Jetrel is probably one of Voyagers best episodes ( i.imgur.com )

Thorry84 , 10 months ago

Agreed, one of the best episodes of the series and Trek as a whole.

The only weak point is how they went back to Talax like it was nothing. Sure they had a vote about it, but it wasn’t a big deal. But the impression I got is that they were high tailing it to Earth and were well on their way.

Unless they were really lucky and Talax was somehow on route to Earth it would basically mean going back to the beginning and starting over. This would be a huge fucking deal and no matter how much people love Neelix and want to do the right thing, adding this much extra time going back to the start would be a tough choice. Then when it didn’t pan out, I would be fucking pissed. Like what the hell Janeway, maybe not trust every rando you come across and take a super long detour because of something they say? But it’s shrugged off like it was no big deal.

This juxtaposition is something Voyager struggles with the entire series. Many of the creators have stated to that affect. They want to make it seem like Voyager is super far from home, but not that far it would simply be impossible for them to get back. But at the same time, just having the ship at high warp all the time, only stopping at gas giants to refuel would be super boring. They also may have people going stir crazy, but the holodeck could help with that. Especially since at the in universe stated speeds Voyager could reach, they would get home faster than stated. In terms of budget and writing, it would become a huge challenge to have new species all the time. They want to have established characters and story arcs. If Voyager would just zoom through everything that’s hard to do.

Especially with the Kazon this became a huge issue. They were presented as almost barbarian, with little resources. Yet somehow a super fast ship was in their territory for months. Ships were even somehow able to outpace Voyager, with the same characters showing up at multiple points in the journey. Were all the Kazons lined up in a long string with Voyager flying along it? Or was Voyager flying in circles? It makes no sense.

This whole space is huge but also really small when the plot demands it is a weak point of the show and that episode. But otherwise it’s a great story.

cybervseas , 10 months ago

Yeah convenient for the plot but completely illogical. I mean the Borg showing up was fine with transwarp conduits, but it never made any sense how the same baddies showed up all the time. I’m looking at you, Seska.

EmpathicVagrant , 10 months ago

Awww I love this episode, and I adore Neelix. I always felt they burned him when they wrote around Kes into the abyss, but I’m glad the furball wasn’t the one to go.

cybervseas , 10 months ago

Watching right now and that voice is super recognizable! Jetrel’s actor also played Dr. Mora on DS9! The Bajoran doctor that experimented on Odo when no one knew what he was.

GregorGizeh , 10 months ago

He is also admiral jarok during the romulan defector episode of TNG, and future alexander (worfs son) trying to change his own future.

And I would bet a couple others, dude is really recognizable and plays his roles well.

Entertainmeonly , 10 months ago

I have been moved to start a rewatch. Been a few years for me at this point. Thanks for the reminder how good that show was.

DuzAwe , 10 months ago

It’s insanely good. first time doing a watch watch through and hit their episode, the parallels with Oppenheimer are wonderful it speaks volumes to how trek can tell stories.