By Chris Snellgrove
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Final yr, the movie Oppenheimer took the world by storm, sweeping the Oscars and leaving a long-lasting cultural impression on everybody who noticed it. By way of tone and material, that film was the polar reverse of Star Trek, a franchise that’s all about exploring unusual new worlds fairly than constructing bombs. Nonetheless, a long time earlier than Oppenheimer got here out, Star Trek: Voyager delivered a surprisingly advanced episode (“Jetrel”) constructed round an alien illustration of J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Oppenheimer In Star Trek
Oppenheimer’s affect on this Star Trek episode was comparatively well-known amongst followers on the time as a result of it wasn’t precisely delicate. On this story, Neelix is traumatized by Voyager’s encounter with Jetrel, a scientist who constructed a weapon named the Metreon Cascade that killed over 300,000 Talaxians, together with Neelix’s family. In conventional franchise vogue, the scientist has a loopy plan to attempt to undo the injury he has precipitated, however he’s racing in opposition to time as a result of he’s dying of a deadly blood illness attributable to the very superweapon he helped develop.
“Jetrel” was written by three writers, together with Kenneth Biller, a person who later stated “I did numerous analysis about Oppenheimer and have become fascinated by what I discovered” whereas scripting this episode. In response to the author, “There have been some strains Jetrel stated that have been precise issues Oppenheimer stated.” For instance, he talked about Jetrel being requested if he felt responsible about what he did to the Talaxians, simply as “Oppenheimer was as soon as requested if he felt responsible about Hiroshima and he stated, ‘Sure I really feel responsible, however I don’t remorse it.’”
One other little bit of real-life Oppenheimer dialogue that made it into this Star Trek: Voyager episode involved Jetrel’s description of how the Metreon Cascade seemed: “brighter than a thousand suns.” This was referencing the second when Oppenheimer famously quoted the Bhagavad Gita, saying “If the radiance of a thousand suns have been to burst without delay into the sky that might be just like the splendor of the Mighty One. I’m develop into Loss of life, the Shatterer of Worlds.”
If that’s not sufficient, Biller as soon as summed up “Jetrel” by saying that this episode was principally “Neelix meets Robert Oppenheimer.” On this means, the episode was slightly extra on the nostril in comparison with Trek’s typical metaphorical storytelling, however Biller was simply fascinated with making a sci-fi reply to the query “What if Oppenheimer was confronted by a survivor?” On this case, the survivor is Neelix, and turning the episode into an sudden character examine of the Talaxian is a part of what received over showrunner Michael Piller and different producers.
“Principally, we’re utilizing the Oppenheimer character as an inspiration to inform one thing about considered one of our guys,” Piller stated of this Star Trek episode. The truth that the man in query was comedian aid character Neelix helped win over producer Jeri Taylor, who praised “Jetrel” as a result of it “gave us the chance to indicate a very different aspect of Neelix.” Fellow producer Brannon Braga agreed, saying that the episode “eliminated Neelix from being simply comedian aid,” a vital step as a result of “You don’t need him to develop into the joke of the ship.”
In case you have been questioning, Oppenheimer and his legacy come throughout fairly nicely on this Star Trek episode. Jetrel finally ends up failing in his noble try to undo the injury that he did and finally ends up getting forgiven on his deathbed by Neelix. This Oppenheimer stand-in, like so many memorable Star Trek cameo characters, is introduced as a tragic determine who determined to do the proper factor it doesn’t matter what, not not like what we see within the thematically comparable DS9 episode “Duet.”
Once more, Oppenheimer is generally the final individual you’d affiliate with Star Trek, however “Jetrel” proves that this actual character’s fascinating life is usually a springboard to be taught extra about our favourite fictional characters. And if you happen to don’t just like the episode, you don’t must develop into the destroyer of worlds to make it go away. As an alternative of firing off a Metreon Cascade, simply hit the facility button in your distant and, like Jetrel himself, do your greatest to neglect what occurred.
