Memorial

*** (3 stars out of 5)

B'Elanna Torres' clever plan to make her BF happy backfires when she replicates Tom a mid-1950's TV set. You remember them?  From the era before people gave up TV forever? Once you give a guy a TV and a beer, when's he going to have time to thank you or kiss you? It's usually either TV for 8 hours a day or "TV? What's TV?"

Tom and then everyone else goes mad, and for once it's not TV's fault. They are having flashbacks, nightmares and hallucinations from a wartime slaughter they don't remember signing up for.

Planet Tarakis took a page from "The Inner Light", except instead of remembering the music, love, and fellowship of a dead race, Tarakis would like everyone everywhere to remember blood and guts and veins in your teeth!

"Why should anyone have to experience an atrocity they didn't commit?" argue the humans. Neelix just as vehemently speaks out on behalf of this traumatic learning process: Neither Tarakis, Rinax, Khitomer, Gettysburg, or Calgary Comic Con 2012 must happen ever again.

Janeway has her minions change the batteries in the memorial, but also puts up a satellite warning label: "Planet May Contain Scenes of Intense Violence and Coarse Language".

"Memorial" has a strident message with good performances, but when you're not only re-hashing a previous series but YOUR OWN SERIES (Remember "Remember"?) how much innovation is that? Never again doesn't seem to apply to retelling the same story every few years. I'd love to talk about this some more, but the TV is calling.