The Most UNETHICAL Episode of Star Trek: Enterprise (Dear Doctor) (Manic Episodes)

I dunno, guys. I kinda feel like genocide shouldn't be treated as a good thing. But maybe Phlox has a point about evolution or something.
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[@dragonskunkstudio7582]

Too much singing.

[@rodrolliv]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rYe8Z2akrZxnlbc

[@achecase]

Not enough!

[@poposterous236]

Actually I'd argue there wasn't enough singing in Enterprise. It would have made a great musical.

[@achecase]

@@poposterous236 Sure, but I was referring to Ms. Pregler.

[@qlipothian]

Not enough.

[@Sophiec108]

I'm gonna have to make sure I don't accidentally sing "let's commit some genocide" in public 😆

[@longbowxmkii]

Yeah I was having that problem earlier x)

[@CynnamonSpyder]

Don't disagree with the captain! jfc that's like my mom saying "I'm sorry your father belittled and ignored you. I thought it was wrong, but I wanted to show a combined front." LIke, wtf?!

[@seanb.6793]

I like Flox a lot better than Neelix, but I agree - this episode was written by writers on drugs working right up to the last minute before the episode needed to be produced.

[@DarkfireTaimatsu]

If every bad episode of Star Trek had a goofy parody song to go with it, they'd probably be a lot better episodes. Those are some of my favourite bits, especially since those kind of jokes probably take a lot of time to come up with~

[@ToHoldNothing]

I feel like the idea that Phlox's species doesn't like to be touched would be distinct from disliking all physical contact. From what little I glean here, the problem is others initiating contact with them, not them initiating contact. Phlox's species seems very...alien as regards morals in a way that would explain a lot of their perspective and that's potentially the intent, like Star Trek has done practically from the start, iirc.

[@Geospasmic]

Geez! I was never much of a Captain Janeway fan, but even she never advocated for eugenics-based genocide, i don't think?

[@nancyroberts8749]

I was appalled at her order to murder Tuvix

[@medexamtoolscom]

Don't forget they already established the precedent in TNG of Federation policy on nonintervention being quite unreasonable. Remember the one where Picard's brother saves a handful of people from a planet that was destroyed or something, going against federation strict "prime directive" policy? Where they kept them in the holodeck for a while? Remember that? I think you may be looking at this all wrong. It's not that the episode is condoning it as morally permissible, but rather, it is documenting the Federation's formation in how it became a dystopia. Just because something bad happens in the story, doesn't necessarily mean that it is being presented as moral. Otherwise, villains literally wouldn't exist, after all. Don't assume that just because the federation is a certain way, that the show is presenting that as the morally correct way.

[@marcushead9985]

One of my favorite theories about this episode is from SFDebris, who posits that the Valakians become the Breen because of what happened. Wearing protective suits all the time they don't even need, seemingly lying about their homeworld, paranoid and untrustworthy...

[@garthst.claire3459]

That's actually an awesome theory!

[@JamesTobiasStewart]

Yeah he also theorised that they assassinated Phlox for leaving them to suffer in the name of his misunderstanding of evolution and that's why his treatment to neutralise the Borg Nanoprobes was never repeated (he was killed and his notes were either lost or destroyed). Meanwhile the Menk he suspects may have become the Pakleds, after having to flee their homeworld after what was likely many brutal revenge attacks by Valakians who learned they had been effectively sacrificed to allow the Menk to 'evolve'. This led to them becoming scavengers and con artists simply to survive. Overall SFDebris theorises that this episode likely ruined the lives of both species involved, especially considering unlike most examples of ST planets with 2 species living on it; the Valakians and the Menk were peacefully coexisting.

[@BlazingOwnager]

@@garthst.claire3459 Yeah, that particular theory is so good I totally have it as my head canon.

[@MarioMario-vn3fx]

That's my personal headcanon as well

[@robm6645]

You forgot the second half, the other species evolved into the Pakleds.

[@shadowfire1986]

Now count the episodes between this one and the one where Archer angrily tells some advanced aliens that they have a duty to save his crew if they can, and that they are monsters if they don't.

[@MrHoggReads]

The point is Archer is a space noob and doesn't know how dangerous it is or what he might get himself into.

[@terrymitchell2461]

Is it a natural genetic process that Archer asks an alien race help to avoid? Because the dilemma he faces in this episode, is whether or not to play god and interfere with the natural genetic progression of one, of the two races of a planet. Where also by helping that one race, it would continue the subjugation of the other race, and hinder their natural development. As phlox put it, it would be like an alien race coming to earth in our past, and helping the Neanderthals from becoming an extinct species, if so, who's to say that they wouldn't have gone on to became the dominant species on earth, making Homo erectus go extinct instead, and not leading to us at all.

[@Syncrotron9001]

remember the episode where archer redpills a sxe slave? (cogenitor) then the captain scolds him for telling a piece of property that it had rights because it harmed an unborn child in the long run.

[@Syncrotron9001]

I actually stopped watching Enterprise after i saw that episode. Now MGTOW is popular. whoda thunk huh?

[@terrymitchell2461]

@@Syncrotron9001 It's a shame you stopped watching before the end of Season 2! Because it only got better and better from the last episode of season 2 on. Season 2 episode 22 Cogenitor, was a story about a race of people that legitimately had a third sex, this third sex was called a Cogenitor. The Cogenitors weren't seen as people under their own rights, more like only tools necessary for the conception process! Passed around from couple to couple, so said couples could become pregnant. I think you missed the point of not just this episode, but most of the episodes of the first two seasons. This show was meant to give an insight into the beginnings of Star Fleet, and it's first steps leading to the United Federation planets. They were taking the first steps into a greater community, and with them they were taking preconceived notions of right and wrong based on human moralities, and human understandings. Most of what happens is what leads to the creation of the Prime Directive. This goes on to show why and how the Prime Directive was created and needed. The point of which is to not impose human moralities on to other races, and to not interfere with the natural development of other races, it's a set of rules to dictate the conduct of Star Fleet officers. A set of rules not yet invented in Enterprise.

[@Fernando7ization]

"The personality of a loud sniff" That line really got me for some reason. 😂

[@josephsanti6219]

Phlox is Dr. Zoidberg without the charm, but all the horrific malpractice.

[@SiRenfield]

I mean I did compare him to Krieger from Archer but OMG that is so perfect

[@danielyeshe]

Not the first time I have heard that comparison. Have you seen SFDebris?

[@moseszero3281]

There was some point early on I seriously expected her to say zoidberg and do his little wup wup wup sound

[@tonoornottono]

he’s super charming i love phlox

[@drachenrecke5090]

Zoidberg was a fool, Phlox was highly competend in what he did.

[@thecynicaloptimist1884]

I love that the Valakians and the Menk, who are genetically very similar and evolved _on the same planet_ can't procreate, but Humans and Vulcans, who evolved on _two totally different planets_ somehow _can._ I mean, it's like saying you can't mate with a chimpanzee, but you can mate with an oak tree.

[@httohot]

they can procreate, I think that was the point tha they should bond with one another and form a new stronger species

[@deterlanglytone]

Oh, I too have watched Sf Debris's review of this same episode.

[@mojomike]

wasn't Spock a test tube baby though?

[@AzraelThanatos]

It's something that can be chalked up to Progenitor/Ancient Humanoid involvement. The Progenitors might be another name for the Preservers... With the Chase, it seems that Humans, Vulcans/Romulans, Klingons, and Bajorans/Cardassians have a "common" ancestor, with a race having seeded their form in the genetics of several worlds.

[@RandomNPC001]

I think the Valakians and Menk were more like earth’s tigers/lions, horse/donkey. They are very similar and can procreate, but the offsprings themselves are not able to procreate mules/ligers. As for Human/Vulcan it’s just the plot shield being at 100%.

