what was janeway doing in 'the night'?

[Kai Winn]

first she developes a severe depression and has not be seen or heard for weeks by the crew, becomes action kate with the phaser rifle when the photophobic aliens invade the ship, and then she forgets all about federation regulations.
suggests to share fine technology with the malons, and demolishes a wormhole that shaves two years of travel time at high warp crossing that void.
and what about those night aliens? they developed in the vacuum (where did the matter for their bodies and ships come from)? rather not. they more likely came trough the wormhole themselves at some point in the past, and had to travel it to get resources from the other side. the destruction of the wormhole was as deadly to them as the pollution of their space. otherwise, they could have relocated, the expanse is vast, were they live in perfect nothingness doesn't matter, and the malon garbage truck couldn't stray far from the wormhole.

 

[You_Guyz]

I remember being really shocked at Janeway just blowing up the whole damned Malon garbage ship. It seemed pretty cold blooded.

 

[Finn]

Well. Our solar system managed to come into existence despite being in a vacuum.

 

[Finn]

What was she supposed to do? He was killing off a species and was putting up a fight when Voyager tried to do something about it...

 

[Timewalker]

Becoming "action Kate" does not mean Janeway stopped being depressed. As a lifelong sufferer of clinical depression, I know that there are times when I could do violent things and not feel a moment's regret. Thankfully I've never acted on that, but I understand how Janeway could.

 

[JanewayRulz!]

The wormhole(?) was not something the Mahlon race knew about and used frequently. It was a "secret" that one particular Mahlon crew used to their own financial benefit and to the detriment of the orignial inhabitants of the "void". Although she blew up the wormhole(?) she did it only after Voyager got through. The aliens that normally lived there didn't seem to mind her actions, and in fact they worked to help Voyager destroy the secret conduit.

"Cold" though it was to blow up the Mahlon freighter, she did give warning regarding her intentions and an opportunity to use the conduit to go back home one final time. She also had the moral duty as a Federation Officer to come to the aid of another warp capable civilization that requested such aid. Remember, the Mahlons weren't guilty of "littering", they were guilty of dumping toxic waste in another's enviroment, condeming the original residents to a slow and painful death by radiation poisoning. What Star Fleet officer would stand by and do nothing about that injustice?

As for the "severe depression"... in a way I think Janeway was right about her offhanded comment when she told Chakotay that he should tell the crew the Captain was "catching up on her reading". Only, the reading she was catching up with was her own logs, her own conscience. Remember what she told Harry in their first season in the DQ? It was in the ep where he came back from "the dead", "Emanations". She told him to take a few days off, to write to paint, to THINK about the strangeness and wonderfulness of what had occurred to him, because as he got older the wonder is less bright when looked at with jaded glasses.

During their 2?3? months in the void, Janeway took off her jaded glasses and started to think about everything that had happened in the previous 4 years, and 2nd guess herself. The only thing she never 2nd guesses, however, is her primary mission... to get her crew home. The crew "missing her presence" for a few weeks/months, sad though it was, wouldn't imperil that mission. The entire ship losing power and its defenses... now THAT was a problem that she HAD to deal with. Despite her call to arms, her blue funk persisted and we see that as she makes plans to turn control of Voyager over to Chakotay and stay behind to destroy the wormhole.

My second fav shot of the entire episode was when she came onto the Bridge to tell her crew the plan, and everyone is standing up at attention... everyone except B'Elanna. She's standing alright, but with arms crossed, feet planted wide and an attitude that blares in hot neon what she's thinking about Janeway's plan even before the Captain opens her mouth. (You GO Girl!)

I think my fav shot in the entire 7 years of the series, however, is when Voyager is losing their lights shipwide. Suddenly we see Janeway sitting in her room, face scowling as she turns her head to the left while the lights go out in her quarters.

She's BACK and VOYAGER's got her!!!!

 

[You_Guyz]

I just can't see Picard blowing up the entire ship like that.

 

[Kai Winn]

well, i think it would have been reasonable to beam the malon into space when he indicated no willingness to change his business scheme. he was evidently the only crew, and the only one who knew about that wormhole. his bad if he tells that proudly. the charge is genocide, proceedings and execution can be handled unbureaucratically. alternatively, they could have beamed him onto a ship of his friends the night aliens for the processing.
under no circumstances is it justified to destroy a wormhole of such importance. ds9's allows the contact of some regions in the alpha and gamma quadrants, this one linked two spiral arms of the galaxy which are otherwise almost unbridgable.

 

[You_Guyz]

he was evidently the only crew

No, he most likely was not the only crew member.

 

[Tallis Rhul]

I just can't see Picard blowing up the entire ship like that.

In my opinion there's a good chance he wouldn't have.

One thing you need to remember about Janeway even though some people might object to this: she has balls. If something needs blowing up, then it's going up before the end of the episode, you can guarantee it. Remember Tuvix? I'm pretty sure she would have been strung up by her toenails for what she did in that episode had she still been in the alpha quadrant and answering directly to Starfleet Command, even if it did save 2 crewmembers. The Doctor's refusal to complete the procedure on ethical grounds being a huuuuge indicator that it was the "wrong" thing to do.

Best part about that one was that she kind of didn't want to do it either judging by her face afterwards (fair play to Kate Mulgrew for selling it like a charm). But she did, because it wanted doing, and to be honest while I don't think I could have done that in her shoes I certainly would have been glad she did. She's like that through the whole series really, or at least that's how she comes across to me.

 

[Frazzled]

I think snapping out of a depression when there's actually something that needs doing is quite realistic. Doesn't make her any less depressed in the longer term, but finding the energy when she feels needed in a crisis is following a common profile.

I don't see her blowing up the Malon ship as following violent instincts because she's depressed - they were mass murderers who needed sorting out, and destroying the wormhole put an end to that. Yes probably 100% agains the prime directive, but understandable and a result of clear thinking. Throttling Chakotay when he annoyed her by coming into her space when she was hiding in her quarters would have been behaving violently due to depression.

 

[Tallis Rhul]

Throttling Chakotay when he annoyed her by coming into her space when she was hiding in her quarters would have been behaving violently due to depression.

...and would also have mirrored some of the viewers' feelings. There've been plenty of times when I'd like to throttle him, if even just to knock some sense into him!

 

[Noise]

For the exploration of Janeway's character, Night is one of my favorite episodes.

 

[kimc]

I just can't see Picard blowing up the entire ship like that.

I think Picard has enough guts to do it if he thought it was necessary.

 

[Noise]

Does it matter what Picard would do? Anyway, Kirk would probably do it.

 

[SilentP]

Does it matter what Picard would do? Anyway, Kirk would probably do it.

As would Sisko, in my opinion. I think Janeway made the right call there in any case.

 

[Ltkilgore92]

Have you noticed that she tried to destroy voyager at least once a season

 

[Timewalker]

At least when she crashed a ship or blew it up, it was because she intended to.

A comparison of the different Captains' ways of handling a crisis:

Kirk: Fistfight/verbal poker

Picard: Call a staff meeting

Sisko: Play with his baseball

Janeway: Grab her phaser rifle/set the self-destruct


*didn't mention Archer because I never watched enough to notice what he does in a crisis

 

[Finn]

^Threw out a guest through an airlock, said "oh boy" or gave a speech about one of his trips when he was in his early twenties.

 

[Timewalker]

I'm guessing the second one isn't true, unless the show could also be called "Star Trek: Quantum Leap"...