I just don't don't care much for the Tom Paris character. I suppose he's suppose to be a lovable cad. Oh, well. I do like the Neelix character although his proneness to jealousy is not particularly attractive although in fact understandable. I was glad that by this episode's end he was able to lay that particular demon to rest. Paris realizes he "loves" Kes and Neelix is jealous because he sees Kes laughing with Paris. Paris whines to Kim about how unfair life is. When Kim and Paris go to the dining room they deliberately avoid sitting with Kes which hurts her feelings and off she goes. Neelix and Paris soon get into a food fight but this fight is broken off when they are summoned by the Captain. It seems they are near a planet that appears to have abundant food sources; however, they cannot use their transporters so Neelix and Paris (the person who knows the most about edible plants and the best pilot) are sent on a shuttle craft to investigate. Alas, things go wrong and one more Voyager shuttle craft bites the dust. The planet is covered by noxious vapors so Neelix and Paris take refuge in a cave and seal it off to keep the vapors out. They find a just hatched alien who soon has difficulties breathing. They realize that the noxious vapors are actually what the alien needs to breathe so out they go, thus saving the baby alien. When they return to the Voyager, Kes is both surprised and pleased to see Neelix and Paris joking and laughing and being best buddies. There are only so many plots and I don't mind that they are recycled. I happen to like the "enemies who become best buddies through a shared adventure" plot.
Review of Parturition
