Star Trek: Voyager: Night   Rewatch 
November 23, 2017 5:27 AM - Season 5, Episode 1 - Subscribe

There's something about this that's so black, it's like how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black.

Memory Alpha will not go gentle into that good night:

- The Void was a plot element that executive producer Brannon Braga considered to be risky. He remarked, "To kick off the season, why not have Voyager hit a region of space that is utterly devoid of anything? It's a dangerous way to start a story, of course." However, Braga also hoped that the region would add a particularly realistic element to the episode. "These are the realities of space travel," he said, "and I hope it adds something of reality to the show. A little more down and dirty, maybe."

- This episode was originally to have included a perilous, unusual planet amid The Void. "With 'Night', we originally had this expanse [of empty space] and then somewhere in the middle of it we were going to find this planet which was essentially going to be the alien equivalent of King Tut's tomb," said co-writer Joe Menosky. "We had this huge, ancient temple and these creatures which are half-alive and half-dead and came flying out like locusts and attacked the ship. I wrote at least 10 pages of that stuff, and that's what everybody was expecting to see. The outline and the story had been done, and we just looked at it and thought, 'This isn't working,' and it was all thrown out [....] We gutted the script and turned it into something else."

- Prior to the airing of this episode, Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky were both enthusiastic about the installment. Braga referred to it as "a sweeping adventure" and described the issue of Voyager finding itself in the Void as the ship's "greatest predicament yet." Joe Menosky said of the episode, "It gets the season off to a pretty good start [...] and it will have a very interesting coming together at the end." Sometime thereafter, however, Braga and Menosky became considerably less confident of the installment. Braga admitted, "I don't feel that the night aliens and the Malon freighter guys were all that captivating. I liked it, but I wouldn't say it was one of our best." Menosky's disgruntlement with the episode was more about the effectiveness of Janeway's depression. He complained, "I don't think it was really sold. If you are going to have a big crisis like that, you can't do it in the course of a single episode, wrap it up at the end and make it believable. It was the wrong way to go, and it did not come off particularly well, no excuses. It was just a lot of pieces of different story elements."

- At the 2008 Las Vegas Star Trek convention, Robert Picardo recalled this episode, saying, "I remember we went through a portion of space once that was called the 'Night'. And there was no power and there was a little alien that looked like a large tootsie roll and he was called the 'Captain's log!'"


"Take a look around you. This is how the twentieth century saw the future. We are studying sociology."
(Sarcastically) "Perhaps you can teach a course at Starfleet Academy: 'Satan's Robot: An Historical Overview.'"

- Paris and The Doctor, arguing over holodeck time


"Why don't we make a schedule – a fight rotation? We can optimize our resources: I can start one, then you can start one..."
"I am really tired of these games."
"Well, then, don't play them."

- Paris and Torres, bickering in front of Neelix in the mess hall


"Needless to say, the view from my quarters has been less than stellar lately."

- Tuvok, on the lack of stars for thousands of light years


"It's the captain. As you may have noticed, she's isolated herself from the crew..."
"She believes that she made an error in judgment four years ago. That she's responsible for stranding Voyager in the Delta Quadrant."
"She told you?"
"No. I've been observing her behavior for the past four years. Guilt has been her constant companion."

- Chakotay and Tuvok


"I suggest you try Borg regeneration. It's much more efficient. A simple cortical implant would be required."
"Another time, perhaps."

- Seven of Nine and Tuvok, on Tuvok's meditations


Poster's Log:
I will be the first, and possibly not the last, to admit that when Janeway was berating herself here, I found myself responding "Yyyeeep!" a la Lana Kane a few times.

But I love Captain Proton—as an MST3K fanatic it'd be hard for me NOT to—and I'll go so far as to say this was the perfect episode to introduce it. Great tonal contrast between the black mood of the story outside the holodeck and the ridiculous whimsy inside, and great visual symbolism with the blackness outside and the bright-grey of the program. Likewise, the Malon are a neat idea, pretty well-executed overall by the series IIRC, and the ickiness of Janeway's emotional state here again meshes thematically with their whole garbage thing. Really, from a writing POV, this episode seems like it's got some depth! …but OTOH, those thematic connections COULD have been accidental. And though a lot of the character stuff here was good and some of the dialogue was fun, I found other dialogue here to be cringe-inducingly awkward, noticeably moreso than usual, which is odd.

