Dear Doctor... How could you do this?

[T'Girl]

About the Nibiru thing - far as I'm concerned, they're absolutely better off. So they worship the Enterprise? Big deal. At least they're alive.

Unless I missed it, was any reason given for the Enterprise being in the ocean as opposed to being in orbit?

The original intent was that the operation to quiet the volcano was to be conducted from a shuttle, relatively small and difficult to see through the ash cloud.

And from orbit the ship could have been position above the throat of the volcano, providing the direct line of sight necessary to beam Spock out and would have avoided the natives witnessing the ship rising out of the ocean.

 

[Gov Kodos]

About the Nibiru thing - far as I'm concerned, they're absolutely better off. So they worship the Enterprise? Big deal. At least they're alive.

Basically, The PD implies that a any civilization is better off extinct, than embracing religion.

Besides, there were very few witnesses. The rest of the folks on the planet know nothing of the volcano erupting, much less the Enterprise. They'd have no more reason to believe in the Sea/Sky bird than any other deities the planet's population worships. In a few thousand years, if and when they understand Geology, this place is going to look mighty peculiar. Until then, there's no reason to think this event is all that momentous unless you think extinction would be better for the planet's people than let one tribe see a spaceship.

 

[R. Star]

About the Nibiru thing - far as I'm concerned, they're absolutely better off. So they worship the Enterprise? Big deal. At least they're alive.

Unless I missed it, was any reason given for the Enterprise being in the ocean as opposed to being in orbit?

Original intent? I'm fairly sure they went with "how cool would a shot of the Enterprise coming out of the water be!" and tailored the story around that rather than thinking about how the best way to accomplish their task would've been.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Next movie the Enterprise will be coming out of jello.

 

[R. Star]

A jello monster trying to eat the Enterprise. We can call that episode eat or be eaten.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Enterprise might have some immunity to such a syndrome.

 

[jespah]

A jello monster trying to eat the Enterprise. We can call that episode eat or be eaten.

It has to be lime.

 

[Melakon]

Enterprise might have some immunity to such a syndrome.

One of those panels in the hull slides open, and a really big spoon pops out.

 

[BillJ]

Enterprise might have some immunity to such a syndrome.

One of those panels in the hull slides open, and a really big spoon pops out.

I think it was a play on words with the episode The Immunity Syndrome where the Enterprise has no issue flying through protoplasm.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

Because why the heck wouldn't you save them? You'd save an injured dog or an animal species about to go extinct.

From Time and Again

JANEWAY: You have no idea what the consequences might be once you involve yourself.
PARIS: The consequences would have to be better than mass destruction.
JANEWAY: You're not to warn these people. That's an order.

I was gonna post this but as I read on I see you already did that. Thanks, I'm totally with Paris on the PD and every time Trek tried presenting Janeway or Picard as those in the right for saying stuff like that I wanted to pull my hair out. Even this little bit makes Janeway look appalling.


JANEWAY: Don't even think about it, Tom. The Prime Directive is clear. We cannot allow our presence to alter this planet's natural course of events.
PARIS: Even if the natural course of events is annihilation?
JANEWAY: Yeah.

I'm wondering if Roddenberry was really the one that cooked up this bullshit in the first place. This is the earliest example but it's not specific to saving civilizations from natural disasters. A line from Data in "The Last Outpost".

DATA: Starfleet has permitted several civilizations to fall. We have at times allowed the strong and violent to overcome the weak.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Enterprise might have some immunity to such a syndrome.

One of those panels in the hull slides open, and a really big spoon pops out.

I think it was a play on words with the episode The Immunity Syndrome where the Enterprise has no issue flying through protoplasm.

Yes, indeed.

 

[jibrilmudo]

I think Dear Doctor was one of the worst trek episodes period. Just with the final minutes and utterly bad logic.

They had plenty of conflicts to explore a future prime directive (which I believe is designed solely to keep federation from being entangle in local conflicts and taking sides). Desert Crossing was one such episode in season 1. DD was not applicable imo.

 

[Edit_XYZ]

I'm currently rewatching Enterprise on blu ray. It's the first time I have seen any episodes since the original broadcast. I was never a great fan of the series but so far it has been a real joy with many episodes being a lot better then I remembered.

One of the few episodes I originally really did like was Dear Doctor and I was truly looking forward to watching it again. But what a surprise I got. It is 24 hours since I watched it and I am now convinced it is the most amoral episode ever conceived on Star Trek.

The episode is quite sneaky about it as it is clad in a very gentle and low key presentation. Everything that is problematic is also saved until the last few minutes. It all comes down to Phlox suddenly throwing an utterly misconceived view of evolution into the debate. He does this out of the blue when the entire episode hasn't had anything to do with evolution in any specific way.

He believes that the Valakians are suffering from a genetic disorder that is inherent to the whole species and will cause their extinction in 200 years. Based on that information everyone is motivated to help in any way possible. Then they encounter the Menk, a distinct humanoid species with less developed intelligence that peacefully co-exists with the Valakians. However, they are unaffected by the disease and according to Phlox's observations are showing signs of emerging intelligence.

So far so good.

Then Phlox suddenly conjures up the notion that the Menk will only get a real chance to "evolve" if the Valakians go extinct. His unwavering conclusion is that the Valakians should be left to their own fate because "evolution" should not be interfered with. No other options are discussed or considered. Thus hundreds of millions of innocent people are left to die.

