best acted Voyager episode

[exodus]

I don't think that is true at all. The writers just had a hard time writing for him. His character wasn't a bad character. Jeri Ryan provided a great back story for him. In Pathways, his chapters were the best. It's just unfortunante they didn't know how to use him and fit him in.

I'm going to assume you meant Jeri Taylor, not Jeri Ryan.

Aren't most times on Voyager, the writers were also the creators of the show? The folks that created Neelix couldn't write for him and you don't find that a bad thing? Ethan Philips himself said that he often gave the writers ideas on the direction of his character, all of which they ignored much like they did with Beltran. IMO it doesn't sound like he was hard to write for, it just sounds like they didn't care. All the stronger actors got the majority of the lines and screen time.

Ha. Nice catch with Taylor. Tis fixed...

Could be a bit of both I guess. But I read quite a few of the official Star Trek Magazines where the writers were interviewed, and several of them mentioned they had a hard time finding stories for Neelix and found it easier to write for the Dr., Seven, Janeway, etc. Bryan Fuller mentioned it quite a bit; that he felt Neelix was being 'lost' as the seasons were progressing often asking Rick Berman what he had in mind for him and getting little direction back. In another article, both Bryan Fuller and Andre Bormanis both stated the felt Jeri Taylor was the only one who 'cared' about Neelix and once she dissappeared, it was up to the writers and Phillips to get him in episodes; where as for the other cast, anything with the Dr. or Seven in it pitched would get passed much more easily.

Yes, it shows.
It's too bad because Philips like Russ deserved more.

 

[exodus]

Jetrel was a good Neelix episode but Mortal Coil was one of the best Voyager episodes from all 7 seasons in my opinion.

I found the idea of Seven being able to use her nanoprobes to bring people back to life a bit unbelievable and Mary Sue-ish. Not that Philips didn't do a good job with it but the implausibility of it was a bit off-putting for me.

That never bothered me because we had already seen a dead drone reactivate in "Unity".
It also plays into the theme of the episode: If technology can bring the dead back to life, do we have a soul? If we have no soul, is there anything after death?

 

[AuntKate]

Jetrel was a good Neelix episode but Mortal Coil was one of the best Voyager episodes from all 7 seasons in my opinion.

I found the idea of Seven being able to use her nanoprobes to bring people back to life a bit unbelievable and Mary Sue-ish. Not that Philips didn't do a good job with it but the implausibility of it was a bit off-putting for me.

That never bothered me because we had already seen a dead drone reactivate in "Unity".
It also plays into the theme of the episode: If technology can bring the dead back to life, do we have a soul? If we have no soul, is there anything after death?

What bugged me about this nanoprobe issue is that it is used once and forgotten. Couldn't they have used nanoprobes to bring Joe Carey back to life? This is one of my big complaints about the Seven character (although Jeri Ryan always delivered a great performance). Sometimes she could access the entirety of Borg intelligence and other times she couldn't. If those nanoprobes could save lives, the EMH should have had a zillion of them on hand in sickbay.

 

[AuntKate]

I think Resistance is an excellent show for all of the characters. We see the softer side of Janeway as she plots to get her crew out of prison. We see B'Elanna's anger and frustration and Tuvok's stoicism as they are mistreated in prison. Chakotay is large and in charge on the bridge, and Neelix is doing his "behind the scenes" duties. Even Harry does well--restoring the warp drive--and Tom arrives on the scene in time to rescue Janeway, et. al., from prison. To top it off, Joel Grey does a wonderful job as the addled Kaylem who thinks Janeway is his daughter. Love that episode!

 

[exodus]

I found the idea of Seven being able to use her nanoprobes to bring people back to life a bit unbelievable and Mary Sue-ish. Not that Philips didn't do a good job with it but the implausibility of it was a bit off-putting for me.

That never bothered me because we had already seen a dead drone reactivate in "Unity".
It also plays into the theme of the episode: If technology can bring the dead back to life, do we have a soul? If we have no soul, is there anything after death?

What bugged me about this nanoprobe issue is that it is used once and forgotten. Couldn't they have used nanoprobes to bring Joe Carey back to life? This is one of my big complaints about the Seven character (although Jeri Ryan always delivered a great performance). Sometimes she could access the entirety of Borg intelligence and other times she couldn't. If those nanoprobes could save lives, the EMH should have had a zillion of them on hand in sickbay.

I just assumed it was the way/how each died might have been a factor. Maybe nanoprobes can't save someone that's been shot vs. electrocution? I always assumed it might have something to do with restarting the electrical impulses in the body. Like the Borg in the Cube in "Unity" reactivated but "died" due to electrocution but Borg we've seen shot by phasers, stay dead. That might be a clue right there.

