The Prime Directive is often mentioned on the Trek shows. Its concept is that the Federation should NOT interfere with native species and allow them to grow naturally. Here they play lipservice to it at times.
Chakotay does some lousy piloting of the shuttle and gets way too close to an area they were told not to approach! The invisible shield above smashes their craft and he and Seven crash through the barrier and land below. There they encounter a very primitive tribe of nice tribal folks and almost immediately Chakotay starts interacting with them. I guess that the Prime Directive was recently repealed. Seven, however, thinks that the Prime Directive DOES still apply and disagrees with Chakotay. She then shows her devotion to the Prime Directive by losing her tricorder--something which she never recovers and they eventually leave behind. Later, with the help of the natives, they find a way to contact Voyager. Unfortunately, now the Ledosians plan to improve the lives of these tribesmen---and it's all made possible by the break in the invisible dome caused by the shuttle.
There's another minor plot in which the always impulsive and child- like Paris gets in trouble with some locals due to his hotdogging while piloting his shuttle. They insist that he take a class on how to fly! The Captain agrees and even though he thinks it's beneath him, he takes the class--always looking for a way to skip out this. After all, he IS a man-child and being responsible just ain't how he rolls. Fortunately, his instructor is NOT wowed by Paris' lies and attempts to get out of the class or end it prematurely.
In the end, after massive exposure of the Federation to the tribespeople, the Captain then decides to close this dome forever. This is sort of like deciding your daughter will remain a virgin after she's already had her baby! All in all, a confusing and morally ambiguous episode that just seemed inconsistent and odd to say the least.
