/\ I don't agree with this, even though I'm with you on some of the Prime Directive episodes (Dear Doctor offended me rather a lot). As I see it, the episode does not deal with the question of whether or not Trip was right that the cogenitor's plight was immoral, but rather with the question of whether or not he should have taken the actions that he did. I don't think that it justifies the Vissians' treatment of the cogenitors, but that it shows the dangers inherent in trying to intervene in a situation that you don't really understand.
TheGodBen Revisits Enterprise
- Thread starter TheGodBen
- Start date
Disillusioned
Commander
Except that it comes off as only mattering when the aliens are more advanced than humans technologically. Every other time humanity seems to have no problem interfering.
I actually think that whether humanity interferes or not is mainly driven by the demands of plot. The aliens in Civilization were less advanced than humanity and the crew were happy to interfere, but with the Valakians in Dear Doctor, although they were also less advanced, the crew decided to leave them to their fate.
Nobody is supporting the suppression of the cogenitors, especially not the episode, the episode is just saying that we don't have the right to interfere with the society of an alien species. For example, what would happen if advanced aliens landed on Earth tomorrow and told us to stop eating meat because they find it morally abhorrent? In their minds they feel they are perfectly justified to try and stop us from eating other animals, but to us it would be unwanted alien interference in a process they don't understand.
To me that's a problem with those other episodes and not this one. I feel that this episode is the one with the right viewpoint whereas the other episodes where Archer chooses to interfere held the wrong viewpoint.
ETA: You also have to factor in the nuances of the situation. The cogenitors only make up 3% of the Vissian population, so allowing them to have free will means that many of them would choose not to be passed from couple to couple as part of their mating acts and would instead choose a "normal" life. This would lead to a population collapse and possible extinction for the Vissians, but Trip doesn't even consider this wider implication of his interference.
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I must say, I have always disliked Rajiin, because I feel that it is there that Archer behaves out of character and out of logic
I have always put it on some kind of hypnotic spell Rajiin is obviously able to cast on the other beings but, frankly, it is one of my least favourite episodes of ENT.
Even as an episode that seemingly wants to probe the question of interference it still doesn't really examine the issue in any real depth. We didn't really get any insight into Archer's decision-making. It all happened offscreen. One minute he seems leaning towards granting asylum and the next he denies it. We have no idea what happened. Not a nice dramatic scene like the one in the captain's quarters in TNG's "Pen Pals"
But he started heading down this road any way with the whole steward exchange with the Vissian captain.
Disillusioned
Commander
And the series (and the whole franchise, really) is saying, "except when it is right." Hell, in "Marauders" Archer imposed interference even though the people he was giving it to didn't really want it. He just forced it on him because that was supposed to be the "right" thing to do.
That's a straw man argument because it has nothing to do with enslaving a portion of our own population, or even of any other sentient life forms for that matter. It's like PETA trying to compare chicken farms to the Holocaust.
To me it's a problem with all such episodes, including the ones from the other series. This episode was heading along the path of actually being different and doing what I felt actually made sense from a moral, humanitarian viewpoint. Instead it did the exact same kind of thing TNG always did.
So? It's still people being condemned to life as sex slaves. They were literally only valued for their genitals and weren't even given a name. I'm halfway surprised they were given clothing (TV censors aside).
Boo hoo.
Seriously, given that 20th century humans managed to figure out how to induce pregnancies artificially, I'd think this wouldn't be that big of a problem for the technologically advanced Vissians. To be completely honest that small percentage figure seems pretty contrived to me, so if the species couldn't manage to survive without treating the people apparently most important to their survival like crap, I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for them. So instead the wider implication is that Earth is willing to deal with such people in order to acquire advanced technology that it wants. Kind of like the United States is willing to ignore the human rights violations from different OPEC nations in order to keep the oil rolling in.Both excellent points. I'd actually argue that the decision-making taking place off screen is on of the major weaknesses of this episode.
Disillusioned
Commander
Except it isn't the same thing because animals aren't the same as humans. In contrast, this episode went through a lot of trouble to show us just how intelligent the cogenitor was by showing us he/she could master reading in less than a day. Trip even went as far as to take scans to compare him/her to the other Vissians and found that they were comparable, just like male and female humans.