[@VerdantRange]

When I see crappy episodes of Trek that use the Prime Directive to just let people die, I'm always reminded of this bit from the TOS ep, "For The World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky". Spock: "Informing these people they're on a ship may be in violation of the Prime Directive of Starfleet Command." Kirk: "No. The people of Yonada may be changed by the knowledge, but it's better than exterminating them." Spock: "Logical, Captain." Kirk: "And the three billion on Daran Five." Spock: "Also logical, Captain."

[@ATippingBarn]

EXACTLY. The PD is treated like dogma in later series.

[@Mia199603]

TOS is shit but one thing they got right is PD and how to break it flawlessly, without bitching afterwards (I'm looking at you Picard, shame on you).

[@FredCDobbs-rd5wi]

"When I see crappy episodes of Trek that use the Prime Directive to just let people die..." My favorite being the one where Worf's human brother forces the Enterprise to rescue a pre-warp technology race that would have otherwise gone extinct. The Enterprise was there literally to just watch them die and Picard is genuinely appalled when they're pressed into saving them.

[@VerdantRange]

@@Mia199603 Plus, even Picard in TNG broke the Prime Directive nine times or so, but said the circumstances made them justifiable in the ep, The Drumhead. Rick Berman and the others really didn't get what the Prime Directive was meant for.

[@Zodroo_Tint]

@@FredCDobbs-rd5wi And they shamed his brother who was one of the best person among mankind. :)

[@Scatscar1985]

I actually shouted "FUCK OFF!" at the screen when this got to the Prime Directive part.

[@mastermarkus5307]

It's just so... blatant. Like "Directive--GET IT, DO YOU GET IT!?"

[@samhainhodgens2321]

Its completly Bad to Apply this here where it wasnt invented.so why bring that up? All that did was piss the fans of

[@tyburvandeezo8218]

@@mastermarkus5307 Yeah, he might as well have looked right at the camera and winked

[@dm121984]

Alas, this episode wasn't THAT more extreme on the prime directive than TNG. I hate now a general rule designed to protect less technologically advanced people from being exploited by the technologically powerful had somehow warped into Picard literally wanting to let a planet completely die of some weird natural disaster where the atmosphere disappeared and was utterly livid that Worfs bro saved some of them. By than standard, this episode is less extreme because Archer doesn't bombard the prewarp species because 'evolution demands they be wiped out to let the primitives evolve instead'.

[@keitht24]

​@@samhainhodgens2321Every single episode of Enterprise that seems to touch on the general idea of the prime directive annoyed me. This policy wasn't even considered by humans at this point. Every time T'Pol or Phlox would bring up these ideas it confused me. Why was archer even entertaining the conversation?

[@zephyr8072]

You know what the funniest thing is? There's a later episode that calls this one back, the one where the Organians are observing some of the crew die of an incurable disease and Archer is begging them to help. The Organians rightfully point out that Archer let the Valakians die even though he could've helped them. Archer's response - and I swear this is true - is while not in these exact words essentially "Yes but this is different because it's MY PEOPLE." Oh and in the same episode Phlox has the *unmitigated gall* to sit in judgement of the Organians and call them appalling cowards for... having a cure and refusing to use it based on the ideal of non-interference, i.e. doing the exact same thing he did.

[@darktimesatrockymountainhi4046]

I don't recall such an episode of Star Trek Enterprise. There's a TOS episode involving Organians, but there's nothing in it regarding a disease or an alleged cure.

[@zephyr8072]

@@darktimesatrockymountainhi4046 Observer Effect.

[@darktimesatrockymountainhi4046]

@@zephyr8072 Interesting. I did not recall that it was Organians. Didn't they introduce the virus in order to observe subjects' reactions? That would be different than the subjects acquiring it on their own, without intervention by the observers.

[@zephyr8072]

@@darktimesatrockymountainhi4046 No, it was a virus that they observed multiple species get infected by. They studied the reactions but didn't introduce it or interfere.

[@CanuckGod]

To be fair, they don't name-drop that they're Organians until right at the end of the episode, but I've watched that episode several times, so it does in fact exist 😄

[@commanderproton7763]

Some things else to note about the original final draft of this episode: - Phlox finds the cure, but keeps it secret. He later tells the captain that he is working on it. - In a scene later with Archer and T'Pol, he lies and states that the Valakians' genetic structuring is "too fragile" to be messed with. - Archer asks T'Pol if the Vulcans could make a cure, but she says there medical knowledge is no more advanced than Phlox's and she urges Archer to leave as there is nothing more they can do. - Archer gives the Valakian doctor a case full of medical ampules, telling him they will "keep your species healthy for another three generations." - On the ride back, Phlox admits to Dr. Lucas in his logs that he couldn't bring himself to affect the evolutionary process on the planet. He considers himself a person who values human compassion, but now a slave to Vulcan logic. He wonders if he made the right choice here and guesses it will be something he asks himself for years to come. While it probably has its own issues, I'd argue the episode would have been better if they had gone this route. At the very least Archer wouldn't also look like an ass and they would at least be providing SOME help, even if it might not be the best due Phlox hiding the info.

[@samuelvzveddscs1638]

They are issues with this draft, But it would have still been better, that Phlox going : "Hey , Archer ! Want to be Unethical by commiting Genocide for vague reasons ?" and Archer responding with : "Sure !".

[@atimholt]

That’s still not how evolution works, but it’s less loudly stupid.

[@matthewryan6187]

That just tells you that having just a single medical expert on the ship is a huge liability, short of the fact that the single doctor dying could doom the rest of the crew, it means there are no check and balances for the doctor acting entirely on their own without anyone able to vet their decisions leads to something like this

[@samuelvzveddscs1638]

@@matthewryan6187 Isn't that what happened on Voyager ?

[@matthewryan6187]

@@samuelvzveddscs1638 that's why they got the best pilot in starfleet to help the EMH out, smart idea

[@jacobwilliams1223]

Star Trek's eternal misunderstanding of how evolution works has caused a number of questionable episodes but none as downright horrifying as this one. Pro genocide heroes everyone! What a mess.

[@DanielDangerous]

I think the writer's are just daring each other some times "Hey man, I dare you to write an episode where there's a moral choice to commit genocide or not and then moral decision is to commit genocide"

[@casbyness]

@@DanielDangerous My favourite: "Lieutenant Paris...is evolving". No. No he's not, you immensely stupid hard light hologram. He's MUTATING. He's not 'evolving'. He's not an entire ecosystem adapting to changing environmental conditions via a process of natural selection. Individuals don't evolve!

[@katrinahood]

"Dear Doctor" is worse than "A Night in Sickbay"! There, I said it! Sure, "A Night in Sickbay" is dumb, but it didn't piss me off in the same way "Dear Doctor" did. Seriously, why would anybody ever tell a story that ends with "Actually, it's a good thing genocide was committed!"?

[@samhainhodgens2321]

Play final fantasy 13 .maybe that Helps becuase it ends in Genocide of two Planets and Fails harder then this Episode in Justifying that

[@Galactipod]

The writers have something to hide.

[@trooper9249]

Due to the series finale, I like to pretend that all of Enterprise is just one really bad holodeck recreation and that this episode in particular was some anti-Federation propaganda slipped in by Romulan spies.

[@snorpenbass4196]

Romulan spies still salty their warp program got sabotaged by a single human engineer wearing fake pointy ears.

[@Finians_Mancave]

You certainly have a point. Considering that Kirk and his Enterprise are canon and therefore referenced in all of the later series, but Archer and his Enterprise are never acknowledged in any of the future shows. (Obviously there's no way they could have been, since the show and characters had not been thought up yet. But they could have addressed this in the show's finale -- say, Archer's timeline gets wiped out in a heroic, sacrificial act to save the Earth/Universe).

