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.
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Well, the surprise at the end was through Phlox's experiences not through the logic of the viewer. Phlox's shock at his imagining of T'Pol only punctuated the completeness of his delusion. T'Pol as the imaginary friend. T'Pol as interpreted by Phlox. T'Pol as part of Phlox's subconscious. Created by Phlox to deal with the enclosing loneliness that his race abhorred. And the intertwinning of Phlox's delusion with the reality of the expanding space around them added another layer to Phlox's self doubts and confusion. I enjoyed the episode much more than the Voyager episode that it is referenced against. Probably for the likeableness of both characters and the multidimensional quality of Phlox's perceptions.
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."
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Incidentially, although I too found the story very derivative and many of the scare tactics just silly (insectoid's shadow approaching from around corner?, Phlox's line "Is this a starship or a haunted house?"), what "Doctor's Orders" at least did well was tell its story in the prequel context. That is, you can't just say "Computer, set a course for X and engage at warp 2." We got to see just how difficult it is to manage going to warp speed in this era and some of the best lines were in this final act, such as:
T'Pol: This is by far one of my worst days.
[...]
Phlox: You're telling me to read the manual?
Very prequel-ish sort of dialogue. I just wish they had found some better idea for getting Phlox alone on the ship than by retreading a story that has already been retread before.
Also, perhaps I missed something else (below someone mentioned that the anomaly was expanding, explaining my 10 weeks question), but here is another logic problem I just didn't understand: if Phlox put T'Pol out in the first place, why would he not be able to recognize immediately that she was a figment of his imagination? Did they say something about her waking up and finding that she was immune or something to convince him? The first time she appeared, Phlox was not all that impaired, so I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't just be like "Hey, what are you doing awake?" Unless I missed something else.
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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."
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Very prequel-ish sort of dialogue. I just wish they had found some better idea for getting Phlox alone on the ship than by retreading a story that has already been retread before.
And if they had to use retreads, I would point to better Voyager material involving the EMH such as Basics 2 or Workforce that would have been a much better fit for Phlox and made for a much stronger story.
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When T'Pol first appeared, my initial reaction was "Shouldn't she also be asleep?" But then I passively accepted it. I suspect Phlox did so, too. Halucinations have a way of convincing you to accept things, passively.
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.
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Don't mess with Nagilum!
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You know, I like Enterprise. If you don't, that's fine. But don't try to get it cancelled and ruin it for people like me that do like it.
Just stop watching if you're not enjoying it, but please don't advocate it's death.
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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"If the season finale involves the re-built USS Reliant coming back in time to the 21st Century crewed by Moogie, Dr. Selar, Morn, Transporter Chief Kyle, and the Salt Vampire, then we'll know that Coto has gone too far." - tomba1701
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It's not too shocking that Enterprise would recycle an episode, in this case it's just a little too blatant without even any real attempt to change the material around. But it is better off that the episode wasn't centered around T'Pol since I can only imagine how bad that would have been while Billingley manages to redeem a lot of scenes just with his presence.
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.
Well you have to keep remindingthe audience from week to week for fear they might otherwise forget. Or reminding the writers rom week to week for fear they might otherwise forget.
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It's not too shocking that Enterprise would recycle an episode, in this case it's just a little too blatant without even any real attempt to change the material around.
And that I was surprised about. I think the closest to a literal recycling like that was TOS's "The Naked Time" and TNG's "The Naked Now". The difference being that the same writer (John D.F. Black) did both and the 2nd version was altered enough to essentially have the Psi 2000 virus and its effects be the primary similarity. Whereas here, Jeri Taylor wrote VOY "One" and Chris Black wrote ENT "Doctor's Orders", but apparently only swapped out characters and substituted Phlox's "letter" voice-over narration for 7's Personal Log voice-over narration.
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But it is better off that the episode wasn't centered around T'Pol since I can only imagine how bad that would have been while Billingley manages to redeem a lot of scenes just with his presence.
