The Swarm (episode)

Real world article
(written from a Production point of view)

"The Swarm"
VOY, Episode 3x04
Production number: 40840-149
First aired: 25 September 1996
←  48th of 168 produced in VOY  →
←  45th of 168 released in VOY  →
←  426th of 911 released in all  →
Written by	Michael Sussman
Directed by	Alexander Singer
In-universe date	50252.3 (2373)

The Swarm redirects here; for the species, please see Swarm species.

The Doctor suffers from a computer malfunction; Voyager is attacked by a swarm of alien warships.

Summary

Teaser

"Helmsman's log, stardate 50252.3. While USS Voyager takes on supplies, Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres and I are investigating some intermittent sensor readings we picked up this morning."

After detecting an anomalous sensor reading, Lieutenants Tom Paris and Torres investigate in a Class 2 shuttle while Voyager collects resources. During the investigation, the signal reappears and two aliens beam aboard the shuttle. The aliens seem to be attempting to communicate, then subsequently raise their weapons and fire on Paris and Torres, knocking them unconscious.

Act One

On Voyager, The Doctor is trying his hand at opera. He's attempting to sing "O, soave fanciulla", a duet from Act 1 of the Earth opera La bohème by Puccini, on the holodeck with a holographic re-creation of Giuseppina Pentangeli, one of the greatest soprano of the 22nd century. However, the hologram of Pentangeli also duplicated her vanity and demanding temperament. They stop during the first part when The Doctor accuses his partner of rushing the tempo. In fact she is the one who comes in too early. She retorts that he has no feel for the music and that it's like she's singing with a computer. When they finally begin to sing again The Doctor has to stop once again because he can't remember the words, much to his partner's irritation and contempt. He blames it on her for getting him so upset that he can't even remember how to sing anymore. Just as he wants to delete her he is contacted by Captain Kathryn Janeway. She informs him there is an emergency and that he needs to report to sickbay. Just before he deletes his diva he informs her that he may consider singing with Maria Callas next time instead.

• Listen to The Doctor sing "O, soave fanciulla" ^file info

Torres reawakens aboard Voyager and describe the events on the shuttle to the crew. Due to the neuroelectric shock, Paris is still unconscious and needs further treatment. While performing some common medical procedures, The Doctor seems to stutter a bit, becoming forgetful.

In the captain's ready room, the senior staff meets to discuss the incident. Neelix informs the staff that he has heard of these aliens described by Torres but shudders at the thought of encountering them. He informs the captain that nobody knows much of this race but what is known is that they are very territorial. Most ships entering their space were never heard from again, and those that returned had all their crew dead. Unfortunately, going around their space would add fifteen months to the trip, something Janeway won't do. Chakotay suggests they can't possibly patrol all their territory, but Tuvok objects to violating their space as per Starfleet regulations. Despite Tuvok's protest, Janeway insists on the plan and sets it in motion, calling for a plan.

Back in sickbay, The Doctor happily continues to perform a procedure to help Paris, singing the opera from before as he cleans his hands. However, he begins to realize that he's having trouble remembering the procedure.

Act Two

He asks for Kes for assistance as he performs the procedure, but increasingly forgets what to do. Kes fortunately is able to take over and Paris is all right. After this incident, The Doctor reports his failings to Torres, who sees that the safety buffers she installed are breaking down. The Doctor suggests reinitializing his program, but Torres reminds everyone he would forget everything that's happened to him in the past two years. The Doctor insists he would rather be useful to the crew, but Kes makes an impassioned plea to Janeway. She insists The Doctor has become more than a hologram, and, indeed, Janeway then takes the view that, if any of the crew were sick, she would do everything to make them better.

On the bridge, Kim and Chakotay inform Janeway of a plan to cross the alien territory. Janeway orders the helm.

Later, Torres tries a few things in sickbay, now making The Doctor feel like a patient. She still doesn't know why the circuits are degrading, so she gets a "second opinion," transferring The Doctor into the holodeck, where she runs Jupiter Station Diagnostic Program Alpha-11. There, they meet the diagnostic hologram, a holographic re-creation of The Doctor's creator, Lewis Zimmerman.

