Human Weakness

…ah..!! You React..!

What’s going on behind those baby-blue eyes, hmm?

•Disgust•

[Dalek laboratory]

The Cosmic Hobo  : 

It took Courage to fight 

Maxtible's Turkish wrestler. 


DALEK : 

The Daleks are afraid of 

nothing and no-one. 


The Cosmic Hobo  :

But Jamie Saved The Turk's Life. 


DALEK : 

Human Weakness. 


The Cosmic Hobo  :

If he hadn't, he would have died in that room of yours. 

If you want 

The Human Factor, 

a part of it must include Mercy.

Lecter :
Good morning, Will. 

So nice of you to visit again. 

Will Graham :

He carved this on a tree near the Jacobi house. 

With a Buck knife. The same one later used on Charles Leeds. 

Lecter :

Yes. 

Take a Walk with me. 

Will Graham :

He had a second tool, too. 

A bolt cutter. 

He used that to clear his view. 

Lecter :

But? 

Will Graham :

I don't think that's what he brought it for. 

It's too heavy. 

Too awkward. 

And he had to carry it a long way. 

Lecter :

And what do we make of that symbol? 

Will Graham :

Asian Studies at Langley identified it 

as a Chinese character. 

It appears on a mah-jong piece. 

It marks The Red Dragon. 

Lecter :

Red Dragon. Correct. 

This boy begins to interest me. 

Will Graham :

We don't know what greater meaning 

the symbol might have... 

Lecter :

Do you like my little exercise cage, Will? 

My so-called lawyer is always nagging Dr. Chilton 

for better accommodations. 

I don't know which is the greater fool. 

Will Graham :

Perhaps if you could offer some insight into... 

Lecter :

"A Robin Red breast in a Cage 

Puts all Heaven in a Rage" 

Ever been a redbreast, Will? 

Of course you have. 

I'm allowed 30 minutes in here, once a week. 

Get to The Point. 

Will Graham :

I think he meant to use the bolt cutter to enter the house, but he didn't. 

Instead he broke in through the patio doors. 

The noise woke Jacobi, and he had to shoot him on the stairs. 

That wasn't planned. 

It was sloppy.

And that's not like him. 

Lecter :

We mustn't judge too harshly, Will. 

It was his first time. 

Have you never felt a sudden rush of panic? 

•Lecter suddenly lunges at Will’s face, teeth beared,

 only to be snapped sharply backward by the limit on his human choke-chain leash•

Lecter :

Yeah, that's The Fear 

we talked about. 

It takes experience to master it. 

Lecter :

You sensed Who I Was 

back when I was committing 

what you call my "Crimes." 

Will Graham :

Yes. 

Lecter :

So You were Hurt not by a fault 

in your perception or your instincts, but because 

you failed to act on them 

until it was too late.

Will Graham :

You could say that. 

Lecter :

But you're wiser now —

Imagine what you would do, Will, if you could go back in time. 

Will Graham :

Put two in your head before you could palm that stiletto. 

Lecter :

Very good, Will. 

You know, I believe we're 

Making Progress. 

And that's what our pilgrim is doing. 

He is refining his methods. 

He is evolving. 

The case file mentioned videos of the Leeds family.

I'd like to see those. 

Will Graham :

No. 

Lecter :

Why not? 

Will Graham :

It would be obscene. 

Lecter :

You don't make it easy, do you? 

Still, one aims to please. 

I'll call you if I think of anything else. 

Would you perhaps like to leave me your home number?

Will Graham :

That's the end of our session, Doctor. 

Lecter :

For now. It was only his first time. 

Already in Atlanta he did much better. 

Rest assured, my dear Will, 

this one will give you plenty of exercise. 

My love to Molly and Josh, goodbye. 

What Kind of Man was My Father?

Parent Program :

The main, or primary, program or first program loaded into memory. 

See child program.

The Function of The Danger Room is to 

Keep You Alive.

To ensure your Survival.

Excalibur — 

It's Part of The Dragon, too. 

Oh, yes. Oh, you learn quickly. 

That's good. I like that. 

What kind of man was my father? 

