Dear Doctor (2)

DVD, Enterprise S1 (Dear Doctor) (2)

'A Day in Sickbay' or 'Phlox' Day,' or even 'Phlox: Clash of Cultures' might have worked as titles for this, the first weighty episode of the series, issue-driven as opposed to action-driven. Before the Prime Directive there was: this! Archer and his intrepid crew had already encountered a pre-warp civilisation before (in 'Civilisation'), but the protocol there was much more straightforward as post-warp aliens were interfering in a pre-warp culture and Archer wasn't about to stand by and let them. The situation is much less clear cut this time around and so you'd think it would end with some kind of compromise where all parties come out of it dissatisfied. Instead, Phlox gets his way, the Captain going along with his refusal to give the imperilled Valakians the cure they need to fight a genetic impairment that is likely to result in their extinction eventually, generations down the line. I didn't warm to this episode as much as I did on original viewing because both A- and B-plots deal with awkward situations from my perspective and I can't really support the choices that were made, even if supported by comfortable direction and sensitively handled music. The minor plot concerns the likeable Ensign Cutler returning for her second of three appearances after a good role in 'Strange New World.' Only this time she's spending rather a lot of time with the good Doctor (as Phlox says, sooner or later everyone comes to see the Doctor), to the point where he realises she's interested in him more than just a casual acquaintance for cinema buddies (they see the Gary Cooper/Ingrid Bergman film, 'For Whom The Bell Tolls,' unsurprisingly a Paramount film - funny how all the classics in the 22nd Century were made by them!).

It's not that I had a problem with her interest, it's just that once she knew he was married to three other wives (we do learn a significant amount about Denobulans, which is a plus for the episode), part of a polygamous setup his people employ for no apparent reason other than they're aliens and this illustrates their differences. No, it was her casual response to his telling her, responding that she's not looking to become another wife to add to the collection. So just for the fun, then? Promiscuity is obviously something, as for most people in the world today, that isn't considered anything wrong in Trek, concerning at such a supposedly 'enlightened' and advanced level of human development. I will say that this secondary plot in the story at least gave Phlox something else to think about. I wouldn't say 'to deal with' because he's not averse to Cutler and it's more him being open to other cultures, while warning her that his is different to hers. And it shows a different side to his character that we hadn't seen. But as with the best story threads, this ties into the main plot, but not really in the deepest way, that of dealing with another culture - Phlox is quite matter of fact about the way the Valakians treat the less developed Menk as inferior, glass half full, citing the fact that generally when more than one sentient species exist on a world, one usually kills off the other, so at least that hasn't happened.

It's not that the Valakians are portrayed as a terrible, evil people, Archer might not have been open to helping them at all if that had been the case, it's just that they thoughtlessly exploit the Menk as that's the only reality they know. I'm not sure it's even fair to say they exploit them as we find out so little about how the two cultures interact, just that they're essentially considered less mentally able. Would the cure have been refused them if they treated the Menk decently and were shown to be looking out for them, encouraging them to develop their minds? Would that have made it acceptable to ensure the Valakians didn't die out 'naturally'? There's the crux, it all hangs on this old Theory of Evolution, the 'grand school of thought' that follows this bizarre and coldly detached belief - there's a reason it's called the theory rather than the fact. But you're not going to convince most people involved with Trek against the theory, it's just one of those things embedded in the culture. The real question is whether it's right to get involved. If you can help, should you? I like that we don't get all the facts immediately, it's not until near the end you realise what it's all about. At first it's a clear case of a less advanced race asking for assistance, Phlox able to provide the superior medical knowledge and technology to be able to do so, with no obvious ethical dilemma. The Valakians are clearly not too far behind most spacefaring races, they even have pre-warp ships and know well that there are other races out there, so it's not a question of hiding the truth from them.

The question is, in such a vast galaxy with so many races and planets therein, who can you help? As T'Pol said, the Vulcans came to help Earth and they're still there ninety years later! Archer seems more intent on zipping in on their way hither, handing out some advice and knowhow then hopping off on their merry way to the next encounter of people to meet, places to visit. It shows up the irresponsible nature of this style of adventuring, which isn't very comfortable to see since that's what all of Trek is about. But once you've found someone that needs the help you can give, where do your obligations end? Personally I think it was wrong of them to withhold the cure. Phlox' reasoning is that it will change the balance of power on the planet, or more precisely, preserve that balance. Because humans and Denobulans are fair-minded they don't see it as right that this monopoly the Valakians have always held over their weaker fellow residents should be reinforced by them and instead are willing to let 'nature' or 'evolution' or 'fate' take its course so that the Valakians may eventually die out. The law of the jungle. But as Archer said to Phlox, he's a doctor, he's interfering against nature every time he heals a patient. It's a complicated situation, but I wonder what the result would have been if the Menk had been equals to the Valakians, would the same idea hold true? That whoever has this genetic immunity should be allowed to overcome the other because that's nature? That's the burden of getting involved, it's not a fun, light course to take, it suggests sacrifice and dedication.

