'Mortal Coil'

Stardate: Unknown
Written By: Kenneth Biller
Directed By: Alexander Singer
Rating: **** (out of 5)

Neelix is one of those Voyager characters, including Chakotay, Harry Kim and sometimes Tuvok and B�Elanna, who doesn�t get very many good opportunities to do things.  Especially know with Seven on the scene.  But �Mortal Coil� shines as Neelix�s best episode to date.

I haven�t seen �Jetrel� where I believe the issue of Talaxia is brought up, so I can�t say I know a lot about Neelix, and I can�t say that the issue of Neelix�s past hasn�t been brought up.  But this is the first I�ve seen of it, and here we get to know about Neelix, his past, his family, and his culture.

I don�t know about the Borg re-animation procedure.  I guess it�s possible, but it opens up a can of worms; now any crewman can be brought back to life under those circumstances.  But for some reason I think this is the only time we�ll see this procedure, but I think we should see this again.

But ignoring that unbelievability, we get a superb character episode for Neelix.  He looses the faith he�s had in him for his entire life, a faith that�s been past down for generations.  He also looses the only chance which he believed he would see his family again, especially his sister who he misses dearly.

And he know believes there is no reason to live, and the vision quest he goes on tells him that �you know what you must do� and he attempts to commit suicide.

Some very nice scenes including Neelix looking at his dead self on the holodeck and saying �That�s what going to happen to all of us� when the image disappears.  There is also when Neelix finally realizes his after-life isn�t real and tells Naomi Wildman that it�s just �a silly old tale� and when he is reciting his suicide note, about gaining Tuvok�s respect.

But Neelix naturally is convinced not to end his life, realizing his importance among the crew, especially to his Godchild, Naomi.

The only problems I have with all this is that the audience never will find out what the vision quest actually means.  This is a problem because Chakotay tells Neelix there could be a number of meanings other than suicide, but what could they be?  The other problem is the unfortunate lack of continuity in the fact that we probably won�t see Neelix being administered with nano-probes in the future.

Neelix is a great character, and when given good material, is played wonderfully by Ethan Phillips.  And this episode shows Neelix�s nature greatly with scenes like looking for monsters in Naomi�s bed, bracing himself for a Tricorder reading, and looking for the canister in the Cargo Bay.  He�s a very warm and comforting character.

Apart from a few problems, this episode is a winner, and makes me finally glad that Neelix is a member of the crew.  Neelix�s best episode yet and one of the higher ranking episodes of the season.