Act Three

Zimmerman, with a much less friendly personality than even The Doctor, asks Torres what the issue is. Completely ignoring The Doctor, considering it just a hologram, he analyzes the problem and finds out the program has been running two years. He inevitably comes up the solution of re-initializing the program, but Torres doesn't accept the option. When called to engineering, she orders Zimmerman to find out exactly why the memory circuits are degrading for a different solution.

Meanwhile, Ensign Harry Kim devises a method to slip through the alien territory unnoticed by modifying the shield generators to effectively hide the ship from the sensor net. It is noted that traveling at warp 9.75 for twelve hours would take them a third of the way through the most narrow portion of the alien territory.

Once at the border of the alien territory, the stealth shielding is activated and the ship begins traveling through. They note a swarm of the alien vessels, all powered down and initially inactive. Janeway orders them to continue in, and fortunately, the ships don't pursue. However, Paris sees that there appears to be some kind of drag on the engines.

Back on the holodeck, Zimmerman eventually finds that The Doctor's personality subroutines have grown considerably. The diagnostic routine realizes the EMH has been active on its off-hours and developing relationships with the crew. Kes arrives to check on The Doctor and is questioned by the diagnostic hologram. She insists The Doctor is more than a set of algorithms, which Zimmerman finds utterly false, challenging that she can't believe he shares the feelings of friendship. He asks The Doctor directly if Kes is one of his friends, but, unfortunately, his memory loss forces him to state he doesn't know her.

The Voyager is still seemingly evading the alien ships. However, sensors indicate a different ship that doesn't appear to belong in the area, so they drop out of warp to investigate. Kim finds one faint life sign on the ship, so Janeway orders it beamed aboard to sickbay. She also orders continued scans of the ship.

Act Four

Janeway meets The Doctor and Kes in sickbay to question the alien, Chardis. He says he's from Mislen and his ship was attacked by numerous Swarm vessels. Rather than attacking with weaponry, they drained the energy from his ship and attempted to crush it. Then, they boarded and used weapons on them. He soon died from his injuries. The Doctor, unfortunately, is of no help during this, and Kes has to lead. Janeway says she can't spare Torres during their current predicament to help The Doctor, and recommends Kes keep The Doctor using his memory to maybe slow down the degradation.

While investigating the ship, one of the alien craft that had still been attached to it powers up and scans Voyager. It emits a polaron pulse that cancels the stealth modifications to the shields and Voyager is detected by the Swarm vessels.

Kes tries to occupy The Doctor, who now even forgets he is a hologram and cannot leave sickbay. She eventually sits him down and tries to keep him remembering events that happened. He briefly does remember Kes, and the first time he was activated. He also mentions the time he was rubbing "some woman's" feet, forgetting it was Kes. Then, his body flickers out, alarming him considerably, but Kes can't explain it.

The Swarm approaches Voyager and Janeway calls for battle stations.

Act Five

The Swarm doesn't appear to have weapons activated. Kes comes to the bridge to ask someone to help The Doctor, but Janeway can't spare anyone with what they're facing. Kes decides to go back to the holodeck and talk to the diagnostic hologram again. Zimmerman insists he can only diagnose, that he isn't an engineer, but Kes is determined to make him realize he can exceed his programming, as The Doctor has. She gets the idea that Zimmerman's holomatrix is the same as The Doctor. He says the same degradation will eventually occur to him, too, but Kes suggests a "graft" like in medicine whereby the diagnostic program's memory would be added to The Doctor's program expanding his memory storage. Zimmerman says it might be possible, much to Kes' delight, but he cautions her optimism.

The Swarm is now emitting interferometric pulses which are cancelling the Voyager's shield strength completely. Janeway orders a phaser hit, but the energy gets reflected back onto the ship. Kim starts analyzing the pulses further.

In sickbay, the diagnostic hologram expresses his doubts as he sets up the transfer. Finally, he gives Kes her instructions.

