Warp Five 214: We’re Not Here to Play God, But … / by C Bryan Jones

“Dear Doctor” 20th-anniversary reflections

Running Time: 51 minutes 6 seconds
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An alien astronaut leads the Enterprise crew to a planet in crisis. Two intelligent humanoid species live side by side, but one is suffering from a deadly disease. Unraveling the mystery puts Doctor Phlox and Captain Archer at odds as they decide whether or not to intervene in the development of another society. And Phlox shares all the details with his pen pal.

In this episode of Warp Five, hosts C Bryan Jones and Matthew Rushing continue our 20th-anniversary retrospective that takes you through all of Star Trek: Enterprise, one episode at a time. In this installment, we explore “Dear Doctor” and the moral conundrum it presents for humans operating in a pre-Prime Directive world. We also debate whether Star Trek’s famous directive would even apply here and what the ultimate decision says about Archer and Phlox. We also explore the burgeoning relationship between the doctor and Cutler.

Chapters

Intro (00:00:00)
Storytelling Format (00:02:02)
Cutler and Phlox (00:05:12)
Moral Dilemma (00:21:07)
Valakian–Menk Dynamics (00:13:15)
Hard Choices (00:24:24)
Interpreting the Prime Directive (00:31:49)
Missing Details Make a Difference (00:37:31)
Final Thoughts and Ratings (00:43:30)
Closing (00:41:40)

Hosts

C Bryan Jones and Matthew Rushing

Production

C Bryan Jones (Editor and Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer)

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