But kudos to their bold choice of starting the season on such a bleak note. As we have said before and will likely say again, VOY needed more episodes with this kind of gritty, uncompromising concept. But even here, I feel like it could have been bolder. I agree with the writers' self-assessment that the episode was too jam-packed with stuff. The Malon dumping story alone is so rich with potential (and so sadly reflective of actual Earth history) that this could have been a two-parter. It might've made a damn good two-parter, really; the tearful finale would've felt more earned, for instance.

So yeah, I like this one, but it's very uneven. Bernd at Ex Astris Scientia points out a couple of glaring goofs: the fact that the Captain Proton program "is still black & white after the complete power system failure. Furthermore, Seven is able to use a holographic ray gun to shoot at the alien. How is this possible without power?"

Poster's Log, Supplemental:
Interesting aside: the final season of DS9 aired alongside VOY's fifth season.

The MA page for VOY season 5 says this about the season, but I detected a whiff of editorializing, so I'm putting it here and not with the other stuff above:
It should perhaps be noted that it is within season five that the first hints of dissension in the ranks of the principal actors begins to make itself known. A closer look at the episodes reveals that season five remained top-heavy with stories centering on Seven of Nine and her relationship with Janeway, and if anything, encounters with the Borg increased as a result. The one other principal actor whose story-lines and character development appears to have suffered as a result is clearly Robert Beltran as Chakotay. With this in mind, it is perhaps not surprising that during and after season five, Beltran began to become more vocal and illustrative of his dissatisfaction with the direction the series appeared to be taking. Beltran was however not alone, as some critics of the show had begun to liken Voyager to the "Janeway and Seven of Nine show." It may be fair to say that Voyager's high-water mark had been reached with the advent of "Scorpion" and the rapturous applause for the series during season four had perhaps begun to wear off.

And speaking of weird editorializing, check out the tone in the write-up for the guy who played Chaotica, who I guess I must've seen on Frasier because he feels familiar to me somehow.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil (7 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Particle of the Week: Theta radiation.
Pointless STO Comparison of the Week: The Malon are a routine presence in Star Trek Online's Delta Rising content - they're featured in several missions and a Malon freighter is available as a lockbox drop. (It's more powerful than Voyager, but as with most retrofit villain ships, nowhere near what we see onscreen.)

Ongoing Counts:
* Maximum Possible Photon Torpedoes: 4. This was a rough week for Voyager's torpedo count: they used 1 as a flare, I counted 9 shots fired at the Malon cruiser and 3 to close the vortex.
* Shuttles: Down 8.
* Crew: 135.
* Credulity Straining Alpha Quadrant Contacts: 9.
* Janeway's Big Red Button: 2 aborted self-destructs, 1 successful, 1 game of chicken, 1 ramming speed.

Notes:
* Historical note: this was the last time I tried to keep up with Voyager during the original airing.

'Night' was the last straw for me during the show's run. It wasn't that this episode was specifically terrible - on the contrary, I found it to be another middling Voyager outing. It just seemed to me that after four entire years, I'd given them enough time to get better than that. Also, this came on the heels of so much phenomenal storytelling on DS9.

I did finish up the show after the fact, and there are some real gems later in the run. I mention this mostly because of this:
If you are going to have a big crisis like that, you can't do it in the course of a single episode, wrap it up at the end and make it believable. It was the wrong way to go, and it did not come off particularly well, no excuses. It was just a lot of pieces of different story elements."
They weren't wrong. There are loads of good ideas here that are all half-baked, IMO. I feel more charitable about it now, but the assessment stands.

* Captain Proton 4 lyfe.

