Star Trek: Jetrel

Episode: "Jetrel"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 1, Episode 15

Original Air Date: May 15, 1995

via Memory Alpha

A Haakonian shuttle approaches Voyager, its occupant wishing to speak with Neelix.  The man introduces himself Dr. Ma'Bor Jetrel, a name which immediate horror into the Neelix's heart.  We soon learn the Haakonians had conquered Neelix's homeworld some fifteen years before and Jetrel had been the inventor of a horrifying weapon of mass destruction, an obvious Oppenheimer/atomic bomb parallel.  Jetrel claims Neelix is terminally ill, the long-term consequence of the weapon's wrath.

29 years after this episode aired, we are a year removed from the film release of Oppenheimer so our world society has spent some time recently confronting the same issues raised in "Jetrel."  It's a strong Neelix episode as he must navigate personal demons in regards to his own role in the war.  

As I write this, I have not yet watched Oppenheimer.  However, I've devoted significant personal time to learning about the bomb, mostly from the Japanese perspective.  In my early 20s, I visited Nagasaki, a city forever haunted by that horrible day but also determined to lead world peace efforts to help ensure it never happens again.  Here on the blog, I've reviewed books that deal with the subject, most meaningfully the excellent Barefoot Gen manga series by Keiji Nakazawa about the Hiroshima bombing and its aftermath (see Volume 1 and Volume 2).  I also reviewed Trinity, a graphic novel by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm about the creation of the first atomic bomb.

Acting Notes

via WikiSein

Character actor Larry Hankin played the role of Gaunt Gary, a pool hustler in Tom Paris's Chez Sardine holodeck program in the light-hearted beginning of this unusually heavy episode.  Hankin was born December 7, 1937 in New York City.  He graduated from Syracuse University, then trained at Second City in Chicago.  "Jetrel" is his second Star Trek appearance, his first of three as Gaunt Gary.

via Friends Central

No one would call Larry Hankin famous, yet anyone who watched American television and/or movies in the 1980s and '90s would recognize him instantly.  Films include Escape from Alcatraz, Running Scared and Billy Madison.  He has appeared on numerous high-profile television shows in memorable roles, including Tom Pepper, the actor cast as Kramer in Seinfeld's "The Pilot," Mr. Heckles, the cranky downstairs neighbor on Friends and junkyard owner Old Joe on Breaking Bad.  He has an Oscar nomination to his name: Best Live Action Short Film in 1980 for Solly's Diner.