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TREKCORE >
VOY > EPISODES
> EQUINOX
PART I
> Behind the Scenes
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At the end
of Star Trek: Voyager's fifth season, Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky
required a season finale. The previous episodes of the season had
tired them, however, and one of the few elements they knew they
wanted to include in the forthcoming finale was a cliffhanger.
Remembered Menosky, "We were all really exhausted. We didn't know
what in the world we were going to do for the last episode. Brannon
and Rick Berman worked out some of this episode. We probably had a
week to go before prep, before Brannon came up with an idea that was
workable." Braga himself recalled, "I had this image, a ship of
people who were stuck in the Delta Quadrant almost as long as we
have been, maybe a bit longer, but they have not responded the same
way. They've done some very, very bad things, including mass
murder." |
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The idea was
not initially appealing to Joe Menosky. "I just had no hope for it
at all," he confessed. "It had the feeling of elements stitched
together without a driving point of view [with a] haphazard and
clunky structure and story." Menosky was attracted, however, to the
prospect of introducing multiple new characters in the episode.
"One
thing this did have going for us is that we had four major speaking
roles [....] As a result we could have interesting character
dynamics. You could follow threaded, character arcs in a way that
felt bigger than a single episode." |
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Subsequently, the writers began to pen the script for the
installment. "We clarified the structure of it halfway through the
writing of it," Joe Menosky stated.
"Instead of sitting down and
outlining it, and then writing it, we just wrote it. We didn't even
know really where we were headed. We would just write a scene and
think what would be cool to come next." |
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he role of
Captain Ransom was offered to John Savage. "They needed a captain.
They didn't have a story yet, and I was excited," the actor
reminisced. "It evolved, and every day, a new set of pages. I found
quite an interesting moral struggle in the story. It wasn't simple,
and it was very supported." |
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The
experience of collaborating with Janeway actress Kate Mulgrew on
this outing left John Savage with the impression that she would make
a good director. "She was admirable with her focus," Savage noted.
He also enjoyed working with Mulgrew. "I saw some wonderful
possibilities and moments, like in the relationship with Captain Janeway, as man and woman, and also as captains, and as people," the
actor related. "I just felt like I might have unfortunately
overcomplicated myself, and had to be pulled straight by Kate. I
didn't have to be. She was generous [....] It was a good experience
[...] but we both had a lot of stuff going on." |
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John
Savage's presence in this episode was especially thrilling for Rick
Berman, who commented, "It was a real kick to have him on the show.
He did a great job." |
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Star Trek:
Voyager's casting department asked Titus Welliver if he wanted to
portray Max Burke. Learning that John Savage was playing Captain
Ransom persuaded Welliver, a long-time fan of Savage, to accept the
offer. Welliver noted, "When I found out he was going to do Voyager
I said, 'I'm there.'" |
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Titus
Welliver was delighted to appear in this episode. He fondly
remembered, "My first day of work on 'Equinox' I thought, 'I've
waited close to 30 years to be on a Star Trek set, and here I am.' I
was like a little kid in a candy shop [....] I wish I had as much
fun on all my jobs as I did on this one." |
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Titus
Welliver's appreciation for John Savage's work did not diminish
after they met. Welliver recalled, "He was always asking the other
guest stars and me, 'Is there anything you need? Just tell me.' My
experiences on Voyager certainly fulfilled any expectations I had of
him. It was an honor to work with the man." |
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As most
producers and directors usually wanted Titus Welliver to play crazy
characters, he found a notable contrast with the role of First
Officer Burke, stating, "He's probably one of the most subtle
characters that I've ever portrayed [....] I felt that in order to
give Burke any sort of military presence I had to play him with an
incredible stillness, and I found this made him appear that much
stronger. It was a challenge to be present in scenes and have to
remain calm and focused as opposed to being very animated and
expressive." |
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Torres
actress Roxann Dawson approved of this episode's look at B'Elanna's
past relationship with Burke. "It's interesting to see how that
relationship is dealt with, especially in light of B'Elanna being
with Paris now," Dawson commented. "That's an interesting conflict." |
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The main
bridge of the Equinox is a re-use of the set used for the USS
Prometheus, as are the corridors, crew quarters and science lab.
They are all slightly altered to simulate the effect of damage.
According to the unauthorized reference
book Delta Quadrant, the Equinox's bridge was a redress of
the Defiant's bridge and the research lab was a redress of Voyager's
sickbay. |
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Titus
Welliver implied that both the sets for the damaged Equinox's
interior and the set for the flashback scene showing Ransom and
Burke meet the Ankari were on the same soundstage as each other.
"Those scenes [...] were shot inside a soundstage on the Paramount
Studios lot that a group of cats call home," the actor laughed.
"Several times I'd go to sit down in Burke's bridge chair and there
would be cat hair all over the seat. It was like, 'Oh, no, the cats
have invaded!'" Welliver enjoyed viewing the detail invested in the
starship interior sets, however. "It was fun to see the detailed
writing on the instrument panels," he said. |
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The
production of this episode was a challenging process. At a point
when the shooting company still had to return to the Paramount lot
and film another day's work as the episode was too short, Director
David Livingston reflected, "It was a long
shooting schedule, and very difficult, because a lot of it was with
no lights. There are four sequences where we go to visit their ship,
finding people dead or dying. Those were all shot with Sims [palm]
beacons, and a lot of sparks and smoke and nitrogen. It was tough on
the crew, especially for the last episode, because everybody was so
tired and burnt out after the long season." Reshoots were also
involved in the episode's production. |
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Titus
Welliver noted that the timing of the installment's production
facilitated certain festivities. "We filmed the first part of
'Equinox' around Saint Patrick's Day," he said,
"and Kate [Mulgrew]
threw a party and we all had a blast." |
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Due to the
fact that this episode features a lot of members of a completely new
alien species (specifically, the nucleogenic lifeforms),
Visual
Effects Supervisor Ronald B. Moore remarked, "This is probably the
most ambitious show I have ever seen." The physical appearance of
the aliens was designed by Pacific Ocean Post and was rendered CGI
by Santa Barbara Studios. Similarly, the Equinox's exterior was
designed by Senior Illustrator Rick Sternbach and visualized by
Digital Muse. |
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This episode
ultimately ranked high in both Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky's
opinions. Braga enthused, "It's packed with inventive action, really
creepy, vicious, new CGI-created aliens, and a wonderful character
dynamic." Menosky observed, "There is a feeling of character
possibility and largeness to this single episode that I think
substitutes for the grand sweep of the other two-parters that we
have done." He also commented that the way in which the episode was
written was "very satisfying creatively, in terms of how the episode
and the story actually spun itself out." Menosky added, "By the end
of the episode, I was really happy with it. It completely surprised
me." |
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David
Livingston was less sure, at least initially, of whether the episode
had been a complete success, remarking, "I don't know if it quite
has the edginess of 'Scorpion', but maybe it will." |
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