Janeway has her first holo-crush.
I spent most of this episode dreading the inevitable ‘holodeck malfunction’, where the storm makes the character self aware, or they leave the Holodeck, or something like that. But it didn’t happen. Instead this is an adult science fiction show about the implications of holo-technology, and the ethics of having a relationship with someone who isn’t ‘real’. I was surprised, to say the least.
It took a lot of courage to write an episode where, basically, not much happens. There’s a little bit of false jeopardy at the end as they exit the storm, but it’s secondary to what’s really going on in the episode. The core of it is letting us have a glimpse of Janeway in a way that, as the Doctor points out, she’s not allowed to by the rules of command. Good stuff.
596 down, 141 to go.