Why is Neelix allowed on the bridge?

[Guy Gardener]

I see them as farmers.

They wait out other civilizations for new innovations.

There's no point in assimilating redundant technology.

That's the opposite of lazy.

The restraint it takes not to take raw resources and man power on the off chance that the planets they're watching might create something interesting in three hundred years is impressive.

But then there's forced evolution.

By wittingly fumbling their invasion of the Federation, they have bottle necked all the inventiveness of a 150 worlds into creation of poorly deployed haphazard antiborg technology which the Borg can laugh at while they assimilate and recognize that they're lucky a competent opposition was not putting them to task with the same tools.

Case in point...

The Borg have assimilated all of Adrmial Janeways Future tech and it will never be a threat to them again.

The next 16 years of Federation genius is moot.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

The ship was a single ship alone in hostile territory, and Neelix was the only member of the ship with a remotely diplomatic skillset. He should be on the bridge when they first meet a new race, and he should be involved in top level discussions about how to deal with them.

I think the Borg like to play the long game. They're not playing to win the game as fast as possible, they're just playing to win the game. So they play salami. Attack one planet, once they've completely dominated it, move on to the next.

But that doesn't explain why they don't send more than one cube at a time to Earth.

 

[Dream]

But that doesn't explain why they don't send more than one cube at a time to Earth.

I blame Voyager writers and bad writing for introducing the idea that the Borg has "thousands" of cubes. Before that show, I just always assumed the Borg might have had 3-4 cubes in the entire galaxy and couldn't send anyone at Earth after BOBW which had been a crippling blow.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Conventional Earth forces should fall if confronted by a single Cube.

It's just that the stoopid humans keep mounting unconventional defences.

Even if they send ten Cubes, each new unconventional defence the Federation pulls out of it's ass at the 11th hour is still going to work even against 20 cubes because the Borg will not have a countercounter.

Each new counter works once, and is thereafter considered conventional.

Ergo the Federation will fall to one Cube in the next bout.

And if the Federation will still keep inventing new counters to Borg superiority, isn't it best that they only lose one cube while figuring out a countercounter to any such new counter than losing ten Cubes if total loss is a certainty as long as the ongoing unpredictability of Federation tactics is a certainty?

 

[Finn]

Watching Voyager tonight and saw Neelix on the Bridge and wondered why is he there also why is he included in briefing meetings when his job is Cook, Morale Officer and Ambassador?

Because he was the only one aboard who knew the part of the galaxy they were going through during their first two years. It would make sense to have him at briefings when they need more information about places they were approaching, all that.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Conventional Earth forces should fall if confronted by a single Cube.

It's just that the stoopid humans keep mounting unconventional defences.

Even if they send ten Cubes, each new unconventional defence the Federation pulls out of it's ass at the 11th hour is still going to work even against 20 cubes because the Borg will not have a countercounter.

Each new counter works once, and is thereafter considered conventional.

Ergo the Federation will fall to one Cube in the next bout.

And if the Federation will still keep inventing new counters to Borg superiority, isn't it best that they only lose one cube while figuring out a countercounter to any such new counter than losing ten Cubes if total loss is a certainty as long as the ongoing unpredictability of Federation tactics is a certainty?

If only the Borg would yell out "THEY'VE ADAPTED!" every time this happens.

 

[Lance]

Why was Wesley allowed on the bridge?

I think...

Because with very little training he stopped peeing on the carpet

... just about covers it.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Stopping him would require touching.

 

[DeepSpaceWine]

But that doesn't explain why they don't send more than one cube at a time to Earth.

I blame Voyager writers and bad writing for introducing the idea that the Borg has "thousands" of cubes. Before that show, I just always assumed the Borg might have had 3-4 cubes in the entire galaxy and couldn't send anyone at Earth after BOBW which had been a crippling blow.

Borg space is huge. They didn't have transwarp hubs in TNG (which is like hyper-accelerated transwarp) so it took a while to get to Earth. Also consider while they may have thousands of cubes, they need most of those to maintain their space, probably assimilating drones and mining worlds for building materials. Also consider ther simply may have been many closer/better targets to deal with (like Arturis' race) or dealing with the rabble trying to topple them. Maybe part of the Borg empire is bogged down in a war with another race, one not so strong as to decimate them like Species 8472 did, but strong enough to resist and hold the line, but with technology they really want. When they really want something, they send more than 1 cube. The BOBW cube might've been a test run to assess how easy it would be to assimilate the Federation. One would think there would've been a parallel BOBW for the Klingons (test run on the Klingons), yet we never heard of it.

