Star Trek 641: Dear Doctor

641. Dear Doctor

FORMULA: Data's Day + Critical Care + The Quickening

WHY WE LIKE IT: Phlox's alienness. Ensign Cutler. The ethics involved.

WHY WE DON'T: Come on, show a contemporary movie for once.

REVIEW: Phlox is probably my favorite character on Enterprise, in large part because this episode. Throw in a strong role for my favorite guest character, Ensign Cutler, and I'm a happy camper. We've had many aliens on Star Trek, some quite well realized over time, but none have seemed so alien as Phlox is in this episode. And it's mostly done through throwaway references either in conversations or in his letter to his opposite number in the medical exchange program. We hear about his hibernation cycle, his three wives and each of their three husbands, his mating season and his world's pleasure dens. There's a new wrinkle in every exchange.

And it's a two-way thing. He's just as curious about humanity, and it says something about his world view that he sees us as primarily empathic beings. If Vulcans repress emotions and many species seem to revel in only one (Klingons are aggressive, Romulans are smug, Ferengi are greedy, etc.), humans have access to a wider spectrum. We are SO emotional that we invest ourselves emotionally in animals, fictions and the plight of other beings. It's an interesting observation, and one that is worth exploring as we take those first steps into the wider galactic community.

We mostly follow Phlox, whose duties include those of veterinarian and dentist as well, but he brushes up against most of the cast. Trip is caught crying at the movies (his routine humiliations do need to end sometime). Hoshi is learning his language (they've been tied together since Fight or Flight). That kind of thing. But it's his nascent relationship with Elizabeth Cutler that's most interesting. She was open-minded and curious in Terra Nova, and this translates here into a sort of crush for the doctor. Her intention to be his friend with benefits ("we'll see where it goes") is, I think, the kind of sexiness Enterprise strives for done right. Gently teasing, silently steamy, but sweet and cute too. Light-years ahead of what T'Pol brings to the show.

As a character vehicle, Dear Doctor is excellent, but it does itself one better by adding an ethical dimension. The crew meets a couple of sick astronauts who search Near Space for warp-capable species (first mention of the Ferengi!) who might help them find a cure for their epidemic. The hitch is that it's a genetic illness - nature is wiping them out so that a more primitive species on their planet replaces them.

Archer's dilemma: How much help is too much help? He starts to see the Vulcans' point of view since the Valakians aren't advanced enough to handle the warp drive they want to help them in their quest. Phlox's dilemma: By curing the Valakians, isn't he interfering with the proper evolution of that planet and robbing the less advanced Menk of their birthright? His position is strengthened by his non-judgmental attitude towards the Valakians' caste system. He's not making an appeal for the Menk based on any kind of "human" ethical standard. Archer's is strengthened by the fact that he doesn't quite have to go that far - Phlox HAS a cure. So it's especially difficult for Archer to not give them the cure, though he comes to see Phlox's point. There is no Prime Directive at this point, but we can see it burgeon as Enterprise creates precedents. In a way, these ethical dilemmas are a lot harder to resolve because there are no established guidelines.

LESSON: Not all hedonists like to be touched.

REWATCHABILITY - High: As I remember it, my favorite episode of the first season (we'll see, obviously). Great character showcase for Phlox and relevant to Trek as a whole.