Star Trek: Enterprise (TV Series) Cogenitor (2003) User Reviews

Complex and divisive episode with a brave and frustrating ending

[snoozejonc · 8/10 · 19 September 2020]

Enterprise makes first contact with with a new race and Trip Tucker gets heavily involved.

You only have to read the other reviews of this episode to see how divisive it is and how strong opinions are on the subject matter. This is partly due to an obvious subtext within the writing about gender rights within some non-Western cultures. However, for me its main purpose is to show the foundations being laid for the Prime Directive. Other episodes have tried but none have done it as emotively as this.

'Cogenitor' sets us up with a relatively gentle and mostly non-threatening build-up, with the slightest undercurrent that something bad might happen. I got pretty much all the way to the end and thought 'everything is going to workout fine as usual' (yawn) and then was sucker-punched by a pretty brutal ending.

The final scene outraged many viewers and rightly so. We see the Captain berating and blaming Trip for doing the right thing by someone who needed help. Archer is livid with his chief engineer for putting him in a position to have to make a difficult decision with grave implications. Does Trip stand his ground? No he doesn't. In fact he reasserts he is at fault and appears emotional.

Archer is the one who made a big call that led to tragedy and for me appears to be lashing out in emotional distress from the event. The fallout could be handled a number of different ways, but it isn't. Archer voices no words of comfort or real acknowledgment that both their actions contributed to the outcome. Whether or not it was intentional to make Archer sound as sanctimonious as he does I don't really know but my guess is that it was not. I identified closely with this situation from personal experience, as I once had to inform a colleague of a fatality that was largely down to the colleague's actions. The last thing on my mind was a reprimand as I knew my colleague was distraught enough already.

I found the above scene as hard to take as many reviewers, but I thought it was still an excellent way to show the complexity of the situation and a brave decision by the writers to end it so tragically and not to have the two main characters resolve things in a typical, comfortable, Hollywood-ending way. This is refreshing from Star Trek.

The outcome also shows the writers ethical standpoint is non-interference, but in the same breath they show how hard it is not to interfere. I was as emotionally invested as Trip and do not blame him for his actions even though he initiates the whole chain of events leading to the tragedy.

There is no simple answer to the question of what is the right thing to do. When I really think about it, I find it is impossible to know how anything will turn out in the long run. I have lost count of how many times I have stuck my beak into things with the best intentions only for them to either go badly wrong or for somebody to end up disadvantaged. There have been countless books written on ethics and (as we're on IMDB) many films. Just watch Roman Polansky's 'Chinatown' for a classic example.

Archer being removed from the situation at the time of Trip's interference, and unable to take control, foreshadows the position the Federation command structure is in during the next few centuries of space exploration, hence the Prime Directive comes along to make these situations simpler for starship commanders.

Aside from the above dramatics, there is a sub-plot involving a lot of sexual innuendo between Malcolm Reed and the Vissian tactical officer which is quite funny.

There are a lot of strong performances in this episode, particularly from guest star Andreas Katsulas and main cast member Connor Trinneer.

Boy! People Are Really Emotional About This

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 21 March 2017]

I thought this was quite a provocative episode. Archer is being seen by some as lacking in concern for human rights and almost Hitler like. Unfortunately, he is between a rock and a hard place here. He is thrilled that a friendly species has hooked up with Enterprise and is interested in sharing what they have. The problem is that while he is having a great time, Trip is back at the ship, trying to teach a creature whose sole purpose in life is to aid in reproduction. When he realizes that she/he/it has potential to be more than a facilitator of producing children, he disobeys his captain. The problem is that many see Archer as a sellout because he has been rebellious in the past. I think the problem here is the speed with which everything happens. No study of the culture. No more deliberation before entering on disruption. Archer is on a short leash. One thing no one mentions is that without the cogenitor, this race dies. Another question is, give a little negotiating time, perhaps there could be a cogenitor that has other possibilities other than the primary role. Just food for thought.

A highly intriguing episode ... but ruined by the end sequence!

[cheesustoast · 7/10 · 22 May 2014]

I feel compelled to write a review for this one because the end really irritated me! Essentially speaking, Captain Archer was the direct contributor to the death of the titled character. He then goes into a rant with Trip suggesting that it was in fact Trip's fault!! Trip then puts his tail between his legs and acts as if it really was his fault and that he should not have "interfered"...

All the way through the episode we see a very pertinent side of Trip's character. It can be seen that he sees value in people and believes in peoples rights. He works hard at helping a very vulnerable but potentially very interesting character.

To see him tuck his tail between his legs at the end like that makes for a very poor chain of events. I have given this a fairly high score but that is purely because it was mostly well done. It was the end that ruined it severely for me. Maybe it is because there is an element of reality about the situation that I became so irritated. It does however soil my (already shaky) opinion of Captain Archer. I would have liked to have seen Trip show more spirit though... it would have been more consistent. After this episode I really do see Captain Archer as a very nasty piece of work.