[@AussieDragoon]

They didn't want to have anyone disagree with the captain (which I'm sure other Trek shows have done before but whatever) so instead they just decided to commit character assassination on Archer (or character euthanasia if we're being honest)? Like how does having Archer agree to genocide instead of just having Flox lie to him help the crew dynamic in any way?

[@Faction.Paradox]

The same way we're meant to agree with Archer and somehow blame Trip for trying to free that Cogenitor from sex slavery, I guess

[@sockpuppy8811]

I don't understand this reasoning, A character is advocating for a genocide but the bad thing is that he is disagreed with the captain !? And to make it good, the captain has to agree to the genocide !? Why !? How a human wrote this without a second thought ?

[@patrickmccurry1563]

Archer did commit torture in one of the episodes though. So he was never a really moral character.

[@demoniack81]

@@Faction.Paradox Enterprise tried *really hard* to justify the existence of the prime directive, the problem is that they forgot that one of Trek's favorite pastimes is breaking the prime directive when it's clear that it is the right thing to do.

[@Faction.Paradox]

@@demoniack81 Absolutely, Strange New Worlds couldn't even get through its first episode without doing it

[@famalam943]

Not since Janeway murdering Tuvix was there such ambivalence to life.

[@Tareltonlives]

I like to think Archer is Janeway's ancestor

[@vfvfq1279]

At least with Janeway murdering Tuvix, you could argue there was a moral dilemma and no easy solution...

[@kevinkern2149]

@Darth Revan I think the moral dilemma in "Tuvix" was good, certainly better presented than the one in this episode. It's been a while since I've seen it, but I thought the procedure to revive Tuvok and (sigh) Neelix was presented in the episode as having a near-100% chance of success (they experimented on the orchids that caused the accident in the first place and successfully unmerged them). The moral dilemma depends on this: killing Tuvix WILL revive the other two. Your third option is intriguing, and I wonder why it was never discussed during the episode. I would have to think there's some limitation in Trek's transporter technology that prevents simply recreating dead characters at will. Otherwise, Picard could have simply "transported" another Tasha Yar into existence after her untimely death (she had just beamed down, so her pattern should be "fresh"). Again, it's been a while since I've seen the episode, but I remember the creation of Tom Riker being a freak accident having to do with the planet of the week which couldn't be recreated by Voyager on the fly. All of this is much more thoughtful than the predestined evolution crap presented in this episode though.

[@famalam943]

@@kevinkern2149 I saw a comment in another video that summed it up nicely I thought. In TNG they would have figured out a way to split tuvix but he doesn’t want to undergo the procedure. He would then go on to live like normal but the sadness he sees from the crew missing their friends leads Tuvix to make the decision to sacrifice himself and a reluctant doctor would have to respect his decision. The episode was just badly written leaving Janeway look like a psychopath which went against everything from previous trek philosophy

[@InterdimensionalCowlick]

It's also easy to make the argument that "Tuvix" was a medical condition with mental health aspects. Separating Neelix and Tuvok was no more unethical that helping a patient with with a multiple personality disorder eliminate extraneous discrete identities.

[@BlazingOwnager]

Oh my God the prime directive stuff is so bad in later day Trek. They took a good policy of non-interference and turned into this weird 'natural course' cult that everyone lives and dies by. The TNG episode "Homeward" does not give enough hate. They literally have a way to help everyone without them even knowing and the crew is like "Nahhhh we already popped the popcorn, let that planet burn!"

[@thenerderrant4293]

I hate that episode as well. It's my least favorite of TNG. Yes, you could say the first two seasons had worse episodes. I guess it tops code of honor by that one not having the crew let genocide happen.

[@andrewgilbertson5672]

Homeward, and Pen Pals. As I've often said, when Picard hides behind the Prime Directive as 'Better they all die than be interfered with,' it... well, I just have to put those episodes out of my mind as badly-written aberrations in order to keep respecting him.

[@thenerderrant4293]

​@@andrewgilbertson5672 Though they still saved the day in Pen Pals. Now The Masterpiece Society, that was BS. It wasn't even a pre-warp civilization, and they still acted as though their interference was bad.

[@andrewgilbertson5672]

@@thenerderrant4293 True, things turned out... it's just that Picard's moral arguments were to NOT help, and he only relented to an emotional appeal. Which is *good*, but the principles he was proposing (and the arguments to prop them up) were... horrifying.

[@thenerderrant4293]

@@andrewgilbertson5672 You'll get no disagreement from me there.

[@Nehelenia3000]

As a Trekkie, I am forever angry about this episode. If there’s one episode that deserves a sequel, it’s this. Maybe Strange New Worlds will finally answer my prayers.

[@Spike-Prime]

There's a fan theory put out by reviewer SFDebris that the Valakians survived, went on to alter their bodies, wear protective suits, became the Breen, and eventually assassinated Phlox. And he was about to write a paper about how he cured those people of their nanoprobe infection brought on by mysterious cyborgs, too. Shame that was lost, but I'm sure it'll never come in handy again anyway. Meanwhile those Menk who weren't wiped out got picked up by the Ferengi slavers, and eventually evolved into the Packleds. This is my headcanon as well

[@BlazingOwnager]

I remember that SFDebris theory and that is my absolute head cannon. Best Breen origin story. I'd love to see SFDebris show up in one of these reviews. Leaving youtube for a private platform was a huge mistake for him, outside of Trek stuff he has done some really great in depth documentary style things about all sorts of sci-fi and industry topics but his channel basically stopped growing for ages because of it :(

[@Spike-Prime]

@@BlazingOwnager he didn't really have a choice in the matter when it happened years back, and in 2010 when he left, Blip seemed to be a safe bet. Time (and a stupid Disney buyout and bizarre intentional sabotage for no reason) made fools of us all. He's back on YT now, and the site is reaking havoc on his output by banning things for copyright at complete random

[@GwenS320]

@@BlazingOwnager he actually is still on KZbin. He's come back and left a couple times but his new current channels seem like they're stable for the time being

[@SwiftNimblefoot]

They will visit the planet and try to make amends for the crimes of Archer?

[@daveryder9617]

I wonder what eventually happened to the Velakians. Phlox said they had a couple of centuries left. They'd probably still be in okay shape for at least 100 years. Surely in that time, they can come up with warp drive, or (since they're focused on it for, uh, their literal existence) even find the 'cure' themselves. I'd like to see a future Velakian crewmember of some ship that always seems to turn the conversation around to what an ass Archer really was...it's like an important part of their culture to shit on his memory.

[@inglordson6284]

SfDebris proposed that the Velakians became the Bree (turning to cybernetics to survive) and the Mek became the Paqlids

[@ikiry0830]

Johnathon Arthur's Grave gets the same sort of jokes as Margaret Thatcher's by the Velakians.

[@MyMagnificentOctopus]

@@inglordson6284 If the timeline allowed it, I would like to see them become the Cardassians. They militarized to exterminate the Menk, and then formed a regimented society that had anger issues with the rest of the universe because of how they were treated by the Federation. Except they have a soft spot for the Ferengi, who were the first aliens they met.

