However much I dislike Neelix, whenever actor Ethan Philips is able to do something really complex with the role he often makes the character so much more interesting. That's exactly what happens in this episode.
I noticed that this one was written by Bryan Fuller, and would have been early in his Star Trek writing career. He's often able to make stories about characters, and that's something Voyager is sorely lacking, so this feels like a breath of fresh air. Neelix gets to go on a journey of emotional distress and shows us all sorts of different sides of the character. His decision to die at the end actually feels like a perfectly natural conclusion to the events he's gone through rather than a crazy split second decision for dramatic effect.
The episode isn't perfect by any means, though. It's quite predictable on many occasions (as soon as Neelix is revived, it's so obvious that he's freaking out about not experiencing any afterlife). Seven's ability to magically revive anyone who's died could have been used numerous times before, and I'm not expecting it to be utilised again (we shall see). And worst of all, we have to sit through a pan-flute filled Chakotay vision quest ritual again. Just stop, please.
(Speaking of which, the vision quest sure did rip off DS9's celestial temple/prophet sequences. The use of main characters randomly speaking in deadpan sentences works there, here it feels like pure copycat work.)
This episode has some emotional heft that feels earned and works well. I quite enjoyed it.
Review by LeftHandedGuitaristBlockedParent2018-04-15T09:11:28Z— updated 2018-04-23T22:09:39Z
However much I dislike Neelix, whenever actor Ethan Philips is able to do something really complex with the role he often makes the character so much more interesting. That's exactly what happens in this episode.
I noticed that this one was written by Bryan Fuller, and would have been early in his Star Trek writing career. He's often able to make stories about characters, and that's something Voyager is sorely lacking, so this feels like a breath of fresh air. Neelix gets to go on a journey of emotional distress and shows us all sorts of different sides of the character. His decision to die at the end actually feels like a perfectly natural conclusion to the events he's gone through rather than a crazy split second decision for dramatic effect.
The episode isn't perfect by any means, though. It's quite predictable on many occasions (as soon as Neelix is revived, it's so obvious that he's freaking out about not experiencing any afterlife). Seven's ability to magically revive anyone who's died could have been used numerous times before, and I'm not expecting it to be utilised again (we shall see). And worst of all, we have to sit through a pan-flute filled Chakotay vision quest ritual again. Just stop, please.
(Speaking of which, the vision quest sure did rip off DS9's celestial temple/prophet sequences. The use of main characters randomly speaking in deadpan sentences works there, here it feels like pure copycat work.)
This episode has some emotional heft that feels earned and works well. I quite enjoyed it.