Oh, he was brave, he was strong. 

He was A Great Knight. 

Was he A Great King? 

Well… he was rash. 

He never learned how to look 

into Men's Hearts. 

Least of all his own. 

You loved him? 

Well…. it is easy to love folly 

in a child. 

Merlin, will you help me 

To Be Wise, Not to Be Rash?

Where are you going?

Where do you think? 

You have A Kingdom to Rule. 

But how? I don't know how. 

You knew how to draw 

The Sword from The Stone. 

That was easy. 

Was it? I couldn't have done it. 

You couldn't?

You're The King, Not I.

The Architect: 

The Function of The One 

is now to 

Return to The Source,

allowing a temporary dissemination of 

The Code You Carry, 

reinserting The Prime Program. 

After which, you will be required to select from The Matrix 

23 individuals – 

16 female, 7 male 

– to rebuild Zion. 

Failure to Comply 

with this process will result in 

A Cataclysmic System Crash, 

killing everyone connected 

to The Matrix, 

which, coupled with 

The Extermination of Zion, 

will ultimately result in 

The Extinction of 

The Entire Human Race.

Neo:

You won’t let it happen. 

You can’t. 

You need Human Beings to Survive.

The Architect :

There are Levels of Survival 

We are prepared to accept.

Will Graham

“I needed to see you first.

But I'm right. 

I know I'm right.

I'm starting to 

be able to 

Think Like 

This One.

Something still doesn't make sense to me :

[ This has NOTHING to Do with Solving The Case —

Oh, Wait : IT DOES. ]

You're the best forensic

psychiatrist I know,

and yet somehow, 

in all our time together —

this possibility 

never occurred 

to you.

Lecter :

Well, I’m Only Human, Will.

Perhaps I made 

a mistake.

Lecter :

Special Agent Graham.

What an unexpected pleasure.

Will Graham :

I'm sorry to bother you 

again, Dr. Lecter.

I know it's very late.

Lecter :

It's no bother.

We're both night owls, 

I think. Come in, please.

Will Graham :

Thank You.

Lecter :

Let me take your coat.

So, What's on Your Mind?

Will Graham :

We've been on the wrong track

this whole time. You and I.

Our whole profile's wrong.

We've been looking 

for someone 

with a crazy grudge and 

some kind of anatomical knowledge.

Decertified Doctors, 

Med-School dropouts

laid-off mortuary workers... *

( * oh, yeah — there’s gotta be just thousands and 

thousands of those  —

it’s rife. No demand, see.

Mortuaries closing down every other week lately, round these parts, the Death market is just completely flat.) 

Lecter :

From the precision of the cuts, yes,

and his choice of souvenirs.

See, that's where we're off-target.

He's not collecting body parts.

Lecter :

Then why keep them?

He's not keeping them. 

He's eating them.

No, listen —

We were at Molly's parents' 

for New Year's

and Molly's Dad was 

showing My Son, Josh

How to Carve a Roasted Chicken.

He said, 

"The tenderest part of the chicken is the oysters,

here on either side of the back."

I had never heard that expression before,

"Oysters."

Then suddenly I had 

a flash of the third victim,

Darcy Taylor.

She was missing flesh from her back.

And then it hit me.

Liver, kidney, tongue, thymus.

Every single victim lost

some body part used in cooking.

Lecter :

Have you shared this 

with The Bureau?

No, I needed to see you first.

But I'm right. I know I'm right.

I'm starting to be able to think like this one.

Lecter :

Yeah, it's fascinating —

You know, I'd always 

suspected as much.

You are an eidetiker.

I'm not psychic, Doctor.

Lecter :

No, this is different.

More akin to artistic imagination :

You are able assume 

The Emotional Point of View of Other People,

even those that might scare or sicken you.

It's a troubling gift, 

I should think.

How I'd love to get you 

on my couch.

Something still doesn't 

make sense to me.

You're the best forensic psychiatrist I know,

and somehow, in all our time together

this possibility never occurred to you.

Lecter :

Well, I am only human, Will.

Perhaps I made a mistake.