[@AzraelThanatos]

@@MyMagnificentOctopus That doesn't really work, the Cardassians are offshoots of the Bajorans in a weird thing where they had a more dangerous world they ended up on, so it pushed a lot of development, and inbreeding and mutation shifting their standard appearance. The entire ancient warp sail reconstruction episode kind of pointed towards that and there are a lot of other things that do the same. It's essentially the same sort of thing as the Romulans being a Vulcan offshoot where their leaving the world was followed by the Vulcans nearly wiping themselves out...which could have been the same thing as happened with the Bajorans there and could also explain why the Cardassians did everything to the Bajorans. With the Velakians, they also knew that a cure was possible (Phlox told them it existed)... There's an expanded theory on the Breen that they aren't just the Velakians. Consider that the Eugenics wars also seemed to have, largely, shifted away from cybernetics as well as genetic modification (Both have medical exceptions)...imagine if a refugee ship similar to the Botany Bay ended up in their space with just as much of a reason to want to retaliate against the races that became the Federation, humans especially.

[@MyMagnificentOctopus]

@@AzraelThanatos Wait, are you postulating the Cardassians evolved in only 10K years or so? That seems implausible. I don't buy they are the same race. I see a few people pushing it online, but nothing in the solar sail episode makes that case as there is nowhere near enough time for evolution to change their appearance that much. And just because the Bajorans sailed to Cardassia doesn't mean they are ancestors any more than it means Captain Cook was the ancestor of all Hawaiians.

[@mdxque8393]

I need an album of all of Allison's Star trek songs. :D

[@LordOfJoy]

Okay, I’m an Enterprise super fan. It’d be my favorite Trek show if TNG didn’t exist. But I was NEVER, EVER okay with this awful episode. Thanks for ripping the writers a new one. It’s well deserved.

[@samhainhodgens2321]

How can you possibly like this? That Show was a giant plott hole if ever there was one. Not banking on your Taste is bad. Im honestly curious what parts you liked of this show

[@shiroamakusa8075]

@@samhainhodgens2321 The show found its footing in S3-4. S1-2 of TNG were also pretty damn lame ("Code of Honor" anyone?) and it only got good from S3 onwards.

[@1000huzzahs]

We've had "Opposites Attract" and "Physical" parodies, what half-remembered 80's hit will Allison Trekify next??? My money's on one of Madonna's lesser-played tracks. "Who's That Girl," or something.

[@Tareltonlives]

It caught me by surprise both times and I loved it

[@senorpepper3405]

I would like to hear weird Al's like a sturgeon.

[@EnigmaticPenguin]

Early Enterprise feels like someone took a homeowner's association meeting, gave them a ship sent them off in to space. It's that odd mix of psychotic and utterly dull personalities that somehow never form in to an interesting script.

[@Kylea1979]

Oh my God!!! That analogy is so awesome and spot-on!!! Love it!!!

[@SwiftNimblefoot]

Yeah, even Discovery has Saru and Stamets who are at least interesting to watch, even if the plot is boring. Enterprise never gave us anything but T'Pol's boobs (and sex addiction).

[@TheHopperUK]

This is EXACTLY right! Props to Swift above who correctly chooses Saru and Stamets as the best Disco people.

[@kevinramsey417]

Remember, the only reason Archer is in command of the Enterprise is because his daddy built the engine.

[@TwoMarshmallows1]

This is an incredible description and so accurate.

[@esperderek5383]

I love how they don't even think about the distinct possibility that the Menk will end up wiped out during the deathrows of the Valakian society as they die from the disease. So their act of genocide could, in fact, not have the effect they want and instead cause a SECOND genocide ontop of it!

[@JamesTobiasStewart]

Plus let's by real, when the Valakian public find out they have been sacrificed to allow the Menk to 'evolve', whatever the hell that's meant to even mean, how long before rage fuelled pogroms are launched against the Menk for being the 'cause' of the Valakian's suffering? It wasn't the Menk's fault, but apparently the Menk's "evolution" is more important than their lives, the lives of their families, the lives of their children, the life of their civilisation. In the face of that, the Valakian's would not be thinking rationally, there would be terrible, rage fuelled violence, which would solve nothing and take one of the few examples in ST of peaceful coexistence between 2 sapient races and destroy that peace forever.

[@TheatreJosh24601]

"We've had one, yes, but what about *second* genocide?"

[@Commanderziff]

@@JamesTobiasStewart How would they find out? Archer doesn't tell them, they just pretend they can't find a cure. There's basically only three people who know: Archer, Phlox, and Tpol.

[@thenerderrant4293]

@@Commanderziff They just have to note which species is getting sick, and they may even assume the menk made the disease.

[@bad-people6510]

They don't seem to think about... anything.

[@BronzeBoy520]

It’s been said before but I’ll repeat it, Phlox used to be the popular enterprise character with fans… and holy god this episode kills him forever. It’s amazing and hilarious.

[@BlazingOwnager]

I really don't understand why there are these episodes that Trek fans rightfully despise for being morally bankrupt and why I am the only person ever to constantly rant about TNG's Homeward. I've never seen anyone on youtube give it the savaging that it deserves. It's even more immoral (and wildly out of character) than this one by a lot - the crew is literally given an option to help the people without them knowing from an -exploding star-, and they're like nahhhhhhhhh.

[@BronzeBoy520]

@@BlazingOwnager Well you see the thing is That’s a season 7 episode so no one is watching that episode

[@BlazingOwnager]

@@BronzeBoy520 There's a few great episodes from season 7. It gets an unnecessarily bad rap. Homeward.. Homeward is not one of them.

[@BronzeBoy520]

@@BlazingOwnager I can name the good episodes of season 7 Phantasams Parallels Pegasus Lower Deck (first non p) All good things Some okay but those are the only ones I consider good

[@alionfish5]

I suppose the producers noticed that Phlox was the only characters in Enterprise who wasn't a stupid jerk or a flat character and so corrected that "error" by making this episode

[@mavericklysander]

I remember Linkara was tweeting about this episode a few years ago and I couldn't believe it was real, I thought he was exaggerating. Then I hunted up a plot synopsis and my jaw fell off. It just feels so...antithetical to the whole theme of star trek, that everyone can grow and change and become better. But no, these guys should die because uhhhh evolution or something. Very much enjoyed you obliterating this one, especially with another wacky character song.

[@bluebull399]

Whenever people have interfered with other species on Earth, it's usually resulted in entire eco systems being disrupted and destroyed, often with multi species extinctions. This episode is that familiar story, set in space with aliens. The Valakians are us today, wrecking eveything because we think we are gods. Archer did the right thing. He didn't commit genocide, they was already undergoing it.

[@alaron5698]

@@bluebull399 God am I tired of that pitiful, bitter, resentful attitude. Oh, how wonderful Earth would be if not for us humans. Just a bunch of animals eating each other, and no civilization, no art, no music, no thought, nothing at all to be seen, for there is no one and no thing around capable of seeing it and appreciating it. What a wonderful dream! Such an intellectual perspective! 🤢🤮

[@SiRenfield]

Phlox is basically Krieger from Archer (pardon the pun) except if his sociopathy wasn’t played for laughs. Although I’m not sure if even he would be cool with genocide (and this is the guy who was raised by N*zis, and may or may not be a clone of Hitler himself!)

[@TwoMarshmallows1]

Phlox CAN hear us from behind Fort Kickass!

[@SiRenfield]

@@TwoMarshmallows1 😂

[@TwoMarshmallows1]

@@SiRenfield :D It's one of my favourite lines ever. (Funnily enough, I wasn't a huge fan of the show overall, but Krieger made me laugh so much every time. Don't what that says about me, but oh well!)

[@SiRenfield]

@Darth Revan The point I was trying to make like even he would be like “….what the fuck dude?!”. With that said I can lowkey see him doing the live clones to harvest organs a la this movie I remember watching for class called The Island

[@LikaLaruku]

Two mad doctors, two Archers.