Intensely Dramatic - Possibly the best of Season 2

[mstomaso · 9/10 · 29 April 2007]

LeVar Burton's directing and J. P Farrell's writing help to give this excellent example of Enterprise an edge which was lacking in most of the series' episodes. The Enterprise is involved in a first contact with some kindred spirits - explorers whose technology is about a thousand years ahead of Star Fleet's. Everything is going along fine as earth culture and Vissian culture begin to interact. The Vissian's share technology and more with the Enterprise crew.

This episode's theme is, once again, the prime directive. Since Star Fleet's prime directive did not exist in Archer and company's time, we are seeing one of what must have been dozens of first contact incidents which went wrong. I was only a little annoyed by the Vissians' willingness to share their advanced warp drive technology but rather strident insistence that earthlings not be permitted to interfere with their culture.

Eventually, it is revealed that the Vissians have three sexes - male female and cogenitor. All three are required for sexual reproduction, and the cogenitor sex is very rare and - therefore somewhat oppressed, valuable and treated as a commodity. Unfortunately, the writers use the word "gender" to describe this, as opposed to sex. Since gender is a social construct and social/sexual identity, connected to, but not defined by sexual reproductive organs, this is a systematic error.

Trip befriends the cogenitor and decides to clandestinely educate it in order to help it liberate itself from its bondage. This backfires when the cogenitor asks for asylum on the Enterprise. To this point, only the directing and the originality of the alien species set this episode apart from the typical Enterprise episode, however, the drama steadily mounts toward the end as the series does something with this conclusion which it had never attempted before.

The problem of ethnocentrism

[bitomurder · 8/10 · 11 April 2018]

Gene Roddenberry's vision for Star Trek was for a show that dealt with real world issues through the guise of science fiction and that is exactly what this episode is. "Cogenitor" is a classic original series episode. Here Brannon and Rick have written us a story where we have first contact with a new and interesting society coupled with a tale of human rights that will leave some Trekkers angry and other's completely satisfied.

In the first episode of Enterprise, "Broken Bow", T'pol tells Trip that it is easy to judge a culture you do not understand and we see that come full circle here in "Cogenitor". Trip's enthnocentric behavior clashes with his belief in human rights. Although this episode does not directly deal with race it is clearly an allegory for it, but with a few more complications. For us racism is based solely on a difference of skin color. For the Vissians their treatment of the cogenitors is a question of survival. Without them facilitating reproduction on a constant basis the entire species will become extinct. This creates complications when trying to impose our beliefs on a culture we have only known for a few days. A society where cogenitors can freely go about their lives however they want and choosing not to be treated as anything more than a sex slave will eventually lead to the extinction of the Vissians. Archer's decision, although wrong from our point of view, is more complicated than a simple question of human rights. His choice to return the cogenitor and its death may have ended a life, but it very well could have saved an entire race. "Cogenitor" is a thoughtful and intelligent story that gives us a more complex allegory for racism that poses a lot of questions, more than a few of, which do not have a right answer.

Original, Dramatic and Tragic- The Best Episode of the Second Season

[claudio_carvalho · 10/10 · 23 January 2008]

While preparing the sensors to observe a hyper-giant that will be transformed in a supernova, the Enterprise makes first contact with the amicable and highly developed Vissians. The race of explorers is invited to visit the Enterprise and the crews exchange information about each civilization. Trip is intrigued about the third gender of the Vissians, necessary for their reproductive process, and Dr. Phlox explains that there are many races with more than two genders and T'Pol asks him to not interfere with the Vissian culture. When Trip finds that the Cogenitor, who does not have a name, is illiterate and treated like and object, has the same level of intelligence of the males and females of its race, he decides to secretly encourage it to learn how to read and expand its culture, tragically affecting the relationship between humans and Vissians.

"Cogenitor" is original, dramatic and tragic, and certainly the best episode of the Second Season up to now. The story is important to show that there are different cultures where the concepts of what seems to be right or wrong are different from the standards of others and must be respected, no matter in deep space or on Earth. In Brazil we have a saying that could be translated as follows: "the hell is full of people with good intentions". Trip seems to have learned the lesson through the most difficult way when he sees the consequences of his action. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "Cogenitor"

The Handmaid's Tale set in Star Trek

[Acanthophis · 10/10 · 1 December 2018]

I may be biased because I really enjoy both Star Trek and The Handmaid's Tale, but I really enjoyed this episode. I don't know if the writers based this episode on the book or not, if not there are some eerie similarities. Adding the angle of the pressures of a first contact and trying not to judge other cultures made it interesting.

Facinating, engaging, but frustrating episode in the end

[brianjohnson-20043 · 6/10 · 7 May 2018]

Despite my low score, I recommend seeing this episode because it's certainly interesting and worth discussing.

