Travelling through a starless region of Space, the Voyager crew begin to get stir crazy. Until they come across a minor war.
This is a weird one. Starting off in the middle of Tom Paris' new creation, a Captain Proton holonovel, Night has plenty to recommend it. This first new innovation is wonderful, especially when the Doctor appears in colour in the middle of the black and white program. Seven's later attempts to 'join in' are also great fun. And this is where Night excels. The characters in Voyager have now had enough time to really come together, and this is evident from a whole bunch of scenes between various crewmembers. You can actually see the affection these people have for each other.
Where the episode goes awry, however, is when it decides to bring in a plot. Frankly, I could have done without the story of a race of, well, they're interplanetary dustmen really, trying to spread their waste in another race's space. The environmental message is hit home with a 300lb lump hammer, and the whole concept is ludicrous and pointless. It would have been more interesting to just watch the crew relationships for the entire episode, especially some nice Janeway/Chakotay moments after the Captain retires to her quarters to mull over her decision to strand her crew light years from home.
And scenes like this are the reason this episode gets such a good mark.
****
Back to theStar Trek: Voyager guide, head back to the main TV reviews page, or return to the main page?
