3.16: Doctor's Orders

[Dave]

The fate of Enterprise is in Dr. Phlox's hands as the rest of the crew must be induced into a coma in order to survive a trans-dimensional disturbance.

from SciFi Wire

Trek's Phlox Bares All

Star Trek: Enterprise star John Billingsley told SCI FI Wire that his character, Dr. Phlox, takes center stage in the upcoming Feb. 18 episode "Doctor's Orders" and that he does so in the buff. "We have to traverse a very dangerous part of space if we're to get to the Xindi weapon in time," Billingsley said in an interview at UPN's winter press tour in Hollywood. "And in that amazing way I have of somehow knowing this s**t, I say, 'Well, if we do this, all of the humans are going to be driven mad. I as a Dinobulan won't be driven mad.' So my solution is let's put everyone in a comatose state, and I'll run the ship by myself. And I do that."

Billingsley added that viewers will see a new side to the doctor. "I have to run the whole ship," he said. "And I walk around naked sweeps week, baby! and it turns out I was a little optimistic, and this weird section of space is actually kind of driving me mad, too. So now I'm mad, all by myself, on the ship. Mad, naked and all by myself on the ship."

A UPN spokesman told SCI FI Wire that Billingsley ended up shooting the episode in his birthday suit in part because producers called his bluff. For his part, Billingsley said that he had ideas for his character's alien anatomy. "In the nude scene, I was hoping ... you know, it would be like, I walk in the room, and a flower pot gets knocked over all the way [on the other side]. ... They didn't go for that, darn it [laughs]."

This one sounds a lot like the VOY eps 'One' and 'Night' to me, with Dr Phlox substituted for Seven. (Now, I wonder why Seven didn't bare all?) Obviously, they've realised now that we have got bored with seeing T'pot and Trip naked, but Dr Phlox isn't the one I expected to see naked next!

 

[Mariel]

This was a good episode if not a little scary in parts.
Phlox is taught basic procedures on how to take care of the ship then he puts everyone into a coma. As he wanders around the ship with the dog he starts seeing and hearing things and thinks it's T'Pol at first. Then is convinced there are insect Xindi on the ship and searches the ship with T'Pol and almost shoots the dog. The ship is only supposed to be in this section of space for 4 days but when at the end of the 4 days Phlox checks the sensors he finds that the disturbance has expanded. They were traveling at impulse because Trip thought it would be safer. By now T'Pol is starting to loose it and she and Phox must try to get the warp reacter up and running. With the help of the main computer Phlox restarts the warp reacter and they exit the disturbance safely. After Phlox wakes Archer he walks T'Pol back to her quarters and tells her to get some rest. But when he looks toward her bed he sees her lying there still in the coma. I guess if I had thought about it more I would have seen that coming.
:blpaw:

 

[Dave]

To Boldly Go Where Only Dogs Have Gone Before

For a while I did think that T'Pol was a hallucination too, just because of the way she simply seemed to appear from nowhere. Either that or else it was an alien pretending to be her. But I assumed I was wrong until the end, so it was unexpected.

The story was lacking in anything substantial, though it was genuinely creepy and gave a real sense of the emptiness of the ship. And we learnt a lot more about Denobulans, including how they look in the nude.

I did think that the premise was lacking though. They couldn't go to Warp because it was more dangerous than leaving one person and a dog in charge of the whole ship for four days. But then they went to Warp anyway under the supervision of a hallucinating medical doctor reading Warp theory from a manual.

At least Archer didn't beat anyone up, and T'Pol didn't act strange because it wasn't really her.

 

[ray gower]

This was one of those episodes that will improve with rewatching.

Okay it was taken direct from the Voyager episode One and I wouldn't like to make any claim as to which was the better realised.

There are a few small queries. Like the Doctor should have had a better understanding of Denobulan's and loneliness, being both a Doctor and Denobulan.

There was of course the warp concerns already mentioned. But this is a mind tricks story. By that time I think the Doctor was too far gone to care much.
Having created T'Pol to keep him company, he used her to convince him that warp was the right way to set out.

- Any psycholgy majors here?
How many people would our minds create if left so totally alone, or would we just go mad?

