This is where Voyager is trapped in a region of space that has nothing but other trapped ships and the only resources come from new arrivals. One moment the crew is enjoying all the bounty and pleasures that 24th century technology can bring to a dismal fate of competing with other desperate ships in a region of space known as the void.
I have always found Kate Mulgrew's portrayal of a 'tough' Starship capt. rather forced and unconvincing, as if she thinks she has to compensate for the fact that she is a woman. However, in this episode she delivers a brilliant performance. She demonstrates toughness in a very natural manner by showing confidence and leadership and having the big picture and imposing this view on a crew who are clearly overwhelmed by their seemingly hopeless circumstance. This was by far her best performance, she faces down Tuvok, Chakotay, and 7/9 who wanted to adopt a more barbaric strategy of survival by telling them at key moments, 'does it really matter if we last 7 days instead of 2?'
Janeway didn't just spout federation rules, instead she dug deeper into the concepts to see why they work and how they can be applied even here. She came up with a simple principle, 'the whole is greater than the sum of the parts' to form alliances with as many of the other ships as possible. This episode had an eerie and depressing feel to it and the resolution was very satisfying.