Star Trek: 15 Best Holodeck Moments

The invention of the holodeck for the Next Generation allowed the writers to have a lot more fun with the various scenarios that they could drop the characters in to. Rather than an away mission to a far off planet, why not simply take a walk on the streets of San Fransisco?

There are many holodeck episodes scattered through the series. While some are of a questionable quality (These Are The Voyages) there are many which are just plain fun to watch. Full disclosure: this writer is Irish, yet he does not hate Fair Haven as much as you might think.

While Voyager and the Next Generation utilised the holodecks to a greater degree than Deep Space Nine, all three series have strong episodes based around the fantastic piece of technology. There are as yet no entries from Discovery or Picard so for this list, we shall have to content ourselves with Picard, Sisko and Janeway's forays.

Not every holodeck episode was a comedy though. There were some that dealt with dark and disturbing themes, played out in these fantasies. From family dramas to full scale wars, there is something to remember about the holodeck. It can create anything that it is programmed to do. Rampaging hoard of Klingons? No problem. Sadistic Cardassian doctors? The holodeck is your guy.

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?