But I love Captain Proton—as an MST3K fanatic it'd be hard for me NOT to—and I'll go so far as to say this was the perfect episode to introduce it. Great tonal contrast between the black mood of the story outside the holodeck and the ridiculous whimsy inside, and great visual symbolism with the blackness outside and the bright-grey of the program.

Starting with the good: I agree wholeheartedly. Captain Proton is my favorite use of the holodeck in all of Trek canon, including the entire world actually being monochrome. I also about died when Seven casually disabled Satan's robot and asked permission to leave. (Rarely has anyone been miscast worse than Seven of Nine as 'Constance Goodheart.')

Addressing this:

Bernd at Ex Astris Scientia points out a couple of glaring goofs: the fact that the Captain Proton program "is still black & white after the complete power system failure. Furthermore, Seven is able to use a holographic ray gun to shoot at the alien. How is this possible without power?"

Seven claims 'independent systems' are still operational, citing life support and the holodeck specifically, meaning the simulation could still be running, (including functional prop weapons). However, that doesn't explain why it froze, no explanation is given as to why such a broad spectrum power drain wouldn't affect specific subsystems and there isn't a good explanation for the sim lights going off.

Basically, nothing about that sequence makes sense even given that they spent ten seconds trying to explain it.

* We get another dose of 'no idea why they can't just go around.'

I got the impression this was maybe a gap between the spiral arms of the galaxy itself, but no matter what the Void was, I'm unclear as to why they couldn't skirt the edge. (I get that it would've added years to their journey, but without the possibility of resupply? They were leaving themselves in a crazy vulnerable position. Positing it as a risky choice versus inevitability would've helped for my suspension of disbelief.)

* I agreed with Neelix's suggestion of cross-training.

We had a rare moment where I felt like Neelix was totally right, suggesting people rotate duties and learn new specialties. On that note, Harry was right to suggest thinking about this as a vacation instead of a prison sentence.

* Janeway demonstrates some *very* poor captainship here.

Janeway choosing to brood and isolate in the middle of a two-plus year predicament demonstrates that she isn't fit to be captain, IMO. It is in character: this particular flaw was established pretty well in Year of Hell, but it's just... not acceptable in a good leader.

It's true that the situation with the Caretaker's array was both entirely her fault and possibly avoidable, but that's also beside the point at this juncture: it was her call to make at the time, and wallowing in it really was hurting crew morale.

* The Malon guy is believable.

The Malon dumping story alone is so rich with potential (and so sadly reflective of actual Earth history) that this could have been a two-parter.

Agreed again. I particularly liked him coming on board, hearing them out and then rejecting the entire idea because it'd put him out of business. (I'm surprised they didn't try to suggest 'hey take whatever the patents are for this and become way richer,' but Starfleet types are canonically bad at money, so I can give that a pass.)

This part of the story was tragic and believable, and could've sustained a longer story.

I'll probably be back with more observations after mulling this over some more, but I think I'm out of steam for now.

On a Thanksgiving note: I'm thankful for these threads. Picking apart Voyager is still a lot of fun during a year where I could really use the distraction.
posted by mordax at 1:53 AM on November 24, 2017 [3 favorites]


I'm also of the opinion that this episode, while having a lot of good ideas in it, is a great example of the ten percent syndrome, where they didn't go quite far enough in working out the various ideas, which by themselves are great.

- I got the impression this was maybe a gap between the spiral arms of the galaxy itself, but no matter what the Void was, I'm unclear as to why they couldn't skirt the edge. Because the gaps in the spiral arms are themselves part of the spiral--there's no going around them. Here's a map (somewhat speculative, as the galactic core bars direct observation of a big wedge of it) of the Milky Way Galaxy, from the MW Wikipedia article, showing the known and projected arms of the galaxy. Say that Voyager is about where the "Nor" line intersects the Carina-Sagittarius arm. It could follow the C-A arm around and end up near Earth and the Federation... or it could move along the Nor line, going through several gaps, and have a much shorter path back. That's the dilemma that we've already seen on the show several times: go around and add years to the trip, or power on through and risk isolation or hostile powers barring the way or Seven going nuts by herself. I don't have the math to figure out how much longer following the arm would be vs. going straight-line, but it might add as much as a decade to the trip. (Incidentally, this is the map of Voyager's projected trip from Star Trek Star Charts; I don't think that it's exactly canon--it's derived from canon when possible, but has to occasionally reconcile inconsistencies.) That they'd occasionally have to stock up as best as possible and simply set off across the arm gaps makes a lot of sense to me; for one thing, the gaps aren't completely empty of stars (they're just a lot more sparse), and I'd think that they'd have plenty of storage space. (Most of the time, Voyager seems to get along pretty well with a crew of a hundred and change, but the ship itself is nearly as big as the Constellation-class Enterprise, which crewed around 400. That's got to leave a lot of space for storage.)