Except what we're talking about here is more comparable to gender equality or racial equality. This is about slavery, not some PETA argument about if it's "ethical" to eat meat. You wouldn't get much mileage out of a "but what if other aliens considered it perfectly ethical to enslave sentient beings" argument either, but it would still be better than this PETA level of thinking. While Earth certainly couldn't have risked going to war with the Vissians over the matter, Earth also had nothing to lose by not having anything to do with them. But that isn't where the episode went with it. Instead it was more like, "damn you for exposing this dark underside to these people who could have given us more advanced technology and ruining any chance we had of establishing trade with them."
Which doesn't have a whole lot to do with the issue presented, or what was presented as being "right" at the end of it.
Disillusioned: I think you're missing the point of the whole episode.
The situation of the cogenitors is SUPPOSED to be appalling to us, and thus to the crew. It makes us emotionally invested in Trip's attempt to free the one he encounters.
It just turns out there are horrible consequences to such interference, even one with the very best intentions. Since we're so invested, we share Trip's shock and agony at the end. It's excellent writing, and a nice lead-in to the noninterference policies that will be the rule in the UFP.
One of my favorite ENT episodes. Could watch that last scene with Archer and Trip a thousand times.
The situation of the cogenitors is SUPPOSED to be appalling to us, and thus to the crew. It makes us emotionally invested in Trip's attempt to free the one he encounters.
It just turns out there are horrible consequences to such interference, even one with the very best intentions. Since we're so invested, we share Trip's shock and agony at the end. It's excellent writing, and a nice lead-in to the noninterference policies that will be the rule in the UFP.
One of my favorite ENT episodes. Could watch that last scene with Archer and Trip a thousand times.
Disillusioned
Commander
I have to disagree with both of you. The entire point of the part where Trip gets chewed out and accepts all the verbal abuse directed at him is to paint his actions as being wrong. the suicide of Charles is entirely realistic considering the situation that he/she found himself/herself in, but somehow Trip was made out to be entirely to blame for this for taking the scales off of Charles's eyes. And everyone Trip went to for help and advice acted like he shouldn't be bringing up this dirty aspect of Vissian society. Then there was the "and just think of the child that will never be born now" part of Archer's little bitch session, which actually made me a little sick to my stomach on top of being furious at Archer for having the gall to say something like that. Its like Charles was completely disregarded by Archer and pretty much everyone else in this episode except for Trip, who was apparently the only person who gave a shit about what was going on. Then to make matters worse, Trip just sat there and whined about how it was somehow all his fault. Right.
It was all his fault the Vissians enslaved Charles and treated him/her like crap.I hope none of you take the strong feelings this episode evokes as anger directed toward you, because that isn't the case. No, I'm angry at this episode, and I'm upset that it was written the way it was. But this episode does evoke strong emotion from me.
Trip decided, on his own, that the cogenitor should be enlightened -- despite cautions from Phlox and T'Pol (and even the cogenitor itself) that he didn't understand, that he was applying human morals and standards to an alien society, that he shouldn't interfere. If Trip hadn't acted, the cogenitor would not have killed itself. That seems to be what Trip is realizing in that last scene when he says he's responsible. His actions led to the cogenitor not being able to live with its newfound enlightenment.
I don't recall Trip asking anyone for advice. He asked leading questions -- "Don't you think that's wrong?" kind of stuff. When Phlox and T'Pol advised him to steer clear, he blew them off and did what he wanted -- he even snuck around and lied to others in order to do it. Perhaps, on a subconscious level, he knew that he wasn't going about this in the correct way; he was simply doing what he decided was the right thing (from a human POV), without trying to learn more about this alien culture, or the cogenitor's ability to handle this new perspective. And there were devastating consequences to Trip's actions. I think that's what the episode is about.
Agreed.Glacial said:
Disillusioned
Commander
Trip uncovered something that was wrong and he tried to do something about it. He approached Phlox and T'Pol about it and they basically told him he shouldn't be sticking his nose where it didn't belong. That made it that much worse, and that's why it comes off as Trip being the only one who cared about what was going on.
That's what the episode tried to be about, but the episode was wrong, just like "Dear Doctor" was wrong. He asked leading questions because he wanted to feel out who might help him with this horrible thing he'd found out about, and found that the two people he trusted the most wouldn't help him. That necessitated that he sneak around. And the suggestion that he learn more about the Vissian culture doesn't really make any sense. Learning more about them wouldn't change anything about Charles's situation or the fact he/she was a sex slave.