The alien ships start attaching to the hull when Kim sees the pattern in the pulses: it's a lattice connecting the ships to each other. Janeway hopes to turn the pulses back on them by destroying one of the ships, causing a chain reaction. At the same time, she orders the shield frequency to have an inverse harmonic from the pulse. Just then, several of the alien crew, similar to those seen by Paris and Torres, attempt to teleport to the bridge and overwhelm Voyager's crew. They're unsuccessful, fortunately. Tuvok and Kim have their chance, and they successfully repel the alien ships. The Swarm backs off and they continue on their way, unabated.

Torres now comes to sickbay and sees what Kes has been doing, forced to wait for the procedure to finish. It soon does, and Kes hesitantly calls for the EMH. It seems he is fixed, with the new holomatrix expanding his memory capabilities. However, he does not recognize Kes at all, or have any other memories of the past two years. Kes and Torres are disappointed, but then The Doctor starts singing his opera from the other room.

Memorable quotes

"You are an amateur, you have no sense of rubato, no rallentando. It's like singing with a computer!"

- Giuseppina Pentangeli, after The Doctor paused playback and accused her of rushing the tempo

"Computer, pause music."
"What now?"
"I just forgot the words."
"I have so far never forgotten the lyric, that's the difference between amateur and professionali."
"It's just a momentary lapse, no need to over-react."
"I want another partner!"
"Addio, (goodbye), Madam, next time I'll take my chances with Maria Callas! Computer, delete the diva."
"Imbecille, pensa veramente… (Imbecile, he truly thinks…)" as her program goes offline.

- The Doctor and Giuseppina Pentangeli

"All the sopranos seem to have the most irritating personalities. These women are arrogant, superior, condescending; I can't imagine anyone behaving that way."

- The Doctor

"Look at all this useless information floating around your buffer: friendships with the crew, relationships with… women? Do they find you attractive?"

- Dr. Zimmerman, to The Doctor

"It was only during my off hours."
"You're supposed to be off during your off hours!"

- Dr. Zimmerman and The Doctor

"Nicoletti, we're going to have to try a dilithium realignment on the fly. Let's figure out how to do it without killing everyone in engineering."

- Torres

"Perhaps you can tell me who’s been feeding all this useless information into its database."
"What do you mean?"
"I'll give you an example. Ah! Here’s something in its personality subroutine." (taps console)
(singing) "O soave fanciulla, O-" (Zimmerman taps the console again, stopping him)
"He’s been studying opera, what’s wrong with that?"
"It wasn’t programmed to be a tenor, it was programmed to be a physician!"

- Dr. Zimmerman, Kes, and The Doctor

"He's a sick man. This is where sick people come."

- The Doctor, referring to a patient and sickbay

"I'm a diagnostic tool, not an engineer!"

- Dr. Zimmerman

"I can see where you get your charming personality."
"Not to mention my hairline."

- B'Elanna Torres and The Doctor

"We are aware of that option. Would it be possible to expand his memory circuits instead?"
"Of course. Schedule it for your next maintenance layover at McKinley Station."
"I'm afraid that isn't possible – we're thousands of light years from Federation space."
"Well, there's nothing more I can do. Either reinitialize it or live with the knowledge that eventually this EMH will end up with the intellectual capacity of a parsnip."
"(panicking) What are you saying?!"