- I think that the crew would have a lot of diversions on long boring voyages; they've got literature, they've got centuries' worth of video, and we've seen that they can create their own holodeck adventures. It would have been fun to see the crew show up to the bridge in whatever holodeck costume they'd had on: Paris in his Captain Proton outfit (maybe still all chiaroscuro because the monochromatic look had been achieved with makeup), Tuvok in his TOS-era Starfleet uniform, B'Elanna in an original TOS version Klingon woman's uniform, etc. Neelix's idea about cross-training is also a good one; it's part of serving aboard a submarine (known as qualifications or "quals"), and might avoid such situations as, say, the chief helm officer being required to substitute as a nurse.

- And, in general, I think that it would have been good if they'd had the crew go through the two years or so to cross the gap; not in show time, but just to say that it had been a year-and-a-half in the Void at this point, which would have made Janeway's breakdown a bit more plausible. I think that there's already been some groundwork laid for the idea that Janeway used the discoveries in the Delta Quadrant to assuage her guilt over not having chosen to use the Caretake Array rather than destroy it (although, with a more jaundiced eye, I'd say that part of the guilt is her realizing that using timed explosives would have solved her problems), and without fun new discoveries as a distraction, it starts to wear on her. TOS made much of the loneliness and stresses of command, even with Kirk having generally congenial relationships with his crew, and Kirk was never that far (with a few exceptions) from other Starfleet commanders and facilities, or for that long. I thought that the ep made it pretty clear that much of Janeway's isolation was of her own doing; I got a little lump in my throat when the crew's response to her self-sacrificial plan was basically "Like hell you will."

- I liked the Malons--as much as DS9 and TNG had preached about the evils of capitalism via the Ferengi, this shows how physically ugly and destructive the profits-above-all-else paradigm can be--but I wish that we'd had a bit more time with the Night aliens. There's a lesson that's been done in the franchise before, but worth repeating there, about how the Federation can sometimes have difficulty recognizing life that doesn't fit in their preconceptions (arguably, this was the takeaway from "Demon"), and how it can aid them.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:56 AM on November 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


That they'd occasionally have to stock up as best as possible and simply set off across the arm gaps makes a lot of sense to me;

Under *normal* circumstances, I'd agree. This basically bothers me for a couple of reasons over and above a standard arm gap jump:

- The theta radiation.

In the episode, they tend to play it like all that radiation is doing is making stuff dark, but theta radiation is crazy lethal, and that's what's causing the blackout. Under normal circumstances, resupply would just be difficult, but it's almost certainly impossible here.

Worse than that, this means normal means of handling total ship failure are impossible: if Voyager suffers a catastrophe, they can't survive by making for the escape pods because the supplies won't last long enough, nor can they reasonably use a shuttle as a support craft to just go get what they need.

Those wouldn't be considerations in a standard gap, for the reasons you just went over - normally, resupply would just be difficult, and there would be no additional strain on escape pods or shuttlecraft trying to make for one of the rare systems in the void. This is more 'Voyager collectively chooses to visit the basement of a haunted house in a horror movie.'

- The Dauntless.

This is also strange timing because it comes on the heels of them using Voyager at quantum slipstream speeds. Like, 'can they go that fast?' was just definitively answered with 'yes.'

