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"Mortal Coil" File Photo
|| Airdate: December 17th, 1997 Written by: Bryan Fuller Directed by: Allen Kroeker Short Take: A good idea and a gutsy show hampered by bad dialogue and the fact it's about Neelix Summary: Neelix dies but is revived using Seven's Borg technology. Life is not so easy for him now though, as his resurrection challenges his religious beliefs. Review:Comparisons between "Mortal Coil" and "Hard Time" are going to only make "Mortal" look bad. Why? "Hard Time" was an everyman story, about a situation that could have happened to anyone, seen through the eyes of DS9's everyman, Chief O'Brien. "Mortal" focuses on issues within a specific person. In the case of any person, that's considerably hard, but when it's Neelix that's being dealt with, it's next to impossible. A very solid story in the end is undermined by the fact that it involves one of Trek's least loved characters. Another factor that "Time" has over "Mortal" is it was simply better written. "Mortal," for the record, laid out its plot fairly well. But I'm just not buying this belief in an enchanted forest, and when Kim mentions that the coffee is "potent stuff," or when Chakotay talks about monsters in the replicator, I just cringe. The line itself isn't terrible, but when hammily delivered, as through the mouth of Garrett Wang, it leaves me on the floor in pain. Nonetheless, what we saw was a rather strong character piece. We saw a lot of Neelix as a person - his love of family, his sense of purpose, his hatred of the Borg, and many other things. I think the credit here goes to Fuller by giving Neelix a lot to work with. He could have easily said, "Kill Neelix" and let the chips fall where they may. But he created scenes with the intentional purpose of further provoking Neelix's feelings about the issue. The hologram scene, while treating Chakotay in a questionable manner, had strong implications. Not only was Neelix seeing his death, but he was also drawing the conclusion that all of life was like a holographic presentation, an interesting analogy. The introduction of Ensign Wildman's daughter, Naomi, also helped to promote this. Besides the fact that this was a needed bit of continuity, this move also was effective because it gave Neelix a reason to live, setting up the story's conclusion. While this certainly worked, I think it needed a little more punch. The ending smacked of "It's a Wonderful Life," and that made me smack myself upside the head. Yet at the same time the episode was setting ourselves up for it all along. The idea of Prixin, that "We are not alone" was mentioned all throughout the show. As cheesy as it was, the fact that Neelix still had his Voyager family even when he couldn't have his Talaxian one was a theme from the show, as well as from the entire series. It somewhat worries me that Neelix lived because he felt he was useful and loved by all, something that isn't much condolence to those contemplating suicide, but within the situation itself it did fit. This is one of a few questions the episode left me with. I would like to say that I was affected by the ending, with little Naomi sitting under the tree. But what did it say? That children believe in the afterlife? I'm not sure what to think of that. You could even argue that it was a little tasteless of Voyager to have a Christmas show where the main character became convinced that there was no afterlife. The timing seems like a slap in the face to religious peopl. But, it must be pointed out that this is Star Trek, and at the top of Gene's rules was that religion was to be discouraged, so this is all within established rules of Trek. My major problem is not so much the message but whether or not said message was intended. Seven of Nine seemed strong, as usual I suppose since she seems featured prominently in every show now. She had several good scenes. The first came when she saved Neelix because of his "diverse function," followed up by her giving credit to the Borg for saving him, a very un- individualistic thing to do. But I found especially fascinating two things in particular. The first was when she said "thank you" - a sign that she is slowly integrating herself into ship life. The second was her discussion of the afterlife, and her perception that she lives forever through the Borg, and that she finds relief in that. I find that especially intriguing, as it shows the natural fascination humans have with death. The secret to this episode's being so underwhelming was that it involved Neelix. Despite some outstanding acting from Ethan Phillips, it is hard to care about someone who looks like a rodent and has been treated so badly by Voyager's writers in the past. That's a shame, since this was a fairly solid and certainly controversial episode, which is all we can really ask of any TV show. Short takes: I wasn't buying little Naomi's makeup... just make the kid fully human! Chakotay asking Tom for help right after Neelix's death, while a small thing, helped improve my respect of the wannabe Commander. Apparently floors are very clean on Voyager. When Neelix dropped his food, he and Enisgn Wildman porceeded to put it right back on the plate to give to others! I found the spirit journey to be a somewhat effective dramatic device here. Besides some nice direction, I found the dark nature of it intriguing, if somewhat out of character for a feelgood spirit journey. Doesn't Neelix have just one lung? I think I heard them mention his "lungs" following his resurrection. Writing: A few dealing-with-death cliches, but overall nice. Acting: Phillips proves he can act. The kid actor was a bit weak though, as it always is with kid actors on Trek. Directing: Effective I suppose. The spirit journey was laid out well. Overall: 8.9 out of 10.0 Quote Neelix: "I know it's been difficult for you from your transition from Borg back to human, or half-human, or whatever it is you've become. Actually, you're just plain Seven to me." Seven: "Your point, Mr Neelix?" Next week Who cares? It's Christmas Eve. Discuss This Episode and/or Review in the Fan Comm Link Discussion Board! | |
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