

Why pass up the opportunity to put a character like Seska in a key role where she can regularly interact with the rest of the cast to make her eventual betrayal all the more substantive?

Also, a mass reassignment of crew is a window into how the ship operates and would be a fun thing to explore,
"I am sorry to tell you think, Kyle, but your work as a botanist/chemist/zoologist/whatever is no longer a priority for our mission parameters, you are drafted to medical. You are going to be doing medical lab work in the sickbay during half your shift and then sitting in a medical training program in the holodeck with 6 other reassigned crew during the other half. Also your lab is being turned into a pharmacy/long term recovery area. Also, you are going to be working with operations to make sure we have enough food to sustain everyone, so I guess you are also crew nutritionist for the time being. Report to Ensign Kim for details."

[stryke]

Then why bother watching it in the first place?

It's got Bulldog as a gueststar. That's reason enough for me.

[Rocketboy1313]

Then why bother watching it in the first place?

In general? I don't watch Voyager. It is disposable and does not hold up in the era of streaming where greater continuity and depth are easier to find, consume, and appreciate.

But in 1998? It is fine. It kills an hour.