A Night in Sickbay. A Masterpiece?

[Dream]

This episode was nominated for a Hugo Award for "Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form."

Obviously some people thought this episode was a masterpiece? I don't get it. Isn't this episode considered one of the worst ENT episodes ever?

It's an episode focused on Porthos. The episode also has Archer having sex dreams about TPol. How silly can you get?

 

[NrobbieC]

I don't know if it's "considered the worst" but who cares about other people's opinions. I'm quite fond of the episode personally. Masterpiece is not a word I'd use though.

 

[R. Star]

A nomination for an award is just a fancy term for a positive opinion. It's not one I share for certain. Archer should have been relieved of command for freaking putting his dog ahead of first contact with an alien race... they shouldn't have even let him take the dog along to begin with.

 

[BruntFCA]

I really like this episode. I mean it's the only time during the first 2 seasons that Archer is even remotely interesting, sure it's in a WTF is wrong with this guy kind of way but I still thought it made for a much more interesting character then we'd seen previously.

 

[kythe]

I thought the whole thing was a bit silly, like Enterprise making fun of itself. There was a funny scene of Phlox and Archer running around sick bay chasing a bat, but that wasn't enough to redeem the episode.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I choke it down if I see it as a great Phlox episode and ignore the rest.

 

[Methos]

i didn't overly mind it... it has silly parts, but i can wash it down as a 'filler' episode, and watch it for the mindless writing...

M

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

My main problem with it is that after trying to convince myself that Archer wasn't really a dick because of how he told T'Pol he wanted to knock her on her ass he goes and acts even more dick-ish in this ep. And after trying to convince myself that really, he must be the right man for this job, he has a conniption over his dog pissing on a tree.

MY DOG. WILL PISS. WHERE HE LIKES.

So I've pretty much got my head stuffed under a pillow during this ep except for the very charming Phlox bits.

 

[lurok]

Hardly call it a masterpiece but it's an amusing diversion.

 

[F. King Daniel]

It certianly has it's charm. Maybe it was nominated because they thought a story about ManDogLove had a better chance of winning something than one of Trek's generic recycled stories, which season two was full of.

 

[Skywalker]

I enjoyed Archer and Phlox in sickbay, but I hated the cheesy sex jokes and Archer's crabby attitude toward the aliens even though everything was his own fault.

 

[Mach5]

Apart from being guilty of Archer's character assassination, this episode also caused the fastest and steepest ratings drop in the history of the franchise.

I personally know some Star Trek fans who were on the fence about Enterprise until they saw this episode and decided it wasn't worth it. I tried to tell them that it gets much better, especially in season 3, but they actually said they couldn't stomach the captain being a redneck idiot.

 

[jespah]

I think the idea was for it to be a bit of a farce, to have the show not take itself so dang seriously, but, truthfully, the actions had consequences. I did like that it picked up on what happened in Strange New World. There was a bit of continuity there, showing that even our smallest actions can create major problems.

The love for Porthos was, I felt, genuine. It did make it obvious that the dog should not have been there in the first place, but he was there, and it makes you think about later Trek, where families are on board. Love or hate Wesley Crusher, he had to have been the first person Beverley would think about when the ship was attacked. Bad idea for him to be aboard? Yes (and not for the purpose of Wesley-bashing). But if you don't allow families on board, you lose most experienced personnel as they give the finger to Starfleet and leave for 20 years or so in order to be with their families. A Catch-22 in the making, yes?

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Apart from being guilty of Archer's character assassination, this episode also caused the fastest and steepest ratings drop in the history of the franchise.

I personally know some Star Trek fans who were on the fence about Enterprise until they saw this episode and decided it wasn't worth it. I tried to tell them that it gets much better, especially in season 3, but they actually said they couldn't stomach the captain being a redneck idiot.

I saw that happen with Dear Doctor, people so disgusted with it they never watched another episode

 

[BruntFCA]

I'd like to add that I'm not a fan of Archer at all which probably effects my view because I can see why fans of Archer would hate it. Also I have heard several people say that A Night in Sickbay made them stop watching.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

One must never stop watching science fiction series, especially early on (though this one doesn't quite make it into that excuse). So many of them have dullish or lumpy starts.

Besides this ep gave us scintillating tidbits about Denobulan physiology.

 

[Mach5]

One must never stop watching science fiction series, especially early on

Well, it took TNG two years to stop sucking sh... Ass. DS9 wasn't that good at the beginning either, and I find VOY's season one to be practically un(re)watchable now.

But none of these shows had episodes as appalling as Dear Doctor or embarrassingly stupid as A Night in Sickbay in their early seasons.

Oh God, imagine if Sub Rosa happened early on in TNG...

 

[Gaith]

I find ANIS to be wonderfully entertaining. Is it silly as heck, and not worthy of the series' concept? Assuredly. But unlike so much of ENT, it ain't boring.

 

[Mach5]

I find Transformers 2 to be wonderfully entertaining. Is it silly as heck, but unlike 2001 or Blade Runner, it ain't boring.

 

[ReedEnterprise]

I think ANISB is hysterical. One of my favorite scenes ever is with Phlox, Archer, Hoshi and the bat! I laugh every single time I see it