This is one of those Trek episodes where the crew encounters and focuses how to deal with the strange abnormalities of another alien. Something I generally like. The aliens featured in this episode have 3 sexes. Two of the sexes are similar to males and females in terms of raising children and contributing their genetic material. The 3rd sex basically carries, gives birth to and takes care of children in the initial stages for the "real couple" before being transferred to the next set of long term parents. The 3rd sex's category represents a very small fraction of their populations and it's essential for them to give birth to many children for the sake of the species. They're treated subserviently. They aren't given access to education or similar rights to the other members of their species.

Trip is fascinated by the dynamic of the relations of these aliens and seeks to find out more about them. He scans the brain of the one 3rd sex individual of the alien's party and befriends her/him/it(for the sake of convenience, I'll use her from here on because the part was played by a woman). Trip finds that her mental capabilities are equivalent to the other members of her species, and decides to go about educating her in secret. After a few education sessions she shows a lot of promise, and starts to feel she has a right to what she has been denied. Trip tries to go about letting Enterprise hold her, but to their species, she a rare necessarily valuable commodity. Archer sides with the view of not interfering further. The aliens leave. Then the captain is informed that she killed herself. Then Archer chews out Trip calling him reckless. Trip pretty accurately calls out Archer saying that if Archer was as personally invested in the alien and not captain, he'd want the same thing as Trip.

First off, the premise for this story is fabulous. I just disagree with the conclusion the episode delivers. And it really bothers me to have to disagree with the main protagonist of a star trek show. The writers are presumably hoping the audience will side with Archer because of how the specific events turned out, after the fact. I couldn't do this for a few reasons:

In life people can make the best possible decision and lose or make the worst possible decision and still win. It happens in gambling all the time, not because it's likely to beat the odds, but because there's a large sample size of chances being taken. Eventually everyone will be surprised by what fate has in store. This episode did nothing to objectively demonstrate that Trip's thinking was flawed. In fact it repeatedly showed that Trip was right to think that she deserved more rights. She demonstrated she was smart. And a valued member of any society should be treated with respect, rather than be played, just because the necessary piece to the puzzle might not have as much power. I could envision these alien's still thriving if they invested more in equal rights.

Star Trek has a few instances where it undermines it's mission of being relevant and smart by siding with a message it want to deliver which is overly preachy and obtuse. This is one of those instances. If the aliens weren't warp capable, the captain might have had a point to let the other species decide their own fate. But these aliens were treated as smart and technological as the members of the Enterprise Crew. Although it's easy to take the approach of "what right does one have to judge and intervene with others?" It's also easy to think, especially when the others are of similar intelligence, "what right does one have to not judge or intervene in the affairs of others?"

In a lot of ways I see this episode as mirroring the situations between different cultures and religions in our societies today. We encounter many situations where we're told not to interfere because we might offend the tradition or culture of others with whom we're unfamiliar. Yes, we should understand the culture of others and show respect on first contact. This is exactly what Trip did, but the way. But it's not ideal to abandon one's own ethics or morals because something isn't supposed to make sense. Where would we be if we didn't think of things based on what was supposed to make sense? It's important to respect the culture of others within one's own intellect of what's right and wrong and what does or doesn't make sense. It's cowardice behavior to let people harm others, just because it's their thing, rather than something that can be accounted for with reason and a call for fair play. Advocating for such standoff behavior is like claiming 19th century Americans from the North who didn't have direct interactions with slaves or slave holders had no right or business to object to slavery. Where would we be today if we actually thought like that?

I feel with a few tweaks this episode could have been one of the best. They could have established in the episode that the aliens had a more powerful ship or were necessary allies who weren't to be worth angering over this matter. Then Archer could have personally been sympathetic to Trip, but publicly forced to take the exact same action he took in the episode of letting the aliens do their thing. This would have left the viewer with a more interesting situations where we wonder if Trip's investment was or wasn't worth his effort.

But No. They took a great episode idea and make it preachy to the wrong conclusion given the narrative they developed. A frustrating episode for this reason. I give it 6 out of 10 because I think a well done bad idea is usually worse than a poorly executed good idea, and this episode is certainly the latter. And many Enterprise episodes from around this time are the former.

Way to totally screw it up, Trip!!!!

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 29 March 2015]

When Enterprise is up close examining some cool space phenomenon, they meet up with a new species, the Vissians. These Vissians are very friendly, more advanced and seem like neat new friends. However, one thing about them really intrigued Trip--that they have THREE genders. There are men and women but to actually reproduce, they have a third gender. This is pretty strange but Trip's interest goes much further. He notices that people talk about this third gender more like it's a pet or slave and accord it a much lesser status. These beings are not taught to read or write, have interests of their own and are more like tools than anything else. Trip ascribes human standards to this and sees the third gender as being enslaved and that it is basically unfair. On his own and with no blessing from the Captain, Trip takes it on himself to meet one of these beings and teach it to read and think for itself. Not surprisingly, this ends up causing HUGE problems.