[@JL0ndon]

This is why i keep the bell on- you just never know when you’re going to get an enterprise breakdown and you realize the episode wasn’t a fever dream

[@ReiSilver]

"I'm equal parts bored AND angry, but maybe that's just the enterprise way?" and man I think that sums up my feelings on that whole show pretty well

[@CorimKnight]

I haven't watched Enterprise, but it's astounding how bad this show looks compared to TNG and DS9. I can't believe anyone signed off on our heroes deciding that "slavery is just their culture" and "it's okay to commit genocide".

[@Netherfly]

Not... an unfair assessment. But all Trek shows have some baffling moments that make you wonder about whoever signed off on the scripts. Like there's a fan-favorite episode of TNG where Picard argues in favor of letting an entire species die because it's "god's will."

[@patrickarmstrong2492]

@@Netherfly Wait… which episode is that??? I don’t remember it

[@Edax_Royeaux]

@@Netherfly I don't remember Picard ever citing "god's will". I remember Riker doing it in Pen Pals, but not Picard...

[@Nostripe361]

@@patrickarmstrong2492 I think he is talking about pen pals where a planet is experiencing an extinction level event as due to sci-fi shenanigans their planets crust is melting and part of the issue in that episode was if they should let the people die cause they don’t have warp

[@Nostripe361]

I say, except for a couple specific decent episodes, just skip the first two seasons. The next two seasons were better written in my opinion.

[@Qendrese3549]

Dear Doctor uses a fundemental misunderstanding of science to justify an ethically monstrous decision, and then pats itself on the back for being 'thoughtful'. The fact that a significant minority of Star Trek fans actually defend this episode and Archer's decision is a real shame.

[@vtecef9]

Would it be any less of a monster decision to save the oppressive Valankains and the expense of the Menk? I mean if you saved the Valakains what happen to the Menk when the Valakains Technology progressed to the point to where they didn’t need their labor anymore? What if the Valakains would’ve committed a genocide on the Menk? I find it so weird that so many people in this comment section identify with the oppressor…… I wonder why? :/

[@relo999]

​@@vtecef9 The reason for people identifying with the oppressor is simple. Most people don't look outside their 5ft world and argue "letting people die bad". But this episode poses an interesting medical dilemma, which is "should you medically cure those that do harm?". If this would have been brought in a more human analogy I imagine more people would side with Phlox. If it was brought as "should you cure a slave owner, knowing that not curing them would set their slaves free and curing them means allowing slavery to continue" in the American south, people wouldn't side much with the white slaveowners on this one.

[@vtecef9]

@@relo999 I think you just explained it perfectly

[@vtecef9]

@UCqz_ij0hhqmd3kmgipNp3qQ I think you’re just ignoring premises that are inconvenient to your argument. And you are correct they never directly said that the Valakains oppressed the Menk but it was heavily implied. It may not have been the doctor or the captains primary reason for not helping but that dynamic is still there and most people ignore it. Also, is the doctors reasoning really that off? I mean if our planet is any indication then 99% of all species that I’ve ever existed have went extinct. A lot of them due to disease.

[@elcapo8785]

@@vtecef9 It’s interesting that you think someone has to “identify” with another person to apply ethics to them. Have most nations on Earth eliminated the death penalty because ever more people are identifying with the murderers to whom it is usually applied? Or have they realized that killing people for uncertain future gains is morally wrong? If the Valakians were cured, would they eventually commit a genocide against the Menk? Or would the Menk eventually rise up and demand their freedom? Would the Valakians instead continue to exploit them, much as the cotton gin ultimately reinforced slavery in the USA? If they were not cured, would the Menk also suffer substantial deaths from the wholesale dissolution of their society? Would they target the Menk with pogroms for being immune (they must have caused it!)? Would the Menk instead adapt and live happily ever after? It is simply impossible to know which of those would happen. What one can know is that letting millions of people die in the near future will cause millions to die, no ifs or perhaps about it. Accepting mass death because something good might, might come out of it is a shortsighted (and ironically, classically longtermist) perspective.

[@FaeQueenCory]

The blatant lack of ethics is what really stood out back in the day. (In addition to all the creepy sexism....) Star Trek was always supposed to be an idealistic vision of a future without racism, capitalism, scarcity, nationalism.... Not always successfully... But that was the intent... Kinda the exact opposite of what Enterprise decided to run with. (I can't quantify the latter half, because I quit in that first half.) Such a waste of Bakula.

[@BlazingOwnager]

>Star Trek was always supposed to be an idealistic vision of a future without racism, capitalism, scarcity, nationalism... Boy howdy is nutrek not for you then. Or anyone with a functioning brain. (PS: The lack of currency in the Federation - which is in no way Communist for many reasons - is treated as an actual weakness and kind of a stupid idea many, many times through even the good years of Trek. DS9 skewered it.)

[@FaeQueenCory]

@@BlazingOwnager the fact you think communism is somehow a lack of currency... And use the term "nutrek".... You can just say "I hate seeing women, non⚪, and nonstraight people", it's what we hear from those dogwhistles of yours anyways.

[@gamephreak5]

The perfect vision of the future is one WITH capitalism and nationalism and WITHOUT socialism and communism.

[@BlazingOwnager]

@@gamephreak5 I don't know about that. The Federation's lack of capital comes up and is rightfully ripped on several times throughout DS9's run, which was willing to entertain the capitalist perspective. That said, what Trek actually is, is post-scarcity. i.e. you can own private property and pretty much do anything you want, but it's literally freely available to everyone all of the time because of replicators. It's a world where there is no food or thing you could want that you can't just have in 30 seconds, until you get to things with plot issues (like certain materials that cannot be replicated, or requiring huge industrial replicators to do things like make starships). Even land isn't an issue ; if you want to own 100 acres of land, there's countless colonies that will accommodate you. If we ever truly get to a point where resources are literally a non-issue and nobody needs to work a job to mine, refine or produce anymore, then yeah, we can probably move past economic systems.

[@BlazingOwnager]

@@gamephreak5 By the way if Star Trek was realistic I am pretty sure society would rapidly devolve into massively obese people replicating decadent foods from the holodeck apartments they never leave while the outside world decays around them. With transporters you don't even need to leave your house to go somewhere, and you have almost no reason to go anywhere.

[@markuscriticus8278]

Having seen this episode get a lot of defense and revaluation by a number of fans in recent years, it's nice to see you explain just how fucked up it truly is (and how it kinda sucks even before the infamous ending).

[@Mew178]

I am one of these defenders. This entire 15 minute video is basically "I hate the prime directive". I find this episode to be absolutely fantastic. It shows why one had to be created, if we look at the vulcans they also had one for a good reason, pre warp species are to be left alone. He saw that one species was at it's genetic end and one was rising. The world "genocide" doesn't even come into play here since they're not dying from a disease but from a literal genetic dead end. As in their species biology was not working, they are broken. And it's always shocking to be how small brain people are and how they don't consider thinking in the literal evolutionary sense. This isn't some technobable, they literally say the "plague" isn't a bacteria or a virus, it isn't some other foreign organism destroying them. It's their own choromosomes imploding. TL;DR Fantastic episode.

[@markuscriticus8278]

@@Mew178 1. The idea of a straight up genetic disease, somehow treatable with antibodies yet interfering with protein production to the point of death, spreading enough to doom an entire species, is simply nonsense. You can't argue evolutionary science over something that's scientifically fucking bullshit in the first place. 2. It's not a Prime Directive issue, there is exemption if the people ask for help, and they know about other warp capable species already. 3. It's irrelevant. It is still a disease, they will die out, he can save them. He does not. If a doctor let's an unwilling patient die of something he can save them from, it's murder. This is genocide. Anyway, done. I don't wanna think about this episode anymore. Leave me alone.