I thought the beginning was done well and yes, it is the character, being quite eccentric, that helps. I also thought there were some interesting camera angles and what seemed to be a fisheye lense used in one scene looking down from overhead, like one of those 7-11 security cameras. 
In fact, I think there was an interesting kind of screen wipe that happened there for one scene, if that is the correct terminology.
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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.
Well you have to keep remindingthe audience from week to week for fear they might otherwise forget. Or reminding the writers rom week to week for fear they might otherwise forget.
A shame.
However, the montages that they have shown the past couple episodes to summarize the arc, has been interesting.
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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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"If the season finale involves the re-built USS Reliant coming back in time to the 21st Century crewed by Moogie, Dr. Selar, Morn, Transporter Chief Kyle, and the Salt Vampire, then we'll know that Coto has gone too far." - tomba1701
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The Naked Now was rather blatant though so was TNG's Future Imperfect even if it wasn't of Star Trek. But TNG's Naked Now had the excuse that it was done at a time when TNG itself as a series was derivative of TOS because it was done at a time when it was debatable whether any new series could exist apart from the original series. Enterprise isn't derivative as a series, it's derivative insofar as stories go. Which is a question of laziness and One/Doctor's Orders highlights that rather painfully.
I mean with borrowing this explicit I would imagine that plagirism issues might come up.
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The Naked Now was rather blatant though so was TNG's Future Imperfect even if it wasn't of Star Trek. But TNG's Naked Now had the excuse that it was done at a time when TNG itself as a series was derivative of TOS because it was done at a time when it was debatable whether any new series could exist apart from the original series.
Right but it was the same writer for both episodes, so it was almost done as a gimmick (and apparent ratings ploy). ;-) Not that I completely forgive it in that case, but TNG's "The Naked Now" would be closer to a nod, like DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations" is to TOS's "The Trouble With Tribbles" (with credit going to the original TWT author David Gerrold being an extra in the DS9 ep...lol) . Similarly VOY "Flashback" and its recreation (albeit with errors) of the events of TUC.
Come to think of it, since each and every one of the previous "modern" Treks did this sort of thing, perhaps this was ENT's turn (except not in reference to TOS which it should have done). Although I recognized no obvious nods to VOY "One" outright other than the literal story itself, and perhaps the fact that the region of space that they were travelling through looked like the same one in the VOY treatment. Perhaps there are hidden references there that I missed (don't say it Deus... ).
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Enterprise isn't derivative as a series, it's derivative insofar as stories go. Which is a question of laziness and One/Doctor's Orders highlights that rather painfully.
Well... this season, it appears to try to be derivative except it should better be setup so that TOS is that derivative of it. But in order to do that, it takes planning.
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I mean with borrowing this explicit I would imagine that plagirism issues might come up.
And that's up to Jeri Taylor, since she has been credited with VOY "One". ;-) Of course, they could claim that Paramount retains all ownership of its Trek stories - unless there is some stipulation in her original contract during VOY somewhere that spells out residuals for the use of the story (in whatever way it is presented). ;-)
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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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"If the season finale involves the re-built USS Reliant coming back in time to the 21st Century crewed by Moogie, Dr. Selar, Morn, Transporter Chief Kyle, and the Salt Vampire, then we'll know that Coto has gone too far." - tomba1701
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Right but it was the same writer for both episodes, so it was almost done as a gimmick (and apparent ratings ploy). ;-)
Though of course the episodes and material were bad enough once, so it really wasn't too worthwhile doing it twice. But TNG was pretty bad at that point anyway and there are far more winceworthy episodes than it.
Come to think of it, since each and every one of the previous "modern" Treks did this sort of thing, perhaps this was ENT's turn (except not in reference to TOS which it should have done). Although I recognized no obvious nods to VOY "One" outright other than the literal story itself, and perhaps the fact that the region of space that they were travelling through looked like the same one in the VOY treatment.
