An interesting episode that deals with the question of what actually happened to all the probes that we humans sent into space to make first contact with alien civilizations.
Voyager is supposed to recover a probe that was sent out 300 years ago and was actually intended to share knowledge and technology. But just like when ordering from cheap Chinese online shops: you can throw the manuals straight into the trash can because of the incomprehensible nonsense. The species that received the probe apparently misunderstood something in the technical specifications for antimatter technology and thus irradiated their entire planet. Happens, but at least the kids can now sled and build snowmen all year round - thanks to the nuclear winter.
In essence, this episode can be compared to what has happened regularly in our own history, when developed civilizations have encountered seemingly less developed civilizations. Be it native Americans, the cultures of Central and South America, feudal Japan, African peoples... When these cultures came into contact with Western culture, their way of life often not only changed drastically, but often also worsened. If a civilization has not yet crossed a certain technological threshold itself, technology introduced from outside often leads to disruptive, unpredictable changes in these cultures.
However, I wonder why humans continued to launch such probes into space after Cochrane carried out his warp flight and made first contact with the Vulcans. It would have made more sense to contact other species through the Vulcans instead of randomly launching a few probes into space.
And as is always when a crew member has to bite the dust on an away mission - then one of the many nameless officers is taken and given a generic name like Joe for his five minutes screen time.