Star Trek Voyager Reviews Written by Someone Who Actually LIKES the Show! -- Jetrel

Hello there. This is a review of the Star Trek Voyager epsiode, "Jetrel." It's full of spoilers and expressly intended for the enjoyment and consideration of Voyager fans, and for those who enjoy contemplating the dangers of science applied without a conscience. Those of you who'd rather do anything else than learn about Neelix's childhood, may I suggest you get some valuable educational experience?

How about, say, at On-Line English Grammar?

That ain't for you? Okay then, but be warned, Neelix is the main character.

INITIAL VIEWER EXPERIENCE
Hmmm, I can feel the moral coming at me...Resistance is futile! You will be sermonized!...Actually, though, this does help to explain a lot about Voyager's little munchkin...Jetrel is actually making me feel sad...Ew! what's in the container?!

PLOT
After learning about shooting a "safety" at pool with Tuvok, Paris, and that annoying thin guy at Sandrine's, Neelix is contacted by a Hacconian shuttle. The Talaxians were conquered by the Hacconians fifteen years ago, so this doesn't exactly make his day. In fact, when he finds out exactly who is calling him, Dr. Jetrel, he runs off the bridge as though he's about to vomit.

Neelix explains to Janeway that Jetrel is the scientist who invented to Metrion Cascade, a doomsday weapon that caused indescribable damage to Rinax, a moon of Neelix's homeworld, Talax. Over 300,000 Talaxians were killed, including all of Neelix' family. Neelix himself only escaped because he was down on Talaxia at the time with the defense forces. He was part of the rescue teams which went to the moon afterwards, however, and he saw first-hand the horrible destruction.

Jetrel, who is fascinated by Voyager's transporters, comes aboard, and Janeway tells him that Neelix isn't interested in helping him with anything. Jetrel explains that many people who were exposed to the Metrion Cascade's fall-out now suffer from metremia, a fatal form of radiation poisoning. He wants to screen Neelix for it.

Kes and Neelix talk about how they've never discussed the war, and Janeway relays the doctor's request. No way, he says, but they talk him into at least meeting with Jetrel.

This meeting is something less than a total success. Neelix mostly uses it to make Jetrel feel as bad about his role in the war as possible. Jetrel, who obviously feels bad enough already, doesn't put up much of an argument. Finally, Neelix says he'd rather die than help Jetrel, and the scientist responds, "Isn't helping other Talaxians more important than punishing me?" Neelix has to think about it.

Jetrel scans Neelix and discovers that he does indeed have the disease. Neelix tells Kes a story about how he tried to kill some vermin on his homeworld once, then felt bad about it. Alone with him in his room later, Kes worries about Neelix, and he responds that at least now he'll die before she will and he won't feel so alone without her. She wants to cherish every minute they have.

Jetrel tells Janeway that her transporters might be able to help him find a cure for the disease. If they could go to Rinax and beam some of the Metrion cloud aboard, he could study it more closely than he's been able to so far. Though it means a significance detour for the ship, she agrees to go. On the way out of the ready room, Jetrel has a small attack which he says is nothing. [On Star Trek, however, we immediately know such illnesses are never "nothing."]

Kes gets Neelix to keep working with Jetrel, who watches with interest as the Doctor turns himself off. Alone, Jetrel and Neelix now engage in a lengthy and thinly-veiled Hiroshima discussion full of military strategy and finger-pointing. Jetrel reveals that he lost his wife and family to divorce after the war because they thought him a monster. Neelix tells the story of going to Rinax after the explosion and seeing a burned little girl, Polaxia. Jetrel cries and Neelix rubs more salt into the wound, asking, "Did you ever think that your wife was right, that you had become a monster?" Jetrel responds, "Yes." In fact, as soon as he saw the first test of the cascade, that blinding light, he knew that he had become death. Neelix wants him to live with the knowledge of that for a long time, but Jetrel breaks the news that he's dying of Metremia and will be dead in days. [I told you it wasn't "nothing."]

Neelix has a scary dream with all the usual accusatory images, and is awakened by the news that they've arrived at Rinax. Neelix goes to the bridge and sees the cloud-covered, gray, and lifeless planet on the viewscreen, then talks about looking up in the sky to see the light of the cascade. Torres brings up a sample of the cloud for Jetrel, who takes it to Sickbay and turns off the Doctor.

Neelix, meanwhile, has curled up into a ball of pain in the mess hall. Kes finds him and he confesses that he wasn't off Rinax when the weapon hit because he was with the resistance, but because he was trying to avoid the fighting all together. He didn't want to be at war with anyone. His pacifism now strikes him as cowardice, and he blames himself for still being alive when his family is all dead. Kes asks him if the real reason he hates Jetrel so much is because he's mad at himself.

Jetrel has done some sort of experiment on the cloud vapors to turn them into goo which moves inside the container as though alive. Neelix, wanting to talk, interrupts this and gets tranquilized. Jetrel heads for the transporter room.

Janeway reactivates the Doctor, who finds Neelix. She and Neelix go to the transporter room with Tuvok and some security people, convinced he's performing some sort of misdeed with the transporter. Jetrel reveals instead that the transporter might be used to rematerialize the victims of the cascade. The cloud of atomized matter has actually been keeping the victim's patterns in a semi-tractable fashion. The transporter could search for a specific DNA pattern and put people back together. This has been his goal all along. Neelix, in fact, doesn't even have the disease. Janeway is highly skeptical this could ever work, but allows him to try.

It's a good effort, but it just won't fly. Jetrel collapses with the disappointment.

In Sickbay, Neelix realizes the cascade was a punishment for both sides in the war and offers Jetrel his forgiveness. Jetrel dies on cue.