Despite usually coming up with unique premises, Star Trek: Voyager decided to copy itself with two episodes from seasons 5 and 7. Voyager season 5 was one of the show's best, featuring more good episodes than bad unlike some of the seasons that had come before it. Voyager's cast of characters had also reached its peak with the inclusion of Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) the season before and was able to begin turning around great performances every 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" 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 been making their way through "the void" for two months. Rather than begin with action, "Night" chose to devote its first half to examining the complex psychological and emotional effects the isolation was having on Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Voyager's crew. "Night" was a wonderful way to kick off season 5, but unfortunately, it didn't end up being the only Voyager episode with the same premise.
Star Trek: Voyager’s “Night” And “The Void” Have The Same Premise
It's easy to mix "The Void" and "Night" up
Voyager's season 7 episode "The Void" had an extremely similar premise to "Night," so much so that it's entirely too easy to mix both episodes up. As the name indicates, "The Void" also dealt with the USS Voyager becoming trapped in a region of space without any stars or planets. In the Voyager season 7 episode's case, the ship was pulled into the region rather than choosing to travel through it, but the area they occupied in both episodes was remarkably similar in makeup, both seemingly devoid of 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 did not end up being the case.
Likewise, both "Night" and "The Void" featured Voyager's crew learning that a native species did, in fact, occupy the region of space they were in, and that species ended up being 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 ended 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 did not end up being the case.
Why “Night” Is A Better Star Trek: Voyager Episode Than “The Void”
"Night" holds up better in retrospect
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 view "The Void" as a take-off of "Night" instead of the other way around. It's hard to believe that Voyager's creative team wasn't 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 Voyager's characters and relationships.
"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 riveting, and watching the crew rally to stop Janeway when she attempted a would-be suicide mission to save the ship was arguably one of the most heartbreaking scenes during Voyager's run. In contrast, "The Void" abandoned 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 Example Of Similar Episodes
Voyager had other examples of episodes that were too similar
While the similarities between "Night" and "The Void" lessen both episodes' impact, they aren't the worst example of Voyager copying itself in a boring way. Perhaps the most egregious example of this is the season 4 episode "Random Thoughts," which mashed up the premises of two previous episodes terribly. "Random Thoughts" copied elements of both "Meld" and "Ex Post Facto," two episodes that were much better on their own, but when smashed together created an utterly forgettable episode that added very little to season 4.
"Meld" is one of Voyager 's creepiest episodes, featuring Star Trek 's first and only instance of a serial killer who was also a member of Starfleet. Granted, Lon Suder (Brad Dourif) was a former Maquis, but his inclusion in the episode elevated the premise and created one of the most interesting recurring storylines of season 2.
Outside of its own episodes, Voyager was even known to copy 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 Nine's best episodes, "Duet." Voyager bungled "Duet's" premise by making it about Neelix (Ethan Phillips) and not nailing the emotional beats of the story in the same way that DS9 had with Major 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 ended up cheapening one or both.
