Odyssey 5

Genius-smart and driven, Neil nonetheless has a chip on his shoulder when it comes to his relationship with his parents - particular his father Chuck - who had largely ignored him in favour of his "golden child" elder brother Marc. Eager to prove himself, Neil went from a metal-head stoner in high school to NASA's youngest astronaut at age 22. Regardless of his amazing achievements, he still feels as if he's living in Marc's shadow, despite the fact that in the original timeline, Marc went AWOL because he was washing out of the astronaut programme. Finding himself back in his junior year of high school, Neil has a difficult time making the adjustment from 22-year-old wünderkind with a Porsche, a condo, and a Harley to a 17-year-old no one believes in. His relationship with his friends, particularly his girlfriend Holly, is strained. And while the rest of the team chases down leads, he's often stuck at school studying for a Trig test. While Chuck may not always understand his youngest son - or be able to relate to him - Chuck relies on Neil and is proud of him, even if he is occasionally harder on Neil than he is the other members of the team. The hardest part remains being written off by his mother, who looks at him and sees a "work in progress" and when being told of his "future" achievements, seems only able to express surprise. When his mother is killed and his father takes off, Neil may be feeling abandoned and lost, but being a Taggart, rarely lets it show except with girlfriend Holly. However, after they sleep together, Holly panics and breaks it off.