Manny Coto isn't THAT great, folks. Just because he ISN'T Rick Berman and Brannon Braga doesn't mean he's a Godsend or savior to Star Trek. He's dished out just as much garbage as these two morons and this episode is another prime example of how Enterprise, in general, is pure garbage and an continued insult to Star Trek fans.
While I will agree that Star Trek has had its moments of overt sexism, "Bound" is not one of them.
"Bound" is too lightweight an episode to bear up under this sort of scrutiny. It wasn't meant to be a sexual polemic. It was what it was, an homage to TOS, regardless of what O. Deus might think.
If fact, I would argue that if there is a deeper theme to "Bound" is that one should not look a gift horse in the mouth, as the horse may be plotting against you.
Seriously though, so the Orion women used sex (actually, their pheremones, to be exact) to get what they want. So what? They are a fictional creation, nothing more. To attach some larger social significance is sadly ludicrous and ridiculously pedantic.
In other words, get over it, you silly PC twits.
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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, cigar in one hand, favorite beverage in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming WOO HOO - What a Ride!"
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Consider T'Pol and 7 of 9's 'modified' uniforms, which makes no real sense whatsoever.
Why does everyone choose to ignore the fact that Troi had a tight, cleavage-revealing, "modified" uniform as well? And for that matter, every woman on TOS was given a "modified" uniform with a micro-miniskirt? The only women on Trek who haven't been subjected to this are Number One, Yeoman Colt, Yar, Kira, both Daxes, Janeway, Kes, and Hoshi Sato. Even Kira was given a "sexier" uniform as the series went on (although it was far less obvious than the others). (And, of course, Jadzia wore the micro-miniskirt once, but I hesitate to count that.)
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Consider some of the gratiously exploitative scenes featuring both characters. Consider how likely T'Pol and Seven are to lose their minds or otherwise become unstable, 'just like women do.'
Come to think of it, wasn't Troi exactly the same way?
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When T'Pol takes command of Enterprise it's usually captured or beaten to pieces.
Of course, when Archer has command of Enterprise, he's usually captured or beaten to pieces. ;-)
I'm not excusing sexism in Trek, but it's a bit dubious to hold Enterprise to a higher standard than the older shows and then act as if it has sunken to a new low.
Even though this is frequently compared with "Mudd's Women", I think it has almost as much in common with "The Perfect Mate". I really don't consider either of these episodes sleazy. And, be honest: If the "slave girls" had been dressed differently, would you have complained half as vehemently? Well, keep in mind that Roddenberry oversaw their creation as far back as "The Cage", which is where their dress was borrowed from. And what was Roddenberry's only complaint about them? He wished he could show more skin: specifically, the navel. He later created a character (not in Trek) with two navels to make up for it.
How much of the sexism described in your article actually came from this episode? While you did cite a few examples, it seems that about half of the complaints you had dealt with other episodes or even other series, and that you were using this episode as a focal point for more general complaints abuot modern Trek. I know you were establishing a pattern, but it feels like you weren't judging the episode completely on its own merits.
Is the episode still sexist and juvenille on its own merits? I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. I have trouble complaining too much about sexism when none of the women I've heard from think the episode was sexist. As a matter of fact, all of the women I know enjoyed the episode quite a bit. Maybe it has to do with the fact that they took the most sexist Trek characters of all time and turned them on their heads, actually making previous appearances of the characters less sexist in retrospect, a point which you neglected to mention in your review. (Doesn't it make sense that women who have complete power over men would be the masters rather than the slaves?) More likely, they just thought it was a fun episode. In any case, I would hesitate to consider myself more of an expert on misogyny than most of the women that I know, so if they aren't offended, than neither am I.
On an unrelated point, kudos to Manny Coto for giving Archer-T'Pol-Trip a real-life Kirk-Spock-McCoy moment toward the end of the episode when T'Pol cracks a Spock-like joke. Bravo: I've been waiting years for a moment like this between the "big three" of Enterprise.
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"You know what six movies average out to be really good? The first six Star Trek movies!" -- Fry, Futurama
Ha! That sure ain't a bad episode! I just finished seeing it. Crazy man. A little daring. But very, very ...ummmm... realistic in how the men were responding.
Those were some dream babes! Even without the extra pheromones in the air, it certainly would be hard for me to refuse Archers woman.
