Naming an episode after a character who will never appear again and whose name doesn't seem to mean anything is kinda lame. I admit I had a stronger than normal reaction to this episode as the grandson of a scientist who helped build the atomic bombs used against Japan. This episode is very clearly a take on those events and it does it in a rather ham-handed way. To be fair a good portion of that is having Neelix be the one who was a victim of the attack although as we learn he was actually "conscientiously objecting" rather than going to help the victims of the attack. I use the scare quotes in the preceding sentence since Neelix clearly sees what he did as an act of cowerdice rather than a moral stand.
We open with Neelix learning to play pool in Paris' cafe/poolhall/brothel and he is relishing taking the safe route to beat Tuvok. Instead of the conversation with Neelix being interrupted by the other person being called to the bridge in this case it is Neelix who is summoned. There is a shuttle approaching and the sole occupant requested to talk to Neelix. The name who comes on the screen introduces himself as Dr. Jetrel and Neelix flees the bridge looking ill. He tells Janeway that Jetrel was responsible for a weapon that killed 300,000 of his people in a war years earlier and Neelix isn't going to talk to him. Janeway invites Jetrel on board anyway and Jetrel explains that since Neelix was one of the first rescuers on scene he may have contracted a deadly disease as a side effect of the weapon. Neelix still doesn't want to see Jetrel, but Janeway talks him into it. The meeting is understandably tense but eventually Janeway and Kes talk Neelix into taking the test.
Jetrel tells Neelix that he has the disease and is going to die but Neelix is more worried about making Jetrel feel like a monster than his imminent death. Jetrel though has other ideas. He convinces Janeway to let him use the ships transporters to bring on board a sample of the weapon cloud to try and come up with a cure. We also see that he is quite weak and probably dying. He gets the sample on board but when the time comes to work on the cure he disables the EMH and exposes the sample to something that makes it turn into a pile of goop. Having talked to Kes and finally admitting his cowardice during the war Neelix goes to Jetrel but is horrified by the pile of goop. Jetrel knocks him out and heads to the transporter. He gets caught trying to use it to restore one of the victims of the weapon. He believes he can beam them back into one piece but nobody believes him, nobody except Neelix. They give it a try but it fails. Jetrel collapses and is taken to sickbay. Just before he dies Neelix walks in and tells him he forgives Jetrel.
Review: I like the stuff in this episode about the guilt one feels over ones creation being used as a weapon of war, but it stumbles when it comes to its nuclear weapon analogy. It is clear Jetrel's government threw him under the bus and turned him into the monster that was responsible rather than taking responsibility of the weapons use. Still my favorite Neelix ep so far.
5 out of 10
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