I haven't read all the replies here, but the episode, on top of being very similar to VOY's One, it had some of the DS9 episode involving Section31 where [I can't remember it well at all] I think Julien is in some sort of simulation, and he discovers this because of a book that he was reading: he kept reading the same page over and over, and then rest of the story was blank...
This was very appearant in the engineering scene.
The episode was contrived, and if the ending was a 'suprise' then you're an idiot. However, it was an awesome episode, and mainly because of Phlox. Out of the entire crew, he is the only character that is fully developed and believable. Though an alien race that we know so little about, he is the only character I can understand and relate to. He is such an engaging character, maybe that is only because he is portrayed so brilliantly by John Billingsley. I feel as an actor he is being wasted on the UPN, but Enterprise would be a waste of time without him. The writers/producers/directors etc. should realize the talent and potential that exists in Phlox and push him forward. Stop with the Trip and T'Pol nonsense, stop with the pretty young people. Every Trek fan should understand that talent and intelligence is sexy. More Phlox.
I agree that "Doctor's Orders" is a virtual remake of the Voyager episode "One". However, since I didn't like Voyager and couldn't stand Seven, I found this episode to be completely delightful. John Billingsley is wonderful and his scenes with Porthos and with T'Pol are priceless. (Yes, "Night in Sickbay" is one of my favorites as well.) The dialogue was sparkling and humorous and his hallucinations interesting. I thought this episode gave us more information about Phlox and how he can handle almost anything. He is a great character that is underused in the series. Perhaps this will open doors for him to be more active.
They explain in the episode that the area of space they were traveling through was reconfiguring itself and expanding. By turning around it would have taken them, perhaps, 10 weeks to go the other way assuming it was expanding in every direction. They were screwed in whatever direction they were going.
So was Phlox imagining the whole off-course thing or not? The ending seems to suggest he really did do all the warp stuff. But how could they have gotten 10 weeks off course if they were supposed to thru the thing in 4 days? They had traveled nearly 3 days, so if they turned around it would take the same 3 days to get back where they started, and then 4 days to the end of the phenomenon. So I just don't get it. Am I hallucinating?
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It's a rip-off. / We're stepped on, and cheated! / We're flat, stone-cold lied to / But we're not defeated / No!
Halen. "The Dream is Over."
RE: Huh?
by Steve Krutzler @ 09:22:28 on Feb 20
RE: Huh?
by O. Deus @ 18:53:51 on Feb 21
RE: Huh?
by Captain Chris @ 15:26:28 on Feb 20
RE: Huh?
by Aeon @ 17:31:33 on Feb 19
And I totally forgot about the score... I am just watching it again and the music is PERFECT !!!
Greetz
Christian
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Live Long and Prosper
I thought it was a good episode. Not the best, not the most-engaging, but I enjoy seeing characters out of their element, and feeling like I've come to know them a little better. Yes, I saw the T'Pol reveal a mile away, but the way they revealed it was better than I expected. Phlox is one of the most entertaining alien side-kick characters, (ala Neelix, and Quark) I've ever watched on Trek. He's both believable and interesting without being annoying like Neelix could be at times, and without being seedy and sneaky like Quark. (I loved Quark, don't get me wrong.)
One area where the show threw me for a loop was the unpredicted expansion of the region they were travelling through. I knew there had to be an added foil for conflict's sake, but I honestly thought at that point that Phlox was hallucinating that as well. It was interesting to see him struggle with the warp engines, and confirmed my original suspicions that T'Pol wasn't really there when she behaved the way she did. Her facial expressions truly were hilarious.
I also enjoyed hearing the little click click click of Porthos padding along the corridors of the Enterprise. Very cute touch, and it added a very human element to the show. (as strange as that may sound)
Looking forward to next weeks episode, and next weeks release of Voyager on DVD. Finally!
Oh, and as an afterthought, I'm equally grateful that I haven't read about anyone crying "porn" about Phlox's appearance in the nude. I didn't see this as a cheap stunt either. It furthered the imagery that he is indeed another species and enforced the idea that he truly was alone. Afterall, who doesn't parade around nude when they're by themself, right? And maybe it's Austin Powers humour, but I thought the strategically placed watering can was a subtle/funny touch.
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"Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack. Rule of Aquisition #109." --Quark
I thought it was a good episode. Not the best, not the most-engaging, but I enjoy seeing characters out of their element, and feeling like I've come to know them a little better. Yes, I saw the T'Pol reveal a mile away, but the way they revealed it was better than I expected. Phlox is one of the most entertaining alien side-kick characters, (ala Neelix, and Quark) I've ever watched on Trek. He's both believable and interesting without being annoying like Neelix could be at times, and without being seedy and sneaky like Quark. (I loved Quark, don't get me wrong.)
One area where the show threw me for a loop was the unpredicted expansion of the region they were travelling through. I knew there had to be an added foil for conflict's sake, but I honestly thought at that point that Phlox was hallucinating that as well. It was interesting to see him struggle with the warp engines, and confirmed my original suspicions that T'Pol wasn't really there when she behaved the way she did. Her facial expressions truly were hilarious.
I also enjoyed hearing the little click click click of Porthos padding along the corridors of the Enterprise. Very cute touch, and it added a very human element to the show. (as strange as that may sound)
Looking forward to next weeks episode, and next weeks release of Voyager on DVD. Finally!
