Voyager receives its first official Starfleet assignment to locate the historical Friendship One probe.
The concept of the probe is excellent and is an important part of the Star Trek franchise, but unfortunately the plot devised to explore Voyager's mission to retrieve it is unoriginal and not very well done.
I don't have a problem with the themes the writers incorporate nor the points of view presented in the story. I have my own opinions on most of the themes covered Star Trek but don't take the franchise as seriously as some of the more angry reviewers. Ultimately the writers have the creative freedom to incorporate whatever issues they want into the material. End of!
What I struggled with is how annoying the characters become and frustrating it is with the focus fixed solely on the probe's consequences. Personally, I think they should definitely have covered these issues, but not let it dominate the episode. There could have been a short scene or sequence that address the ethics and then concentrated the remaining time on putting it right. Rather than string out a relatively tedious hostage drama, the suspense could have been created from the crew devising and executing the solution.
Oh and the less said about Lt. Joe Carey the better!
Excellent idea, but disappointed they didn't take a different or more original approach.
It's a 5.5/10 for me but I round upwards.