| Voyager drops out of warp automatically when it encounters a shock wave. This wave has awakened a top-secret Starfleet protocol, and all of the screens on the bridge are now covered with the greek letter Omega. Janeway knows what's up, but keeps the crew in the dark while she has them develop specific types of shielding and warheads. However, she briefs Seven on the Omega Directive, as she correctly assumes that the Borg are familiar with it through their past assimilation of Starfleet captains. In the past, Federation scientists had experimented with a molecule that could generate nearly unlimited energy - but was also extremely dangerous, as one mishap could destroy nearby subspace. Seven reveals that the Borg have also experimented with it, and view it as an embodiment of the perfection that they seek. She wants to harness it, but Janeway convinces her to help her destroy it in order to protect the whole quadrant. They find the source of the wave: a half-destroyed facility, which is housing a massive amount of omega particles. Voyager collects the particles to dispose of them safely, and give medical assistance to the survivors, but a fleet of ships begins chasing them, demanding to have their technology back. Seven is sorely tempted to disobey orders (again) and try to stabilize the particles, proceeds with dismantling them, even as they begin stabilizing before her eyes. |
The writers' stated goal here was to give Seven a quasi-religious experience. To me, there's really got to be an element of faith, of belief in the absence of evidence to make something religious, and there's none of that here. The omega particle (or particle 010 as it is known to the Borg) is as real as a magical space molecule gets. While her interpretation of its significance is different from the Starfleet reaction, I don't think there's anything necessarily religious about it. That isn't to say that the episode is a failure; certainly the clash of ideology makes for some worthwhile viewing, but it makes the scene with the crucifix at the end a bit weird.
I am a little uncomfortable with this whole omega directive business; I don't really like the idea of the Federation behaving in such a shadowy manner, especially in terms of repressing scientific research. Of course, the omega particle is conceived in such a way as to make it so overwhelmingly dangerous that the directive does seem necessary. At the same time, I also wish they'd gone further with it. Just destroying the particles won't be enough - with the scientists and their equipment still around, they'll just make more, as Voyager has given them no reason not to. A real dilemma could have been made out of that problem, especially if Janeway couldn't convince them to stop building it - even after their accident, the researchers hardly seemed reticent. What would Janeway have to do to fulfill the directive, kill all the scientists working on it? That's a dilemma on the level of In the Pale Moonlight (DS9, Season 6). Instead, Voyager just sails on, since it isn't their problem anymore.
Prime directive power inflation in a big problem in Voyager in general, and while it was nice that some rule overrode it, it really didn't have to. I know Tuvok says that stealing the particles was a violation, but I can't see how. I mean, this is not a pre-warp civilization, and messing with a particle that could destroy the entire quadrant is in no way whatsoever an internal affair. I'm not talking loopholes here, these are fundamentals of the prime directive.
Watchability: 3/5
Bottom Line: This is a reasonably exciting episode, but a shift in the focus could have yielded such a superior product that I can't justifiably go above 3.
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