‘JETREL’ (VOY)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This is a very interesting ‘Voyager’ episode to showcase Neelix’s character in the series. Beforehand, Neelix wasn’t developed so much in terms of his backstory being explored and where he came from.
In the episode, we find out Neelix’s people, the Talaxians, fought a war with the Haakonians. Neelix meets with a Haakonian scientist named Dr. Ma’Bor Jetrel who caused the deaths of many Talaxians.
Neelix is aghast when Jetrel wants to meet with him on Voyager. Jetrel was responsible for developing the Metreon Cascade, a superweapon that killed 300,000 Talaxians on the moon Rinax. 🙁
This included Neelix’s family. Despite Jetrel’s seemingly good intentions to undo the harm he caused to so many Talaxians, Neelix struggles to forgive him in the story, as he blames Jetrel for what he did.
Apparently, Jetrel is trying to find a cure for a fatal blood disease called metremia. This was born from being exposed to high concentrations of metreon isotopes, created from Jetrel’s superweapon.
Despite considering Jetrel to be a monster, Neelix agrees to be examined by him. Jetrel then informs him that he has incipient metremina. Janeway is convinced by Jetrel to head for the Talaxian system.
By using the ship’s transporter systems, Jetrel feels that he’ll be able to develop a cure for Neelix by retrieving samples of the Metreon cloud that still surround Rinax. This appears to be very optimistic.
James Sloyan guest stars as Jetrel in the episode. This isn’t James Sloyan’s first association with ‘Star Trek’. He played Mora Pol, Odo’s scientist in the ‘DS9’ episodes ‘The Alternate’ and ‘The Begotten’. 🙂
He’s also been in two ‘TNG’ episodes, including ‘The Defector’ and ‘Firstborn’. It was interesting to see Jetrel’s scenes with Neelix, as he tries to justify what he did as a scientist during the horrible war.
This also might be considered one of Neelix’s best episodes in the series. I know he’s been criticised a lot as a character, but it was very intriguing to see how he developed as a character in the episode.
And it’s not just in scenes he has with Jetrel, but also in scenes he has with Kes. It was nice to see the interaction between Neelix and Kes, since he shares his experience of the war that he took part in. 🙂
I’m also willing to believe that Neelix and Kes have known each other before the events of ‘Caretaker’. It would make sense considering when Neelix rescued Kes from the Kazon in that episode.
Okay, he had Voyager’s crew to help him out on that occasion, but still. It’s also implied that Neelix was a coward when he fought in the actual war itself. He shares this with Kes in Voyager’s mess hall.
When Neelix is angrily condemning Jetrel for the devastation he caused, it’s revealed that Jetrel also paid the price for his actions. He explains his wife left him and his children don’t acknowledge him. 🙁
He’s also in the final stages of metremia with only a few days to live. Soon, Voyager arrives at Rinax and they beam aboard a sample from the Metreon cloud. But it seems Jetrel has a different agenda.
Jetrel has the Doctor deactivated and soon renders Neelix unconscious when he visits him in sickbay. Jetrel has covertly conducted experiments when using the sample collected from the Metreon cloud.
Trying to make use of the transporter system, Jetrel is soon stopped by Janeway and Tuvok. Jetrel pleads to conclude his work, since he hopes to bring back the deceased Talaxian victims of Rinxax. 😐
He believes he can use Voyager’s transporter to regenerate their dissociated remains. It’s revealed that Neelix doesn’t have metremia. 🙂 Jetrel used that as a pretext so that he could come aboard Voyager.
Although dubious at first, Janeway allows Jetrel to proceed with the experiment. However, the experiment fails and the scientist soon collapses. He knows that he won’t be able to redeem himself.
The episode ends with Neelix paying a final visit to Jetrel, telling him he forgives him, allowing him to die with some semblance of peace. Some would argue that Neelix forgiving Jetrel was ‘too hasty’. 😐
I suppose that’s true, but it’s nice that Neelix saw the good will in Jetrel in the end and he didn’t see him as a monster all the way through. All in all, ‘Jetrel’ was a good ‘Voyager’ episode to check out. 🙂
‘Jetrel’ (VOY) rating – 8/10
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