Star Trek: Voyager 05x25 - Warhead

Voyager meets a sentient bomb a tries not to destroy an alien planet in the process.

Impressions

Captain Kim? I love how he is progressing. No major problems nor scandals. He simply does his job, learns and gets better. Jenway sees it and gives me more and more. This is how it should be!

But the episode is basically a retelling of Dark Star. Both, that movie and this episode, show us a sentient weapon where a crew of spaceship needs to reason with it. It’s not a bad thing, as both Dark Star and Warhead have great and distinct stories¹.

The twist here is that the Warhead gets possession of Doctor’s holoprojection. What a great idea! It gives Picardo yet another chance to shine, and he nails it.

I think authors were very inspired by early SF stories, as the way the Doctor-Warhead talks is reminiscent of Asimov or Clarke. He tries to convince himself that the attack is justified, even when facing evidence. He fights with his programming, testing his free will limits. Very 1950s I might say.

It also asks similar questions: who we are? Why are we here? Can we change it?

Great episode. I’d love more of such brilliant little stories.

Picardo factor

Yes! I love him as an actor, and he is absolutely marvelous as The Warhead.