Well done Manny Coto! I see nothing "offending" about this episode, though as I said it was a little daring. It peaks into a mans forbidden dream, deeply hidden in his unconscious mind.
A really fun episode, and a fresh thing to do for Star Trek... Just once or twice... per season.. would be great.
I have the episode recorded and I'm going to watch it once again now... byebye... :-)
One of the WORST episodes of TREK EVER!
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"That is the exploration that awaits you: Not mapping the stars and studying nebulae, but charting the unknown possiblities of existence." - Q, All Good Things...
When you indicate there are polls that may not list Twilight as one of the greatest ENT episodes? I do know that Twilight topped the TrekWeb poll for third season episodes (highest average poll score, greatest percentage of "10" votes).
Bound was a great episode! What, are you afraid of sexuality, Dues? Grow up.
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The Slightly Warped Website
Folks, sex has been a part of Star Trek since the beginning. Gene Roddenberry loved women and he loved showing them off. The next time you cringe at Sevens catsuit or T'Pol's huge boobs remember that Uhura and Rand wore some very short mini-skirts. The original pilot to TOS had an Orion slave girl doing an errotic dance for crying out loud! Sex sells. Its been that way since the 1960s and its even moreso that way today. Personally, I don't think its needed and I could care less about a catsuit. However, sex has been a part of Star Trek since day one. Either accept that or move on to something else.
Good God man, could you have been more melodramatic about this episode? Did you forget what show you were watching?
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Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends.
Yes, there was a vibe of "evil females using their wiles to get their way" going through it, but since it was the effect of the women and not their feminity they could argue they weren't being sexist. Still, they were used in a kind of juvenile way. The men ended up acting kind of silly, like schoolboys who couldn't resist. T'Pol should have been much more forceful, but her character has been portrayed as kind of schizo since her "drug" use. Anyway the ending where the Orions confront Archer on the bridge is classic Trek, as is the laughing, bonding, finale in sickbay. Did Archer actually smile? Even though this is 2005 however, we still can't have a true Number One (Majel) on. T'Pol is not Archer's equal in the same way Spock was. If T'Pol actually fell in love with Archer, think of the mature relationship they could have developed throughout the series. But this isn't the sixties. Sulu and Uhura had much larger parts than did Mayweather and Sato. But that's another topic. As to Turnabout, in 1969 no woman would have been able to be an astronaut, much less a commander, so Roddenberry (Freiberger) was dealing with a real issue. In a sense, Kirk functioned aa a female Captain, kind of disproving the sexism in an oblique way. Also, as a finale this show pitted Kirk's indomitable will against it's greatest challenge, the very loss of his physical person, his position, his awareness of himself. Trapped in another body, told by his doctor he is insane, he must hold together enough to regain command. This was Kirk's greatest challenge in the series and a fitting ending. I thought it was corny years ago too, but I changed my mind. I enjoyed Bound and I'm looking forward to In a Mirror Darkly with a dedicated VHS tape.
This episode was utter pap, pap and more pap.
This was the pappiest pap since pappy the papper ever papped.
Quote from O. Deus:
Consider how likely T'Pol and Seven are to lose their minds or otherwise become unstable, 'just like women do.'
Methinks you under-appreciate the value of the message in TOS Mudd's Women, O.Deus, but you otherwise nail ENT Bound. Act One wasn't even three minutes old when Coto showed us that T'Pol is too mentally unstable to focus on her job, and that she doesn't respect Starfleet regulations re not pursuing fraternization during duty hours. This is in addition to the absurdity of a First Officer cameltoeing around in velour catsuits. This would be needlessly misogynous writing of any lead female STAR TREK character, and it's inexcusable ignorance of the "Vulcan" archetype as a storytelling tool.
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"...gratiously..."
I'm sure that should read "gratuitously."
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Farewell Comments from the ENT Cast
Roddenberry wrote "Turnabout Intruder."
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When T'Pol takes command of Enterprise it's usually captured or beaten to pieces. Indeed Earth is even destroyed and the human race wiped out, because T'Pol rather than Archer was in command.
If this is one of the problems (and I agree that T'Pol is), how could "Twilight" be considered "arguably" the greatest episode?