This is a very good episode, as it really pushes the idea that other cultures are not necessarily good or bad--just different and interfering could cause HUGE problems. Very interesting--one of the better episodes.

By the way, my daughter is sitting next to me and going crazy because in the show, they were playing the Chinese game, GO. And, they were playing it all wrong!! She was incensed and I thought this was freaking hilarious! Apparently other fans noticed this as well and their identical rant can be found at http://en.memory- alpha.org/wiki/Cogenitor_%28episode%29

uneven installment of ST:ENT

[guslatho · 6/10 · 7 March 2019]

Okay, this episode of ENT was uneven.

ENT meets a ship with 3 races instead of 2, and the basically treat the third race as garbage. Trip takes issue with it, drama happens, and in the end everything turns bad enough that capt. Archer actively disses his commander with basically no sympathy whatsover.

The episode wasn't bad as much as just wildly uneven. It is very strange watching cpt. Archer go so tough on Trip. Yes, it is certainly understandable that the captain took issue with John's behavior, but to actually scold Trip and blame the suicide on him alone? That's really strong stuff to write for a captain like Archer who usually seeks out the best in his officers.

This is I think one of the few episodes of ENT so far where behvarior of an officer is outright dismissed as so far as to almost personally berate him. It is a gutsy choice but ultimately I wonder if the severity of Trip's actions really warranted that final speech.

Not a bad episode, but uneven.

Reviews reveal how most people don't get "culture"

[derekcharles · 9/10 · 5 June 2023]

As a psychologist who has spent more than half of his life studying culture I sometimes have to remind myself that not everyone realises what culture actually is. It's a soft operating system for the brain's hardware. What you think is right and wrong is not derived from some universal metric-it's nothing more than a function of your culture, which is by definition a social artefact. In other words, right and wrong vary according to what values have been imprinted upon you. Murder can be perfectly moral to a group because its culture has evolved to make it think that way. And such morals are just as valid as yours even though they may be diametrically opposed. It's not for you and your Christian enculturation to say it's wrong. It's wrong in your culture but not theirs.

Essential good and evil can only be determined by judging someone by comparing *their* actions to what they believe is good or evil. If they contravene their own moral code for some personal gain, then by their own cultural standard they're evil. If you judge someone from a different culture by your standards you're proving yourself to be nothing more than an ignorant bigot which, in this episode, Tripp proved himself to be.

While watching this episode, I was concerned as to where it was going. By the time humans are meeting different sentient species as a matter of course, I would assume they've finally learned all this. The likelihood that one of their most senior officers would behave this way felt not credible. But of course, the point of this episode was to teach us the lesson I outlined above by placing Tripp on the same hobbyhorse that some modern people still proudly occupy and show how utterly small his (and their) thinking was (and is). To this effect, Archer's dressing down of his friend and subordinate was wonderfully delivered and amounted to the kind of dressing down that many of the reviewers here-who clearly missed the point by a lightyear-badly needed.

And here's the thing-if you wrote a review defending Tripp* you need to get past the initial anger that someone has dared call YOU-of all people-ignorant. Instead, try asking yourself, this: "How arrogant must I be to assume that my notion of right and wrong applies to everyone?" If you answer that honestly, you've put one foot on the right path. But I suspect many won't. Instead, they'll click the dislike and scroll down, looking for a review that tells them they were right all along-with two feet firmly planted on the treadmill of ignorance.

Hey, it's easier than walking.

*It's highly likely that many of these negative reviewers were still in their adolescence when they wrote this and part of adolescence is learning to think on a more complex level. It's like asking a 14 year old to lift a refrigerator. They can almost do it but they're just not quite there yet. As such, I'm speaking about adults who felt Tripp was in the right.

Archer is sanctimonious

[cdoctors · 3/10 · 5 May 2013]

It took me awhile, but I finally warmed up to Enterprise. My least favorite character was Capt. Archer. He struck me as exceedingly arrogant and narcissistic. This episode epitomizes that perception. At the end of the episode when Captain Archer is berating Commander Tucker, Tucker tells the Capt that he was just doing what the Captain would have done, and that is absolutely true. The Captain replies "If that's true, then I've done a pretty lousy job setting an example around here", also absolutely true.

Let's recount some examples of Archer's escapades:

Archer get's involved in "championing" the rights of the downtrodden in "Detained" (Season 1 Episode 20). He decides he "must" free the captive Suliban, even though he and Mayweather were going to be released.

Season 1 Episode 6, The Andorian Incident, he decides to go against the wishes of the Vulcans at the P'Jem sanctuary. Why? It is their facility; they have been through raids by the Andorians before; the Vulcans want to let the Andorians look until they're satisfied and leave. Archer won't respect the wishes of the Vulcans and his interference results in the destruction of the sanctuary.

