What Did You Think of Depressed Janeway in the Episode Night?

[Ro_Laren]

The Season Five premiere of Voyager was the episode Night. In this episode Voyager is crossing a two year long area of space that is void of stars / planets / interesting stellar phenomena. Anyways, the crew get sad, jumpy, grumpy, etc. We also see Janeway locking herself in her quarters because she is so depressed. She doesn't come out to see the crew and the crew seems to think she is neglecting the duties of a Captain. It seems as if she spends the whole time in her quarters wallowing in regret over her past decision to destroy the Caretaker array thus stranding her crew (and Chakotay's crew) in the Delta Quadrant. Later in the episode she orders the Senior staff to abandon her so they can cut two years off of her journey and so she can save the species that lives in the Void. They of course refuse and everything ends up okay in the end.

IMO, this is one of Janeway's worst moment as a Captain. Yes, it is understandble that she would dislike being in the Void as much as the next crewman. It is also understandable that she could regret her decision to strand her crew in the Delta Quadrant. But, she was always so good at putting on a brave front for the crew. She definitely failed to put up that front in this episode. It would be one thing if she had just been a little sad in front of everyone. But instead she locks herself in her quarters for who knows how long. The crew knows that she is locking herself away because she is depressed. And then the way in which she wanted to sacrifice herself was wrong. It seemed as if she was most interested in trying to make herself feel better by "atoning for past sins." The senior staff saw right through what she was trying to do.

I know we all have our moments where we falter and don't "live up to expectations." Well, this episode was definitely one of those moments for Janeway.

 

[Triskelion]

Yes I agree, it rubbed me slightly the wrong way. It wasn't the depression, it was her attitude towards Chakotay, and her inability to even show herself at all--felt a bit like she was rejecting her crew even more.

Question is, why? What happened? Just a lack of distractions?
Seems it should have had some impetus that started the depression, such as jealousy or loss or being screwed over by aliens.

And don't tell me there wasn't a great deal of research to catch up on! "What I wouldn't give for a few Borg cubes about now"? Really? Borg? I just didn't buy that.

 

[Smiley]

It was a bad decision on the producers' part. That's not the Janeway we knew the first four years of the show. Thankfully, the third String Theory book has a good explanation for her behavior.

 

[Michael]

I rather liked the idea of the depressed Captain. It made her so much more human. I wish the series would have had more such ideas. It may not come as a surprise that "Night" is one of my favorite episodes of Voyager.

 

[Kegek]

I felt it was a little contrived; both in reasoning and resolution. But I liked the idea and it gave a nice little dramatic arc over the course of the episode. Delaying the appearance of Janeway, having people talk about her absence, and then have her only appear in a darkened quarters was very effective; as was the psychological effects of the black emptiness, like Neelix's nihilophobia (a rare effective use of the character). Those were the stronger parts of the episode.

Well, that and Captain Proton.

 

[Michael]

^ You know what, Kegek? You just made me wanna rewatch that episode.

 

[Kegek]

Rewatched it recently myself, around a month ago.

 

[THE_FETT]

I'd agree that this episode is one of Janeway's less stellar moments as captain, but one of her better moments as human. It's hard to imagine how a person would deal with the self-criticism in a situation like that. You've stranded your crew on the other side of the galaxy; you've basically taken everything they know away from them- family, friends and lives. You think you've done that for the right reason, and that your call was justified. But, there's always going to be the doubt. You know, maybe it wasn't the right reason. Maybe the green captain made the bad call and your crew is paying the price. So when there's stars to explore, and cultures to meet, and gaseous anomalies to investigate, you can put the doubt in the back of your mind, out of the way. But in that region of darkness they were traveling through, you'd have all the time in the world to reflect. I mean, that place was bleak. And not only is it bleak, and everyone is all bleaked out, but you're the one who put them here in the bleakness. Right or wrong, you put your crew there. I'm not sure how I'd expect someone in her situation to act, but I give her a pass on this moment. But it does show vulnerability, and that makes her more human, even if it makes her less invincible.

 

[cylkoth]

It was a bad decision on the producers' part. That's not the Janeway we knew the first four years of the show. Thankfully, the third String Theory book has a good explanation for her behavior.

Ugh...We should not have to buy a book in order to get information that should have been included in the actual episode.
I had no idea this was a season premiere episode. I have no idea how I would've reacted to this after waiting a long hot summer, only to get this first up. Not saying it was horrible, but Janeway's behavior was truly out of character.

 

[AuntKate]

I don't like to think of Janeway getting into a funk like this, but when you place this episode against the season 4 finale ("Hope and Fear") where they are fooled by Arturis into thinking Starfleet has sent them a ship (Dauntless) to get them home quickly, it might help us understand her depression. They thought they had a ticket home, only to have it cruelly pulled away. And, Arturis makes her see how her decisions, which she believes are made for the greater good, can have a negative effect on others, even when she is unaware of it.

