The doctor has programmed his own family to learn how his patients deal with their families. Naturally he programmed his family all too well. It feels like a 1950s version of a happy family: The wife stays at home and is proud of her husband, the kids are good in school and seek for their father's attention. After B'Elana and Kes are invited to dinner, B'Elana cannot longer stand this dreamworld and suggests to the doctor to tweak his program to make it more real, unpreditive.
Then we see absolute chaos: A wife that is busy working herself, a son that falls for some shady Klingon friends and a daughter that is all about dangerous sports. And here the episode goes a little over the top for my taste. You don't just take a pre-defined family over but the family evolves. And if someone is determined to teach their children manners and care for them, they don't just turn into monsters. This family is just a caricature of a family. A simulation to test everything that can go downhill in a few days - including the death of a child.
While it makes sense to teach the doctor how real life works and that you have to deal with whatever life throws at you, it is just way too much with this family simulation. And I bet we will never see his "family" again in other episodes, which would make it even more awkward. The acting of Picardo saves this episode though. He is great again.
The other plot - Paris being trapped into a layer betweem space and subspace - is completely forgettable.
Then we see absolute chaos: A wife that is busy working herself, a son that falls for some shady Klingon friends and a daughter that is all about dangerous sports. And here the episode goes a little over the top for my taste. You don't just take a pre-defined family over but the family evolves. And if someone is determined to teach their children manners and care for them, they don't just turn into monsters. This family is just a caricature of a family. A simulation to test everything that can go downhill in a few days - including the death of a child.
While it makes sense to teach the doctor how real life works and that you have to deal with whatever life throws at you, it is just way too much with this family simulation. And I bet we will never see his "family" again in other episodes, which would make it even more awkward. The acting of Picardo saves this episode though. He is great again.
The other plot - Paris being trapped into a layer betweem space and subspace - is completely forgettable.