User reviews

"Virtuoso" is a very slight episode, though it is enjoyable. It all begins with Voyager coming into contact with a VERY self-satisfied and smug planet. They feel that Voyager and its crew are beneath them...at least until they happen to overhear the Doctor singing. Suddenly, these folks are entranced and respond to him like he's Elvis or the Beatles in their prime! These folks are now begging him to put on a series of concerts. Heck, they'd even love to have him come live on the planet forever. But this serves to give the Doc a very, very swelled head and soon it's practically impossible to live with him. So what's next? See the show yourself.

One very odd thing is that the famous singer/song writer Paul Williams appears in this one but his part is very small. I saw a documentary about the guy recently and apparently he was struggling with addictions until he ultimately got straight and is now an addictions counselor. Perhaps this was during his chemically dependent period, as this would seem the only reason to have such an impressive guest and barely use him. Oh, and good luck to you, Mr. Williams!

The Doctor sings amazing. I loved this episosd. Robert Picardo is an outstanding singer.

This episode can be underrated because it's not the best executed. But as all Star Trek, it's the interesting idea and the anti-climatic ending that really sticks. I have always remembered this episode and everytime I encounter themes of fame and proclamations of pop-talent, I think back to this episode.

The Doctor is so susceptible to flattery. The Qomar, perhaps the snobbiest and hard to like aliens ever, hear the Doc singing, "I Been Working on the Railroad." Since they've never heard of music, they are utterly taken with his voice. This makes him put aside his animus toward them and embrace their compliments. He is soon the new Enrico Caruso of this part of the galaxy. It turns out, however, that there is more to his gig than simple adulation. Quite funny, but an oddity to say the least.

Another marvelous Doctor episode!

Doctor's ego is both a benefit and a curse to those who love him, but we have to take each other as we are.

He learns this is a two way street, that in as much as his friends have to accept his own capacity for ego he has to accept that they will not always feed that ego --- autonomy is a double edged sword.

If your friends are happy to inflate your ego without respecting their own individuality then they are fake friends; the real ones won't debase themselves to prop you up on a pedestal.

So bravo, Doctor, for embodying our own experiences of painful lessons, they are valuable and through you we laugh at our own inflated egos!

5/5, a lovely episode.

I suppose licensing the song (or any song, given that the Doc doesn't perform any music that's still under copyright) would have killed the budget, but I'm still disappointed that the Doc didn't choose Randy Newman's "Short People" at one of the concerts on the planet. Such is the tragic nature of the world that things like this don't happen.

Other than that, I found it an interesting, if somewhat pointless, episode. It doesn't really explore any aspect of the Doctor's development that hasn't already been explored. We've already covered the ground of the Doctor wanting more appreciation, of the Doctor asserting his individuality, of the Doctor seeking to live out his (day)dreams, etc. I did find it implausible that the Captain wouldn't put up more of a fight -- resigning one's commission isn't simply a matter of saying "I don't want to do this anymore" even in normal circumstances, and Janeway would have said so if any other integral officer tried, whether B'Elanna put Engineering at risk or Tuvok or Tom or any other officer with highly specialized skills tried to abandon Voyager. And the Doctor might even be the single most irreplaceable crew member, given how dangerous the Delta Quadrant has proven to be and how the next most capable "doctor" is essentially a field medic (we even saw not long ago how the Doctor insisted nobody else could do certain kinds of surgery in "Latent Image.) And being aboard Voyager tens of thousands of light years away from the nearest reliable source of help just magnifies the unlikelihood that Janeway would just go with the "friendship" argument for releasing the Doctor from his duties. Despite what the Doctor said, she certainly didn't let Harry Kim off so easily, and he's probably the least integral of the main cast officers (plus Seven, for that matter. He beats out Neelix, but only barely, since Neelix brings information about the region to the table, while Harry doesn't bring anything that one of the other officers couldn't also offer.)

So, a serviceable but not really meaningful episode on the fleeting nature of celebrity and fame. I'm just not sure Star Trek really needed to weigh in on this particular aspect of existence.

Also, I didn't care for the Doctor's rendition of "I've Been Working on the Railroad." He sings it just fine, I just prefer other interpretations. I just wanted to get that off my chest, because it's surely important that everyone hears my opinion on the matter. Right? Right....?

The Doctor has an opportunity to start a new life as a singer on a planet of obsessive opera fans.

Fame, fandom and his own self worth are explored in comedic and dramatic moments. Robert Picardo is excellent as always and so are Katie Mulgrew and Jeri Ryan as they take their characters through this dilemma.

This episode is best when is pokes fun of the celebrity ego and obsessive fan behaviour. The scenes dealing with fan mail, groupies and The Doctor's demands prior to performance are very enjoyable.

