Despite usually coming with unique premises, Star Trek: Voyager Decided to copy with two episodes from seasons 5 and 7. Voyager Season 5 was one of the best shows, with more good episodes than bad Unlike some of the times that came before. VoyagerThe cast of characters also reached its peak with the inclusion of Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) the season before and was able to start turning in great performances each time. This was first demonstrated in the season premiere episode, “Night,” which set the tone for season 5 as a whole.
The plot of “Night” is focused on the USS. Voyager traveling through a region of space completely devoid of stars and planets. The episode picked up after the crew had already made their way through “The void” for two months. Rather than start with action, “Night” chose to devote its first half to examining the complex psychological and emotional effects that isolation had. On Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Voyager’s crew. “Night” was a wonderful way to kick off season 5, but unfortunately, it wasn’t the only one Voyager episode with the same premise.
Star Trek: Voyager’s “Night” and “The Void” have the same premise
It is easy to mix “the void” and “night”.
VoyagerThe season 7 episode “The Void” has an extremely similar premise to “Night,” so much so that it’s all too easy to mix up the two episodes. As the name says, “The Void” also featured the USS Voyager being trapped in a region of space with no stars or planets.. in the Voyager In the case of the Season 7 episode, the ship was pulled into the area rather than choosing to travel through it, but the area they occupied in both episodes was remarkably similar in makeup, both seemingly without any native matter or inhabitants.
With all the similarities, it would be easy to think that “The Void” was just as good an episode as “Night”. Unfortunately, this was not the case.
Likewise, both “Night” and “The Void” featured Voyager’s crew knowing that a native species had, in fact, occupied the area of ​​space they were in, and that species was the key to their escape. Again, the two species were slightly different, but both were considered vermin or pests by other aliens Voyager encountered, and The crew ends up helping both sets of aliens when no one else would. With all the similarities, it would be easy to think that “The Void” was just as good an episode as “Night”. Unfortunately, this was not the case.
Why “Night” Is a Better Star Trek: Voyager Episode Than “The Void”
“Night” better keep back
Overall, “Night” holds up better than “The Void” in retrospect. One of the main reasons is that “Night” came first, airing in season 5 while “The Void” aired in season 7. This makes it hard not to see “The Void” as a take-off from “Night” instead of the other way around. It is hard to believe that VoyagerThe creative team was not inspired by “Night” when writing “The Void,” And any reused story ideas are watered down when compared to the original. The best thing about “Night,” however, was its wonderfully complex exploration of VoyagerS letters and relationships.
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“Night” provided an interesting psychological look at almost every main character, and even demonstrated how far the crew had come in their relationships with each other. The exploration of Captain Janeway’s depression and guilt over stranding everyone in the Delta Quadrant was truly rivetingAnd watching the crew rally to stop Janeway as she attempted a would-be suicide mission to save the ship is arguably one of the most heartbreaking scenes during Voyagers run. In contrast, “The Void” abandons an even remotely emotional angle in favor of a more sci-fi lean and action sequences.
“Night” and “The Void” aren’t even Star Trek: Voyager’s worst examples of similar episodes
Voyager has other examples of episodes that are similar as well
Although the similarities between “Night” and “The Void” diminish the impact of both episodes, they are not the worst example of Voyager Copying in a boring way. Perhaps the most egregious example of this is the season 4 episode “Random Things,” Which horribly deleted the premises of two previous episodes. “Random Thoughts” copied elements from both “Meld” and “Ex Post Facto,” two episodes that were much better on their own, but when smashed together created a completely forgettable episode that added very little to season 4.
In addition to its own episodes, Voyager is even known to imitate other series in the Star Trek Franchise. The season 1 Voyager Episode “Jetrel” for example, was a much worse remake of one of Star Trek: Deep Space Nines best episodes, “duet.” Voyager “Duet’s” premise by making it about Neelix (Ethan Phillips) and not nailing the emotional beats of the story in the same way as DS9 Has with principal Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor). when Star Trek: Voyager Created unique episodes, it usually did well, but trying to copy itself or other series almost always ends up cheapening one or both.