Star Trek: 15 Best Holodeck Moments

15. Nothing Human - Using Moset's Research

This episode poses a moral question to the audience: when the methods used to obtain knowledge are unethical, is it ok to later use that knowledge to save a life?

With B'Elanna trapped by an alien parasite, the Doctor is unable to remove it on his own. He asks the computer for help and has a holographic representation of the Cardassian scientist Crell Moset assist him in his research. Moset is a 24th century Mengele, something that was a very deliberate choice by Jeri Taylor, who wrote this episode.

She says that while this character has no issues in the torturous experiments that he carried out on Bajoran slaves, he felt entirely justified in his research as it would eventually lead to saving lives. For him, the ends entirely justified the means. He was also a figure that allowed Taylor to bring the Cardassians into Voyager, as they had been successfully hateful on both the Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.

In making this historical figure a thinly veiled Nazi, in the guise of a Cardassian, the audience is almost automatically assumed to hate him. B'Elanna herself certainly does, as do Bajoran members of the crew. The Doctor, however, is in a moral conundrum - this man's knowledge could save B'Elanna's life and without it, she will most certainly die.

One of the more unsettling episodes of Voyager's fifth season, this encourages the audience to ask themselves: when are the spoils of war worth it?