Season 1 Episode 16, Fusion, Archer "orders"/strongly "suggests" T'Pol to spend time with the visiting Vulcans, even though she is clearly uneasy at the thought. The result, she is assaulted by one of the Vulcans and develops Pinar Syndrome.

Season 1, Episode 17, Rogue Planet, Archer interferes on behalf of the downtrodden creatures that are being hunted. He interferes in the culture, on a "first contact" mission, by providing a masking agent so the creatures can evade the hunters.

Season 2, Episode 6, Marauders, Archer interferes on behalf of the downtrodden because he's never liked "bullies".

Season 2, Episode 21, Breach, Archer orders Doctor Phlox to perform medical treatment on a patient, against the patient's wishes. He says "On Earth, we don't let people die when we could save them." Really? I thought, even on Earth, a doctor must receive patient consent.

I'm not saying I agree or disagree with the actions taken by Archer or Tucker, just that, throughout this series, Archer will take certain actions, the consequences be damned, but chastise others for doing the same type thing. Like I said, overall I like the series, but I never learned to like Captain Archer.

Heartbreaking

[wcameronmartin · 10/10 · 29 August 2023]

This episode is heartbreaking and positively perfect in every conceivable way. The acting, the writing, the direction, cinematography, the pacing... perfection, just perfection. LaVar Burton's contribution is felt heavily, though pales in comparison to Connor Trinneer's work. He has me believing it wholeheartedly... I felt my heart ache, and watched his heart break. I simply cannot lay enough praise at the feet of this episode. I feel the this episode stands up with the very best of the very very best in what Star Trek has to offer. This is the epitome of storytelling at its finest, and I don't feel it has ever been paid the respect it is due.

One of the best eps of ENT

[info-5918 · 9/10 · 19 June 2023]

This was a really interesting idea, and a neat little compact morality play.

The idea of three genders was an interesting, one, and it shows that we shouldn't consider everyone is like us.

There were lots of interesting themes in this ep, and the ending was unexpected.

Rather than take a particular predicatable line, the story showed that things don't always work out how you expect them to... and sometimes there are unforseen consequences of ones actions.

I thought the cogenitor role was great, but also it was good that the crew encountered a race that were happy and wanted to assist.

However, probably the best thing was trip getting dressed down - showing the crew aren't all perfect and do make mistakes.

Great episode, said by the actor who plays Malcolme Reed as his favorite.

Missed opportunity to truly explore culture, morality and ethics.

[wwcanoer-tech · 8/10 · 25 November 2021]

This episode spends a lot of time on low-impact scenes while omitting what could be a very interesting exploration of culture, morality and ethics.

We spend a lot of time with Trip teaching the progenitor. Some is necessary but we miss the couple's discovery that the progenitor can read and wants to learn. This would have been far more dramatic than T'Pol's announcement of "an incident."

The two captains have a short meeting but it barely touches the surface and omits brainstorming of possible solutions. Archer doesn't even ask what the progenitor's life will be like now that it knows how to read. An obvious question for Archer to ask the Captain would be "What if someone told you that you could never read another book?! Would you be ok with that? No more Shakespeare. No more discovering new cultures. Then why is it ok for this progenitor? I'm sorry that Trip did this but this is the situation that we are in now. This progenitor is not like your other progenitors who don't even know that they are capable of learning. This one knows that it can learn. We can't reverse that experience. We must deal with it."

Archer never asks "How would reproduction be affected if the progenitors could live productive lives? Why do you fear that? Do you fear that they would stop wanting to aid reproduction?"

Could explore the reproduction itself. "If their primary role is to provide an enzyme, then why can't you make an artificial version?"

The progenitor doesn't get a seat at the table where they are discussing its future! Archer never even talks to it, never hears its side of the story.

They also don't explore any ways for this progenitor to be accommodated. Could the progenitor stay until the birth of the baby and then be allowed to join Enterprise or another world? Could the couple join the progenitor on Enterprise?

Why have 4 minutes of tension when you could have 12 good minutes of though-provoking arguments?

Coming to an accommodation, such as that the progenitor can leave after the birth of the baby, doesn't need to change the ending. We could see the couple unable to accept the progenitor's wishes and leave it so demoralized that it commits suicide.

Also, they say "You can't judge our culture when you don't know it." But they don't offer a book, movie or even a discussion explaining their culture. We don't need to see the entire discussion, just that it occurs.

Why doesn't Archer provide the captain with a book about slavery or servitude? "William Shakespeare's play "The Tempest" provides an in-depth description of the extent to which humans have subjected their fellow humans to injustices."

My conclusion: A missed opportunity for a truly great episode.

(We also miss exploring their concept of casual sex because Malcolm's tryst with the Vissian tactical officer abruptly disappears. Probably on the cutting room floor. Perhaps Malcom having sex wasn't a pleasant sight. :D )

Many reviewers are wrong: Its peak Star Trek

[bnevs18 · 10/10 · 20 December 2023]

Alot of the reviewers here take exception with the ending proclaiming it to be completely against the ethos of Star Trek. I couldnt disagree more.