But Archer didn't bring up the steward, that was one of the Vissians, and all Archer seemed to be doing in that scene was explaining why he had to take the cogenitor's request for asylum seriously.
And you'll notice that Marauders is a crap episode, this is one of the many reasons why.
It's not a strawman argument, it's about cultural and moral relativism and how other species across the galaxy are going to see things differently from us. Humans in the Star Trek galaxy aren't special and they don't have a gods-given right to tell other aliens how to live their lives, and in return other aliens don't tell humans how to live our lives. Enslaving cogenitors is morally reprehensible from my point of view, but just because I think that doesn't mean I have the right to try to force huge societal changes upon another culture.
You yourself have said that there are plenty of episodes where Archer chooses to interfere, so how was this episode "heading down the path of actually being different"? In my opinion this episode was different because Archer chose not to interfere in the end.
So you're willing to let an entire species die out just so you can impose your moral values upon them?Boo hoo.
I don't think there can be a better argument supporting non-interference than that right there.Artificial insemination still requires a man in a room with some magazines and a cup. The cogenitors are still going to have to provide whatever it is they bring to the party and many of them are probably going to decide not to do it.
That's the way their species evolved. I don't want to get into another argument about evolution in this thread, but for whatever reason the cogenitors only make up a small proportion of the Vissian population and doing anything to upset that balance could have disastrous consequences for their survival. Trip didn't even give this fact the due consideration it deserved, he was too quick to act.
The only evidence that humans had any more dealings with the Vissians is the photonic torpedoes mess, and that's a retcon by the fans, not something established in the canon. I thought that Archer was clearly uncomfortable dealing with the Vissians after learning how the cogenitors are treated, and the chemistry he displayed with the Vissian captain was practically gone.
But still, you're debating the episode, so clearly the episode hit the right mark.
Regeneration (*****)
I was just waiting for the Borg to show up on Enterprise, and Mike Sussman delivered!! He knows that my scoring scheme means that any episode which includes the Borg and a ship called Enteprise automatically receives 5 stars from me. He's a clever man, and Phyllis Strong is a clever woman to add her name onto his scripts. Good work, Mike!
Regeneration (****)
Yes, my childhood was just raped, but it was a very gentle rape and there was a nice long cuddle afterwards.
I always feared that Enterprise was going to try and get some Borg action into the show somehow, and after the Borg burn-out on Voyager I was not looking forward to seeing them again any time soon. But Regeneration does what few Borg episodes managed to do since Scorpion, it makes the Borg a scary, menacing threat. Part of this is to do with the fact that the humans don't know who the Borg are yet and just how big the threat they're facing is, but mostly it has to do with the music.
Think about it for a second. Q Who and BOBW, the Borg were scary, Ron Jones scored the episodes. I Borg and Descent, the Borg were not scary, sonic wallpaper. First Contact, the Borg were scary, Jerry Goldsmith scored the movie. Scorpion, the Borg were scary, it had that memorable musical motif. The later Voyager Borg episodes, I can't remember any of the music. Regeneration has a great score which truly elevates the material, it helps me to accept that the Borg forgot their name, or that Reed has made a weapon more effective against the Borg than the ones used 200 years later, or that Phlox found a way to prevent the assimilation process.
This episode is an enjoyable ride. It is based on an absurd concept and it mucks up the canon a little bit, but it is so enjoyable that I don't care. I was happy to have some powerful and threatening Borg back again just one last time. And luckily, it was the last time.
Captain Redshirt: 20
Transporter: 6
This had to have been one of the most controversial episodes ever and to this day I really don’t understand all the doom-and-gloom that preceded the episode’s actually airing. I still think two of the threads from spring 2003 are even archived. In the end it was “much to do about nothing” given that Regeneration was one of the enjoyable highlights of not just season two but of ENT’s entire run.
As far as Trek’s Borg event episodes this falls somewhere in the middle of the pack. Unlike BoBW where no one knew what would happen(Would Picard survive? How much of the Federation would fall?) or Scorpion where any number of interesting directions could have been taken(the assimilation of Species 8472 might have altered the Collective) or Unimatrix Zero(would the resistance topple the Collective once and for all), Regeneration taking place in a prequel pretty much eliminated any suspense with regards to how the Borg encounter would play out. That said I liked how Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong cleverly brought the Borg into the 22nd century in a plausible manner that wasn’t contrived. They were smart writers who simply used an element that was just lying around to their advantage in crafting a Borg story.
