Star Trek: Prototype

Episode: "Prototype"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 2, Episode 13

Original Air Date: January 15, 1996

via Memory Alpha

Our heroes discover a robot floating in space.  B'Elanna Torres gets to play miracle worker multiple times this episode.  First, she revives the robot which identifies itself as automated unit 3947.  Soon after, 3947 kidnaps our favorite engineer and coerces her into helping his robot companions develop new units, a clear violation of the Prime Directive.  The Voyager crew must save Torres and hopefully she will find a way to complete her assigned task without upsetting the power balance of the Delta Quadrant.

Tall order for all involved.

I enjoy this episode very much, going against the grain of conventional reviews, both internally and externally.  Many within the creative staff, including executive producer Jeri Taylor, pushed against the story idea initially, feeling that robots turned evil was an old sci-fi trope, not Trek enough.  Plus, the robots themselves turned out rather boxy - again, old school.

These are the very reasons I like it.  First of all, the Trek precedent for war machines turning against their creators is strong, going all the way back to "The Doomsday Machine" from the original series.  If one wants political metaphor from Star Trek - and I do - what better representation is there for our own military industrial complex, still alive and well 64 years after Eisenhower warned us about it?

And I like the clash between Trek philosophy and classic sci-fi anxieties.  The creation turning against its creator goes back to Frankenstein, at least.  That basic industrial age fear is exactly why Isaac Asimov invented his Three Laws of Robotics for his own stories.  A confrontation with Trek's Prime Directive is natural and deeply interesting.  At least, it is to me.

Plus, "Prototype" is a great Torres development episode.  We see her inventiveness, her determination, her grit and her compassion all at once.

Once again, I need a few episodes like this to make up for all the Data and Q stories other people love and I don't.

Acting Notes

There are four robot characters with lines in "Prototype" but only two actors performing those four characters.  Rick Worthy played 3947 and Cravic 122.  Hugh Hodgin played 6263 and Prototype.

via Battlestar Wiki

Richard Worthy was born in Detroit, March 12, 1967.  He graduated from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance.  "Prototype" was one of 15 Trek appearances.

Most of Worthy's high-profile work has been on television.  Science fiction has been particularly kind.  He made eight appearances as Simon O'Neill in the later Battlestar Galactica series.  He was a series regular on both The Magicians and The Magnificent Seven.  Guest appearances include The Man in the High Castle, Heroes and Supernatural.  Films include While You Were Sleeping, Star Trek: Insurrection and Holes.