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We’ve been a bit underwhlemed by Neelix to this point in Star Trek: Voyager, so it’s finally time to start taking the character seriously! “Jetrel” asks us to do just that – to imagine Neelix as the survivor of an atomic bomb level event who meets the Oppenheimer of his past.
The Wikipedia plot summary for “Jetrel”:
Neelix is aghast when a Haakonian named Dr. Ma’Bor Jetrel contacts Voyager and asks to meet him. The Haakonians fought a long, destructive war against his people, the Talaxians, fifteen years ago. Jetrel was responsible for developing the Metreon Cascade, a superweapon that killed over 300,000 people on Talax’s moon Rinax, including Neelix’s family. Jetrel says he has come forward to examine Talaxians like Neelix who helped evacuate survivors from Rinax, in the process exposing themselves to high concentrations of metreon isotopes that can cause a fatal blood disease, metremia. Although he considers Jetrel a monster, Neelix agrees to be examined and Jetrel informs him that he has incipient metremia. Jetrel convinces Captain Janeway to make a detour to the Talaxian system. Using the ship’s transporter systems, Jetrel feels he will be able to develop a cure by retrieving samples of the Metreon cloud still surrounding Rinax.
Janeway agrees but Neelix is still bitter. He angrily condemns Jetrel for the devastation he caused, only to learn that the scientist is also paying the price — his wife left him in the wake of the attack on Rinax, his children refuse to acknowledge him, and he is in the final stages of metremia with only a few days to live. The ship’s arrival at Rinax opens old wounds for Neelix. He confesses to Kes that he lied for years about being part of the Talaxian defense forces. He never reported for duty; instead, he spent the war hiding on Talax. Later, Neelix seeks out Jetrel in sickbay, only to find the Doctor deactivated and Jetrel covertly conducting experiments. Suspecting the worst of Jetrel, Neelix tries to notify Janeway but the scientist renders him unconscious.
Jetrel heads for the transporter room, where he is confronted by the Captain. Jetrel pleads with Janeway to let him conclude his work and bring back the deceased Talaxian victims of Rinax. He believes that he can use the transporter to regenerate their dissociated remains and confesses he came to Voyager as a pretext to use the ship’s transporter; Neelix does not have metremia. Janeway allows Jetrel to proceed but the improbable experiment fails. The scientist collapses, knowing that he will never be able to redeem himself. Neelix pays a last visit to Jetrel and tells him that he is forgiven, allowing the Haakonian to die with some semblance of peace.
In this episode of the podcast, Wes and Clay discuss “Jetrel” and other famous atomic bombings. Plus! The guys chat about Neelix’s round face, chasing yourself in a dream, and keeping your motivations a mystery.