Episode no. Season 5
Episode 13 Featured music Dennis McCarthy | Directed by Terry Windell Cinematography by Marvin V. Rush | |
Story by Jimmy Diggs
Bryan Fuller
Nick Sagan Teleplay by Nick Sagan
Bryan Fuller | ||
"Gravity" is the 107th episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager originally airing on the UPN network, the 13th episode of the fifth season.
Plot
Tuvok, Tom Paris, and the Doctor are stranded on a planet where (unknown to them) time is moving faster than it is in the rest of the universe. While Tuvok searches the surrounding area, Paris remains behind to try to establish communications with Voyager which they increasingly expect to be long gone. An alien female robs them of much needed equipment and leaves, but is quickly attacked by a small hunting group of another species. Tuvok disarms the group and brings the female back to the damaged shuttle for medical attention. With the assistance of the Doctor, Paris and Tuvok learn to communicate with the woman, named Noss, who has been trapped on the planet for "14 seasons".
Meanwhile, the crew of the Voyager finds the gravimetric distortion that the away team's shuttle went into. A probe is launched to determine if contact could be made to Tuvok and Paris, but encounter a species dealing with the loss of nearly a dozen ships arrives, bent on closing the distortion, which would crush everything within.
During their time on the planet, Noss develops an attraction to Tuvok. He initially ignores the attraction due to an incident with another female years ago that forced him to retreat to a Vulcan master in an attempt to purge his emotions. The lack of mutual attraction angers Noss.
Janeway and the crew determine that by using the probe's relays, a signal can be sent to the emergency beacon Paris activated and use it as a transporter link. They also determine that a temporal disruption in the sinkhole causes time to pass quickly for the away team. For every 0.4744 of a second for the Voyager crew, a minute would pass for Tuvok and Paris. With the aliens ahead of schedule in their efforts to close the sinkhole, Janeway orders a message sent to the beacon with beam out instructions.
Staged at a damaged spacecraft used by Noss, the stranded officers receive the message. Despite a last minute attack by a large group of aliens, everyone is able to be beamed off the planet and out of the sinkhole. It is the first time they had set foot on the ship in over two months. From Janeway and the others' point of view, they were only missing for two days.
Before beaming Noss to her homeworld, Tuvok privately shares a mind-meld with her, possibly sharing his feelings for her telepathically. She departs his company, tears on her face but finally understanding why he is who he is.