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"Cause you can't jump the track
We're like cars on a cable
And life's like an hourglass glued to the table,
No one can find the rewind button boys
So cradle your head in your hands
And breathe, just breathe, whoa breath just breathe"
"Breathe (2AM)"
Anna Nalick
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"Live long and prosper, Spock." -- T'Pau
"I shall do neither. I have killed my captain, and my friend." -- Spock
While "Bound" was far from being a great Star Trek or even Enterprise episode, the whole 'political correctness' discussion just points out why so much of TNG has failed to age very well while TOS continues to be entertaining and sometimes even compelling television nearly 40 years after its first broadcast. By expecting every alien race and every story to reflect the current society some viewers want to choke the very essence of Trek from the series. Yes, Roddenberry and the other writers working on TOS wanted to explore issues that were relevant at the time but not at the expense of toeing some political correctness line drawn in the dirt. "Bound" is what it is, 42 minutes of television that had some skin in it with a little twist on a society we've seen in the background since "The Cage". Nothing more and nothing less. All of the talk of this episode setting feminism back or some other kind of attempt to make more out of it than it was is pretty silly. Every Trek series had had its own "Turnabout Intruder" or "Spock's Brain" to contend with and Enterprise has been no different. To treat the episode anything more than a toss-off before we get to the Mirror Universe episode is giving it too much credit and a waste of time.
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KJB || IGN Trek Report
The contents of this post are the opinions of the author and are not intended to reflect the corporate opinions of IGN.com or IGN Entertainment. The contents may not be reprinted or posted in any other forum, web site or transmitted by any other means without prior written consent of the author. All Rights Reserved.
I enjoyed the episode, I thought it was very enjoyable, but I was thinking I would have liked it better if Dr. Phlox had mentioned when he was running down the ship-wide symptoms of the pheromones that some men also experienced just the headaches as the women did on the episode and some women being distracted by the pheromones like all the men.
That, in my honest opinion, is what Star Trek lacks. It lacks its political edge. Come on, let’s acknowledge the fact there are men who don't care about female pheromones, and some women who love it!
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"Yes, madam, I am drunk. But in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.
-- Winston Churchill
(Picture of the City and Country building in Salt Lake City, UT)
I'm not a huge fan of that plotline at all, but I really liked the interplay between the two in the last few minutes of the episode.
Recognize.
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An elephant never forgets . . .TO KILL!
Of course it was an homage.
It was Mudd's Women and I, Mudd, and That Which Survives and yes, The Cage all over again. It was all of those things right down to the laugh-at-the-Vulcan tag scene.
Only the irony-deficient could fail to miss it. And I rather enjoyed it.
Deus' review is a perfect indicator of how TV has changed in the last 30-40 years, and how Trek fans have a blind spot when it comes to appreciating the virtues of the original series.
Honestly. I'm a card carrying feminist and Bound didn't bother me one little bit. Are young people today incapable of appreciating a whimsical farcical episode of anything? Bound was kitsch. It was meant to be kitsch--a tribute to TOS campiness--not a statement on gender relations. Trek fans need to pull that lump of coal out of their collective butt or we're going to end up with the world's biggest diamond; there isn't room for the world's biggest diamond in most people's apartments and it's going to hurt like hell coming out. I am shaking my head at how some Trek fans just don't get it.
It was just supposed to be a fun little episode, Deus, not a profound statement. There's nothing wrong with that. No, I wouldn't want a steady diet of it in Trek. Of course not, but why must Trek by necessity be so pompous and stale and POLITICALLY CORRECT!!! ARRRRGGHHHH!!! I didn't take Bound seriously, ergo I was able to enjoy it. It did what ANIS tried to do and failed, made a funny episode and stumbling humans and their sexual foibles while revealing a little secret about Orion society. Big deal.
It's obvious that you want a return to the boring, tedious, noble, sterile, politically correct oh so perfect days of TNG when the galaxy has been tamed--the federation is all powerful--and the humans are absolutely perfect.
How very dull. You sound like that lunatic Michelle Erica Green, Deus. I'm sorry, but I'm disappointed in you. We are allowed to laugh at sexuality. It doesn't make us bad people. I still believe in equality between the sexes. Lighten up, guy. Or are you going to be outraged by the bare midriffs on the women in the MU next week like MEG has promised to be? She says she's thankful that it's pre-empted in her area because she was so offended by the sight of MU T'Pol and Hoshi. This tree hugging liberal democrat wants to throttle her to get her to lighten the hell up. Is everybody born after the year 1975 incapable of cracking a smile?
