An alien scientist (Jetrel) contacts Voyager, and asks to speak directly with Neelix. As it happens, this guy created the weapon that killed 300,000 people on a moon of the Talaxian homeworld. And he wants to check Neelix to see if he has any signs of a blood disease common in the first responders to the attack. Neelix is understandably skeptical. When Jetrel tells Neelix that he's got the fatal, incurable disease, we get some honest, genuine, emotional responses from him. Yup. From Neelix.
Kes tries to support him, but he brushes it off. He's being downright resilient, which, while out of character based on prior appearances, is exactly how I've wanted him to be. He points out that now he won't outlive Kes (and her nine year lifespan), something he'd been worried about, but now he doesn't have to. That's the kind of touch that I imagine happens more often in a multiple-writer setting, where there's someone else to say "Hey, what about this ramification of your plot ideas?"
Jetrel turns out to be pretty complicated. Watching the episode, not knowing what his actual intentions are, I went back and forth on him. He's pretty reserved - and a little shady - though part of that impression is based on what Neelix thinks of him. There's a scene wherein Jetrel defends his creation in the name of scientific progress where I got worried that there'd be a whole "technology is bad" lesson. I can go anywhere for one of those; I hope to avoid it when watching Trek (though it has let me down from time to time). It becomes clear later in the episode, when Jetrel is shown to be genuinely remorseful to the point of obsession about what had happened to Neelix's people, that this particular defense is just one he uses to avoid honestly discussing his feelings.
We also find out a reason for Neelix's past behavior: he is carrying incredible guilt for not being part of the defense force for his world. Turns out he has displaced some of his self-hatred onto Jetrel, but I feel he's also channeled it onto being a useless moron for the entire preceding season. While I find this to be a satisfactory explanation for his prior antics, I would be perfectly happy for them not to continue.
The reason why Jetrel was being kind of dodgy is he was working on a crackpot way to restore all the Talaxian victims to life. It doesn't end up working, but I think it would have been really cool if it had. I don't know if Neelix would have forgiven him if he'd succeeded. Jetrel would have become a hero to the Talaxians in undoing what he'd wrought, and that might have sent Neelix off the deep end. On the other hand, if he stays as sympathetic as he was in this episode, I guess I won't mind if he stays.
Watchability: 5/5
Bottom Line: This episode is a direct parallel to the WWII nuclear attacks against Japan. Usually I like my sci-fi parables to not be as exact in their reenacting, but here I find it excusable because the topic was treated so carefully. Not heavy handed, and gives you a reason not to cringe when Neelix comes on screen.
Just wanted to chime in here and say that I've really been enjoying your write-ups. I watched every episode of this series when it was on the air (also video taped them at the time and re-watched) and have long debated watching the series again. Reading your synopsis of the episodes is really helping me take a trip down nostalgia lane! It's funny, I can't wait until you get to certain episodes/seasons to hear your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteDear lord...I've never liked Neelix as a character (slight irony that Ethan Philips was the guest of honor at the only Star Trek convention to hit my town, and he told some fascinating stories.) So, when I saw a Neelix episode with a 5/5, I was floored. I watched a fair bit of Voyager, but I missed this one. So, I went back, found it and watched it again.
ReplyDeleteIt was really good, but I felt it highlighted some of the inherent problems with Neelix's backstory that they could have shored up. When they turned around for his home planet, it occurred to me that it would have been so much better if his people where semi-nomadic and his home-world was far away, but now he was returning home. They could have done something really interesting, like put his world on the edge of Borg space and make him flee from his people for some dark secret. It could turn out that's he's helpful to fight the Borg...I haven't really fleshed it out (and it will only make me sad if I figure something out.)
But, essentially, Neelix has two purposes: a non-starfleet person to explain everything to, and to annoy Tuvok (Tim Russ really pulls off those scenes really well.) So, it seems like they wrote him in without thinking about it.
Just some thoughts.