A malfunction in the holodeck leaves all the residents of Fair Haven convinced that Paris and other members of the Voyager crew are spirit folk, and they could pose a threat to the ship.
Actually, no they couldn't. The holodeck safety protocols are conveniently switched off to put Paris and Kim in minor jeopardy, but you never think they're going to have any major problems. The biggest problem is that the whole thing is flawed from the outset. Not only does it break all manner of aspects of established continuity, it even contradicts what has been said in past episodes of Voyager. Firstly, you can get round the Doctor's branching out into the world of humans with his adaptive program. He also is equipped with knowledge of what he is. Holodeck characters should not suddenly develop free will just because of a malfunction. They're more likely to simply remain puzzled by everything rather than suspicious. The Doctor also refuses to champion their rights to exist, despite doing so for all manner of other life-forms in the past.
There are far too many obvious flaws to bother with here, but they ruin any chance of the episode being taken seriously. It's also not half as funny as it thinks it is, it's full of ludicrous technobabble, it has no moral arguments in at all, the crew have any number of chances to shut down the program but they ignore them, the holograms are able to damage the hologrid before the safeties are off, something you'd expect there to be a defence against, and if a holo-creature is turned into a cow, why would they remember being the cow? Their light particles are simply being altered to a new form!
I can't think of any way that this episode could have been forgivable. It even steals from TNG's past glory Ship in a Bottle, but the character who develops the most awareness has no desire to harm the crew. Which is something of a shame, as the lack of jeopardy makes this dull and totally pointless.
*
Would you like to go to the Star Trek: Voyager Season Six guide, head back to the main TV reviews page, read older reviews in the Reviews Archive or return to the front page?
Get your own Free Home Page