It's down to an engineering problem now, and those are experiments they cannot continue without ready access to - *facepalm* - deuterium and miscellaneous rare elements to replace anything they burn out trying. Taking an extra ten years to circle around is a different calculation now than at any other time - it's putting off making a huge technological leap that they know is possible.

Basically, Night would've made a ton more sense at any time other than 'immediately after the events of Hope and Fear.' Like, just flip the episode order and this makes both episodes twice as plausible for me. (In fact, I think that's my suggestion for 'how would we fix this?' - just swap the order these two episodes are written in, and they reinforce each other instead of making this seem nonsensical to me.)

And, in general, I think that it would have been good if they'd had the crew go through the two years or so to cross the gap; not in show time, but just to say that it had been a year-and-a-half in the Void at this point, which would have made Janeway's breakdown a bit more plausible.

Yeah, that would've cleared that up for me. As it is, we have 'Janeway folded after like a month.' That's... you know, that's just not good.

'Janeway folded after 18 months?' Sure, why not? Anybody might.

I liked the Malons--as much as DS9 and TNG had preached about the evils of capitalism via the Ferengi, this shows how physically ugly and destructive the profits-above-all-else paradigm can be

Yeah, the Ferengi are kept pretty bloodless because of Quark's presence on DS9, IMO. As it is, a lot of his claims about them are disingenuous - Quark contends that they never kept slaves, but given the way they treat their women, I don't believe it. He also claims they've never been to war, but I don't buy that either - Ferengi marauders have some serious firepower.

But he's a regular, and they can only make him and his people so despicable.

Since the Malon are purely antagonistic, they don't pull any punches here, and that's a lot better.

There's a lesson that's been done in the franchise before, but worth repeating there, about how the Federation can sometimes have difficulty recognizing life that doesn't fit in their preconceptions (arguably, this was the takeaway from "Demon"), and how it can aid them.

Yeah, this is another reason turning this into a two-parter might've been the right move, IMO. As it was, just the setup for their predicament requires so much time that I'm not sure what they would've cut to offer us that, but it would've been pretty great. (If nothing else, the aliens could've helped them survive the additional two years they needed to spend in the gap if they wrecked the vortex before leaving - presumably, those guys know how to get food/air/parts for repairs/etc.)
posted by mordax at 10:44 AM on November 25, 2017 [1 favorite]


I liked this episode much more on rewatch than on first viewing, in part because it's only now I recognize it as a conceptual two parter that builds off the previous episode, Hope and Fear. This episode, references Janeway's initial decision to destroy the Caretaker, but also could be seen as building from the choice to aid the Borg in stopping Species 8472 that led to the destruction of Arturis' people, Species 116. The issue for Janeway is the stress coming from making life and death decisions and seeing and reflecting on the results of those choices. It is, essentially, a PTSD episode, where the absence of, well, anything in the void has forced her to reflect on things she otherwise was too consumed by her command to think about. Without the opportunity to get away from the ship and her command to deal with these issues more effectively, such as Picard was able to do after his rescue from the Borg, Janeway has no way to both deal with the pent up emotions and her duty as captain given Voyager's unique situation.

In a way, this could be seen as less a failing of Janeway's and more one of the doctor, Chakotay, and the crew for not taking the necessary medical steps to help Janeway by intervening for medical reasons, but given the lack of facilities and appropriate personnel, the effectiveness of any intervention would be limited. Only when the crew removes some of the burden of responsibility of past choices, noting acceptance and sharing it among themselves does the immediacy of the stress lift in a situation that, handily, echoes that of the Caretaker. (And a foreshadows that of the finale.)

While it's all well and good for us to wonder about alternative choices Janeway could have made along the way that weren't addressed, liked timed charges on the Caretaker array, the show limits the effective decisions only what was addressed at the time, that of using the array and leaving it to fall into the Kazon's hands, or destroying it. Adding viewer alternatives moves away from the premises of the show and goes beyond the established conditions faced, even as the questions themselves are understandable. The story here works, well for me anyway, as coming from the shows own established "facts", unlike some other episodes that seem to run counter to the shows own values, like Equinox part 2, for example.

