Teleplay By: Raf Green
Directed By: LeVar Burton
Rating: ***** (out of 5)
Voyager makes unlikely contact with a group of Talaxians who have made an unlikely home out of a massive asteroid. Think of how far away these Talaxians are from Talax, and in all that travel they couldn�t find a decent planet? To be completely honest, this is Voyager�s third-last episode and the writers don�t seem to care; so neither do I! I�m just forgetting the fact that the above two plot indescrepencies are there and I�ll concentrate on the fact that those two problems are the reason this excellent episode can exist.
The problem is that these Talaxians� asteroid is in the middle of an asteroid belt being mined by aliens and of course these aliens don�t want to loose potential minerals. The Talaxians have spent years building their home and don�t want to see it all go to waste. Neelix at first thinks that negotiating is the best answer but when that fails Neelix decides that fighting is the only way. Neelix�s plan, with Tuvok�s help, is too set up a shield around the asteroid. Once that is done Neelix decides that he should continue to help the Talaxians and not abandon them; so he leaves Voyager.
Neelix has been extremely underutilized during Voyager�s seven-year run and has often been the brunt of comic relief instead of real drama which is a pity because Ethan Phillips has shown such great acting skills when Neelix is actually used. In a way I wanted a mini-montage of Neelix moments because when the crew lined the corridors before his departure it showed to me the great respect everyone has for him and I remembered all those wonderful moments he�s had. I�m going to miss Neelix and finally I�m getting the feeling that Voyager is starting to wind-down. Only three hours left and that�s it.
Neelix�s farewell was excellently handled and we got some nice final scenes between characters. The teaser showed a Neelix party, which was fun, Tuvok got some good-byes in with his little dance and Tuvok�s talk with Neelix in Astrometrics, Janeway and Neelix in the Mess Hall and there was some closure with Naomi Wildman. I would�ve liked a bit more good-byes, I�d love to have seen some closure with Seven and the Doc with Neelix, not to mention Tom and B�Elanna. But the good-byes we have here are fine considering Voyager will be in contact with Neelix.
The acting from everyone was perfect, even the co stars including Scarlett Pomers (my has she grown in the past year or so), Julianne Christie, Rob Labelle and young Ian Meltzer all do superb work and they all have great chemistry together.
The story of �Homestead� is great despite the flaws mentioned at the beginning. The only small continuity error that is worth noting is there are apparently no ships in the asteroid belt when the Talaxian life signs are first found, yet later on there are possibly a number of mining ships in there and the mines which would surely be detectable.
But no matter, the story is the perfect sendoff for Neelix and one of Season 7�s best episodes. We only have one normal episode left now, lets just hope that the series and the rest of the characters get as good a conclusion as Neelix. Neelix, buddy, I�m going to miss you.