I also liked how they leveled the playing field giving Archer a reasonable chance of defeating the Borg with their primitive 22nd century technology. The idea that the sphere was destroyed and the Borg had to assimilate the transport ship and work on upgrading it was brilliant. What worked not so well was the phase pistols that managed to get off far too many shots even if they were upgraded and Trip deactivated the Borg circuitry a bit too easily especially given the difficulty that B’elanna had in “The Gift” where she had the assistance of a Borg.
I also really liked the different approach in the teaser and act one where we don’t see the crew only the researchers in the Arctic Circle. What I thought was cool was seeing them make the intriguing discoveries about the Borg that we had already experienced. The scientists speculating about why different humanoid species would have technology embedded throughout their bodies, the examination of the nanoprobes etc. I also appreciated that the crew didn’t use the term “assimilation” which would would have been pushing it. Instead we hear them simply refer to it as “transformation”.
Too bad the rest of the show couldn’t maintain this freshness. About halfway through the story turns pretty straightforward but still entertaining to a degree. It is your garden variety chase through the ship. The episode for the most part did a good job in creating a spooky atmosphere most especially in the Arctic scenes and the final act when Reed and Archer board the transport but I didn’t find the hunt of the Borgified Tarkaleans that impressive. The lighting was too bright. It was trying to evoke First Contact but it was just too bright and the music was off in that particular sequence. However, the final scene when the NX is dead in the water as the transport sets its eyes on the ship was perfectly executed in mood and music—just one of many callbacks to earlier episodes—in this instance the ominous reveal of the assymetrical Borg vessel in TNG’s “Descent”.
Other such examples was, when the female scientist revealed the Borg corpse. It seemed reminscient of Hugh’s reveal in “I, Borg” which also took place on an icy world or the way the NX was chasing down a renegade Borg ship that was attacking innocent bystanders in the region that put everyone on edge reminded me of “Descent” or the shot of Reed ordering the Tarkalean female to stop and she casts a glance in his direction before continuing seemed like an homage to an almost identical scene in “Q Who?” in Engineering.
I thought it was a big cheat for the writers to conveniently leave off “We are the Borg” but include everything else in the hail. I wouldn’t have minded if it was cut off in transmission and we only hear “…org.” as Hoshi opened the channel. I also never felt that VOY’s Dark Frontier needed clarification. Some fans say it violated continuity regarding first contact with the Borg but it didn’t. I think Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky might have done a better job by inserting a line or two but Dark Frontier implies the Hansens were mavericks going on a wild goose chase to locate a race that may or may not exist based on reports most likely from various species including the El-Aurians. No one really believed in their theories. They encounter the Borg, get transported to the Delta Quadrant and are never heard from again and none of their research makes it back to Starfleet. They become a footnote. How does that undermine “Q Who”? In fact, I think this muddies things more than VOY ever did. The Hansens were working on rumors but we know from this episode there is photographic evidence and scans.
The truth is we didn’t need this extra wrinkle because the Borg were already snooping around in our region ten years before “Q Who” when the Hansens encountered that cube. And the signal shouldn’t have been received yet so how do you explain that cube snooping around? Answer: For the same reason we assumed they were in “The Neutral Zone”—they were simply expanding outward exploring our part of the galaxy as a result of expansion from the Delta Quadrant looking for new species and technologies to assimilate.
Also I don’t buy the idea the nanoprobes were inactive for so long that they struggled to assimilate. It certainly didn’t seem to have a problem in the blink of an eye altering and assimilating the NX circuitry. I just think that they had a hard time with Denobulan physiology. I also didn’t care for the way the Borg just abruptly beamed back to the transport ship. I think I read that Sussman intended for it to refer to the behavior of the Borg in “Q Who” when they concentrated on repairing the damaged cube but I think that intention should have been made a bit clearer. I would imagine they would have rather upgraded to the NX and abandon the transport altogether.
And that is one of the failings that hurts the episode for me. I think certain elements should have been made clearer even a simple captain’s log discussing what SF intended to do with this information and debris or maybe a last minute fade into seeing someone deleting the records and transferring them to a secret repository a la The X-Files hinting at Section 31. These little extras would have made the episode a little tighter and focused IMO and these additional flourishes would have also elevated the episode more.