[@shiroamakusa8075]

@@Mew178 Well, that's utter bull of course. The Valakians were deliberately seeking out people in outer space to help them, so the Prime Directive is already null and void as it's only about interfering with pre-warp species that don't know of alien life. Helping them also would have meant potential allies for humanity while not helping them would have left the Valakians potentially at the mercy of other spacefaring species. What if the Ferengi happened by and offered a cure in exchange for changing the whole planet into their private sweatshop? The whole evolution spiel is utter nonsense anyway because species don't deliberately evolve into extinction, it's not a guided process!

[@Mew178]

@@shiroamakusa8075 They were pre-warp. A very specific threshold set by the Vulcan because it's believed that at this point enough time has passed for the civilization to have gone through the atomic and information eras and not have destroyed themselves. As in they have mastered as the sufficiently advanced technologies to achieve warp space flight and meet others, the fact that they met was pure chance. >evolution spiel is utter nonsense Thats exactly the point. The "let nature takes it's course" "non interference" thats the whole point of the prime directive.

[@derrickmiles5240]

​@@Mew178 Finally, someone speaking sense. Most star trek episodes are fake deep, this episode is real deep.

[@zutronius]

I'm still singing 'Unethical' two weeks later.

[@jediknight131]

Enterprise stumbled and fumbled so much during their first 2 seasons, that by the time they righted the ship, and became that prequel to the rest of Star Trek, that people wanted, it was just too late, and people, by that time, had long ago stopped caring.

[@wakeangel2001]

I've heard a fan theory that the aliens who were dying in this episode managed to find someone who could save them, but at the expense of being forced to wear life support suits (becoming those helmet wearing guys from DS9) while the Mank became the Pakleds (the guys who "look for things to make us go"l

[@danielkett6043]

Did SFdebris first come up with it first?

[@wakeangel2001]

@@danielkett6043 I belive he did, but it makes SO much sense I kind of expect it to be brought up in Lower Decks at some point.

[@kelmacett2456]

You are talking about the Breen. Maybe in 100 years they created warp drive and left their homeworld in search of a cure and found it on ice planet of Breen where they developed cryo technology that could freeze the genetic defect but never remove/cure it. Tbh it would be a very cool twist. It would explain the Breen's hostility to other races considering the exploitation of the Velakians and the neglect of the Proto-Federation.

[@wakeangel2001]

@@kelmacett2456 yeah, in fact Dax once brings up that the Breen's home world is actually a pretty nice place so it's confusing why they need cryo-suits to survive

[@kelmacett2456]

@@wakeangel2001 my mistake earlier saying their home world was an ice planet. But you reminded me that it was Weyoun talking to Damar also that their homeworld was quite pleasant. DS9 hands down best trek show ever.

[@killnotic]

Your genocide song killed me deader than the Valakians!

[@OffensiveGen]

Saw this episode recently after binging DS9 and I was shocked at how incredibly immoral the choice was. Does Phlox know that viruses and bacteria become lethal and virulent through evolution? How about someone developing breast cancer because it was "genetic"... Like, how does ANYONE who knows ANYTHING about basic medicine think that this was a good idea? The best explanation for this would be that Denobulans are eugenists and believe that they need to remove anyone with "impure" genetics but if that's true why the hell would they hire a Denobulan doctor for starfleet????

[@rmeddy]

Absolutely atrocious episode. They were really trying to set up the Prime Directive which is already loaded and problematic on its own but it seemed backward, where it should've been where they do try to help with tech and it blows up in their face with the Valakians being more abusive and genociding to the Menk or something like that and they learn their lesson from that and Phlox had the gall to talk about evolution being an incontrovertible scientific fact meanwhile completely misrepresenting it.

[@intrinia]

I could swear there is a genetical link between Neelix, Phlox and Jar Jar Binks.

[@Tareltonlives]

It's like a sliding scale of annoying douches

[@casbyness]

They are spacetime echoes left behind by Wesley when he becomes a Traveller.

[@cameronstone4495]

I see Archer just become Ted Striker at this point by similarly torturing people with his tragic backstory, succumbing to the illness was a blessing at that point.

[@Blackferret66]

I can see T'Pol doing the Vulcan nerve pinch on herself in the middle of his monologue.

[@Johnsavage1]

Ds9 did something similar where the Founders a authoritarian race had a deadly disease and they could be cured but that would help them continue there desire for conquest but because the writers aren't monsters on ds9 they didn't let them die in the end.

[@Tareltonlives]

don't forget Hugh, where likewise there's a chance to genocide the Borg, but letting innocent people like Hugh die was just too far.

[@melteddali8000]

The difference with that as well was the fact that the infection implanted into the founders via Odo isn't framed as a heroic and noble ethical deed but more as a desperate underhanded move by the Federation in response to them being decimated by the Dominion war. The framing of Phlox's actions as noble and endorsed by Archer just kills the episode. It's one of the worst of Trek

[@LaNoLaCola]

I did not expect a Phlox cover of Olivia Newton John's Physical, but dare I say I enjoyed it more than the Tuvix Opposites Attract duet?

[@mathieuleader8601]

Unethical was a great song really boosted the morale of the troops during the temporal cold war they even played it at General Holbie Buchannon's funeral

[@joeyjoejoe1394]

“It’s the divine will of evolution that this race must die” is such a weird misunderstanding of… every word in that sentence really

[@pentelegomenon1175]

On Phlox's planet, their Hippocratic Oath is "let the bodies hit the floor."

[@Edax_Royeaux]

There's the episode where Phlox uses a bio-weapon he developed directly on some Klingons.

[@theshelley2007]

absolutely incredible review.

[@kaitlyn__L]

The thing that really bugs me about this episode is it was originally filmed with Archer giving them the cure! But then after some test screenings (not sure if just the execs or some of the public) had them change it! Like what???

[@kaitlyn__L]

Oh, you mentioned that at the end, hahah. Good!

[@twelfthknight]

This was the episode that made me quit the show. I mean, I probably would've left without it, but the sheer level of "wait, what?" here with the... swelling inspirational music over the supposedly uplifting monologues on why genocide is cool if you reframe it as the predetermined natural destiny of the race you're obliterating and how the show treats it as a triumphant watershed moment in humanity's history made me genuinely wonder how they thought it was supposed to be understood by the audience. 'Cause there's a simple solution to this script -- just don't have Phlox find a cure, have Archer decide not to stay indefinitely to find a cure as it's not his mission, not give up Warp technology up for fear of its misuse or other far-reaching implication, and then have the Enterprise and its crew face the hostility of the terrified diseased masses as they're forced to flee the world as it spirals into chaos. Archer learns that the Vulcans' perspective on Earth has merit, and even if he has earnest altruistic intentions and an advanced spaceship he isn't God and can't blindly wade into things which are too complex for what he and the Enterprise are capable of deal with.

[@TwoMarshmallows1]

Oh wow. Now that's a Star Trek episode. That's what they should have made. Nicely done, friend.

[@ronstewtsaw]

I also left Trek as a result of this episode.

[@ouknow1446]

If you don't have Phlox find a cure then you have no dilemma and no story. Writing like that would have killed the series just as effectively as an incurable disease.

[@shiroamakusa8075]

They kinda' already did that plot on DS9 in the episode The Quickening.

[@DGol2015]

@@ouknow1446 There is still the dilemma of the warp drive, which was more personal to Archer. But the cure is a much harder question, for sure. If writers hadn't had Phlox find a cure, people probably wouldn't be calling this the genocide episode.

[@SausageOwnage]

'Mengele but funny' is just perfect

[@christophermerlot3366]

The last time I attempted genocide I got a stern finger wagging and a $50 fine.