 

[Col. Jack]

I did have a feeling that T'pol was a hallucination.
The fact that she didn't touch anything and left the warp engine
start up to Flox who had "never studied warp theory".
Very illogical.
Oh well, they have to use up episodes somehow on the way to Azati Prime
Good old :star: Trek

 

[ray gower]

More distressing is that Phlox made no attempt to argue the point about the engine, merely accepting T'Pot had to be on the Bridge

Overall I could live with fillers like this one.
It registers as average, which by recent attempts makes it almost good!

 

[Dave]

Trivia

When Phlox sees something on the hull of the ship, it is very similiar to Shatner's classic episode of The Twilight Zone, where he sees a creature on an airplane's wing during a flight. It also looked like the things on the Millennium Falcon in The Empire Strikes Back to me.

The Enterprise Weekly Film Show

Explain this one to me again -->

Once a week the crew go to a small cinema to watch 2D movies from the late 20th Century (never any of the more modern interactive multi-media 3D videos.) The films chosen are generally very corny and cheesy, Horror, Sci-fi, and now Comedies. No Romances, no classic ground-breaking films, and nothing post-1970.

These are surprisingly very popular; there are rarely vacant seats, yet they have no choice over the movie. According to Phlox in 'Doctor's Orders' ENT, the ship's computer seems to decide what is scheduled. It is only available on a single night each week and also at one particular time. It can't even change the schedule or pause the film when Phlox is the only viewer! Even 21st Century Cable and Satellite TV gives more choice than this (usually!) Even our cinemas are all multiplexes now.

The Film show idea actually made more sense in Voyager, since there it was at the instigation of Tom Paris, a self-confessed 20th Century retro freak, and the crew were rediscovering these lost films, presumably still stored within Voyager's LCARS computer library, and unearthed by Tom. It doesn't make any sense in Enterprise, because they are only 150 years in the future. One small disc could hold 1000's of films, accessible at the touch of a button.

Note that The Original Series cleverly did not have this problem. The crew relaxed by playing musical instruments or 3D Chess. In TNG, DS9 and VOY they used Holodecks and Holosuits for Holonovels and playing Sports, Dancing and Acting.

 

[ray gower]

Be fair, didn't Phlox say something about having seen the Exorcist the week before and isn't Casablance regarded as a classic?

As for the cinema, I think it is reflective of what happens on naval ships now. Most run a small cinema of some nature. The number of showings depending upon size and readiness status of the ship, e.g. perhaps once a week in the wardroom of an old frigate, nightly in a custom cinema on a modern aircraft carrier.

As for films. They are usually carefully selected for their buoyant effect (Danny Kaye is certainly buoyant) and cost (Couple of dozen videos at £2/nightly for 4 months from Blockbuster is expensive! ). Though the RN does usually manage more modern films.
So perhaps there is a preference for original versions of films in place of the shoddy re-makes in the Enterprise era?

 

[Col. Jack]

Besides, how freaked out do you think they would be if
Star trek: First Contact came on one night.

By the way. Ray Gower, did you mean to call T'Pol T'Pot.
If so well done. Thats a much better name. I'm never gonna
use T'Pol again. If you say it out loud it sounds like someone
in the hood asking for a cup of Tea.

 

[Dave]

Actually, I like Danny Kaye in 'The Court Jester', that whole "The vessel with the pestle has the pellet with the poison and the chalice with the palace has the brew that is true" sketch is brilliant.

I also forgot about 'Casablanca' and 'The Exorcist'.

'Star Trek: First Contact'??

They would be much more freaked out by 'Star Trek XI: Revenge of the Xindii.'

But I was thinking along the lines of 'Back to the Future', where the 2015 cinema is advertising "Jaws 19" directed by Steven Speilberg's son Max.

BTW: Ray ALWAYS calls T'Pol T'Pot. And welcome to Ascifi Col. Jack.

 

[ray gower]

'Tis true. I rechristened T'Pol as T'Pot!

I was thinking of the childrens rhymne 'I'm a little teapot' at the time and it sort of stuck. Funny how the mind works

 

[Col. Jack]

We should write to the execs. Make it offical.
It would bring more comedy to ENT. Imagine each time Archer
needs her help. 'T'Pot to the bridge'.

 

[ray gower]

And wouldn't things work so much better with a mugs of Rosie Lea, civilising the aliens?

 

[Col. Jack]

Yeh sure. I was wondering how Archer was going to stop the xindi from attacking earth. Well there we have it. All he has to do is crack open the old PG Tips. Problem solved.