"Night"
Production no. 895

Director: David Livingston.
Written by: Brannon Braga & Joe Menosky

"I made an error in judgement, Chakotay. It was short-sighted and it was selfish. And now all of us are paying for my mistake."
(Janeway)

Plot:   Janeway is tormented by the consequences of her decisions 5 years earlier when the crew must spend the next 2 years travelling through an empty region of space. Whilst in the void, the crew discover that some aliens do live in the void and are being poisoned by the Malon's toxic waste. Janeway is now faced with another tough decision: help save the aliens by closing a wormhole that would prevent the Malon from reaching that region of space, or cut off 2 years off the crew's journey and leave the aliens at the mercy of the Malon.

Guest cast:

Ken Magee ("Emck")
Steve Dennis ("Night Alien")
Martin Rayner ("Dr.Chaotica")

Some trivia: 

* This episode sees the debut of the Malon, who will be seen again in "Extreme Risk" and "Juggernaut".
*  The episode also sees the debut of Paris' Captain Proton program, which is based on early 20th Century science fiction.

Memorable scenes:

* Any Captain Proton scenes -- one of the best holoprograms ever!
*  Janeway's crisis of captaincy scene in her quarters.
*  The mutiny-style scene on the Bridge.

Some quotes:

"Does the phrase "To be continued" mean anything to you?"
(The Doctor)

"Needless to say, the view from my quarters has been less than stellar lately."
(Tuvok)

"Time to take out the garbage."
(Janeway)

My comments:  Although "Night" is not the 2nd part of a cliffhanger, season 5 does, nonetheless, open with an exciting enough episode. There are some very good scenes, my favourite being the Captain Proton scene at the start of the episode. The "Night" aliens are also very good and make a welcome change from the usual "bumpy forehead" aliens! The Malon aren't too interesting though but they make decent enough bad guys. It's good to see Janeway suffering from a crisis of captaincy and that she has doubts about her own decisions. An all-round good episode.