I’m torn on the wink, wink ending with the whole predestination paradox. It is a cool idea on one hand but part of me prefers the idea of the Borg just finally crossing humanity’s path along with Q’s interference. As was par for the course this season Archer/T’Pol have some nice scenes together and Phlox’s struggling with the onslaught of the nanoprobes in his system was well acted as was the effectively disconcerting shot of him inside the imaging chamber being bombarded by radiation.
A reasonably entertaining hour that is hurt to a degree by its formulaic aspects in the second half and the fact that a lot of the reactions to the Borg, the discussions centering around whether Archer should try to recover the assimilated beings and a regular castmember's assimilation lose their dramatic umph when we realize we saw this stuff before and with intrigue, dramatic urgency and a real uncertainty back on TNG in "Q Who" and "The Best of Both Worlds" that it felt a little underwhelming here.
Also a few contrivances and the glossing over of some important details that would have helped maintain the integrity of continuity are minor weaknesses that detract somewhat. Had it done that it would have been an easy A but as it stands it falls short of a B+ but a tad higher than a B. And it was jarring seeing the Borg in the 22nd century. I also got a kick out of the fact that everyone was assuming B&B came up with the Borg episode and instead it was ENT’s best writers—Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong—who acquitted themselves quite well.
As far as Trek’s Borg event episodes this falls somewhere in the middle of the pack. Unlike BoBW where no one knew what would happen(Would Picard survive? How much of the Federation would fall?) or Scorpion where any number of interesting directions could have been taken(the assimilation of Species 8472 might have altered the Collective) or Unimatrix Zero(would the resistance topple the Collective once and for all), Regeneration taking place in a prequel pretty much eliminated any suspense with regards to how the Borg encounter would play out. That said I liked how Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong cleverly brought the Borg into the 22nd century in a plausible manner that wasn’t contrived. They were smart writers who simply used an element that was just lying around to their advantage in crafting a Borg story.
I also liked how they leveled the playing field giving Archer a reasonable chance of defeating the Borg with their primitive 22nd century technology. The idea that the sphere was destroyed and the Borg had to assimilate the transport ship and work on upgrading it was brilliant. What worked not so well was the phase pistols that managed to get off far too many shots even if they were upgraded and Trip deactivated the Borg circuitry a bit too easily especially given the difficulty that B’elanna had in “The Gift” where she had the assistance of a Borg.
I also really liked the different approach in the teaser and act one where we don’t see the crew only the researchers in the Arctic Circle. What I thought was cool was seeing them make the intriguing discoveries about the Borg that we had already experienced. The scientists speculating about why different humanoid species would have technology embedded throughout their bodies, the examination of the nanoprobes etc. I also appreciated that the crew didn’t use the term “assimilation” which would would have been pushing it. Instead we hear them simply refer to it as “transformation”.
Too bad the rest of the show couldn’t maintain this freshness. About halfway through the story turns pretty straightforward but still entertaining to a degree. It is your garden variety chase through the ship. The episode for the most part did a good job in creating a spooky atmosphere most especially in the Arctic scenes and the final act when Reed and Archer board the transport but I didn’t find the hunt of the Borgified Tarkaleans that impressive. The lighting was too bright. It was trying to evoke First Contact but it was just too bright and the music was off in that particular sequence. However, the final scene when the NX is dead in the water as the transport sets its eyes on the ship was perfectly executed in mood and music—just one of many callbacks to earlier episodes—in this instance the ominous reveal of the assymetrical Borg vessel in TNG’s “Descent”.
Other such examples was, when the female scientist revealed the Borg corpse. It seemed reminscient of Hugh’s reveal in “I, Borg” which also took place on an icy world or the way the NX was chasing down a renegade Borg ship that was attacking innocent bystanders in the region that put everyone on edge reminded me of “Descent” or the shot of Reed ordering the Tarkalean female to stop and she casts a glance in his direction before continuing seemed like an homage to an almost identical scene in “Q Who?” in Engineering.