Now there is one fallacy here that makes Phlox's argument illogical from the outset. Evolution does not have a predetermined outcome. Even with the best possible simulation it remains an inherently random process as mutations occur by chance and natural selection of these mutations is then dependent on random occurrences in the environment (e.g. meteor impact, climate change etc.).

What is disturbing about Dear Doctor is that the writers of the episode have no scientific understanding of evolution but have picked up certain slogans and attitudes about it (e.g. "evolution isn't just a theory") and then used those out of context to create a dramatic turning point in their story.

When Archer challenges Phlox's hypothesis about the Menk Phlox doesn't even respond to that direct challenge. He merely obfuscates by haughtily retorting "evolution isn't just a theory". That's the end of the debate. Case closed. Evolution knows what its doing appears to be their answer.

It's like a horrible caricature of the science vs creationism debate but this time round it's the scientists spouting unfounded dogma.

What really gets to me is how coldly they condemn the Valakians to their fate just because of a belief.

But what get's to me even more is that I didn't realise this when I first watched the episode. I must have bought into their mumbo jumbo. Now 12 years later I'm a practicing physician myself and also hold degrees in biology and other sciences and it is as clear as day what they did was utterly inhumane as well as morally and intellectually bankrupt.

I agree on all points.
Indeed, 'Dear doctor' was discussed on this forum several times; I made my position clear on those occasions, as well.
Of course, several posters were quite vehement on defending Phlox's course of action in the episode; as they are in this thread, I see. Make of this what you will.

For me, it is an absolutely great episode, specifically because of that moral quandary. When it first aired, I was the ENT Mod and the place went crazy with extreme views both pro and con. I thought the portrayals of Phlox, Archer, hoshi and Cutler were outstanding in capturing the subtlety of the story and I still consider it in my top 5 of ENT.

This view has a rather large problem:
There's nothing subtle about the 'moral quandary'.
Anyone who knows even a little about evolution, anyone who realises that what may or may not happen 1000 years into the future has no bearing on the morality of a choice now can see the episode supported the utterly immoral side and tried to window-dress it as 'moral'.

 

[Yanks]

About the Nibiru thing - far as I'm concerned, they're absolutely better off. So they worship the Enterprise? Big deal. At least they're alive.

Unless I missed it, was any reason given for the Enterprise being in the ocean as opposed to being in orbit?

Original intent? I'm fairly sure they went with "how cool would a shot of the Enterprise coming out of the water be!" and tailored the story around that rather than thinking about how the best way to accomplish their task would've been.

We don't know what events caused Kirk to make those decisions. To assume there wasn't any reason for what they did is looking to bash something IMO.

As indicated in the movie, maybe the clouds/smoke above the volcano wasn't enough to mask the Enterprise so he made the decsion to hide underwater.

One thing they could have identified in the movie to make things more plausable was why they couldn't use the transporter from orbit. Maybe they did, but I don't recall it.

I enjoyed the opening scenes. Fun to watch and brought General Order #1 into play, etc.

 

[R. Star]

Looking for something to bash? Even Scotty pointed out how stupid it was. A novel concept but the spaceship could've stayed... in space. The worst the locals would see there is a moving star. You'd still have line of sight directly above the volcano in space for the transporters.

The Enterprise coming out of the ocean shot was just a pure glamor shot and nothing more. It made no sense at all from a storytelling perspective. Take away that silliness and it was a good scene. I particularly liked how Spock logiced himself into breaking the PD... and for once someone got punished for breaking it.

 

[DonIago]

Just because Scotty thought it was ridiculous doesn't mean there were better options available. Since we didn't witness any discussion resulting in the decision to submerge the ship, we're hardly in a position to judge said decision from an in-universe standpoint.

 

[R. Star]

Yeah, I can see how the opinion of the Chief Engineer wouldn't be relevant at all in the situation.

 

[DonIago]

I'm sure you know that's not what I was saying. I'm sure you also know there were times in TOS when Scotty complained about what the ship was/would be going through and yet everything worked out fine.

It's entirely possible for a situation to be both utterly ridiculous and the best course of action available at the time.

 

[RandyS]

About the Nibiru thing - far as I'm concerned, they're absolutely better off. So they worship the Enterprise? Big deal. At least they're alive.

Unless I missed it, was any reason given for the Enterprise being in the ocean as opposed to being in orbit?

Original intent? I'm fairly sure they went with "how cool would a shot of the Enterprise coming out of the water be!" and tailored the story around that rather than thinking about how the best way to accomplish their task would've been.

Bingo. It was solely done to look "cool", and therefore, pointless.

 

[BillJ]

Yeah, I can see how the opinion of the Chief Engineer wouldn't be relevant at all in the situation.

How many times has a Captain ignored the advice of those under him/her about the capabilities of a starship in Star Trek? I'm not talking just about TOS but the entire franchise. It's a staple.

Bingo. It was solely done to look "cool", and therefore, pointless.

I think sometimes people forget that Star Trek is suppose to be entertainment. Do I think the driving force behind the Enterprise being submerged was the cool factor? Absolutely. I drooled when I saw the scene the first time in the theater, absolutely drooled. It was one of the coolest special effects sequences I've ever seen in my thirty-five plus years of going to the movies.