A Briefing with Neelix

Story: Investigations
Written By: Jeri Taylor
Series: Star Trek: Voyager
Year: 1996

Neelix gets a morning show on the ship, the results are as annoying and bubbly as you’d expect from this loser. But when Kim suggests that he have more hard-hitting news, it makes Neelix think. Especially when Tom Paris decides to leave the ship.
Essentially this episode brings together the two stories that were shoehorned into several episodes this season, that of Jonas (the former Maquis) spying for Seska and Paris acting like an asshole in several episodes. What we learn is that Tuvok and Janeway are already aware of the spy, and that Paris acting like an ass was a ruse (even to Chakotay) to make it seem plausible that he would want to leave. That way they could get him captured by Seska and the Kazons and attempt to find out whom the spy was.

It has its moments, and I like that the episodes not meant for season one actually attempted some kind of arc and continuity, but I just wish I didn’t have to follow Neelix to get a conclusion to all of this. I won’t say that he was at his worst, but I definitely have trouble buying him as a hero, because I rarely see evidence of intelligence from this guy.

NEXT TIME: Out of Phase