Wasn't the EMH always extracting nanoprobes from Seven for different medical reasons?

 

[Rett Mikhal]

I just remembered another good episode, a rare one in which you get to see Neelix be a real character. "Repentance." The psychopathic prisoner being cured and feeling guilt, the prison guard realizing people change, the betrayal of the good prisoner, Neelix bonding with them and fighting for fair treatment. One of the best. Can't believe I forgot to mention it.

 

[kimc]

That never bothered me because we had already seen a dead drone reactivate in "Unity".
It also plays into the theme of the episode: If technology can bring the dead back to life, do we have a soul? If we have no soul, is there anything after death?

We saw nanoprobes temporarily reanimate a drone but not bring it "back to life". Big difference, imo.

I think Resistance is an excellent show for all of the characters. We see the softer side of Janeway as she plots to get her crew out of prison. We see B'Elanna's anger and frustration and Tuvok's stoicism as they are mistreated in prison. Chakotay is large and in charge on the bridge, and Neelix is doing his "behind the scenes" duties. Even Harry does well--restoring the warp drive--and Tom arrives on the scene in time to rescue Janeway, et. al., from prison. To top it off, Joel Grey does a wonderful job as the addled Kaylem who thinks Janeway is his daughter. Love that episode!

I agree (surprise!). This is actually my favorite episode.

 

[Monty_66]

Drone (Jeri Ryan)
Imperfection (Jeri Ryan and Manu Intiraymi)
Childs Play (Jeri Ryan and Manu Intiraymi)
Counterpoint (Kate Mulgrew)
Equinox (Kate Mulgrew)
Meld (Tim Russ)
Riddles (Tim Russ and Ethan Phillips)
Barge Of The Dead (Roxann Dawson)
Lineage (Roxann Dawson)
Faces (Roxann Dawson)
Body and Soul (Bob Picardo and Jeri Ryan)
Latent Image (Bob Picardo)

I remember reading an interview with Kate Mulgrew on the BBC where she mentioned that sometimes the men may have felt overshadowed by having three, pretty strong women taking the big roles in episodes (Roxann, Kate and Jeri).

 

[Jonny]

I'd say the episode where Tuvok lost his memory and was friendly towards Neelix and they ended up being friends for a bit before he got his memory back. Can't remember the name of the episode but I thought that was well acted out.(Tim Russ and Ethan Phillips)

 

[kathrynjaneway]

^^ Riddles. Yeah a good Neelix/Tuvok episode.

 

[DanCPA]

I enjoyed most of the scenes for Chakotay when we saw him in command of Voyager.

 

[exodus]

That never bothered me because we had already seen a dead drone reactivate in "Unity".
It also plays into the theme of the episode: If technology can bring the dead back to life, do we have a soul? If we have no soul, is there anything after death?

We saw nanoprobes temporarily reanimate a drone but not bring it "back to life". Big difference, imo.

Too you, maybe but not too the debate presented in the episode.

When Neelix confronts Seven about the nanoprobes in his body, he's outraged because he's questioning what is life. If his soul left his body, then why is he still here? He died and saw no spiritual afterlife. If life is defined by Neelix as a soul/spirit and technology is making him live, then what is life? Is it simply synapses firing, keeping us automated like some machine?

So his debate with Seven is, what's the difference between reanimation and life, if no soul exists? So I believe the scene in "Unity" is relevant to the subject in "Mortal Coil". So I don't find it to be a way to make Seven a Mary Sue but to rather have some type of catalyst to invoke that side of the issue.

 

[kimc]

That never bothered me because we had already seen a dead drone reactivate in "Unity".
It also plays into the theme of the episode: If technology can bring the dead back to life, do we have a soul? If we have no soul, is there anything after death?

We saw nanoprobes temporarily reanimate a drone but not bring it "back to life". Big difference, imo.

Too you, maybe but not too the debate presented in the episode.

When Neelix confronts Seven about the nanoprobes in his body, he's outraged because he's questioning what is life. If his soul left his body, then why is he still here? He died and saw no spiritual afterlife. If life is defined by Neelix as a soul/spirit and technology is making him live, then what is life? Is it simply synapses firing, keeping us automated like some machine?

I think you missed my point. The reanimation of the borg drone in sickbay was not a precedent for Seven being able to bring people back from the dead since "back to life" and "reanimated are two entirely different things. So when she did exactly that it seemed way out of the norm for someone with "borg powers".

