"Night" Episode Analysis

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What thematic signifigance, if any, do you think the episode "Night" has? Is it just a visual story depicting how the simple intricacies of life can make things a matter of life or death, or is it something deeper? Also, what do you think the basic plot is? To me it seems that both Trevor and Aeon are working separately to assassinate the same guy, and to avoid each other in the process (although by the end it's apparent that Aeon wasn't expecting Trevor to be her assassin, so maybe not). Any illuminations? (An interesting note: this is the first episode in which we see Aeon with her hair down.)

-- Mat Rebholz (matrebholz@yahoo.com), August 21, 1998

Answers

It's interesting to note that on the Eye Spy CD this episode's soundtrack is titled "Errors of the Night." Everything that can go wrong on Aeon's mission does. It's really rather embarrasing for her. I look at the episode as a commentary on Aeon's luck. She is a very lucky type - in most of the episodes, she is blessed. Her quick decisions and actions usually turn out well. 'Night' is the flip side to that coin - a mission where the deck is simply stacked against Aeon.

-- Charles Martin (charmaine@dfn.com), August 22, 1998.

That's why Night's one of my favorite eps. Aeon so often just keeps getting the short end of the stick for a change. On the plot though, the clock shows that Trevor went in to the building before Aeon, so did the two of them actually know they were in there together? It could explain why he shot Aeon (he didn't recognise her with her hair down, maybe?), but if it was accidental, he didn't seem too remorseful. Plus Aeon strolls around a bit and doesn't seem in too much of a hurry, not like she's racing against someone to the target. Furthermore, on a little side note, it also seems strange that Trevor's actually doing the dirty work himself, as opposed to getting some patsy to do it for him (which would seem to be more his style).

-- Szy (szy@antisocial.com), August 26, 1998.

I've always thought of the second season as Trevor's younger years - a time before he was a head of state. I think that he was a mere agent like Aeon - just a cog in the Breen machine. Of course, this is a very linear concept - and we all know Aeon Flux and linear time don't mix...

-- Charles Martin (charmaine@dfn.com), August 27, 1998.

I always thought the main theme was how Aeon found meaning in a doomed existence(kind of like Gravity). She's got about 7 seconds to live, but she formulates(and executes) a brilliant plan to discover the identity of her killer.

-- Frostbite (foo@bar.com), November 01, 1998.

I don't think this was Chung's origional intention, but Aeon shows an extremely living-in-the-moment attitude in Night and Gravity. I mean, most people I know would give up on life if they found out they had a year to live. Their attitude would be: "what does it matter anyway? I'm going to die anyway" It makes me think about how we're ALL going to die anyway, yet we still strive to accomplish. Aeon apparently has realized this.

Hmm, perhaps that WAS Chung's point. No matter what we accomplish in life, we're going to die someday and it will all have been for nothing. But that doesn't mean we should just give up. Every second of our life counts.

-- Frostbite (foo@bar.com), November 01, 1998.



The plot: There is a target. He lives in the house, later found dead, assasinated by Trevor. Both he and Fon are on missions to kill the target. They weren't working together. Their encounter was purely coincidental. Neither knew about the other until the very end.

-- Owen Black (Ob200bpm@aol.com), November 01, 1998.

Apparantly, Trevor was aware of Aeon's presence. A shot like that is hardly spontaneous. It could even have been Trevor who losened the VCR cable, just to slow her down.

He shoots an unconcious man twice? It's conceivable that it was just to get Aeon's attention, so she'd come running and he could ambush her.

Trevor wasn't affected by the gas - he must have been prepared.

Also, anyone examining the area later would find one dead target, and one dead assassin. Granted, she's hardly likely to have shot herself, but at least they have someone at which to point the finger. Almost as though Trevor had planned the whole thing.

At the very least, if this man was an important target, Trevor could expect Aeon to get involved. Aeon would probably not expect Trevor to do an assassination himself.

-- Philip Mills (philip.mills@cableinet.co.uk), November 06, 1998.


I don't think Trevor knew Aeon would be there. Granted, it's an amazing coincidence that they would both choose to assasinate the same guy on the same night, but that's hardly anything unusual for this show. Here's what I think happened:

While Aeon's lying in the dirt trying to shoot her target, Trevor is below picking the lock on that trapdoor. He goes inside and closes the hatch just as Aeon stands up to survey the area. He goes up the stairs, past the bathroom and video-room(he seems to be unaware of the camaras) and starts looking for the target. Little does he know that Aeon is right behind him the whole time.

While Aeon is farting around downstairs, Trevor finds the target(who may or may not be unconcious) and kills him. He then hurries down the stairs and when he has reached the bottom, He hears someone running upstairs. Seeing this person leap over the rail, he shoots her, then turns to leave.

I think we all know how the story goes from here.

-- Frostbite (foo@bar.com), November 07, 1998.


Yeah. I was just pondering it.

But what about the gas? Aeon's not affected by it either. And the target was going to bed anyway. So if it's not knockout gas, then what is it? When I first saw the episode (all those years ago) I thought it was acid to melt the lock on the hatch - I didn't notice until later that it was a different area and that Trevor went down before her.

-- Philip Mills (philip.mills@cableinet.co.uk), November 08, 1998.


Eh, what gas?

-- Frostbite (foo@bar.com), November 09, 1998.


She fires a gaseous capsule in to a vent before entering the complex.

-- Philip Mills (philip.mills@cableinet.co.uk), November 13, 1998.

I think the gaseous capsule was some sort of ultra-hot lockpick.

-- Zach (rapacity@usa.net), November 13, 1998.

Well, that's what I first thought, but it's not in the same place as the hatch - which Trevor has already opened.

-- Philip Mills (philip.mills@cableinet.co.uk), November 14, 1998.

I thought it gummed up the gun like some sort of plug.

-- Cliff Leslie (ComdrBlood@aol.com), November 14, 1998.

Night was at it's core the anti-James Bond type of story. Here Aeon tries to be a super spy and assassin but she messes the hit up so bad she not only allows someone else to beat her to the target, but she gets distracted by everything possible, the TV, the coffee, the shower and ultimately she pays the price for such amateurness. BANG!

-- Keith G. Redhead (redhed@globalnet.co.uk), February 18, 1999.


Since this thread is so old these questions have probably been answered, but here's my take. The gas was an acid pellet used to eat the lock and allow entry. What we know is that Trevor gained entry before Aeon, but we also know by the time on the corner of the video that it was a little over a minute before Aeon got inside the complex. This leaves us with two possibilities. Either Trevor came in after Aeon burned the lock and she just didn't notice him, or the lock was already picked open by Trevor and Aeon just assumed it was locked and, ever the showoff, wasted a good acid bullet with some facy shooting. The first option is possible because the Aeon was on a cliff and the entryway was a bit of a ways off it seemed. Trevor could have had time to get in while she was making her way down the cliff. However, the second option is simpler and fits in more with the episode's theme of Aeon screwing up. When she gets shot, she is heading downstairs after having climed upstairs through the bathroom window. Most likely Trevor just heard her footsteps and waited at the foot of the stairs to shoot whoever came barreling down. He is pure professionalism all the way, turning his back on her before her body even hits the floor. Just another unidentified to Mr. Goodchild. I love the direction in this episode, contrasting Aeon's frantic blundering with Trevor's coolness and air of mystery. The direction in the final scene is especialy great and also very startling for its coldness and brutality.

-- Logo (Vosepherus@aol.com), March 11, 2002.

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