I wouldn't say so. I strongly suspect some producer rewatched One, maybe even Berman or Braga, and told Black to basically redo the story, even though no one but Black appears to be credited there. Perhaps Black came up with a different story and in meetings, it was reshaped into something derivative. It's certainly not an homage of any kind. And One would be an odd choice for an homage in any case.
Well... this season, it appears to try to be derivative except it should better be setup so that TOS is that derivative of it. But in order to do that, it takes planning.
Or some grasp of continuity, at least to the extent of basic knowledge regarding the Vulcans that could be gained from 5 hours of television viewing of the original series.
And that's up to Jeri Taylor, since she has been credited with VOY "One". ;-) Of course, they could claim that Paramount retains all ownership of its Trek stories - unless there is some stipulation in her original contract during VOY somewhere that spells out residuals for the use of the story (in whatever way it is presented). ;-)
Other writers have made plagirism claims before. I believe the writer of Ds9's Hard Time had an issue with a Voyager producer borrowing one of his episode ideas. This kind of thing has happened before repeatedly with reworked stories popping up in new series. Consider TNG's A Matter of Perspective vs Voyager's Ex Post Facto.
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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I simply liked the episode and gave it 9 /10 points.
I was scared to death when Phlox was looking out the window and the shadow fell on him (yes I knew something was ought to happen, but that shadow thing was cool and unexpected). I laught at that Austin- Powers-like, naked scene and I simply love that idea of having Phlox dictate a letter to a dear colleague once in a while. (That may sound strange, but I like the sound of his voice ;-) and he often reminded me of Frasier by the waý)..
"One" has a similar story but still was quite different
from "Doctor´s Orders" and the ending with T´Pol was very good because T´Pol often seems to act out of her Vulcan Character so I found it quite possible that she was actually not able to help start the engines !!!
All in all a very entertaining episode and absolutly worth watching !!!!!
Greetings
Christian
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Live Long and Prosper
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Maybe you should watch it again. Then you would realize that having an imagined T'Pol operating the warp drive controls would have made no sense.
I do agree with you that this episode is better than average. I think that Deus' review misses some nuances that do develop Phlox's character. Isn't it curious that he picked T'Pol for company rather than the more likeable humans. In fact, the imaginary humans were just as threatening as the Xindi. Couple this with this stated desire to return to his own people and previous encounters with Archer commanding him to violate his medical ethics, are we seeing the early signs of Phlox questioning his position on Enterprise?
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He couldn't have picked the other humans, T'Pol was at least borderline plausible.
The humans weren't as threatening as the Xindi. His fear of failing them, e.g. the Trip and Hoshi confrontations, was.
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I have seen many a theory on T'Pol's character in this one.
The most logical and reasonable one is that the fake T'Pol was that because she was a figment of his imagination she only knew as much as he, and felt the same things he felt. And that she was Phlox's mind giving him company when he has none. To do this his mind beeded to withold a few memories from his consciousness, such as him having put T'Pol into a deep comatose state like the rest of the crew. This should have been painfully obvious to anyone who has half a braincell. At least in the engineering scene where T'Pol is in a state of panic and is doing everything she can to convince Phloc that he can do it.
The very mean potrayal of Trip in Engineering was the way Phlox was imagining Trip would react if he knew what he, Phlox, was doing to the engines. And we know for a fact (through dialogue) that that is not how Trip'd react. He'd be a little off-putted, but proud nonetheless. He did say that Phlox did "One hell of a job" getting them out of there. Well T'Pol relayed it to Phlox for him.
The conversation between the real T'Pol and Phlox at the end should have confirmed this.
Some people just don't read between the lines. It has to be handed on a silver platter. Subtlety is lost on such people.
Flynn 19
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'Rose, you were fantastic. And you know what? So was I.'
-The Doctor, Doctor Who (2005)
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