Star Trek has always been progressive (and thats a good thing...Im a progressive), and what does being "progressive" mean? To change, to find a better way, to move forward with further evidence. It DOESNT mean that you proclaim to know all the answers and those that disagree with you are wrong.

This is what is wrong with how the liberal movement has gone lately...if you adhere to today's liberal ethos and cannot tolerate those who disagree...today's progressive becomes tomorrow's bigot. To think that progressive's current worldview is the end all and be all is exactly what we need to fight against.

Try this thought experiment on for size: We here in the west eat hamburgers...we love them! This is seen as disgusting to people in India as they are seen as holy. What do we do when someone sees it as their duty to stop this unholy slaughter of great animals by setting them free from farms? Would we become angry when the cows run wild and die due to not being prepared for the world outside of the farm? This is very much like the ending of this episode...the character who is playing by our sensibilities "set the cogenitor free", and assured its fate.

THIS is Star Trek...challenging you to rethink your preconceived notions of what is right and wrong.

Was Archer acting like an arse? Yes...could it have been handled better by those in the story? Yes...but to proclaim that your ethos are unquestionably better without knowing others' situation and "story" is bigotry. Very often, when we humans fight against something so fiercely, we BECOME what we abhor. Hate bigotry hard enough and you become a bigot. Hate intolerance and you become intolerant. This is what Gene fought against...intolerance of other viewpoints.

Comments show flaw of ratings

[amexspam · 8/10 · 20 March 2023]

Film ratings should be about the quality of the film...was the plot well developed....how was the dialogue....did the actors do a good job...and then cinema style, sound, editing, etc. Far too often on this site the show is judged purely on whether the "reviewer" likes the actor, or, as with the low ratings on this above average episode, whether they like the outcome. Which is why one should always ignore the ratings.

Another issue is the site confusing a quality review with a minimum requirement for dribble. And since I am forced to pad I'll mention Minow who said there are some good shows on television.

This Star Trek series has some serious moral issues

[kateymaybe-98888 · 1/10 · 16 September 2015]

Wow. Just, wow.

The Enterprise encounters a new species, the Vissians, who have 3 sexes - male, female, cogenitor. Cogenitors are needed for procreation, but nothing else. They consist of only 3% of the population, so they are passed around from couple to couple as needed. They are not educated, they have no names, and to call them third class citizens would be overly generous.

Trip becomes fascinated with the cogenitor on board the Vissian ship, and discovers that it is every bit as intelligent as the male and female members of the species. He secretly interacts with the cogenitor, teaches it (later referred to as she, as she appears rather feminine) to read, shows her a movie, and generally shows her what it's like to be treated as a person, not just a fertility aid.

When the Vissians are ready to go on their way, the cogenitor request asylum from the humans, understandably reluctant to return to her restricted life with no rights.

Archer denies her request, and berates Trip for "interfering" with another culture. Archer is indignant when Trip says he was just doing as Archer would have done (which is very true). And when the cogenitor commits suicide, Archer blames Trip for interfering in the first place, rather than Archer's own decision to force her to return to her life of slavery.

So in "Doctor, Doctor" we have Archer and Co. willing to allow an entire species to become extinct rather than providing them with a cure for a disease which is wiping out the entire population, because their continued existence might interfere with the evolution of a second species which lives on the same planet. But apparently repressing a race (or one sex of a race) that is already at a high level of evolution is OK. Yay for genocide, yay for sexual slavery - at least for the Enterprise.

I find the entire premise implausible. The Vissians are way ahead of the humans on an evolutionary scale. Trip's cogenitor friend learned to read and made huge emotional/social changes within a day. I find it unlikely that people (of whatever species)with so much potential living within an advanced culture would not have picked up a certain amount of knowledge, and developed socially in spite of the restrictions within the culture.

And if a day or two of being treated decently would lead to an individual preferring suicide to returning to her previous restricted life, it is highly unlikely that as a group the cogenitors would have accepted their slave status for so long.

But my biggest issue is with the idea that "it's their culture" is treated as an excuse for any kind of atrocity (except when Archer makes a personal connection with the victims).

The Enterprise is roaming the galaxy, but historically Star Trek has always been allegorical. The humans meet new species during their travels, and the issues that develop are usually problems common to humanity in all its social and cultural variations here on Earth. There are certain things that present day humans are willing to accept as "that's their culture", but there are also things that are considered utterly unacceptable; although of course there are limits to how far nations are willing to go to address "unacceptable" events in other nations.

Going to war with the Vissians to "liberate" the cogenitors would have been excessive, but granting asylum to the cogenitor from the Vissian vessel would have absolutely been appropriate, and the "right" thing to do morally. Not to mention far more consistent with Archer's character.

