Dr Louis Zimmerman, the obnoxious genius who created the matrix of Voyager's EMH, is fatally ill; Reg Barclay sends information on his condition to Voyager's EMH, knowing he will be concerned. The doctor convinces Janeway to take advantage of their new ability to send a once-a-month data stream to Star Fleet to send him to make a house call, so he can treat the closest thing he has to a father. But what he finds is a very sick man who views the Mach 1 - of which the doctor is a model - as a dismal failure - all the other models were considered inadequate and have been reassigned to ship cleaning duties. Like a father who feels that his son has not lived up to his expectations despite the greatest of efforts and the finest of blood lines, Zimmerman rejects the doctor. Even Deanna Troi, summoned to counsel by her friend Reg, cannot make any headway in the situation. But when the doctor's program starts to degrade, Zimmerman is called upon to make him better, and finally begins to be proud of his creation. He allows the doctor to treat him - the treatments work, and it is revealed that the degradation in the doctor's program was actually sabotage created by Troi and Barclay to get the desired effect from Zimmerman. Friends again, the doctor and Zimmerman pose for a holographic snapshot before the doctor returns to Voyager.
It's a fairly predictable plot with a few twists, and it's fun to watch the talented Robert Picardo in dual roles.
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