 

[exodus]

We saw nanoprobes temporarily reanimate a drone but not bring it "back to life". Big difference, imo.

Too you, maybe but not too the debate presented in the episode.

When Neelix confronts Seven about the nanoprobes in his body, he's outraged because he's questioning what is life. If his soul left his body, then why is he still here? He died and saw no spiritual afterlife. If life is defined by Neelix as a soul/spirit and technology is making him live, then what is life? Is it simply synapses firing, keeping us automated like some machine?

I think you missed my point. The reanimation of the borg drone in sickbay was not a precedent for Seven being able to bring people back from the dead since "back to life" and "reanimated are two entirely different things. So when she did exactly that it seemed way out of the norm for someone with "borg powers".

Then you miss the entire point behind "the fact I'm alive makes me an abomination" aspect of the debate being played out in the episode. The topic wouldn't hold water if Neelix hadn't been "reanimated" by technology. It had to be something unexplainable by the living medical database that is the EMH. Seven's nanoprobes were the only choice.

 

[kimc]

Too you, maybe but not too the debate presented in the episode.

When Neelix confronts Seven about the nanoprobes in his body, he's outraged because he's questioning what is life. If his soul left his body, then why is he still here? He died and saw no spiritual afterlife. If life is defined by Neelix as a soul/spirit and technology is making him live, then what is life? Is it simply synapses firing, keeping us automated like some machine?

I think you missed my point. The reanimation of the borg drone in sickbay was not a precedent for Seven being able to bring people back from the dead since "back to life" and "reanimated are two entirely different things. So when she did exactly that it seemed way out of the norm for someone with "borg powers".

Then you miss the entire point behind "the fact I'm alive makes me an abomination" aspect of the debate being played out in the episode. The topic wouldn't hold water if Neelix hadn't been "reanimated" by technology. It had to be something unexplainable by the living medical database that is the EMH. Seven's nanoprobes were the only choice.

Again, Neelix was "brought back to life", the drone was "reanimated". Two entirely different things. Send enough electrical impulses and anything can be "reanimated". Being brought back to life though implies some special intervention of a supernatural nature - unless of course you have Seven with her wonder nanoprobes around.

 

[exodus]

I think you missed my point. The reanimation of the borg drone in sickbay was not a precedent for Seven being able to bring people back from the dead since "back to life" and "reanimated are two entirely different things. So when she did exactly that it seemed way out of the norm for someone with "borg powers".

Then you miss the entire point behind "the fact I'm alive makes me an abomination" aspect of the debate being played out in the episode. The topic wouldn't hold water if Neelix hadn't been "reanimated" by technology. It had to be something unexplainable by the living medical database that is the EMH. Seven's nanoprobes were the only choice.

Again, Neelix was "brought back to life", the drone was "reanimated". Two entirely different things. Send enough electrical impulses and anything can be "reanimated". Being brought back to life though implies some special intervention of a supernatural nature - unless of course you have Seven with her wonder nanoprobes around.

By your own definition, that would make Neelix reanimated.

 

[kimc]

Then you miss the entire point behind "the fact I'm alive makes me an abomination" aspect of the debate being played out in the episode. The topic wouldn't hold water if Neelix hadn't been "reanimated" by technology. It had to be something unexplainable by the living medical database that is the EMH. Seven's nanoprobes were the only choice.

Again, Neelix was "brought back to life", the drone was "reanimated". Two entirely different things. Send enough electrical impulses and anything can be "reanimated". Being brought back to life though implies some special intervention of a supernatural nature - unless of course you have Seven with her wonder nanoprobes around.

By your own definition, that would make Neelix reanimated.

Exactly! Which is why I have a hard time believing the storyline to begin with...

 

[exodus]

Again, Neelix was "brought back to life", the drone was "reanimated". Two entirely different things. Send enough electrical impulses and anything can be "reanimated". Being brought back to life though implies some special intervention of a supernatural nature - unless of course you have Seven with her wonder nanoprobes around.

By your own definition, that would make Neelix reanimated.

Exactly! Which is why I have a hard time believing the storyline to begin with...

...but that's the point.

 

[kimc]

By your own definition, that would make Neelix reanimated.

Exactly! Which is why I have a hard time believing the storyline to begin with...

...but that's the point.

The point is I don't buy the point so the whole thing is a bit pointless to me.

 

[Jonny]

^^ Riddles. Yeah a good Neelix/Tuvok episode.

Ah that's what it was called ! LOL ! I'm terrible with episode names haha at least I remembered the episode haha