- B'Elanna Torres, Dr. Zimmerman, and The Doctor

Background information

Story and script

• Prior to the writing of this episode, actor Robert Picardo suggested a story idea that was similar to how this episode turned out, as both involved a holographic depiction of Lewis Zimmerman. Shortly after completing work on Star Trek: Voyager's second season, Picardo explained, "I would like an exploration of the man that developed my program. I have suggested a story idea to them about this Doc Zimmerman character, and what would make him design the emergency medical hologram program. Specifically, I've suggested that he no longer practices medicine. In doing volunteer work in the most upsetting medical emergency situations, he witnessed something that has rendered him unable to practice anymore, so he creates the holographic doctor program to complete him as a doctor. He doesn't have it anymore to interact directly with patients. In other words, he is a very frightened, and uncommunicative, an unentitled, shy, pathetic man, versus his creation. We would meet them both on the Holodeck. He would be in the ship's memory banks." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 97)
• This episode had the working title "Remembrance". Another working title which this outing had (a later name) was "The Patient". [1] The episode was called that when its first draft script was issued, on 9 July 1996.
• This is the second episode that writer Michael Sussman sold to the Voyager staff as a freelancer, following his writing internship a year earlier, and his contribution of the story for the second season installment "Meld". This episode marked Sussman's only solo "written by" credit for the series. He went on to co-write nine subsequent episodes of Star Trek: Voyager, and write or co-write twenty-two installments of Enterprise.
• The first draft teleplay was credited to Sussman and Executive Producer Jeri Taylor, who rewrote much of the alien Swarm storyline, which was revised and expanded after Sussman turned in his teleplay. Taylor has been concerned that the story as-written was "too soft," as she explained to Sussman at the time. Sussman had been made aware that the producers were tasked with upping the action quotient of the series due to falling ratings. Taylor did not receive on-screen credit for her work, as is standard practice for showrunners, who generally do some measure of rewriting on every script. [2]
• This episode was conceived as an analogy to Alzheimer's Disease. "When I sold it," Mike Sussman commented about the plot, "it was kind of a quiet story about The Doctor coming down with sort of an Alzheimer's type condition." [3]
• This outing was significantly altered while it was in development. "I think there was pressure from the network to kinda make the show more exciting and sexy, and so it became this whole alien element," recalled Mike Sussman. "And the story really […] changed, and Jeri Taylor did a lot of writing on it." [4]
• It was Robert Picardo himself who originally came up with the idea of having The Doctor become a fan of opera. Shortly after completing work on the episode, Picardo explained, "On a humorous level, I suggested to Jeri Taylor […] that The Doctor develop an interest in opera. That just seemed so wildly inappropriate." Picardo made the suggestion over a year prior to the making of this outing. (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 10) He proposed The Doctor become not only an admirer of opera but also a singer of the genre. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 97) Much to his surprise, this concept, despite seeming "wild" to him, was taken seriously. (Star Trek Monthly issue 20) In the interim between the second and third seasons, he received a phone call from Jeri Taylor in which she asked him the particulars of his vocal range. The call clued him into the realization that the creative staff were probably working on how to implement his recommendations concerning The Doctor's involvement in opera. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 97)
• Robert Picardo was also instrumental in deciding how The Doctor should relate to the diva near the start of this episode. Picardo noted, "I suggested the joke that The Doctor was immediately distraught the moment the soprano began to sing, as if she had made an error instantly." (Star Trek Monthly issue 30, p. 18)
• This episode's final script draft was submitted on 26 July 1996. [5]

Cast and characters

• Robert Picardo was pleased that The Doctor's condition in this episode is clearly analogous to Alzheimer's Disease. (Star Trek Monthly issue 20; The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 10) Shortly before Voyager's third season began its initial airing, the actor enthused, "We're doing an interesting Alzheimer's analogy which I'm very excited about […] It's a very interesting script idea […] I'm very thrilled by the analogy with an obviously readily identifiable Human condition and it should be a very exciting story." (Star Trek Monthly issue 20)
• Robert Picardo found that playing both The Doctor and the holographic Dr. Zimmerman in this episode was "interesting." He jokingly added, "I was the guest star. Now I can complain and bitch about what a jerk the co-star was." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 10) The fact that Picardo plays two characters that look virtually identical thrilled his two young daughters. "They particularly liked 'The Swarm'," Picardo commented, "because there were two Daddies, talking to myself." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 92)
• Robert Picardo provided The Doctor's singing voice for this episode. (Star Trek: Voyager Companion (p. ?)) He remarked, "I was particularly proud of that because I did my own singing. I asked to do [it], and I worked very hard on that." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 90) Picardo additionally remarked, "'The Swarm' was quite a challenging episode. I've never worked so long on something so brief as that 27 seconds of opera!" In fact, the motive for Picardo suggesting that The Doctor might become immediately distraught with the soprano when she started to sing actually related to his own performance. "The reason I suggested that joke," Picardo explained, "was a way of getting me out of singing the highest note in the piece!" (Star Trek Monthly issue 30, p. 18) He was ultimately pleased his suggestion of The Doctor singing had been incorporated into the episode. Of his character's singing, Picardo said, "I think that's a fun element, that The Doctor now has something he does in his discretionary time, like any other crewman on the ship. So, I hope we bring that back." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 10)
• Torres actress Roxann Dawson enjoyed her character's scenes with The Doctor in this episode. "That was a great opportunity to work with Bob Picardo and to explore B'Elanna's relationship with The Doctor," the actress enthused. "I liked the fact that he's a character who's starting to affect me for the first time. I loved the fact that, to B'Elanna, he had always been just a computer, and in this episode she got to see he had this… humanity." She also said of their relationship, "I love the fact that The Doctor can tick me off so much at one moment, but at other moments there is an element of respect, when he does something that impresses me. For example, when I thought we were losing him and his memory [i.e., in this episode], I suddenly realize that I need him, that he has grown on me." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 12) Robert Picardo also enjoyed the scenes of this episode that involve both The Doctor and B'Elanna Torres, describing them as "some good moments." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 10)
• At some point after he learned that Paris would be gravely injured in this episode, actor Robert Duncan McNeill complained to Voyager's team of writer-producers. "I said to the producers, 'I thought we were going to make me an action hero this year, not a victim,'" McNeill recounted. "I [kept] winding up on the verge of death." Ultimately, however, McNeill enjoyed this episode. He noted, "'The Swarm' was fun for me." He went on to say that the pleasure he took from this installment was due to the flirtatious interaction between Paris and B'Elanna Torres in the episode's teaser. (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 11)

