Cinematogrophy in season 5.

Heck, I may be using the wrong word, but....

While re-re-rewatching season 5, I couldn't help but notice how different the show looks. Closer shots, more close-ups, darker lighting, different camera angles.

Is that just me, or does season 5 really stick out when it comes to that?

 

I think a darker version of Voyager was what they were going for that year, as evidenced by the story lines. I call that year the dark night of the soul, and everyone went through it in one form or another.

Janeway in "Night", B'Elanna in "Extreme Risk" & Juggernaut", Tuvok in "Gravity", Chakotay in "Fight", Seven in "Infinite Regress" & "Dark Frontier", Kim in "Timeless" & "Disease", Tom in "Thirty Days", the EMH in "Latent Image", Neelix in "Once Upon a Time".

Its like they (Voyager's crew) have finally come to the realization that this is their new reality, a trip of decades stretching ahead of them without a magical being to transport them home in a blink of an eye. Enough people have died that their own mortality is very much in danger.

Sure, they are nowhere near the dire straights the crew of the Equinox have found themselves in by year 5 of THEIR journey, but its bad enough to make our stalwart crew on the Voyager to ask... "Is this all there is?"

 

Season 5 is my favorite!!! I love the look and feel of it. Also if I'm not mistaken I think they had a higher special effects budget by then? Not sure if that fact is correct or not though.

 

I noticed it when they introduced Seven.
Every place on the ship before her was fairly well lit and comfortable.
They at first made Seven's cargo bay a very dark and creepy.
Everybody that dare enter, did so with apprehension.
How most eps involving her reminded you that being Borg, still made her dangerous.
The tone became darker.
Janeway even had gone from being optimistic when offered a quick way home, too being pessimistic that it was just another hoax. After season 3, Janeway was less interested in discovering new quasars of the DQ and looking for more direct routes to an energy source.

 

Atleast I know it's not just me.

I do really like season 5, for me personally the last great Voyager. First time around, I stopped watching at the beginning of season 6. I'm glad I took the change later on to catch up, because there were some good eps in season 6 and 7, but nothing as good as seasons 4 and 5.

 

Last time I watched through Voyager I definitely noticed a distinct improvement in the writing in season 5.