I think so much of the problem comes with the mistaken impression that these were like machine gods, nigh invincible, instead of being an advanced yet in some ways simple race that did have a huge area of space and which were likened to a force of nature at times. They have their weaknesses which other races try to exploit (technological with Species 6xxx whatever and biological with the Brunali). Voyager had a former drone and the desire to survive against the Borg. They also had some Borg tech onboard (Astrometrics) and a chance to study Borg tech close up on many times (Unity, Scorpion leftovers, scanning One the Drone, etc). They had the will to exploit every advantage against the Borg, even trying to stoke a Borg civil war via Unimatrix Zero (that would've made for a better "Endgame" than Admiral Janeway, who drank so much "coffee. black" it altered her personality to be just like it).

 

[Lance]

Stopping him would require touching.

Wesley, or Neelix?

(Or Wesley and Neelix?)

 

[Guy Gardener]

What smells worse?

Wet shag or neediness?

 

[exodus]

Because he was their guide.

Seven took over that role. She's the Sacagawea of the Delta Quadrant, using Borg knowledge to relay the same kind of information Neelix could give. In essence, only for half a season they were without a native guide.

That left Neelix to his other role- ship's cook. Cooking for 140ish people around the clock keeps him busy.

...but folks in the Delta Q. aren't going to do trade negotiations with a Borg nor with strangers in uniforms. They will do it with a native to the DQ like a Talaxian. Seven could provide info on each species but It was Neelix who'd they'd sent out to negotiate trade. It was the exact reason Janeway called him Ambassador and put him in charge of ships inventory. Who would suspect Voyager was hostile if they send a kind but a dimwit like Neelix to represent them? People would do trade with him cause he's a nonthreatening native. Trade thru reverse psychology.

Yes, being a cook for nearly 150 or so would keep him VERY busy. It's another reason why supply runs and inventory would be part of his job as well.

 

[Captain Kathryn]

Why was Neelix allowed on the bridge?

Because Neelix is freakin' awesome.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Say what?

Most whiskers on VOY, he does win that accolade.

 

[Taylirious]

Janeway's cat. Nuff Said.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Oh I really want to say something bad here.

:: sits on hands ::

 

[Taylirious]

Meow Mix! Just sayin'

 

[DeepSpaceWine]

...but folks in the Delta Q. aren't going to do trade negotiations with a Borg nor with strangers in uniforms. They will do it with a native to the DQ like a Talaxian. Seven could provide info on each species but It was Neelix who'd they'd sent out to negotiate trade. It was the exact reason Janeway called him Ambassador and put him in charge of ships inventory. Who would suspect Voyager was hostile if they send a kind but a dimwit like Neelix to represent them? People would do trade with him cause he's a nonthreatening native. Trade thru reverse psychology.

Yes, being a cook for nearly 150 or so would keep him VERY busy. It's another reason why supply runs and inventory would be part of his job as well.

From Season 4 on, how do aliens know Talaxians are Delta Quadrant natives beyond taking their word for it? And what do they care about a race that is from 10,000-30,000ly away "but in their quadrant" vs. a race that is 30,000-65,000ly away "but from another quadrant"? His use there is just as someone experienced as a trader, salvager. Where he's from is no difference to them since he's no longer a local this side of the Nekrit Expanse.

I do agree, Neelix was kept busy as the ship's cook and quartermaster. It doesn't get recognised as such. He often mentions coming back with a bunch of food and other provisions for the crew.

 

[tighr]

I often wonder why the races in the Delta Quadrant seemed so pedestrian compared to those encountered in the Alpha Quadrant.

Come to think of it, that makes sense when it comes to the Borg... for 900 years, they'd been feasting on all these lame civilizations that hadn't even invented the replicator yet. That makes them a technological power, yet tactically weak. It was easy for them to take over new races because those races could barely offer up any resistance. It was futile.

Suddenly, they become aware of the Federation and their human ingenuity, and are like "finally, someone in this damn galaxy worth their salt!"

 

[hxclespaulplayer]

From someone on Jammer's review of "Investigations": "Morale Officer seems more and more like a job you give to mentally retarded people just so they can feel good about themselves."