Production and effects

• This episode is a bottle show. (Beyond the Final Frontier, p. 297)
• Robert Picardo found that the production of the scenes in which both The Doctor and Dr. Zimmerman appear was extremely challenging, although he also felt that the time it took to shoot those scenes seemed to whiz by. "The episode was […] very challenging from a technical point of view, because of the scenes where I had to play opposite myself as Dr Zimmerman," Picardo said. "The technology involved in compositing the two images is quite technical for an actor – obviously, you have to look at your other self who isn't there and maintain certain eye-lines with off-camera marks, and do things like that which really enhance the illusion. I was pleased with the way that it turned out, particularly as we shot those scenes so quickly – one day I changed wardrobe between Zimmerman's engineering uniform and my holographic medical uniform 18 or 19 times!" (Star Trek Monthly issue 30, p. 18) The production of these scenes also involved Visual Effects Supervisor Mitch Suskin, who recalled, "We […] had a lot of fun with the splits of the two Doctors in that show. Marvin Rush, the director of photography, helped us come up with some […] camera moves in the shot, even though there was a split going on, and made it really work." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 104)
• From this episode onward, Foundation Imaging became the regular CGI supplier for Star Trek: Voyager. CGI Effects Director Ron Thornton said of Foundation, "The first episode that we did spaceship work on for Voyager was 'The Swarm,' where thousands of little spaceships ended up attacking Voyager." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 16) This was also the second episode Mitch Suskin worked on, as visual effects supervisor, he having joined the series with the earlier third season installment "The Chute". Having utilized Digital Muse on that episode, Suskin had confidence that Ron Thornton – with whom Suskin had worked on Babylon 5 – could manage the effects work required for this episode. "When it came time to do 'The Swarm,'" Suskin remembered, "I knew that it was the kind of thing that I'd done with him before, and decided to try a show with Foundation […] In addition to the CG on that show, which I felt a lot better about," Suskin continued, comparing this episode to "The Chute", "I was feeling a lot more comfortable just working with Star Trek." (Star Trek Monthly issue 30, p. 104)
• The ships used by the Swarm species began with a basic design by Senior Illustrator Rick Sternbach. Ron Thornton then progressed with it. (Star Trek Monthly issue 30, p. 104)

Continuity and trivia

• At the beginning of the episode, Tom Paris's shuttle flies through a star field containing the Earth's constellation of Orion.
• Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres begin a flirtation in the teaser of this episode that, as the series progresses, ultimately develops into them becoming married and having a daughter, Miral Paris. While explaining that this episode was fun for him, Robert Duncan McNeill referred to the scene wherein his character and Torres engage in flirtatious banter as "my first little flirting scene with B'Elanna". He continued by saying, "I see that they're going to develop that somehow. They're going to do it slow and steady, I think. I'm looking forward to seeing how that develops." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 11)