You don't strike me as a man

who makes very many mistakes.

Lecter :

Now I'm sorry to think I might

no longer enjoy your full confidence.

No, I didn't say that.

I don't know what I'm saying.

I'm very, very tired.

I almost had it.

Lecter :

It'll come to you.

Why don't you come back 

in the morning?

I'll clear some time on my schedule

and then we can get started in revising our profile.

Sound good?

Yeah.

Lecter :

Rest here, and 

I'll get your coat.

That's the same atrocious

aftershave you wore in court.

I keep getting it for Christmas.

Christmas, yes. Did you get my card?

I got it, thank you.

So nice of the Bureau's

crime lab to forward that.

They wouldn't give me your home address.

Dr. Bloom sent me your article

on surgical addiction

in the journal of forensic psychiatry.

And?

Very interesting, even to a layman.

You say you're a layman.

But it was you who caught me.

Wasn't it, Will?

Do you know how you did it?

I got lucky.

I don't think you believe that.

It's in the transcript.

What does it matter now?

It doesn't matter to me, Will.

I need your advice, Dr. Lecter.

Birmingham and Atlanta.

You want to know

how he's choosing them, don't you?

I thought you'd have ideas.

I'm asking you to tell me what there are.

Why should l?

There are things you don't have.

Research materials.

Maybe even computer access.

I'd speak to the Chief of Staff.

Yes, Dr. Chilton.

Gruesome, isn't he?

He fumbles at your head

like a freshman pulling at a panty curtle.

If you recall, Will,

our last collaboration

ended rather messily.

You'd get to see the file on this case.

And there's another reason.

I'm all ears.

I thought you might enjoy the challenge.

Find out if you're smarter

than the person I'm looking for.

Then, by implication,

you think you're smarter than I am,

since it was you who caught me.

No, I know I'm not smarter than you.

Then how did you catch me?

You had disadvantages.

What disadvantages?

You're insane.

You're very tanned, Will.

And your hands are so rough.

Not like a cop's hands anymore.

And that shaving lotion

is something a child would select.

Has a little ship on the

bottle, does it not?

And how is young Josh and the lovely Molly?

They're always in my thoughts, you know.

You will not persuade me with appeals to my intellectual vanity.

I don't think I'll persuade you at all.

You'll either do it or you won't.

- Is that the case file?

- Yes.

With photos?

Let me keep them, and I might consider it.

No.

Do you dream much, Will?

Goodbye, Dr. Lecter.

You haven't threatened

to take away my books yet!

Give me the file, then!

And I'll tell you what I think.

I'll need one hour. And privacy.

Just like old times, Will?

This is a very shy boy, Will.

I'd love to meet him.

Have you considered the possibility

that he is disfigured

or that he may believe he is disfigured?

Yeah, the mirrors.

You notice he smashes

all the mirrors in the house,

not just enough to get the pieces he wants.

And, of course, those shards in their eyes

so he can see himself there.

That's interesting.

No, that's not interesting.

You've thought of that before.

I had considered it.

- What about the women?

- Dead?

Mere puppets.

You need to see them living,

the way they caught his eye.

That's impossible.

Almost. Not quite.

What were the yards like?

Big backyards, fenced, some hedges. Why?

Because if this pilgrim

feels a special relationship with the moon,

he might like to go outside and look at it.

Ever seen blood in the moonlight, Will?

It appears quite black.

If one were nude, say,

it'd would be better to have

outdoor privacy for that sort of thing.

You think the yards might be a factor

when he selects victims?

Yes.

And there will be more of them, of course.

Victims.

So, you'll be wanting lots of these

little chinwags, I take it.

I might not have time.

I do.

I have oodles.

I need your opinion now.

Then here's one:

You stink of fear under that cheap lotion.

You stink of fear, Will,

but you're not a coward!

You fear me, but still you came here.

You fear this shy boy,

yet still you seek him out.

Don't you understand, Will?

You caught me because

we're very much alike.

Without our imaginations,

we'd be like all those other poor dullards.

Fear is the price of our instrument.

But I can help you bear it.