Within those constraints, I think this episode does some really good work with re-establishing the cast and their relationships. The fighting between Tom and B'Elanna was a bit too heavy perhaps as that really does threaten to define their relationship much more than the other feelings they share, but with the point of the endless blackness inducing stress it makes some sense, but could have used a bit more finesse. Neelix has been firmly shifted into being a much better character since the episode where he questioned his existence, which this episode echoes usefully. Harry's optimism is put to good use here, bothered the least by the dark, likely in part due to the continued homeward trajectory of the ship. The doctor and Seven are good in support here, with enough touches to show connection to past behavior and values, while also pointing towards some change in Seven's part. While Chakotay and Tuvok are reestablished in their roles and relationships to Janeway in useful ways. It's mostly to the good and cleverly done.

The Captain Proton opening was really nice and the use of the program a welcome one for a holodeck that certainly needed something enjoyable for the viewers for a change, and the Malon are an interesting addition to Trek, almost seeming out of place for the hint of complexity in the actions here, as limited as it is, since its less about a race "wearing a hat" and more about choices made. That too builds a bit off the last episode with Arturis.

It's a good season opener, a fine continuation from last season, and makes for a strong promise of what should, and sometimes does, lie ahead, even if they don't hold to the promise with complete consistency. It's a continuity episode somewhat hidden in a stand alone package.
posted by gusottertrout at 8:32 PM on November 25, 2017 [3 favorites]


As to the holodeck working during a blackout. If I wanted to justify this, I'd go with the projectors and illumination being on separate "circuits" or power sources, not unlike perhaps the wiring for the microwave and fridge being separate from the lighting in a kitchen. The episode even sort of hints that projectors might have their own "built in" power sources when Neelix talks about adding projectors to one of the cargo bays. In such a move, the cargo bay lighting would undoubtedly stay the same with projectors simply added to the space. How light can be emitted to create objects in total darkness or why they couldn't ask the computer to create some projected light source might be interesting side questions perhaps, but that the projectors could still work while the ship was dark seems possible otherwise.

I have no problem with Voyager choosing to cross the void, even in the face of possible complications since that doesn't seem unlikely and most complications that involve "others" would potentially carry their own solutions as well. The main concern would be internal ship failure of wacky anomalies, but preparing for the latter is difficult at best, which can be seen from their normal encounters, and trusting in the former seems not too hard to accept as a given since that's part of the deal for a crew on a voyage.
posted by gusottertrout at 9:14 PM on November 25, 2017


That they'd occasionally have to stock up as best as possible and simply set off across the arm gaps makes a lot of sense to me;

I have to point out though, the gaps between spiral arms are only different in terms of relative density, and even then only by a factor of 2. The arms are only prominent because the spiral density waves trigger blue-white star formation; most stars in the galaxy pass through spiral arms.

The difference in star distances is only going to be 0.00176 stars/cubic light year vs 0.00352 stars/cubic light year. For an average separation of 8.28 light years between stars vs the average in spiral arms of 6.57 light years.

In other words the gap has nothing to do with spiral arm gaps and is just one of those weird Star Trek things like an energy barrier around the galaxy. Probably just something ate all the stars in that region in the last thousand years or so.
posted by happyroach at 11:53 PM on November 25, 2017 [3 favorites]


Good points, gus; I think somebody pointed out during a first-season FF thread that the show is on its firmest footing when dealing with crew relationships, and this is an important and effective episode for that. If I had to answer the question "What did VOY do consistently better than TNG in terms of writing?", crew relationships would be my first and possibly only response.

Re: Captain Proton, the two MST3K installments that most closely resemble it are fully watchable on YouTube. They are episodes of the popular but now-forgotten TV show Rocky Jones Space Ranger, strung together to resemble movies. They also happen to be among the better MST3K episodes IMO.
Manhunt in Space (Season 4 Episode 13)
Crash of the Moons (Season 4 Episode 17)
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 3:01 AM on November 26, 2017 [1 favorite]


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