Oh, and as an afterthought, I'm equally grateful that I haven't read about anyone crying "porn" about Phlox's appearance in the nude. I didn't see this as a cheap stunt either. It furthered the imagery that he is indeed another species and enforced the idea that he truly was alone. Afterall, who doesn't parade around nude when they're by themself, right? And maybe it's Austin Powers humour, but I thought the strategically placed watering can was a subtle/funny touch.
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"Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack. Rule of Aquisition #109." --Quark
I was bored. I was hoping for something on par with "Dear Doctor," but the episode was disappointing. The acting was good enough, but I didn't find the story compelling. I knew that the crew was a figment of Phlox's imagination, and that could have been a good concept, but the writing just didn't hold my interest...though Porthos was great!
The first "ENTERPRISE" is made up of old STAR TREK retreads. Like this episode. Same old story just plop in different characters.
The second "ENTERPRISE" is pushing the envelope on the sex. Like last weeks episode. Totally uncharacteristic situations where the ultimate goal is to tease and grab the cheap thrills.
The third has potential. When they look at the characters and focus in on character development. ie. the Trip's clone episode...
Unless these producers figure out the show is all over the place and going in different directions this show is just going to keep confusing everyone every week. You ever know what "ENTERPRISE" you are going to get.
This was mind-bendingly terrible stuff.
The Austin Powers style joke scene of a naked Phlox was out of place and badly done.
Quite frankly, the whole thing was just plain boring with nothing was happening for the first 2/3 of the episode.
Some ST bottle-shows can turn into classics, this came over as cheap, lazy and the final nail in the coffin for a show that should be cancelled - RIGHT NOW!
I always enjoy watching Phlox and I really liked seeing the difficulty of warp. This was the first trek episode in memory that made an illustration of how complex and volatile technology could be in the hands of a non-starfleet crewmember.
Deus's review downplays the problems with this episode. I think Deus is charitable in describing this episode as "average."
I like Phlox and Billingsley a lot. But this episode was very weak -- perhaps the weakest episode of the season. It was plodding and boring.
Billingsley is great as Phlox and performed well in this episode. But his performance did not overcome the artificial and contrived plot devices. This episode would have been better if Phlox had indeed been alone and handled routine problems that were outside of his expertise while performing his rounds and keeping an eye on Porthos. There was no need to ratchet up the "suspense" by having Phlox go a little crazy as a result of his isolation. The artificial suspense was distracting.
I was disappointed with this episode. I hope the next one is better.
And I didn't particularly care for "One," either.
Why on earth did they remake that episode?
If they wrap up the Xindi and the Expanse storylines this year, and if UPN is kind enough to give ENT a fourth season, they should spend the whole year building the Federation and wrapping up the Temporal Cold War. I wouldn't bank on a season five, and they better cut to the quick.
I’d give it props for the creative tension the T’Pol’s appearance provided. It was interesting to me when she popped up 1/3rd of the way through the trip. I was like, “wait, T’Pol’s awake?” Immediately it seemed plausible enough, with her Vulcan physiology and all, but still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Why would Trip offer to sacrifice himself to save the ship to Phlox if T’Pol was going to be awake? I could tell something was wrong but they worked hard to push me in the other direction. The ep gave me an organic sense of anxiety without resorting to a menacing alien or an artificially imposed time constraint. I knew something was wrong but I wasn’t convinced what it was.
I agree with Deus in that Phlox wasn’t fully utilized and that Blalock was pretty funny (and a little annoying) in her helpless state. It’s worth a hat tip to Blalock and Dawson for successfully eliciting those two, contradictory emotions as the same time… So, despite being highly derivative from VOY’s “One,” I found it entertaining.
LOL
I agree with your characterizations of the ep.
It's interesting but when the production info was first released and discussed about this ep and people immediately recognized the plot from VOY "One", so many jumped on the bandwagon to say that it couldn't possibly be a retread. But sure enough, it was. ;-) And it wouldn't surprise me that T'Pol was the original intent for participating as the primary focus of the story save for the fact that a previous VOY "One" retread with a twist featuring T'Pol had already been aired via ENT "Singularity", also written by Chris Black.
And as can be heard in probably every episode this season, the checklist oxymoronic dialog that is apparently required to be said by ANY one or more of the characters - that they are on a "mission", MUST and DOES occur in this episode as well, right on time. 
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"I think the show talked to people through the characters. They're stories that speak to the heart. They talk about love, they talk about friendship, they talk about loyalty, they talk about patriotism, exploration, curiosity, reaching out... And I think all those things still touch people. Even when you look at a 30-year old show, it still has something to say." - D.C. Fontana, Sci Fi Channel Special Edition TOS 1998
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Outer Space. The last frontier.
These are the trips of the Star Trek Enterprise.
Its 5-year plan...
Calls for us to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations.
To boldly fly where no man has gone in space.
Patrick Stewart on SNL 2/5/94
Any episode that gets under my skin, makes me annoyed, and then says "GOT YEAH!" at the end is better than average.
Sure, Doctor's hallucinations could have been better portrayed. But I liked other scenes. The early scene with Capt. Archer giving him confidence was well played.
But what really annoyed me was the helpless T'Pol. A helpless Vulcan is illogical. When T'Pol can't find the right button to push, lever to pull or something to do with plasma conduits, I was ready to write this episode off. At the end, I knew I’d been had.
My only problem now is what to do with the tape I made of this episode. Knowing the outcome, I'd rewatch it only to look for technical errors. I liked the show and will watch again next week.
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