God Wills This Contest

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: 

I have, therefore, in every case thought it proper to keep the integrity of the union prominent as the primary object of the contest on our part.

JOSHUA WOLF SHENK, Writer: You have widows and orphans coming to Lincoln constantly. They line up in the hallway. He has to pass through this crowd of visitors just to get from his living space to his office.

RONALD C. WHITE, Jr., Historian: As he recognises the pain all around him and the cost not simply of the lives of these young men but to their wives, mothers, sweethearts - What this is going to mean for The Future of The Country?

NARRATOR: Lincoln toured hospitals and sat with The Sick and wounded.

RANDALL M. MILLER, Historian: If things are supposed to be right, it should be that Bad People Suffer and Die and Good People Triumph. 

But The War was demonstrating that Death came to people regardless of whether they were Good or Bad.

ALLEN C. GUELZO, Historian: While Lincoln won't actually say, "I am responsible for this," he has A Government, he has A War, he has A Nation to whom he is responsible.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: If Hell is not any worse than this, it has no terror for me.

NARRATOR: Then in February 1862, Death visited the White House itself. Lincoln's third and favorite son, Willie, died of typhoid fever. He was just 11 years old. Lincoln found a measure of consolation in the eulogy delivered by a Presbyterian minister, Phineas Gurley, at Willie's funeral.

Rev. PHINEAS GURLEY: What we need in the Hour of Trial, and what we should seek by earnest prayer, is confidence in Him Who Sees The End from The Beginning and Doeth All Things Well. 

Let us acknowledge His Hand and Hear His Voice and inquire after His Will and seek his holy spirit as our counselor and guide, and all, in the end, will be well.

RONALD C. WHITE, Jr.: There's no facile explanation as to why Willie might be better off in Heaven. 

There's none of that in this sermon. 

There's this recognition of The Mystery of God's dealings, but there's also the affirmation of The Comfort God at times of loss. 

The Comfort is in A Loving God, A God Who Cares for Us.

NARRATOR: Lincoln asked for a copy of Reverend Gurley's eulogy.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: "What we need in The Hour of Trial, and what we should seek by earnest prayer, is confidence in Him Who sees The End from The Beginning and Doeth All Things Well."

RONALD C. WHITE, Jr.: This sermon is a real pivotal moment in Lincoln's life — 

Your Son has died. 

You listen to this sermon. 

This pastor comes into The White House and suggests to you that you need to Trust in A Loving God with Personality, who acts in history.

NARRATOR: A few months after His Son's Death, Lincoln began to re-examine his relationship with God.

RONALD C. WHITE, Jr.: It was untitled and undated. It's on a little slip of paper, lined paper. 

This is something Lincoln never expected any of us to ever see.

He was not about to publish this. 

This was his own private musing and reflection.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: The will of God prevails.

ALLEN C. GUELZO: Lincoln is working out on paper his own problem, his own difficulty. 

This is Lincoln's own agony and sweat over the ultimate question, 

"What is The Will of God in this crisis?"

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: In great contests, each party claims to act in accordance with The Will of God. 

Both may be, one must be, WRONG. 

God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. 

I am almost ready to say that this is probably True, that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet, by his mere quiet power on the minds of the now contestants, He could have either saved or destroyed the union without a human contest. 

Yet the contest began. And having begun, he could give the final victory to either side any day. 

Yet the contest proceeds.

JOSHUA WOLF SHENK: Lincoln is considering this epic and awful idea that The Master of Order and Goodness is actually in favor, in some way, of the carnage and suffering because of some larger end. 

Lincoln's mind is turned towards that question, "Out of this affliction, what good might come?"

NARRATOR: Lincoln determined that he must act.

ALLEN C. GUELZO: There must be something new and novel that God is interjecting here. 

God is doing something new in this war. 

What could that new thing be? 

Ah! Emancipation!

NARRATOR: In September 1862, The President called his cabinet together. Southern troops had been defeated after a fierce battle at Antietam Creek. It was a divine signal, he said, for him to issue a proclamation abolishing slavery in the rebellious states.

