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Recap / Star Trek Voyager S 4 E 11 Mortal Coil

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As we saw in "Coda", if it's an episode where a character sees their own corpse, shit gets real.
Neelix dies during an away mission, struck by an energy discharge, but in such a way that all of his brain's neural pathways are still fully intact; this allows Seven of Nine to revive him using her Borg nanoprobes - despite Neelix being "dead on the slab" with no heartbeat or brain activity for a full 19 hours.

As Neelix goes over what happened on the away mission, he recalls seeing nothing while he was dead: no Guiding Tree which is part of the Talaxian afterlife, none of his family and relatives, nothing. With help from Chakotay, Neelix goes on a vision quest and sees one of his sister telling him that everything that he believed in was a lie and that there was really no point to living. This prompts him into committing suicide until Chakotay talks him out of doing so, reminding him that he still has things worth living for despite what he has seen in his visions.


This episode provides examples of:

  • Assimilation Backfire: Seven of Nine comments that the Borg rejected assimilating the Kazon because their species as a whole with their Too Dumb to Live tendencies would detract from the Borg goal of perfection.
  • Call-Back: To "Jetrel", when Neelix mentions how he lost his family.
  • Cessation of Existence: The main focus of the episode is Neelix not believing there is an afterlife.
  • Christmas Episode: Sort of. It originally aired a week before Christmas, and the holiday celebrated in the episode was Prixin, the Talaxian equivalent. Given the themes explored, this can only be regarded as ironic.
  • Commander Crash: Chakotay adds yet another shuttle disaster to his resume.
  • Crisis of Faith: For Neelix.
  • Damaged Soul: Neelix believes he became this after he has been brought back from the dead.
  • A Day in the Limelight: One of the few episodes that reminds you that despite Neelix's goofy exterior, the guy's life has been pretty rough, and continues to be.
  • Didn't Think This Through: Chakotay helps Neelix go on a Vision Quest as requested, yet he doesn't consider that Neelix isn't a human and may not have the slightest idea what the visions mean or how to cope with them. He apparently assumed Neelix had this knowledge and doesn't explain any of it until Neelix is attempting suicide. On top of that, Neelix is exhibiting obvious signs of a profound emotional crisis. Chakotay IS aware that these emotions would be reflected in the visions. On the other hand, Chakotay did make clear that it wasn't "a quick fix", and expected Neelix to follow up with further discussions about what he'd seen.
  • Disney Death: Neelix, courtesy of Seven of Nine's nanoprobes.
  • Driven to Suicide: Neelix, before Chakotay talks him out of it.
  • Forgotten Phlebotinum: Seven of Nine brought Neelix back from the freakin' dead after several hours via (what else?) nanoprobes. Apparently, the technology must only work on main cast members. Only that one time...
    • They specifically said this was an unusual case, that his brain's neural pathways were basically frozen fully intact, allowing the nanoprobes to essentially just turn them back on. It wouldn't help getting killed by a phaser.
  • Get Out!: Said by Neelix to Seven of Nine during a medical scan.
  • Go Mad from the Revelation: Neelix not seeing the afterlife as he expected.
  • Heaven: The Great Forest is the Talaxian version of it, which Neelix describes to Naomi Wildman. Talaxians believe that the afterlife is a beautiful, Garden of Eden-like forest, and when you die and wake up there, you'll be drawn to a specific tree called a Guiding Tree, where all of your deceased loved ones are waiting for you. It becomes Naomi's Happy Place when she goes to sleep at night near the end of the episode.
  • Hope Spot: During his vision quest, Neelix sees the Great Forest and his deceased sister Alixia there. So, he's starting to feel better about the prospect of the afterlife. That is, till she mockingly tells him that this is all a lie...
  • Interrupted Suicide: Neelix's first attempt to transport himself into the nebula is thwarted by Harry Kim blocking the transport.
  • Literary Allusion Title: The title comes from Hamlet.
  • Long List: Tuvok is chosen to recite the annual Prixin salutation speech, which includes an extensive list of relatives. Lampshaded by Tuvok, when after a while he just cuts through the reading of the list and proceeds to the ending part of the speech.
  • Mortality Ensues: Comes up during a conversation between Seven and Tuvok, when they discuss humans' attitude toward death. Seven states that Borg are, to all intents and purposes, immortal, since their memories remain in the Collective once their bodies cease to function. Tuvok points out that Seven herself is no longer part of the Collective, and thus just as mortal as everyone else on board, and it's clear from her expression that this is the first time she's ever even considered this. She claims it doesn't bother her, as the Collective still has her memories from when she was a drone, but her eyes tell a different story.
  • Must Have Caffeine: Harry Kim who's working on a report. Fortunately Neelix has brewed up some "potent stuff!", as Harry calls it (Neelix calls it the Firenut Blend).
  • No Social Skills: Seven of Nine proves that she's in need of being taught the social graces when she tries to talk to other people at the Prixin celebration party.
  • Religion Is Wrong: Neelix questions his faith during his experience with death.
  • Rule of Three: Three times Samantha Wildman calls Neelix to help put Naomi to bed, and each time he responds with "Duty calls", but each instance is in a dramatically different context. The first time he's his usual cheerful self, fulfilling his duty as godfather. The second time it's an excuse to escape from the party, and he dreads telling Naomi about the Great Forest again. The third time he's once again accepted his role on the ship and put aside his attempt at suicide.
  • Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome: This is the first time the audience really sees Naomi since she was an infant, and canonically she should be no more than two years old. However, she appears to be at least four or five in this episode. Justified by her alien physiology (the Doctor mentions that she's grown several centimeters in the last few weeks).
  • Stepford Smiler: Neelix tries to maintain his normal cheeriness, but it doesn't last.
  • Talking Down the Suicidal: Chakotay does this to Neelix, although it is because of Samantha Wildman calling for Neelix on behalf of her daughter Naomi that he succeeds in getting through.
  • That's an Order!: Said by Chakotay to Neelix when he finds Neelix in the mess hall and tells him to meet him in his quarters after his work shift to discuss what he saw in his Vision Quest.
  • Things That Go "Bump" in the Night: Neelix's job is to make sure that there are no monsters in the Wildman quarters so that Naomi can go to bed. This is what saves Neelix from committing suicide near the end of the episode, when Samantha Wildman looks for Neelix because Naomi thought she saw a monster in the replicator.
  • Truth in Television: Neelix insisting he's at peace shortly before his attempted suicide. For individuals in Real Life who are known to suffer from depression or other forms of mental or emotional distress, a sudden sense of peace and contentment is a major warning sign that they intend to take drastic action.
  • Twisted Christmas: Twisted Prixin in Neelix's case, as he didn't expect that he would die right before the celebration of Prixin and then be resurrected by Seven of Nine, nor did he expect that he would be questioning his faith or the point of living when he didn't see the Guiding Tree of his afterlife.
  • Video Will: Neelix records one for the crew before he attempts to transport himself into the nebula.
  • Vision Quest: Neelix goes on one with the help of Chakotay.
  • Voice Changeling: The vision of Neelix's sister Alixia switches to speaking in Naomi Wildman's voice, repeating what she said to Neelix before going to bed.

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