Welcome aboard, don't bother to knock

• The Swarm species are the first Delta Quadrant species encountered by Voyager to possess transporter technology.
• This episode is the second in a row (after "The Chute") to feature Tom Paris being gravely wounded.
• Following the appearance of The Doctor singing in this episode, several subsequent episodes feature The Doctor singing with vocals that were, as in this episode, provided by Robert Picardo himself. (Star Trek: Voyager Companion (p. ?))
• In a conversation between The Doctor and Kes, they reference The Doctor's activation and the subsequent kidnapping of the crew, as seen in "Caretaker", as well as The Doctor having massaged Kes' feet while she considered having a child, which occurs in "Elogium". The Doctor's ongoing quest to adopt a name is also referenced when he insists that he must have one and demands to know it.
• Voyager's holodeck reproduces a lab on Jupiter Station in this episode, mirroring the events of "Projections" in which it initially appears that Voyager is, in fact, a holographic reproduction on Jupiter Station.
• Dr. Zimmerman's likeness previously appeared on a console in "Projections", in which a faulty holodeck program attempted to convince The Doctor that he was the flesh-and-blood Zimmerman. The real Zimmerman later appeared in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fifth season episode "Doctor Bashir, I Presume" and the Voyager sixth season episode "Life Line".
• A screen with different noses, eyes, and ears is seen in the Jupiter Station lab. It also features facial features with blue skin.
• This episode marks the first time anybody says "EMH".
• Although this episode takes place before "Future's End", according to The Doctor's comments, the stardates suggest otherwise.
• Prime Directive is violated by Captain Janeway.

Reception

• Mike Sussman cited this as one of two episodes (the other being the seventh season installment "Prophecy") that, in his own words, "didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped." [6] Firstly regarding how the writing staff reacted to this installment, Sussman noted, "I hadn't really impressed them. They weren't really blown away by my work on it, which, um… You know, I get it. It was not a great [episode]. I like the parts with The Doctor, and Doc Zimmerman and Kes were kinda sweet, but the rest of it I didn't quite […] nail." [7]
• Mitch Suskin liked this episode, including Director Alexander Singer's work on it. Remarked Suskin, "Alex Singer did a really good job directing, and the story was good." Suskin also thought some of the camera moves in the split-screen shots, devised collaboratively with Marvin Rush, were "great." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 104)
• This episode achieved a Nielsen rating of 5.1 million homes, and an 8% share. [8]^(X)
• Cinefantastique rated this episode 2 out of 4 stars. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 89)
• Star Trek Magazine scored this episode 4 out of 5 stars, defined as "Trill-powered viewing". Additionally, Lou Anders, a writer of the magazine, gave the installment an ecstatic review. "Robert Picardo's performance as the EMH's diagnostic and repair holoprogram is wonderful to behold, and the joy of seeing this superb actor acting alongside himself justifies this episode alone," Anders raved. "Picardo gives his best performance to date, and the final moments of the episode will bring a tear to the eyes of even the most hard-hearted of Star Trek fans." (Star Trek Monthly issue 24, p. 59)
• The unauthorized reference book Delta Quadrant (p. 140) gives this installment a rating of 5 out of 10.
• Robert Picardo initially thought that the predicament in which The Doctor is left at the end of this episode would affect future episodes. While he was under this impression, he stated, "I think that the audience has a sense, when they see me, of what I am and what I'm likely to mean to the weekly story. It's a nice feeling that my character seems defined. So, of course, we're throwing a monkey wrench into all of that." Again referring to this episode, he observed, "At the very end […] everything is very up in the air. It's a great concept and it presents an interesting challenge to me as an actor, because I may have to start the character over from scratch." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 10) About a year later (during production on Voyager's fourth season), Picardo commented, "There's a tremendous desire among the makers of our show to keep things self-contained. They don't like to serialize that much and, if they do, it's only as a two-parter. They tend not to carry arcs through a number of episodes. So, we really had to throw out the whole notion of The Doctor losing all of his memory, being rebooted and having to redevelop his personality. We couldn't really follow through with that in a way that I would have hoped we would. It was still a strong episode and an acting challenge for me, but I do regret somewhat that we couldn't have carried the aftermath of that experience through a number of episodes." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 18)