I think it ultimately reflects badly on Starfleet. It's not their mission to go out and provide resources and succour to as many races as they find, but at the same time they can't just fly on by because they do have ethics. They should have given them the cure, but with the agreement that a contingent of human, Vulcan and Denobulans would be stationed on the planet in an attempt to stand up for the equality of the Menk, to see fair play. If the Federation existed then it could have had a longterm plan in which it invested its expertise and resources to try and affect the societal norms. This would have shown actual care instead of an easy cure and move on, or don't cure and leave them to the mercy of nature. True, in the decade they have to use the medicine the Valakians may well develop scientifically enough to be able to come to the cure on their own, in which case Phlox would be responsible for maintaining the balance of power anyway since he gave them that extension. But there is no Federation, Starfleet only has this one fast ship that can get about and maybe they should have refused to go to the planet in the first place rather than intervene, other than healing the pilot they met. That's why they needed a Directive in the first place and I can't help thinking this event could have been used as a catalyst towards forming the Federation if they'd thought about it, a coming together of multiple races to assist this planet and ensure fairness, but just as Starfleet couldn't commit to the longterm, the writers weren't ready to begin the early steps to that which they should have.

It's a low-key story for most of the time, styled in the form of a 'letter' to Phlox' human colleague, Dr. Lucas (voiced by a different actor here as they didn't know they'd be casting Richard Riehle in the role three years later!), which is why this is similar to 'Data's Day' on 'TNG,' which broke the format to give us a very different type of Trek story that hadn't been done before. It's nice that they revived that as it's not the sort of thing you'd expect on this series as it was so unsophisticated in some ways compared to the 24th Century Treks, relying on visuals and action rather than character (Trip, Reed and Travis are the casualties to the background this time). That's one reason why I used to think more highly of it: it reminded me of the other Treks. They could have done with more development like this, it's just that the situation they put Phlox in is hard to get on board with. But there is fun along the way, with reference to the Ferengi (one of the races who visited Valakis, who even T'Pol doesn't know), setting them up ready for a coming appearance; some of the Cutler stuff is quite charming; and learning more about Phlox' people - his six-day hibernation would be shown in Season 2, and we get subtitles as he teaches Hoshi Denobulan in a lovely scene. Like other episodes talking about letters it's comforting to hear of 'old-fashioned' ideas like pen pals being used in the 'future,' more relatable (at least for me!), than uploading to social media hubs that would be a more likely extrapolation, which hadn't been invented when the series was made. There's another sly dig at viewers when Phlox says Denobulans had films, but they lost their appeal a few hundred years ago when people realised their real lives held more interest, which is all good fun, as are the practical creature effects of Sickbay, even though the teaser isn't much of a teaser as it doesn't tease anything!

We even hear a little about 22nd Century dental treatment: T'Pol had her teeth 'sealed' years ago, yet some decay has appeared! I suppose there aren't many dentists on Vulcan, then. Archer relies on her quite a lot here for guidance, but apart from warning how involved the Vulcans had to be with Earth, she pretty much lets him do whatever he wants. I could have understood it that she advised not getting involved at all, but things weren't clear then and human compassion was a big part of the message of the story. Which is why it's harder to take when Archer's compassion is overridden by a choice to interfere no longer. I would have to say he does look weak in this episode, his experience hasn't developed enough to know just what to do so he instead backs away slowly, hands up, and though he at first gave Phlox a hard time, goes with Denobulan ethics. And as I said, he keeps having to defer to T'Pol's Vulcan experience in such matters. For example he's naive enough not to suspect that the aliens might try to steal their technology, while T'Pol advises Phlox and the equipment should be watched. Not that anything did happen, and in fact the aliens are never threatening or anything other than mild-mannered, if unsympathetic due to their casual treatment of the 'natives,' but Archer is a little too trusting sometimes. That can work when others see that he's so genuine, but at the same time it can be a disadvantage against him, taken by others who aren't so noble.

The trouble comes when the Valakians want the secrets of warp drive, because that really is off the table, they have to develop such a society-changing advancement themselves so they can make their own mistakes and learn from them. This is very different from a natural deficiency that is slowly killing them off and so it was time to get out when they felt they could ask such a thing. Again, this could have been another reason used for having a contingent from Starfleet or Vulcan come and watch over their development so that they could assist without being overbearing or actually changing their culture, yet also be able to give warnings about things in the process that might otherwise come at much loss of life. But again, allowing something to happen or not happen could be seen as playing God and it's a whole sorry, messed up situation that does really put a pall over the fun of space exploration. This, more than any violent, aggressive aliens, is harder to deal with, because it's not about personal survival, it's about responsibility, sovereignty, and all the other issues of freedom and control that come with it. There is no easy answer, and that's good sometimes, but it also means it should be difficult to just go back to fun adventures and there should have been more continuity in what happened subsequently when in fact they mainly returned to action adventure stories. Maybe not enough people wanted to watch something that carried weight and made them think, and that's why Trek became such a dumbed down franchise in the years after 'Enterprise,' because if intelligence and complexity don't make money, and simplistic eye candy does, then you know which way things are going to go.

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