The Omega Directive
- FIRST SHOWN (US)
- 15 April 1998
- ON
- UPN
- STARDATE
- 51781.2
- DIRECTED BY
- Victor Lobl
- PRODUCTION NO.
- 189
WRITTEN BYTeleplay by Lisa Klink; story by Jimmy Diggs & Steve J. Kay
A secret Starfleet order flashes onto every screen, and Janeway must carry out a mission so classified she cannot tell her own crew, while Seven sees something the Borg have sought for centuries.
Red alert: the full plot, ending included. Haven't watched yet?REVEAL SYNOPSIS
Voyager's systems suddenly lock out everyone but Janeway and an omega symbol fills every screen. The sensors have detected the Omega molecule, the most powerful substance known, and a classified order, the Omega Directive, requires a captain to destroy it at any cost. A single molecule can wreck subspace and make warp travel impossible across vast regions. Seven reveals that the Borg regard Omega as perfection and once stabilised a molecule for a fraction of a second. Janeway briefs her senior staff and tracks the source to a moon, where a scientist named Allos has been creating Omega in a desperate bid to help his struggling civilisation. Seven argues for stabilising the molecules, but Janeway insists on destroying them. As they are about to be detonated, the molecules briefly stabilise, and Seven experiences a moment she can only describe as spiritual.
- 01Roxann Dawson went into labour just after filming her only scene and gave birth on 16 January 1998, which is why Torres is missing from the briefing.
- 02Brannon Braga felt early drafts were too “dry and intellectual”, so the story was refocused on Seven and a philosophical clash with Janeway.
- 03Visual effects artist Robert Bonchune designed the Omega molecule as a “buckyball” structure surrounded by electron clouds.