Nothing Human

This episode starts really promising and could have been a masterpiece about ethics in science and how to deal with insights gained by conducting inhumane experiments. Unfortunately the episodes gets lost in pure aversion against everything Cardassian, unreasonable hatred against a hologram and infantile lectures about morality. Even Tuvok's logic and argumentation falls flat this time.

The conclusion of this episode is, that it is unethical to use any information, cure or treatment that is the result of experiments on humans against their will and without any ethical legitimation. The doc rather deletes everything about the research of a Cardassian exo-biologist because he was evil.

Tuvok implies that if you use research material that has been obtained in unethical ways, you open the doors for such practices. And this logic is majorly flawed. The doc for example would not have turned into a cruel mass murderer only because he used the Cardassian scientist's research. And no one on board would have either. And it would not have encouraged any else either! Which virologist of today would infect humans with deadly viruses to test new vaccines? No one! But all virologists build their own research on the first research that has been made exactly this way. Our ethics and morality today can easily distinguish between what is ethical ok today and what might have been different in other times.

Also, it is totally ridiculous to see how B'Elanna and that Bajoran, that suddenly is a crew member but never was seen before, react to a HOLOGRAM of a Cardassian scientist! And why can't the doctor just change his appearance into Bart Simpson or whatever so people stop acting like babies!

And why do they need a second hologram anyway? The doctor's matrix is unable to store more data??? What?! They use the holodeck to create all sorts of worlds or large scale battles, but the doctor's "hard drive" is full when he adds some megabytes of data? And even if, then temporarily get rid of some useless information that is not needed now, like anatomy of Vulcans, performing a heart transplantation or treating an ingrown toe nail! Pathetic.

If we would burn all research that is not 100% ethical compliant, our usable medical and scientific knowledge would be back at medieval levels again.

The episode sets a dilemma of whether it is ethical to make use of unethically conducted research, which is interesting. The truth is it handles it rather poorly, making it very easy to agree with the counterfeit Mengele counterfeit.

I mean, even ignoring obvious bypasses, like "make the cardassian look like someone else", everyone being angry at a hologram is fairly stupid. It is also silly how the hologram argues its cardassian points efficiently, even though it is based only on data that Starfleet has, that do not justify its lack of ethics. And it is annoying how cardassians are always bad guys. Enough already.

In the end, though, Cardassian defence of horrid practices is always an interesting plot - and somehow they always seem more convincing (possibly on account of how insufferable Bajorans are), despite being obviously wrong. Also, I like non-humanoid species, although the critter here barely gets any character depth.

I suppose morality is rather relative at times. If one is saved by not eating a poisonous mushroom whose toxic properties caused the deaths of thousands of primitive humans, should we ignore that evidence. I know there is a difference. It does not diminish the horror of those practicing those awful experiments. The Nazis were involved extensively and should never be forgiven by the families of those victimized. But perhaps the saving of the innocents is a way of diminishing the awfulness of their actions. Let's be clear. The Doctor and B'ellana have no direct connection to this monster. What if the Doctor had accessed the database and found out about a curative, rather than the hologram that appears in the holodeck. Had the ensign not recognized the evil personage. If B'Allana had not reacted to a Cardassian presence. Would it have been OK in the entirety of the cosmos to just look at it as data. If one only has a single life (as I believe) and they are willing to give it up rather than be treated, that would be their right. But to have more people die, seems like an arbitrary universe.

I found the episode (overall) entertaining and it kept me watching through the whole thing which is why i gave it a 7.

i can see the dilemma for the crew members who have an inherant hatred for cardassians in general and this cardassian dr specifically. the drs appearance could have been changed before anyone saw him and that would have fixed the problem. the writers wanted put forth an ethical dilemma for the viewers to consider. the problem is, the crew would have to consider that same dilemma for almost every medical decision made. reason being... from vaccines to cancer, most of all human medical research was founded by testing on living beings including other humans. historically, we dont forego medical advancement solely because we found out that the research was unethically practiced on humans (ie some cancer research and treatments). just because the cardassian drs research was still fresh in their minds, doesnt make it any less ethical than standard medical treatments used by the HMS. the writers turned voyager into a spaceship of hypocrites. they should have left this as a question of racial bias not medical ethics.

Many of the 4-6 star reviews are just not getting it. Even Tuvok understood the logic behind the refusal to be treated by the Cardassian so I´ll quote :"if the Doctor uses knowledge that Moset gained through his experiments, we would be validating his methods, inviting further unethical research" - Chakotay: "we'll be setting a terrible precedent."

In the same way I'll understand if a holocaust survivor would not want to be treated by a Nazi doctor, or a Palestinian by an Israeli one.

The Doctor made the correct decision at the end.