[@medexamtoolscom]

Oh that fiasco with Janeway and Chekotay devolving into giant salamander creatures after going warp 10 wasn't even the worst gaffe on their understanding of evolution. That honor belongs to that moment when they meet the dinosaur people in space, and tell the computer in the holodeck to start from some particular dinosaur, and then calculate what it would look like "compensating for 65 million years of evolution" and bam, it just changes to look just like the aliens they had just been dealing with. That was in my opinion the biggest fail in Voyager. With dragging Isaac Newton's history and reputation through the mud in that episode with the other Q that wanted to the sweet release of death.

[@michaeldebellis4202]

Just to say a bit more on how completely wrong they are about evolution: 1) Evolution has no end goal. It's not a conscious entity. It gives the appearance of design due to many small mutations, some of which are more conducive to Reproductive Success and hence remain in and change an organism's genome. There is no way to predict where evolution is going to end up after a long period of time because it's an iterative process. Adaptations increase RS because they help the organism adapt to their environment but each adaptation also changes the way an organism lives in its environment and hence changes the environment. There is a constant interplay between organisms getting better adapted to their environment but also changing that environment so again some ultimate end goal is nonsense. 2) Once a species attains language and culture then evolution is no longer the only or even the primary means for changes to the genome. Humans do all sorts of things like birth control that are contrary to maximizing RS. So the idea that some disease is somehow good even though it will kill off the species because it is "natural" is BS.

[@Tareltonlives]

Darwin even says empathy evolved

[@michellemorton4273]

I don't think this episode could have ever worked, but I had an idea while watching this review. Why not make the fact that the Vilakians were enslaving the Menk be the central issue of the episode. Have the disease still going on and the conflict is that the characters divided on if they should help the Vilakians or not because of it. You could have one side using the Prime Directive correctly and saying they can't just radically change a whole planet and then go on they're merry way afterwards without serious consequences. The other side saying that they're actions could directly lead to the Menk being forever exploited and a potential new power in the Galaxy who's principles are so cruel and in direct opposition to the Federation's. But both sides agreeing that they can't just leave so many to die when they can do something about it. I don't know if it would be any good but it would be a heck of alot better then our "heroes" channelling Beauty's brother and letting them die. Also, excellent review Allison and the song made my day!

[@monster8090]

I was scrolling comments to see if anyone else was thinking about the slavery issue. I think it's part of the moral dilemma of the episode. If you save the slave owners you support slavery but if you let the slave owners die you free the slaves. I believe the entire episode was a "What would you do" scenario that would make people think about the ethics of helping immoral people. I think the whole point of having the doctor as the central figure of the episode was a plot device to show that it's a question that no human being has a correct answer for. If you support slavery, you are a bad person. If you let a group of people die you are a bad person. What do you do when you have no good options?

[@chavesa5]

You can tell they were trying to sand off the "weird" factor for other characters to reflect the prequel's premise and overcompensated with Phlox. Like my dudes you were making a prequel about a stripped down Star Trek, so actually do that.

[@RedHatMeg]

When I watched this episode for the first time (and I was aware of the controversy in it), I thought that the problem presented was actually very interesting. I mean - we have a race of aliens that treats other race of aliens like slaves/idiots, and other ship members feel sympathetic for those enslaved aliens. Phlox realizes that the slave aliens are becoming smarter and sees the illness that befall the dominating aliens as part of evolution process. It could be interesting if he pointed out the situation of the other race: "Hey, those poor aliens you fawn over, might get a chance to be better, if their oppressors will go extinct." And then the show could make a point about the dying civilizations and species, and whenever it actually should happen or if there is a better, peaceful way of making one civilization grow without killing the other one. But the idea never crossed the writers' minds.

[@patrickmccurry1563]

Unless he took numerous tests over many generation, he could not possibly know what they were at the "present" let alone were becoming.

[@longbowxmkii7634]

Weird Al has _nothing_ on "Let's Get Unethical"

[@user-lb9xw4xf2q]

Phlox's smirk/sneer is deeply upsetting.

[@ghfudrs93uuu]

Enterprise season 3 actually had an 'Iraq invasion' stink, which is much much worse. Some say criminally worse.

[@ReddiShadow]

Honestly every time the video cut to that still frame of Phlox smiling I couldn't focus on anything other than the way the early 00s CG smile meant that there were really obvious blocky pixels on the side of his face in front of the light in the background. Looks like a deliberately bad photoshop nowadays

[@mastermarkus5307]

As someone who hasn't seen Enterprise I genuinely couldn't tell if it was something Allison did or not.

[@RasakBlood]

Any star trek plot trying to argue for or demonstrate the "need" for the prime directive is always dumb and makes no sense. It always boils down to them not wanting to help because if something happens after it "might" be their fault. Its just fucking dumb in every scenario. - giving them tech will change their society over night and can be harmful. -But sir they will be dead if we do nothing how is that better? -Dont try to apply logic or morals to my prime directive!

[@TimTE01]

This Episode has an 8.0 out of 10 Rating on IMDB. How?!?

[@alexandramclean9041]

I do NOT remember this episode being this bad, but I guess I'll give it a rewatch, and see if things feel different. Can't handle all this Phlox hate, tho. One of my favorite characters on ENT. His animals were organic, living medical devices, that did jobs that the tech of the time couldn't do, and he put a loud, alien voice onto the NX-01 that T'pel should have been, but Berman and Co just made her tiddies for irrational reasons.

[@jeremiahalexander5513]

You know, I was actually considering going back and watching Enterprise, wondering why I never watched it all the way through in the first place. Now I remember: Phlox. The actor who played Phlox played serial killers on Bones and one of the CSI or NCIS shows too, if I remember correctly. But yeah, this character made a chore of each episode I watched, and eventually I just gave up on the show. Phlox was as likable as a wet fart on a hot day.

[@alionfish5]

And somehow the most unrepentantly evil character he played was a Doctor on a Star Trek show.

[@jeremiahalexander5513]

@@alionfish5 😂🤣

[@TwoMarshmallows1]

Cold Case! Seeing him on there and Enterprise was surreal.

[@JounLord1]

Also a serial killer on Lucifer. And an attempted murderer on The Orville. Apparently Dr Phlox being a monster was not an anomaly.

[@LikaLaruku]

Totally the opposite for me. Phlox was my favorite Enterprise character & my favorite Star Trek doctor. He's one of the reasons I kept watching. I found the hologram doctor from Voyager absolutely insufferable.

[@lynngreen7978]

Dear Doctor and A Night in Sickbay are the two most commonly ignored episodes in the novel continuity. FWIW Doctor McCoy's Medical Staff was ~10% of the crew or about 40-44 people, including 3 other doctors, and 40 nurses, medtechs, and emergency responders. So Crusher's staff would have been ~100, Bashir 30-200 on the station, and 4 counting himself on the Defiant, Voyager lost 15 *very* specific crew in the pilot, not counting the pilot and first officer. And Phlox should have had about 8 assistants, not counting a medic per platoon for the MACOs. Given the limitations of the NX Class (God that is a stupid name, the Naval Experiment Class Starship) they would likely be dual disciplined, and also serve as part of T'Pol's science department.

[@wallyman292]

The only thing I remember about this series is who in the hell made the decision that a pseudo "rock ballad" was the way to go for a theme song??? Oh yeah, that, and the eye candy alien girl, of course!

[@Grizabeebles]

I like Dr. Phlox because I like the idea of an alien homeopath so desperate to get away from his family that he's willing to sign up for a cook's tour on a space ship hundreds of years less advanced than one he could buy at a local dealership.

[@kramermariav]

Hes roughing it

[@littleblackcat2273]

Now now, don't be too hard on Archer for not doing what he should and stopping Dr Flox, Archer had just been Quantum Leaped into by Dr Sam Beckett and was winging it...

