In the twenty-first episode of the fourth season of Voyager, THIS IS SO INTENSE. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.
I can’t speak to the science of this episode – lord knows if the Omega particle is even remotely possible – so I’m going to talk about the story instead. I have a lot of Star Trek canon to contend with now that I’m so far along in this project, so you’ll have to excuse my freaking out in the video for “The Omega Directive” because I was so bothered by the fact that I might have seen something related to this. I still can’t figure out what it it was about the term “Omega” that made me think this episode was based on some past episode, but alas, I kept having that sensation of a realization being on the tip of my tongue.
So, let’s discard that whole aspect of me watching this episode. There’s a grandeur to the way that “The Omega Directive” unfolds, and it makes for one compelling hour of television. By keeping the audience in the dark, we got a better sense of how deeply serious this mission was. Plus, Janeway isn’t normally like this; she likes her crew informed and knowledgable. So why the sudden secrecy? Why the classified mission when they’re all so terribly far from Starfleet?
All of this contributes to the scope and tension of the story. Janeway becomes consumed by the idea that this thing must be destroyed. As the pieces come to light and we get a better sense of what the Omega Directive is for, I was impressed by how the writers gave us two stories unfolding at the same time: 1) How does Janeway fulfill this secretive mission successfully? 2) What if this mission is more like a religious quest for Seven of Nine?
SEVEN. YES, SEVEN OF NINE. I was surprised as any of you were about who the writers chose to focus this episode on, but my gods, it worked so well. I love that these plots exist side-by-side without invalidating each other, too! Janeway can stand in opposition to Seven’s interests without this turning into some ridiculous and unnecessary competition. Instead, it becomes a tale of fear and caution. If the Omega particle destroys anything and everything for light years in all directions if it becomes unstable, then for Voyager, the risk is too great. Even if they escape an initial explosion or destabilization, it’s not fair to ask Janeway to risk losing the ability to use warp drive. As it stands, their trip home is horribly long. Could you imagine how much infinitely longer that would have taken without the ability to go at warp speed?
However, “The Omega Directive” presents the crew – mostly Janeway, that is – with a brand new conundrum. What if this particle is the closest thing the Borg ever had to a god or God? Seven’s explanation of the importance of the particle to Chakotay helped me understand why this affected her so much. A molecule that worked in perfect efficiency, with infinite parts operating as a single unit… yeah, it makes a lot of sense why the Borg would latch on to it. And look, it’s not that I disbelieved that Seven was capable of stabilizing those rogue molecules, but her actions were directly threatening what Janeway was doing.
Which, for the record, was utterly unlike anything I had ever seen. SHE HAD A MASSIVE BOMB BUILT. A bomb! On Star Trek! Not only that, but she ordered all of her crew to ignore the whole fucking Prime Directive. Y’all, they steal technology from a race they just met, and they blow it up. EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS IS COMPLETELY AGAINST WHAT I WAS TOLD ABOUT STARFLEET. That’s the whole point, of course, and from a storytelling perspective, it’s damn fascinating. This is the length that Janeway is willing to go to complete this mission. In this sense, it’s a fascinating episode to watch after “Inquisition” on Deep Space Nine because both address the end justifying the means when it comes to Starfleet protocol.
Thus, this episode ends up being thrilling and heartbreaking. Seven has tried so hard to adapt to Starfleet regulations and organization; we even watch her begin to keep logs as the other crew members do! Yet this is the first time she expresses her own independent desire during a mission. It’s the only time we’ve seen spiritual ecstasy in her eyes. THAT’S A HUGE DEAL!
Y’all, bad science be damned, I loved this episode. What an achievement!
The video for “The Omega Directive” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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