Supposedly Neelix was intended to be the roguish scoundrel type character like Quark was over on DS9. Though intentions didn't factor out into what we got.
Really Neelix was just a jerk who had to force himself upon every situation regardless of how useless or unwanted he is. He has to be the center of attention and has severe jealousy issues. You can't even use a replicator ration or cook something yourself without him getting territorial. To say nothing of his blundering nature as morale officer and ambassador.
No doubt he meant well under it all, but he's just like the annoying house guest who won't go away and just burrows his way into the situation. He genuinely did serve as a paternal figure to Naomi after all. That was probably his most successful role and his scenes in that regard were annoying only because of the child aspect of it more than Neelix's regularly douchebaggery.
For a specific episode of his that I liked... well I'd have to say Fair Trade tops my list. Even in this one he really show how despicable he can be. Sure he lied and stole from his comrades, dealt drugs and was an accessory to murder, but it was all well intentioned. It all just started as him turning a blind eye to a petty crime as a favor to an old friend he owed a lot, and then just spiraled more and more deep. At least then he did the right thing in the end. Still... that's the only episode where I can say I really felt for him, and even then it was just... his own stupidity that got him into it.
Honestly, he demonstrated from Day 1 he was completely untrustworthy. In Caretaker he lies to Voyager's crew about their people being in a Kazon encampment just so he can rescue his girlfriend. Said lie ends up with them getting captured and Neelix escalating the situation by taking their leader hostage and expecting Janeway to get him out of it. Then when Kes falls all over herself to help them in gratitude, which is only proper, he has the audacity to complain saying they don't owe Voyager anything. When all he had to do was tell the truth and Janeway probably would've helped anyways. At least then she'd know she was going into a hostile situation without the Talaxian draft dodger making things worse. How Janeway ever trusted Neelix after that it beyond me. Must be his idolizing of her.
