Kes and Neelix's relationship and break up

[borgboy]

I'm in the middle of Voyager season 3 right now, and it really bugs me how after the Warlord breaks up with Neelix that their relationship is treated as over.
The reasons the Warlord gives for Kes breaking up with Neelix are compelling, but it still is poor storytelling that it's never resolved better than that.
When Neelix is worried about being kicked off of Voyager because they've left the area of space he's familiar with, Kes doesn't even get an appearance IIRC, and that's a story where she'd have had a lot to contribute. It's all signs of how unimportant Kes was considered to tptb, but it's still frustrating to see important character and relationship development being handled off screen without even being referred to.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Yup.

Although this might mean that we have not seen the beginning and end of a lot of other relationships on Voyager.

In Fury, when she booked passage for two people to escape the Vidiian harvest, I did think that she was going to take Neelix away with her to have a dirty, dirty happy ever after.

Of course, then I thought that the plan was to make love to herself.

"Dude, relax, it's no different to masturbation, and we do that enough, right?"

I am constantly disappointed by television being decently sound.

 

[borgboy]

That does make me think that a sane Kes returning to leave with Neelix would've made a better exit for Neelix than the convenient Talaxian colony complete with a whirlwind romance.

 

[hux]

The doctor mentions their relationship ending in Darkling when Kes is enamoured with Zahir but I can't think of any other reference to it before or after that.

EMH: I think I'm detecting a reaction to your recent break-up with Mister Neelix. The Mahatma would recommend a cold bath. Simplistic, but no doubt effective.

I think they made the right move separating them but yeah, they did treat the relationship as though it never happened. It didn't work as a relationship and there should have been more call backs to it later but that's just another example of Voyager failing to embrace serialised storytelling.

 

[Catarina]

That does make me think that a sane Kes returning to leave with Neelix would've made a better exit for Neelix than the convenient Talaxian colony complete with a whirlwind romance.

I thought that too at first. However I tried to put myself in his shoes. That colony made him realize he was about to be far from what's left of his kind. It may seem whirlwind to us but in the end he has his people and he has a purpose.

 

[borgboy]

That does make me think that a sane Kes returning to leave with Neelix would've made a better exit for Neelix than the convenient Talaxian colony complete with a whirlwind romance.

I thought that too at first. However I tried to put myself in his shoes. That colony made him realize he was about to be far from what's left of his kind. It may seem whirlwind to us but in the end he has his people and he has a purpose.

Oh, it's a happy ending for Neelix, but it's really really convenient that Voyager found a nice Talaxian colony for Neelix to relocate to just before they left the Delta Quadrant.
It's just all very coincidental, although otherwise I do like the Talaxian colony.
As a hard core Kes fan though my anger and disappointment over Fury taints my opinions. They could've moved Fury to be Neelix's exit, actually wrote Kes in character, and given both characters a happy ending. Thank goddess for the String Theory novels and the Voyager relaunch for fixing that atrocity.

 

[Guy Gardener]

More convenient than Finding the Sky people who tattooed Chakotay?

 

[borgboy]

Yeah, I get what you mean Guy. At least the Talaxians were from the Delta Quadrant.
It's the timing that is too convenient. Not that they found them, but they found them like two days before Voyager got back to the Alpha Quadrant. It's not that big of a deal to me, just pointing it out.

 

[Guy Gardener]

There was usually weeks or months between each episode which is why a season figured out to last a year, and there was almost no immediate continuity between contiguous episodes.

Neelix should have been gone for months by the time Endgame reared up.



Have you seen Blazing Saddles?

Neelix had.

 

[WoTe]

The Talaxian colony was stupid. It was at least, what? 14 years journey from Talax? 14 years Voyager speed, btw. Which we were constantly reminded early on how super advanced Voyager was in all respects to the local indigenous after caretaker. How many years at Talaxian speed? And for what? Neelix himself becoming (always was imo) useless as a guide early on. And through Borg Space? Makes no sense.

The Neelix/Kes breakup didn't bother me at all. The reason is that Kes clearly didn't want to be together with Neelix, and even if a proxy did it for her, it was done, and she kinda went along with the development and was happy not to speak to Neelix about that. Some awkward moments might have been nice.

The thing is, her whole "Ocampa pick a partner for life, there is no jealousy" and the cuddly Teddy Bear species 8472 in "In the Flesh" that supposedly wanted to "Purge the Galaxy" really undermine her pronouncements.

But I like that. It shows someone young and inexperienced. (Which given the Ocampa longevity, you can kinda extend to the whole race as they have little time for experience.... proving the Caretaker correct in a way.)

Because I dislike Neelix, I'm glad he's off the ship. But for the show, I thought he should have finished off the series with them. I don't even get the whole point of it, unless one of the writers saw the disaster that was Endgame way ahead of time, and they thought their favorite character should instead get a semi-decent sendoff (molesting some Talaxian's 13 yo son).

 

[Guy Gardener]

http://www.stdimension.org/int/Cartography/Voyager.htm

Voyager had travelled 30 thousand light years between Caretaker's Array and the Borg Transwarp Hub.

1000 light years per year (2.7 light years a day, 0.114 LY/H.) is the rule of thumb they settled on, even though in the pilot they were 75K LY from home, and in every other mention of the total journey they said 70 K ly.

Oddly, according to the memory alpha, 2.7 light years per day is a touch less than warp 8, which is an unsustainable speed for longer than a few days at most.