Video and DVD releases

• UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 3.2, 3 February 1997
• As part of the VOY Season 3 DVD collection

Links and references

Starring

• Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway

Also starring

• Robert Beltran as Commander Chakotay
• Roxann Dawson as Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres
• Jennifer Lien as Kes
• Robert Duncan McNeill as Lieutenant Tom Paris
• Ethan Phillips as Neelix
• Robert Picardo as The Doctor
• Tim Russ as Lieutenant Tuvok
• Garrett Wang as Ensign Harry Kim

Guest Star

• Carole Davis as Giuseppina Pentangeli

Co-Stars

• Steven Houska as Chardis
• Majel Barrett as Computer Voice

Uncredited Co-Stars

• Johnetta Anderson as bar patron
• Susette Andres as bar patron
• Chuck Borden as Swarm species alien
• Damaris Cordelia as Foster
• James Delano as waiter
• Christine Delgado as Susan Nicoletti
• Tarik Ergin as Ayala
• Karl Laird as artist
• Tom Morga as Swarm species alien
• Michael Papajohn as security officer
• John Tampoya as Kashimuro Nozawa

Stunt Double

• Brett Jones as stunt double for Robert Duncan McNeill

References

19th century; 22nd century; 2371; adaptive heuristic matrix; algorithm; amateur; analgesic; antimatter reaction chamber; aria; autonomic nervous system; axon; bedside manner; boarding party; Bristow, Freddy; Callas, Maria; career; Caruso, Enrico; cascade failure; Christmas tree; Class 2 shuttle (unnamed); cockpit; composer; conductor; cortical analeptic; cramp; cranial nerve; data-path; date; dehydration; Diagnostic Program Alpha 1-1; diagnostic tool; dilithium matrix; dinner; diva; duck; Emergency Medical Hologram; emergency medical holographic channel; EMH pathway; Emergency Medical System; ethorin pulse; evasive pattern gamma-4; Federation; Federation space; force field projector; fractal pattern; Freni, Mirella; friend; galactic background noise; Galli-Curci, Amelita; gigahertz; gigaquad; "give the word"; grafting; grown up; hairline; high school; high warp; holo-array; holodeck; holographic matrix; hydrocortilene; inflammation; intellectual capacity; interferometric pulse; Intrepid class decks; Italian language; Janeway; Jupiter Station; Jupiter Station Holoprogramming Center; Klingon; Lake Como; level 4 diagnostic; lyric; memory fragmentation; matrix overlay; McKinley Station; medical staff; medical tricorder; memory circuit; Mimi; Mislen; Mislenite; Mislenite freighter; Mislenite freighter crew; month; motor cortex reconstruction; motor neuron; multitronic path; myelin; myelin regenerator; nervous system; neural pathway; neuro-electric weapon; neurological damage; neuron; O, soave fanciulla; occipital lobe; opera; optical subroutine; orchestra; parsec; parsnip; Parrises squares; Pavarotti, Luciano; perimeter grid; personality subroutine; phaser bank; photon torpedo; physician; planets in Swarm species space; playback; polarity; polaron burst; preganglionic fiber; professional; Program Zimmerman Alpha-1; projection system; propulsion system; Puccini; red alert; refraction pulse; resonance particle wave; respiratory arrest; retinal imager; Sailing on Lake Como; second opinion; sensor net; shield frequency; shield polarity; snake; Soral; somatic nervous system; soprano; spinal column; square meter; star in Swarm species space; Starfleet Regulations; subroutine; Swarm species; Swarm species language; Swarm species vessel; Swarm territory sectors; synapse; T'Penna; Tabran monk; tachyon detection grid; tachyon field; tempo; tenor; tissue damage; transporter room 1; trauma; turbolift; universal translator; vasoconstrictor; Vulcan; weapon; yellow dwarf; Zimmerman, Lewis

External links

• "The Swarm" at StarTrek.com
• "The Swarm" at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• "The Swarm" at Wikipedia
• ""The Swarm"" at MissionLogPodcast.com, a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast

Previous episode: "The Chute"

Star Trek: Voyager Season 3

Next episode: "False Profits"