The main plot—Picardi's Doctor has taken on so much "personality" in his programming, his circuits are degrading!—is a brilliant allegory on brain disease, with an entertaining action subplot involving a "swarm" of small ships who work as a singular unit (sort of like the Borg), on the attack to any "intruder" that "invades their space". Neelix admits that he knows very little about this species but does tell Janeway that those who enter their space never return
or if their ships do return; those onboard aren't alive to talk about it. But this is dedicated almost exclusively to Picardi, and he doesn't disappoint. But this is also a great episode for Jennifer Lien's Kes, doing all she can to rescue her friend from total degradation. I think anyone who has watched their loved ones deteriorate totally understands how Kes feels when Doctor doesn't recognize who she is, and then later pieces of memory return to give her momentary hope. I just felt this whole plot was exceptionally well written and acted. The addition of the program of Doctor's creator, Livingston (also Picardi, resembling Doctor's personality at the very beginning), Kes' spark of idea to help figure out possible resolutions for her friend's dilemma, is a real blast. Kes, without the help of Torres (Janeway needs her in Engineering as the swarm have sent off a beam that is stifling the warp engines) or even Paris (Janeway needs him at the con on the Bridge), has to strategize on her own to come up with a plan, looking to Livingston's holographic program for answers. The swarm is quite a visual dynamo, with all these thousands of ships, with the appearance of small bugs, especially when they begin to attach to the hull of the Voyager. Janeway, recognizing the swarm's "mentality" and using their own technology / attack against them, proves she's a wily, cunning Captain, relying on her talented officers to assist in outwitting those that threaten her ship. They scatter and flee when the Voyager gives them a dose of their own medicine. But the episode's tailored to Picardi's strengths, enabling him to play two distinct characters yet give them similarities because one is the program of Doctor's inventor (so there would be personality and physical likenesses) while the other is his achievement. Kes appealing for the Doctor to retain two years of experience (he would have been fixed through a type of "reboot" but lost everything he's seen and felt over that span of time on the Voyager) if at all possible, and Janeway agreeing he deserved that, tells us he has meant such a great deal
like Robot in Lost in Space, Doctor is no longer just some program but a friend that has others who care about him.
Review of The Swarm