And I really think THE_FETT is right about the boredom of the Void being another big part of the problem. The early scenes show how everyone is suffering from that lack of challenge, and all of them might be realizing, for the first time, just how long it's taken to go this far and how much farther they have to go. It lets us know that she stays busy to keep from thinking about the seeming impossibility of getting home--when we've come to expect limitless optimism from her. At last, we see that she isn't stupid; she knows what they're facing.

While everyone else has some kind of work to do, Janeway doesn't. Chakotay admits that she can run the ship fine from her quarters, and she's doing that--with his help. She's aware of what's going on, she just doesn't want contact with other people, doesn't want to be confronted with their boredom, loneliness, and blame (whether they really feel it or she simply senses it). It does make her more human, shows that she isn't invincible, and reminds us that she is a captain who always chooses ACTION first.

When the rubber meets the road, she's there, with Betsy in hand, ready to put her life on the line, if necessary, to help and protect her crew. What's important here isn't her depression--it's her reappearance at full power when needed.

 

[kimc]

When the rubber meets the road, she's there, with Betsy in hand, ready to put her life on the line, if necessary, to help and protect her crew. What's important here isn't her depression--it's her reappearance at full power when needed.

Well put. I agree her depression does make sense when you consider the season finale from the previous episode. Perhaps a line or two referring to Arturis would have made things a bit clearer.

 

[propita]

When the rubber meets the road, she's there, with Betsy in hand, ready to put her life on the line, if necessary, to help and protect her crew. What's important here isn't her depression--it's her reappearance at full power when needed.

Well put. I agree her depression does make sense when you consider the season finale from the previous episode. Perhaps a line or two referring to Arturis would have made things a bit clearer.

Great idea--"a line or two."

Unfortunately, that would've required the studio to allow continuity and Voyager had already used too much of its all-too-small allotment.

BTW, what was said in "String Theory"? Something more than a reference to Arturus?

 

[Ro_Laren]

When the rubber meets the road, she's there, with Betsy in hand, ready to put her life on the line, if necessary, to help and protect her crew. What's important here isn't her depression--it's her reappearance at full power when needed.

Well put. I agree her depression does make sense when you consider the season finale from the previous episode. Perhaps a line or two referring to Arturis would have made things a bit clearer.

Great idea--"a line or two."

Unfortunately, that would've required the studio to allow continuity and Voyager had already used too much of its all-too-small allotment.

BTW, what was said in "String Theory"? Something more than a reference to Arturus?

If someone does answer the questiona about "String Theory" then please use spoiler codes. I haven't read it yet!!!

 

[kimc]

When the rubber meets the road, she's there, with Betsy in hand, ready to put her life on the line, if necessary, to help and protect her crew. What's important here isn't her depression--it's her reappearance at full power when needed.

Well put. I agree her depression does make sense when you consider the season finale from the previous episode. Perhaps a line or two referring to Arturis would have made things a bit clearer.

Great idea--"a line or two."

Unfortunately, that would've required the studio to allow continuity and Voyager had already used too much of its all-too-small allotment.

However we did get to see Janeway with her pal "Betsy" again so there's some continuity.

 

[Ro_Laren]

Who's Betsy?

 

[kimc]

Who's Betsy?

It's a nickname for the large compression rifle she sometimes carries.

 

[scorpius1701]

It should have been better than it was. It just came from out of nowhere and was resolved just as fast. It barely even registered with me that she was depressed.

 

[Smiley]

When the rubber meets the road, she's there, with Betsy in hand, ready to put her life on the line, if necessary, to help and protect her crew. What's important here isn't her depression--it's her reappearance at full power when needed.

Well put. I agree her depression does make sense when you consider the season finale from the previous episode. Perhaps a line or two referring to Arturis would have made things a bit clearer.

Great idea--"a line or two."

Unfortunately, that would've required the studio to allow continuity and Voyager had already used too much of its all-too-small allotment.

BTW, what was said in "String Theory"? Something more than a reference to Arturus?

Spoiler: String Theory

As a result of the weirdness Janeway went through in those books, she would be prone to mood swings and sometimes irrational behavior. If the crew made her aware of the condition, then she would relapse into insanity. It makes much more sense in context, believe me.

To respond to the comment made earlier, the creators should have addressed Janeway's odd behavior and many other issues over the course of the show. Since they didn't, however, it's nice to see the fiction tackle a few of the loose ends.

 

[Eminence]

I liked it when she came back to her senses and started kicking ass again.

 

[freak]

I really loved this episode of Voyager. However, I didn't like the way Janeway dismissed Chakotay when he asked her to go to the holodeck with him. I would have gone with him in a heartbeat! Anyway, all joking aside, I did like the idea of a depressed Janeway but felt she should have shown it more in the second season of the show then all of a sudden in the fifth season. She shouldn't have blamed herself for the destruction of the Caretaker's Array. She HAD to do it because the Kazon could have gotten ahold of it and all hell would break loose! Anyway, this was my most favorite episode of Voyager because all the lights went out in the ship and it was the first introduction to Tom Paris's Captain Proton holoprogram.