An Episode that Talks Down to the Fans

[seekermar · 1/10 · 15 February 2011]

I think Enterprise had a lot of potential. I have been told that the episodes after this one were good. But this is the episode that caused me to stop watching the series. With Cogenitor, Enterprise became uncomfortably preachy. Yes, I know ST has always been preachy but in the past they made it work.

As a female fan I was disgusted by an episode that I took to be a thinly veiled commentary on how we shouldn't expect foreign cultures to allow women to have full rights. If the Captain felt that the Cogenitor should be denied basic human rights then that is fine but to see the second officer, who had fought for the Cogenitor and watched the Captain pretty much cause her suicide, agree with him and act like a bad puppy at the end of the episode was insulting. It seemed false and badly written

"Who is to say if slavery is bad or not?" - Captain Jonnathan Archer

[ecmelton-186-105049 · 1/10 · 23 October 2019]

Balancing tradition with progress is a difficult challenge, especially when you're approaching the subject as an outsider to the culture in question. Star Trek has a lot of episodes exploring this subject, and most are pretty good.

I think one of the most appropriate comparisons is to the TNG episode "Half a Life," which also features a person requesting asylum to escape a regressive cultural practice and also culminates in a sad (and frustrating) ending, but the big difference is that the TNG episode recognizes that the decision to stay with the culture or leave lies with the individual and not with the powers that be. That autonomy is important.

The aliens (Vissians) in this episode are established to be capable of great progress over a very short period of time and are very interested in learning about earth culture, yet Archer refuses to show any conviction that slavery is immoral based on Earth's own history. The alien captain says that his world would be blown away by Shakespeare and Socrates and asks for other important works of literature. Archer, apparently intimated by someone reading a book quickly doesn't have anything to offer. Things like "My Bondage and My Freedom" and "Self-Made Men" by Fredrick Douglas or "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin might have been important or relevant to the themes of the episode and might have been a good way to expose the Vissian's to their misguided treatment of the cogenitors. This is such a black and white issue, and Archer is presented as being too dumb to recommend a book he likes let alone function as diplomat to a problematic culture.

The fact that Archer has a whole speech at the end about how Trip was wrong for trying to help Charles is just so disgusting. Archer's own actions, refusing to acknowledge obvious human rights abuses, resulted in Charles committing suicide. It seems like if a person would rather kill themselves than return to their own culture, then that culture is clearly in the wrong and he was wrong not to grant her asylum and the notion of cultural relativism obviously doesn't apply. The fact that Charles was asking for asylum in the first place SHOULD have made that clear. Not to mention that he was fine with leaving one third of a global population in the same conditions that motivated Charles to take her own life.

Since this is in the early days of the Federation it could actually be meaningful for Archer to make the wrong call, for what he thinks is the greater good, only to realize that he was wrong and enabling oppression and suffering. This could have been a defining moment in the their history and lay the groundwork for the way Picard and Janeway handle civil rights in episodes like "Measure Of A Man" and "Author, Author." BUT NOPE. It's just garbage.

Heartbreaking

[brueggemanntami · 2/10 · 7 March 2020]

I love Enterprise. I am watching it for the umpteenth time and this episode still upsets me. Yes, we should not judge other people's customs. However slavery is simply wrong. The captain should have granted her asylum, given her a chance to live her own life. He was angry at Trip for doing something that he would have probably done himself given his actions in other situations. It was totally out of character, which made no sense. I am a life long Trekkie, but this one makes me so sad.

Archer, Stop Being Such a Hypocrite

[Samuel-Shovel · 5/10 · 4 December 2017]

Cogenitor introduces the Enterprise to a new super-advanced species known as the Vissians. The two ships quickly become chummy as it appears to be the start of a great friendship between the two species. This race has 3 genders and Trip quickly noticed a disparity in the treatment of one of these and attempts to change this.

This episode is quite controversial in the ST community. I can definitely see why. Archer's sanctimoniousness hits an all time high in this episode. He berates Trip for doing something he clearly would have done in Trip's situation.

Was this inconsistent with Archer's character? Yes, but in real life people can be inconsistent. Archer was quickly becoming friends with the Vissians and Earth had a lot to gain from this new relationship. This might have been the most important contact that humans have made since the Vulcans. Trip's act of defiance has soiled the relationship. Archer lashes out in frustration. It was immature of him but also something I can comprehend him doing. I don't agree with it but I understand his decision-making process. After all the meddling Archer's done, it's strange to see him act like this. Maybe when the intervention is coming from someone else, Archer's pride takes precedent over his morality.

It does seem odd though that such an advanced race of people would have these second-class citizens. You would think that they would be intelligent enough to treat everyone with dignity and respect. I just don't buy it.

Side note: We never see the end of Reed's subplot with the Vissian he is courting. We just kind of drop it, very odd.

The ending to this one is saddening. Archer's decision not to grant asylum causes Charles' suicide, weighing heavily on both Trip & Archer. Archer's reasoning that he can't interfere and judge another culture's customs is both hypocritical and sending a bad message from the Enterprise. I don't expect Star Fleet to make the right decision every time something comes up but you'd hope for them to at least be consistent.

