Life Line
- FIRST SHOWN (US)
- 10 May 2000
- ON
- UPN
- STARDATE
- None given
- DIRECTED BY
- Terry Windell
- PRODUCTION NO.
- 243
WRITTEN BYTeleplay by Robert Doherty & Raf Green and Brannon Braga; story by John Bruno & Robert Picardo
Learning that his creator, Dr Lewis Zimmerman, is dying, the Doctor has himself sent across the galaxy to help, only to find Zimmerman wants nothing to do with him.
Red alert: the full plot, ending included. Haven't watched yet?REVEAL SYNOPSIS
A message from Starfleet brings good and bad news: Voyager might be home in five or six years, but Dr Lewis Zimmerman, creator of the Emergency Medical Hologram, is dying of an unknown illness. The Doctor insists on having his program transmitted by subspace to Jupiter Station, hoping his Delta Quadrant experience can help. Zimmerman, however, is rude and dismissive, regards the Mark I as obsolete, and even tampers with the Doctor's programming. Reginald Barclay and Deanna Troi realise that his hostility hides wounded pride over the failure of the Mark I programs. They stage a deception, making it appear that the Doctor's program is failing and that only Zimmerman can save it. Zimmerman swallows his pride and repairs his creation. In return, the Doctor diagnoses Zimmerman's illness and cures him with an experimental cellular treatment. Zimmerman apologises, admitting he is proud of how far the Doctor has grown, and the Doctor returns to Voyager.
- 01Robert Picardo shares the story credit with John Bruno, making this one of very few Star Trek episodes in which a cast member received a writing credit.
- 02The episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series.
- 03This is Zimmerman's only appearance in person on Voyager. He had previously appeared in Deep Space Nine's “Doctor Bashir, I Presume?”.