Jetrel (15 May 1995)

Neelix is diagnosed with a fatal illness by a Haakonian named Ma'Bor Jetrel. This man is the same one who developed a doomsday weapon that destroyed a Talaxian moon and killed Neelix's family.

Director:

Kim Friedman

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (creator), Rick Berman (creator),

Stars:

Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Kate Mulgrew	...	Captain Kathryn Janeway
Robert Beltran	...	Commander Chakotay
Roxann Dawson	...	Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres (as Roxann Biggs-Dawson)
Jennifer Lien	...	Kes / Palaxia
Robert Duncan McNeill	...	Lieutenant Tom Paris
Ethan Phillips	...	Neelix
Robert Picardo	...	The Doctor
Tim Russ	...	Lieutenant Tuvok
Garrett Wang	...	Ensign Harry Kim
James Sloyan	...	Ma'bor Jetrel
Larry Hankin	...	Gaunt Gary
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Majel Barrett	...	Voyager Computer (voice)

Storyline

Tha Haakonian Ma'Bor Jetrel hails the Voyager, wishing to speak to Neelix. Neelix refuses to speak to Jetrel, revealing that the Haakonians were the enemy of the Talaxians and Jetrel created the Metreon Cascade, which killed thousands of Talaxians on Rinax, Talax's moon, including Neelix's family. Through the persuasion of Kes and Janeway, Neelix finally agrees to listen to Jetrel, who wants to scan Talaxians who helped rescue any survivors of Rinax in case they developed a blood disease from exposure to high levels of Metreon isotopes. While he still doesn't like it, Neelix eventually agrees to allow Jetrel to run some tests and discovers that he does indeed have the blood disease. When Voyager returns to Rinax so that Jetrel can try to find a cure, Neelix reveals to Kes that he wasn't fighting in the Defense Force when the Metreon Cascade went off like he said. He was hiding from them since he believed the war was unjust, leading him to believe later that he was just being a coward....

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Plot Keywords:

24th century | character name in title

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Details

Release Date:

15 May 1995 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Did You Know?

Trivia

James Sloyan, Jetrel, appeared in two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. "Firstborn", as K'Mtar/Alexander at age 50, and "The Defector", as Setol/Admiral Alidar Jarok.

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Quotes

Neelix: I had the good fortune to be on Talax at the time, with our defense forces - preparing for an invasion that never came; it wasn't necessary. The day after the cascade was deployed, Talax surrendered unconditionally to the Haakonian Order.

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Soundtracks

"Star Trek: Voyager - Main Title"
(uncredited)
Written by Jerry Goldsmith
Performed by Jay Chattaway

User Reviews

A thought-provoking episode

This is one of those episodes that requires one to think about things that one would probably rather not think about. Voyager receives a message from a scientist named Jetrel who says that he would like to meet with Neelix. When he does, Neelix is devastated to learn that this was the man who developed and set off a weapon (cascade) during a war between the Talaxians and Haakonians that destroyed a colonized moon and killed hundreds of thousands of people including Neelix's entire family. Jetrel says that Neelix may be ill from the lingering aftermath of the cascade and that he wants to cure this disease if Neelix has it. The parallels between this story and America's dropping atomic bombs on Japan are obvious and a bit overdone but still thought provoking. The anguish, pain and guilt Neelix displays shows us a much more serious side to Neelix and Ethan Phillips does a good job conveying these feelings. James Sloyan as Jetrel also delivers an excellent portrayal of someone in incredible emotional pain. As reviewer Tweekums has said, the ending is very moving. The questions this episode pose have no easy answers - and perhaps no answer at all.