Do Not watch

[cathieclini · 1/10 · 27 May 2019]

What a horrible episode, Trip is the only one who sees that tho cogenitor needs help and tries to help her, but gets no backup. Captain Archer is more concerned with making alies and getting new toys, than doing the right thing. What a horrible episode.

The contest for worst Trek episode of all-time has a new front-runner

[guy_in_oxford · 1/10 · 19 November 2014]

Captain Archer decides to be someone else for this episode, where joyriding with a high technology pal comes before protecting someone from enslavement, someone who requested asylum.

Archer completely lost whatever moral credibility the series tried to build up in this episode, one that utterly refused to even mention slavery which is exactly what it was about. The implied misogyny (women don't need equal rights) and heterosexism (gay people are just a small percentage of the population so they don't need equal rights either) are just added bonuses.

I never thought I'd see the day when Star Trek demanded that viewers think slavery is OK, using "different culture in deep space" as an excuse!

I am forcing myself to watch this series, but I am not enjoying seeing what little is left of Trek. The one very good episode so far was the one with the Vulcan diplomat who was rescued after being falsely implicated. It's a shame the series couldn't manage to make more decent episodes like that one. (It was rather contrived in some aspects, such as the inclusion of the mandatory battling, but the character of the Vulcan ambassador and the obvious talent of the actress made it a welcome change from the usual highly mundane and sometimes egregious Enterprise fare.)

This also isn't the first time the series has completely botched its take on morality (e.g. Fortunate Son).

Watching T'Pau and Archer in this episode, their callous self-serving attitudes made me wonder if the writing staff was replaced by people who knew nothing about them. I can't imagine why the actors agreed to say those lines.

The only highlight of this one, in terms of series continuity, is just how human and moral Tucker showed himself to be, even though he completely failed to defend himself, and more importantly — humanity, justice, and liberty, at the end — acting as if he actually was the one who was limited in terms of mental capacity. Also, the episode had promise. There was ample opportunity for making the cogenitor quandary fertile fare. Instead, the writers botched it, and greatly disrespected the foundational morality of Trek. I guess Archer didn't want to come to the aid of someone without there being the promise of yet another firefight or various tepidly predictable beatings, and certainly not a "transgendered" person!

Next Generation's The Outcast did a far better job at dealing with gender issues and freedom. It was clear enough at the end that the "psychotectic treatments" changed Soren into a totally different person (brainwashing) — not the outcome that an enlightened audience would approve of as murdering someone is not typically considered a credible solution for dealing with diversity.* Voyager failed tremendously in exactly that manner, though, with Tuvix, one of the darkest, most embarrassing moments in all of Trek.

This episode is possibly even worse than Tuvix, though. With Tuvix, the argument could be made that two lives outweigh one life, corrupt as that argument is as it requires murdering someone which is NOT acceptable. (Soren's murder was also accompanied by the creation of a new person in her body, which is still more positive than a greater loss.) Tuvix was also a one-off, the result of an infinitesimally rare occurrence. In contrast, the cogenitor was part of 3% of a large population and, unlike Archer's ridiculous attempt at logic (the baby that has been yet to be conceived and the misplacing of blame for the suicide), no one's life was at risk. Enslaving the cogenitor and all of its type, even denying them names and the most basic liberties such as the ability to read and make decisions, was shone to be an utterly arbitrary (and therefore unnecessary) thing — a fetish like foot binding. The "you don't understand the culture" excuse had nothing at all substantive attached to it; it was the mewling of privileged people trying to mindlessly protect their privilege, nothing more. Unlike the situation with Tuvix, no one's life was going to be restored by maintaining the enslavement. Inconveniencing a couple that wants to breed is not a justification for enslavement just as, more generally, inconveniencing privileged people is no justification for slavery.

*That was the same issue that Angel One dealt with. Both The Outcast and Angel One have definite drawbacks as episodes, but neither of them sided with the inhumane appalling notion that alien cultures are exempt from our moral judgment — that it's OK to massacre minorities to maintain "social harmony". Humans don't cease to be human simply because they've come into contact with other species. Killing and/or enslaving people to quash diversity is not acceptable in an enlightened culture. Archer himself chided Vulcans for bigotry in a prior episode (although too ineffectually, which is typical for Enterprise writing), when they irrationally withheld medical knowledge due to their distaste for a minority. Again, it seems the writers completely forgot about who T'Pau and Archer are with this episode, or new writers were brought in who didn't bother watching the prior episodes from the very same season. What were the people making this series thinking when they made this episode? Were they thinking at all?

The Captain is being rude!

[golfalphatango-99531 · 5/10 · 6 June 2020]

If it was the Captain's idea to provide asylum for the Cogenitor, all would be hunky-dory! He's such a hypocrite in this episode, it's annoying!!