Star Trek: 10 WORST Holodeck Episodes
These are the times we've been delighted to hear the words 'Computer, End Program'
The Holodeck is a wonderful thing, really. It can create entire worlds, bring characters to life, and allow crewmembers to go on wild adventures. It also leaves ample room for some morally dubious borrowing of peoples' likenesses, but what's a bit of identity theft between friends?
Sadly, like anything, there's such a thing as too much of a good thing. How many more times can we get the word thing into a sentence? But, the thing is - the Holodeck can be just as detrimental to a story as a benefit. There can be over reliance on the magic box to make everything come out alright in the end, which makes it difficult for the writers to add any stakes to the stories.
For anything to really threaten anyone on the Holodeck, those safety protocols needed to be shut off. Then, one needs to explain why they've shut down this time - and so on, and so forth. Holodeck episodes can be just as groan-inducing as smile-inducing.
Then of course there are the episodes that aren't set on the Holodeck itself, but rather uses the Holodeck as a plot device. Schisms is an excellent example of this, as is Relics. Like anything, it doesn't always land. Let's dive right in.
10. Star Trek: Insurrection
Yes, this is a movie. This entry is here because it stands out in how Starfleet operates. If we compare it to another story that sees a mass transport of people, The Next Generation's Homeward, that case saw a people taken into the Holodeck to save their lives. This was done under duress, as Nikolai Rozhenko managed to transport people without the Enterprise detecting it.
In Insurrection, Starfleet is utilising cloaking technology - the first big issue here - and engaging in a forced resettlement. The resettlement story feels like a retread of Journey's End, while the cloaking technology feels like the writers simply forgot about the Treaty of Algeron.
Then there is the Holodeck within the Holoship itself. It's unlike previous Holodecks the audience has seen, which isn't a crime. What is a crime is the inconsistent rules. Does it work properly, or not? Are those Son'a guards holograms, or not?
It's not that we're against the idea of Holoships, and quite frankly they could be fun, but the biggest issue with this story is that it simply raises too many questions - all for, seemingly, the chance to do a 'cool'.