Paris and Neelix crash on “Planet Hell” in search of supplies and encounter a baby alien. Plot Summary: While giving Kes a... More...
That was all about Tom and Neelix fighting over Kes and quarreling all the time. Neelix and Tom attacking each other with food was silly. On the other hand: something cooked by Neelix wasn't to everyone's liking. You could also throw it into you're foe's face - ha ha. This episode had its fun moments. But Neelix was annoying with his jealousy.
The episode itself is nothing special.. the plot is dragging along, the 'resolution' of the conflict way too predictable, but I liked the food fight. It's certainly silly, yes, but it's also one of those moments you'd expect to pop up in a mediocre fanfic only, as you wouldn't expect the characters to go all-out like that -- perhaps in the mirror universe, but not on the "real" voyager. That has a kind of humor in itself to me, like they're attempting to parody themselves. As long as they do such stuff VERY sparingly (like, once every three seasons or so). (bothered to look up the fragment on youtube. First link I got to the scene happened to be synchronised in German, which only added to the "alternate reality" feel of the scene for me. )
I agree with the review. I also like the take they have on it over at Sci Fi Debris. I was glad they dealt with Neelix's jealous and things were finally brought to a head. Bonding over an alien baby...eh. Whatever it takes to end this. I did like the Doctor's quip about dry literature and his and Kim's insistence that none of this was her fault. One thing that has always bugged me is what many people take away from it is that Tom respects Neelix so he will not try to seduce Kes. They are friends now and you don't make a move on your friend's girl which is all well and good...but what about respecting HER choice and having that be enough of a reason to leave her alone?
This is a mess of an episode. I'm not sure what they're trying to achieve with it. It can't be about Tom's sudden interest in Kes (because that comes out of nowhere) and it can't be about Neelix's jealousy (already been done). Maybe it's literally about Tom and Neelix bonding; simple as that. If so, it's terrible. I suppose it could be about Kes realising that there's more to life than Neeelix and discovering there are better options out there for her. You know, like when a woman has a boyfriend but then becomes a celebrity and is introduced to funnier, smarter, more exciting men and the boyfriend (who normally would have had a good run) just doesn't look as good by comparison anymore. Choice can be a bitch. But if it's about Kes then why are we wasting so much time in the presence of Tom and Neelix? Let's hear what Kes has to say rather than treating her as the prize that one of them will get. The whole thing feels like a pointless exercise. In the following episode, Tom's interest in Kes has utterly vanished and we hear no more about it. Talk about reset button. Not a good episode and not one that has anything to offer in terms of character building. Tom likes women (already knew that) Neelix is a possessive weirdo (already knew that) and Kes is a blank nothing character who exists purely to facilitate other character's arcs (yup, already knew that too).
Kes fell into his arms and that was all it took for Tom to fall in love with her? So fanfic writers, no need for elaborate set ups. Just make your Mary Sue trip herself on purpose and fall right into him...cause its that easy. Makes me wonder what B'Elanna did.
A funny episode with some great interaction and comments from our favorites. The fight between Tom Paris and Neelix is hilarious and so is also the discussion between The Doctor and Kes about the problems with love and romance. In the end everything works out fine between the main combatants. A rather nice and funny episode. I'll give it 4 points out of 5