Unfortunately when things get a bit more dramatic I struggle to take it seriously. Tom Paris says at one point "Doc you're not really gonna do this are you?", which for me is the problem. Nobody could honestly consider he would actually do what he's contemplating. Maybe if they'd executed the romantic subplot better you might have wondered, but his feelings for the individual come a bit out of the blue.

Overall I enjoyed it, but mainly due to the performances.

While assisting a group of technologically advanced aliens, they hear the Doctor sing and instantly become mesmerized by his voice. Voyager returns the aliens to their home world where the Doctor becomes adored like The Beatles when they first came to America. The Doctor must decide if he wants to stay on this planet where he is worshiped as a singer or remain with the Voyager. There is also the question of if he should be allowed to leave the ship, since he is in essence an Emergency Medical Hologram.

Robert Picardo turns in a fine performance in this episode, and there are some great scenes with him and Kate Mulgrew, but this is one of the show's weaker episodes.

It's still worth watching as it brings up some interesting concepts about exactly how to classify the Doctor now. Hologram property of Starfleet or a sentient being. In a way this is a courtroom episode, but instead of a courtroom it takes place in a concert hall.

Star Trek Voyager Season 6 Ep 13 "Virtuoso" never fails to annoy me.

I get it, the Doctor is arrogant, but holy crap the crew is straight up abusive to the point of conduct unbecoming of officers.

They have nothing but snide remarks, insults, and condemnation at his every utterance when all he's doing is trying to open good relations with a more advanced alien species.

Then you get the "actor insert" conversation between Janeway and 7 who have an entire scene dumping on fans, very obviously talking about Trek fans from their perspective.

The show has a few bumpy eps here and there, very few genuinely piss me off, this one is the main offender.

I have absolutely no idea why Robert Picardo's opera singing became focal in this series. Realistically, his character was the most annoying character in any Star Trek series. But beyond that, his consistent opera indulgence is horrible. I just don't get it. I'm sure he's not the only cast member of the Star Trek franchise who has a wonderful voice. I just cannot understand how this furthers anything. But the entire plot of this episode is nonsense. I have to consistently use the words self indulgent because there's absolutely no point to this episode other than to let him sing. Why was this necessary? I think Voyager is the weakest link in the Star Trek chain and this episode is the nail in the coffin. I watch and rewatch every Star Trek series regularly. This is the one episode I skip every time. Just putrid!

At the beginning of the series I wasn't very convinced by the doctor. He was grumpy, arrogant and one-dimensional. However, over time, his character has evolved for the better as his personality expanded and he grew into himself. Lately, however, he's been getting on my nerves again. He's constantly crying about how the crew doesn't value him appropriately and, above all, doesn't honor his singing skills. He wants to be the center of attention everywhere and ideally wants to be captain, chief engineer and celebrated opera star all in one and also assigned to every mission and be asked for advice on every problem. However, he also has his place on the ship and in the hierarchy of the crew. As a hologram, the doctor can of course be programmed for any imaginable task. But if he wants to be more than just a computer program, he should finally accept that every individuality also has its natural limits.

In any case, in this episode Voyager encounters a species that neither knows music nor seems to be able to sing. That alone is actually nonsense. On the one hand, this species has a multi-tone voice and is therefore able to produce different pitches with it. On the other hand, there shouldn't be any songbirds on their planet if they don't know musical tone sequences. In addition, this species appears to be mathematically highly developed. Due to the similarities between mathematics and music, this species should have learned, at least theoretically, what music is. Anyway, these rather short aliens are so impressed by the doctor's arias that they persuade him to stay with them and perform.

Janeway once again reacts extremely negatively towards the doctor after he tells her about his wish to leave Voyager. What's Janeway's problem with the doctor? It's not the first time that she has treated him like a machine, like a computer program that should only do what it was programmed to do. If Picard had reacted to Data the way Janeway did to the doctor, Data would now be lying in pieces in Maddox's laboratory. In addition, Janeway should stop playing the Starfleet trump card - Voyager has been in the Delta quadrant for years. It's a miracle after all that half of the crew hasn't already quit the job and settled down on an alien planet with a new love interest.

As is well known, pride comes before a fall and so it happens as it has to: This species is not really interested in the doctor himself but only in the technology of music and composition. After they built an improved doctor themselves that beats the old doctor by miles in terms of singing, he realizes that his place is on Voyager after all and comes crawling back with his tail tugged between his legs. Maybe he's learned his lesson now and won't cry again when no one on the ship supposedly appreciates him. In the end, Seven even wrote him fan mail to express her admiration for him. What more can one expect?

Also, cut down the singing in future episodes!