This episode really sounds like the piece of crap I expected it to be. Maybe when I see it I'll find the nugget of gold, but I'm somewhat glad I missed it.
RE: Wow
by Hbasm @ 05:50:54 on Apr 20
RE: Wow
by YodaOldBoy @ 09:53:39 on Apr 18
Mudds women were at least complete characters, not porn stars. Trek has never been more regressively sexist that in 2005. The fact that Cotto should know better makes it all the worse.
I truly hope that the next Trek will address head on Trek's sexist past, and cut it loose, as Deus suggests. Bound only proves that the writers have cared more about ratings than challenging issues and good writing all along. Shame. Shame.
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"You see stars that clear have been dead for years/
But the idea just lives on..."
-Connor O'Berst
"I don't mind the streets, but it's wet tonight."--Maya Keyes, after being throw out by her father Alan Keyes for coming out
I think people saying this episode is sexist and blah blah blah missed the whole point. Who's actually in charge? The women, so how can it be sexist in the first place?
Because of the clothes? Ok, granted, it kinda revealing, but so what? We're not in the 1800's where seeing an ankle was considered sexualy provocative! If the Orion women control the men, then they choose to dress as they do to keep a better control of them. They know most species are partiarchal, so they prefer dealing with men, therefore they keep a low profile. Sure women here probably wouldn't do that, but how come dressing sexy when you want it because you're the brain behind everything can be considered sexist?!
If it was sexist, the Orion Slave Girls would have been just that: Slave Girls. They would have been dressed sexy, moved in a provocative way and been told what to do by the Orion males because they were too stupid to think by themselves. That is sexist. That they were in control is not. It shows that women, even if you think lowly of them (c'mon, who thought highly of an Orion Slave Girl?), can be as much strong leaders as many men think they are.
Having T'Pol and 7 of 9 in catsuit I wouldn't call sexist as they are strong women too (espicially 7 since T'Pol has many misteps along the line, but the whole thing is still wrong, anyway, who likes a woman in catsuit?), but in this episode, the skimpy bikini was what was needed to pass the message. Having the Orion Slave Girls dressed in a winter suit and already leading the men wouldn't have made for the twist and therefore enhancing the message.
***Just to address your comment about T'Pol having Earth's destruction on her hands, had it been Trip, Reed, hell, even Mayweather, Earth would have been destroyed, the whole thing wasn't about T'Pol being in command but the abscence of Archer.***
Actually, what would make for a nice episode in the future (post-Voyager... actually, post-TOS), would be to have the Orion Slave Girls taking the front seat and have Orion Slave Men instead, but at the same time , it would destroy the Orions we know. Anyway, that was just a little thought.
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You are fulfilling your destiny, Anakin. Become my apprentice. Learn to use the dark side of the Force. -Darth Sidious, Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
I enjoyed the episode. The skimpy Orion animal women weren't that big of a deal. People are trying to make this episode seem bland and terrible due to the factor that it's simply a filler episode. But I don't view it as such.
The Orions were characters that were always heard but never seen. We knew little of their organization and their species.
Now, after watching this episode, I want to learn more about the Orions. I want to see more of their culture and learn more about the organization skills of the syndicate.
I hear moans and groans about the Animal Women being in charge of the syndicate. But in all realtiy, it makes more sense. A woman with that powerful of pheremone abilities truly would be in control if she knew how to use that abilitiy.
One would not think that these girls would be content with just being property, no, I could see these women using their "womanly wilds" to get what they want. So they have in their culture.
I enjoyed the episode and give it a 4 out of 5....the ending was what pushed it up from a 3 to a 4. That sickbay seen screamed TOS and so I again state 4 out of 5 one of the better ENT episodes to date...
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"Whose gonna watch Girls Who Love Girls Who Love Ghandi!"
--Hollow Men
"I didn't want to be drunk in pub-lic, these assholes threw me out into pub-lic, I want to be drunk in a bar...arrest them!"
-Ron White
ULTIMATE PROOF WHY NO FAN SHOULD BE IN CHARGE OF STAR TREK
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