Star Trek: 10 WORST Holodeck Episodes

This is one of those episodes that has a truly heartwarming message at its core, though in the execution, it stumbles toward the finish line. Who, exactly, is this episode about? On the surface, surely it concerns Naomi Wildman, and learning to deal with the possibility her mother isn't coming home.

Perhaps it could be about the dangers of serving in Starfleet, with a family to worry about - much like The Next Generation's The Bonding. And then, the episode switches to Neelix, and ends up as something of a rehash or reminder of the first season's Jetrel.

Again, that doesn't make this entry a bad episode so to speak, simply a very muddled one. There are too many ideas going on for it to make a satisfactory whole. Even the inclusion of the nightmare-inducing Ogre of Fire isn't enough to save it, although it does make for a very informative lesson.

Scarlett Pommers is a welcome addition to the crew as Naomi Wildman, and it was nice to see Ensign Samantha Wildman back again, but overall this story was a bit too light for what it set out to achieve, relying a little too heavily on the holodeck in the end, without the back up it needed.