ALLEN C. GUELZO: It was so astounding that one member of his Cabinet actually asked him to repeat himself because he was sure he hadn't heard it right.

NARRATOR: "God," Lincoln declared, "had decided this question in favor of the slaves."

RONALD C. WHITE, Jr., Historian: "I have been told by God to free these slaves."

ALLEN C. GUELZO: God has ceased to be this machinery, grinding and chopping. Instead, God has plunged himself into the flow of human events, to direct them in a very personal way. And it is to this God that Lincoln appeals.

NARRATOR: On January 1st, 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation into law, freeing slaves in the rebel states.

MARGARET WASHINGTON: "Jehovah has triumphed. His people are free." This was indeed the coming of the Lord.

DAVID W. BLIGHT, Yale University: This was a religious moment. This was a moment to be experienced in biblical time, in religious time, in spiritual time. 

It was an event for the soul.

Innocent or Not, He's Going to Destroy Your Vessel

• ”TOXIC MASCULINITY” •

Originally, the episode's story – as pitched by Andrew Shepard Price and Mark Gaberman – involved an alien computer dissecting Seven of Nine (similar to the plot of Demon Seed) to create an army of drones that it intended to use for galactic conquest. 

Although the story changed considerably from the original pitch, the writing staff of Star Trek: Voyager composed the plot's final version by essentially weaving the initial story idea together with a theme that comments on false memory syndrome. 

Staff writer Bryan Fuller remarked, 

"That's kind of what we had to fall back on for this one." 

Regarding false memories, he commented, 

"We hear so much about how they can essentially ruin peoples' lives, how well-respected and credited doctors have been completely dethroned, how teachers and parents have been humiliated." 

"I initially had my concerns, because we were trying to distinguish it from a TV movie about date rape.

We removed the sexual elements." 

Fuller believed that the turning point for the story's development was the addition of The Doctor to the plot.

Analyzing The Doctor's actions in this episode, Bryan Fuller remarked, 

"He's dragging Seven INTO her frustration, 

and essentially filling the role of 

The Psychologist who's manipulating The Patient -- 

NOT with malevolence, but because 

he sincerely THINKS that Something Happened. 

But he goes about solving the mystery 

in such a haphazard way that only chaos can ensue." 

In agreement with Bryan Fuller's interpretation of the plot, Robert Picardo remarked on the character arc that his regular role of The Doctor undergoes in this episode: 

"[He] completely loses his self-confidence in a way I don't think we've seen thus far. 

It was actually kind of touching.

It's really quite touching, because it's basically the enthusiasm of someone really TRYING to help out, and really TRYING to be MORE than he's SUPPOSED to be, in a crisis situation." 

Picardo also described the request that The Doctor makes at the end of this episode as "quite dramatic."

Director Jesús Salvador Treviño was presented with the difficulty of creating an unusual look for certain sequences of this episode. 

"For me, the challenge was in conveying the flashback moments," the director explained, "and making them succinct and different enough that we would get a sense of how different this perspective is to [Seven of Nine] and whether it's REAL or not." 

To help create the desired effect, Treviño filmed the flashback sequences at eight frames per second, rather than the usual twenty-four frames per second. 

Ultimately, Bryan Fuller believed that he and Lisa Klink had successfully differentiated this episode from a television movie about date rape, and that the decision to remove the sexual aspects from the script had been made "wisely". 

He said, 

"I think it succeeded [...] and I think it's a solid episode." 

An element of the episode that Fuller especially liked was that it showed The Doctor was NOT infallible. 

"That's the great part of the story, that he screwed up.”

Nonetheless, Fuller also cited this episode as probably being his least favorite from those he wrote for Voyager's fourth season and related, 

"I found myself distanced from it. I'm always disappointed in a story when it turns out not to have happened, and it's based on some sort of illusion or memory wackiness." 

Contrastingly, Jesús Salvador Treviño liked the vagueness of this episode's conclusion. 

"I thought that was very daring for the Voyager writers. 

That was really nice the way they left it TOTALLY open-ended. 

We don't KNOW whether it really DID happen or if it DIDN'T; we have our suspicions and the clues are placed either way."