[@JcDent]

Ah yes, a real "Cold Flatulations" episode, really makes you think about hard questions like "when is it OK to condemn millions to a slow preventable death?"

[@Mario_Angel_Medina]

"Unethical, ethical. Let's get unethical" 🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵 ... that song ain't gonna leave my head anytime soon

[@Tareltonlives]

Phlox's song was hilarious. Oh god I missed these

[@Tareltonlives]

I like to think that the Enterprise Crew are spiritual successors to the Charmed Ones. "And the Day Was Saved!"

[@qlipothian]

I really want to hear Phlox sing more...thats something that I never thought I'd say...

[@mynamejeff785]

We only had one medic on board the submarine, and he wasn't even a doctor, he was a corpsman, skilled, but not a surgeon, for 150 men, so it seems plausible

[@gerardjlaw]

Presumably that involved short patrols? Royal Navy ballistic missile submarines would probably be a closer parallel to the Enterprise's long missions, and they have doctors with fully equipped operating theatres.

[@Kosh131]

Wow, completely nailed this atrocity of an episode. When this came out in 2002, my first thought was how they could have done so much better. Because they don't have a Prime Directive, they actually do intervene... Then the next season, because they did, something awful happened (they figured out Warp Technology and conquered some of their neighbors, requiring Earth to intervene.) You know, instead of "We can't interfere because of a Prime Directive that hasn't been invented yet", we have "We probably should have a Prime Directive so we don't screw up like this!" I thought comparing Phlox to Mengele was a bit much, but you might have a point. He's awful.

[@carveylover]

I didn't know until this very moment that what was missing in my life was you singing a parody of Physical.

[@ChrisParlett]

Not enough singing.

[@JP-fr5bl]

If you like star trek enterprise, the actors who played trip and Reed have a new KZbin channel. It's called shuttlepod show, they have guests on most weeks.

[@TwoMarshmallows1]

Oh, awesome, thank you for this! I really liked the actors, it was the writing that was bad. Going to check this out.

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

Your Trek videos are definitely my favorite content of yours so I am very glad to see a new one! Also, HOW THE FUCK IS IT HUMALY POSSIBLE TO WRITE AN EPISODE THIS BAD?!?!? Shit like this is why I still haven't gotten around to watching Enterprise despite knowing that it improves (finale aside of course).

[@bradwolf07]

I actually liked Phlox at first...but BOY did he turn me against him. By this episode, I was horrified by his character. edit: Also, Phlox is squimish if the human woman (he doesn't favor) touched him and wants her to understand different species have different ideals. YET when his wife visits, HITS on his "friend", and he chides the friend for being uncomfortable. Dude is a total a**hole.

[@BubblyBatty]

The worst part of this episode is that its established in the series before that the Prime Directive doesn't apply if 1) first contact has already been made and 2) If the civilization has asked for help. So not only is there not a prime directive in Enterprise but even if there was they would have been WRONG by their own code

[@Raja1938]

Not really. Previous contact with aliens and requesting help aren't prerequisites for disregarding non-interference. Their civ wasn't warp-capable so they didn't have sufficient agency to use outside tech to solve their problems. The reason why this is important is because if the cure had unintended consequences to the ecosystem, they could re-locate to another star system.

[@jamesbizs]

No

[@Cailus3542]

@@Raja1938 Except that warp technology is an entirely arbitrary milestone. Some drunk hillbilly invents warp drive, and that magically means that a species is 'mature'? Of course not. It's a good guideline, but one that needs to be followed up by extensive study and consideration. Slavish devotion to such a rule is moral cowardice.

[@Barbayat79]

I thought I had watched every episode but I guess I either blanked out or fell asleep on this one (and maybe others) but yeah, Dr. Phlox is such a badly written character, but honestly I find Archer more annoying, maybe because I got higher standards for a Scott Bakula character after Quantum Leap :D

[@marcsylvestre3637]

They thought Nelix was a fan favorite? My gabber remains flasted. I literally could not stand him from the first episode to the last. They should have spaced him early on.

[@Tareltonlives]

The most horrifying thing is that this isn't the first or last time a Trek series is all about that. I remember in an early TNG episode the Ferengi actually call out the Federation out on it and our heroes shrug and go "what are you gonna do?"

[@dunes8817]

Is there a term for a plot that only works if every principal decision maker is a jerk?

[@Celtchief]

Wow, I didn't realize the make up job on Dr. Flox was so extreme. They really made that smile look freaky. I haven't seen the show in a long time, but kudos to the make up department, it really gives him an alien look and is disconcerting.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

I am convinced the working name of the Prime Directive was: Things Captain Archer Is Not Allowed To Do.

[@TwoMarshmallows1]

Say what you will about Phlox, at least he was kind enough to record a song for your video! I watched Enterprise but do not remember this at all. You're right, the show was sadly so dull. My memories of the show are: Feeling sorry for T'Pol; really liking the actor who played Trip as he was somehow making it work despite the material; and that Reed was very clearly into another man but they killed the other guy off. That's about it. Thanks for another great video! I will have nightmares about Phlox's photoshopped face there, and I can't stop laughing at 'personality of a loud sniff' - the absolute accuracy!

[@TwoMarshmallows1]

Thank you for the heart, here is one back!

[@Mia199603]

This is his actual smile in the episode xd I was pretty fucked up when I first saw it, I'm very susceptible to the fear of the uncanny valley effect.

[@TwoMarshmallows1]

@@Mia199603 lmao you had me for a minute!

[@TheSantaCruzJokerShow]

I was just about to ask if you covered at that video where Paris and Janeway had sex after devolving into lizard creatures but it was just recommended to me so I'm gonna go watch that as well, I literally just got here yesterday

[@ZaynahZihoa]

Even Mordin reversed his own work before the end.

[@TheNN]

My own personal headcanon is that Dr. Phlox *was* a doctor...in veterinarian affairs. Why else would he know how to successfully operate on Archer's dog, and keep all those animals in a SICKBAY FOR PEOPLE, while going out of his way to make up bullshit about 'this is what evolution chose' and all that? Cuz it all makes sense if he is only speaking about just 'animals'. Sure you can disagree with him about even that, but at least it is a bit more justifiable when it is animals, y'know?

[@mathieuleader8601]

Phox using the tongue scraper is like a creature from the end of my bed when I had night terrors as a kid

[@henrygvidonas9573]

At least the showrunners restrained themselves for once and didn't make all female crew members and humanoid aliens find him "irresistibly charming" _for some reason..._ They already had the "decontamination gel" bukkake scenes, maybe they were all porn-ed out when they came up with the tongue thing?

[@Blisterdude123]

Archer: Some day some bureaucrats are gonna come up with some asinine bullshit rules that'll allow people like me to forego personal responsibility and accountability for any kind of moral decisions! Woe is me, that I have to even entertain the ramifications of genocide at all!

[@TheHopperUK]

I watched every episode of Enterprise with Shran in it, and none of the others, and I can heartily recommend that method if in doubt. Also, it occurs to me, a more interesting story would have had the virus be an engineered one created by the enslaved race. Then you have the moral question of, do we get involved in this other culture's warfare.

[@calanon534]

You're cheating by recommmending only Jeffrey Combs episodes. Everyone knows he carries every show he's in, on his back.

[@MarvinMonroe]

It's just so such a terrible episode. It's insane how dumb Phlox is that he thinks two intelligent species can't coexist on a planet. He implies that if Neanderthals would have continued to thrive into the Holocene, then Homo Sapiens would have been doomed. And no person with the mindset of "we shouldn't cure this genetic illness because that would 'go against nature/evolution'" would ever become a medical doctor. Lots of people say it's a good episode because it "causes conversations and gets people to think" but I disagree. It just gets me thinking and talking about how dumb and terrible it is