“Flashback” is episode two of season three of Star Trek: Voyager.
Neelix is pouring a new experimental drink for Tuvok. Tuvok comments that Neelix’s success rate is not very high. And the crewmember who liked the drink has a lining on the tongue that would protect her against corrosive acid. Tuvok tries the drink. It seems successful. Neelix then starts cooking breakfast, which includes narration; a Talaxian tradition. However, a power overload incinerates the breakfast, then the two are called to the bridge.
Voyager has encountered a gaseous anomaly that is a source of sirillium, a versatile combustible energy source. The plan is to harvest it and stockpile the material in Neelix’s pantry. Various people have ideas for using it. Tuvok, however, is watching his hand shake. When asked if he’s alright, he says he doesn’t know; he’s suffering from dizziness and disorientation and asks permission to head to sickbay.
On the way there, Tuvok experiences a memory, of him lying on a precipice holding a girl who is hanging over it. Tuvok is holding her, as a child himself, but the girl falls. Tuvok stumbles into sickbay and collapses. Tuvok explains what he saw to the Doctor, Kes and Captain Janeway. He felt an emotional response. The event he saw never happened; he didn’t recognise the girl and has never been in that situation. The Doctor says, in a human, that would have been a severe panic attack. There are many things it could be, but Tuvok is currently okay. The Doctor gives him a neurocortical monitor to record the next event and notify sickbay.
Tuvok is in his quarters, reciting a mantra whilst building a very unstable structure with his eyes shut. It collapses and Kes arrives. Tuvok explains he is building a meditational aid that is supposed to reflect the builders state of mind. Given that it collapsed, that doesn’t say good thinks about Tuvok’s state of mind.
The next day, Tuvok is heading to engineering with Chakotay, who asks how he is. Tuvok apologises for how the responds; he’s been distracted trying to track down the source of whatever happened. Chakotay suggests not thinking about it. It’s apparently difficult to forget with a monitor stuck to you. Harry has detected nothing from the nebula that could explain it. Tuvok suggests scanning for cloaked ships; they need to be cautious this close to Klingon space. Which they are nowhere near. He has another episode.
The Doctor explains to the captain that it’s a repressed memory beginning to resurface. In Vulcans, such a thing causes brain damage, and could eventually lobotomise their brains. There is no medical treatment; the normal thing to do is a mind meld with a family member to attempt to bring forward the repressed memory. The captain thinks she is the closest thing to a family member Tuvok has on the ship. That’s why the Doctor called for her. Tuvok wants her to help with the procedure; he will initiate the meld and she will be an observer, not a participant.
When the meld begins, Tuvok says they will go back to the child he once was. And they end up on a starship bridge; a fairly old one, going by the uniforms. One captained by Sulu. Tuvok explains to the captain that this was his first deep space assignment. He didn’t intend to bring them here. This is approximately 80 years ago, and they were fighting Klingons. This was precipitated by an incident three days ago.
This takes them back to Commander Rand – as in TOS‘s Yeoman Janice Rand – asking who is interested in defending the Federation from gaseous anomalies. That’s two coincidences; Klingons and gaseous anomalies. Tuvok and the captain head to the bridge; Captain Sulu tells Tuvok that he knows Vulcans have a sense of humour. Tuvok is manning a science station; he was a junior science officer. This is apparently not on his service record. According to Tuvok, this was his first Starfleet career – he took an extended break, which is why he isn’t an Admiral by now (after 80 years in Starfleet, you’d expect anyone with talent would be).
The bridge is that of the U.S.S. Excelsior, and the event is the explosion of the Klingon moon Praxis. This episode is taking place during the events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Sulu decides to head to Kronos, and Tuvok objects to this as being against orders. Sulu explains a few things about orders. This takes them through a nebula visually very similar to the one Voyager has just encountered.
Most of the episode takes place 80 years in the past, on the Excelsior – Captain Janeway and Harry talk about those days, which were a very different time to be a Starfleet officer. As the captain says, the officers from that time would be kicked out of the present Starfleet. Tuvok also talks about his first Starfleet experiences with Captain Janeway. There’s also another appearance by the Klingon, Kang.
Despite the title, this isn’t a flashback episode made up of lots of different clips. Fortunately.