I thought it was a big cheat for the writers to conveniently leave off “We are the Borg” but include everything else in the hail. I wouldn’t have minded if it was cut off in transmission and we only hear “…org.” as Hoshi opened the channel. I also never felt that VOY’s Dark Frontier needed clarification. Some fans say it violated continuity regarding first contact with the Borg but it didn’t. I think Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky might have done a better job by inserting a line or two but Dark Frontier implies the Hansens were mavericks going on a wild goose chase to locate a race that may or may not exist based on reports most likely from various species including the El-Aurians. No one really believed in their theories. They encounter the Borg, get transported to the Delta Quadrant and are never heard from again and none of their research makes it back to Starfleet. They become a footnote. How does that undermine “Q Who”? In fact, I think this muddies things more than VOY ever did. The Hansens were working on rumors but we know from this episode there is photographic evidence and scans.
The truth is we didn’t need this extra wrinkle because the Borg were already snooping around in our region ten years before “Q Who” when the Hansens encountered that cube. And the signal shouldn’t have been received yet so how do you explain that cube snooping around? Answer: For the same reason we assumed they were in “The Neutral Zone”—they were simply expanding outward exploring our part of the galaxy as a result of expansion from the Delta Quadrant looking for new species and technologies to assimilate.
Also I don’t buy the idea the nanoprobes were inactive for so long that they struggled to assimilate. It certainly didn’t seem to have a problem in the blink of an eye altering and assimilating the NX circuitry. I just think that they had a hard time with Denobulan physiology. I also didn’t care for the way the Borg just abruptly beamed back to the transport ship. I think I read that Sussman intended for it to refer to the behavior of the Borg in “Q Who” when they concentrated on repairing the damaged cube but I think that intention should have been made a bit clearer. I would imagine they would have rather upgraded to the NX and abandon the transport altogether.
And that is one of the failings that hurts the episode for me. I think certain elements should have been made clearer even a simple captain’s log discussing what SF intended to do with this information and debris or maybe a last minute fade into seeing someone deleting the records and transferring them to a secret repository a la The X-Files hinting at Section 31. These little extras would have made the episode a little tighter and focused IMO and these additional flourishes would have also elevated the episode more.
I’m torn on the wink, wink ending with the whole predestination paradox. It is a cool idea on one hand but part of me prefers the idea of the Borg just finally crossing humanity’s path along with Q’s interference. As was par for the course this season Archer/T’Pol have some nice scenes together and Phlox’s struggling with the onslaught of the nanoprobes in his system was well acted as was the effectively disconcerting shot of him inside the imaging chamber being bombarded by radiation.
A reasonably entertaining hour that is hurt to a degree by its formulaic aspects in the second half and the fact that a lot of the reactions to the Borg, the discussions centering around whether Archer should try to recover the assimilated beings and a regular castmember's assimilation lose their dramatic umph when we realize we saw this stuff before and with intrigue, dramatic urgency and a real uncertainty back on TNG in "Q Who" and "The Best of Both Worlds" that it felt a little underwhelming here.
Also a few contrivances and the glossing over of some important details that would have helped maintain the integrity of continuity are minor weaknesses that detract somewhat. Had it done that it would have been an easy A but as it stands it falls short of a B+ but a tad higher than a B. And it was jarring seeing the Borg in the 22nd century. I also got a kick out of the fact that everyone was assuming B&B came up with the Borg episode and instead it was ENT’s best writers—Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong—who acquitted themselves quite well.
Disillusioned
Commander
Except that the two things aren't comparable. You can keep saying it is, but they aren't anymore than me saying that Jolene Blalock is sitting in my lap will make her suddenly appear there. All it does is illustrate how weak the Vissian's position is, because it's literally comparing a sentient, intelligent member of their own species to a lower life form that is definitely in the shallow end of the intelligence pool. You're going to compare a person who can learn to read from scratch in less than a day to an animal that sometimes manages to drown itself in the rain? Really?
The thing is, when Archer usually decides to interfere, it's at a time when he shouldn't. It's like the writers have a completely backwards sense of morality, which I guess is always possible after having read some of the things Brannon Braga has said about himself.
Yeah, it's that whole lack of sympathy for people who enslave others so they can basically rape them.
Are you somehow suggesting no cogenitors would be willing to go in and donate whatever genetic material is needed the way men go in every day to jack off into a cup? They do pay men to do that, you know, even though I'm sure there are a few guys who would be willing to do it for beer and porn.
Wrong, that's the way their society evolved. It was caused by a lack of cogenitors being born (which for all we know could have been something artificial to begin with), but it is still a reaction of their society dealing with that shortage, and they just reacted in a horrible and monstrous way. Again, am I somehow supposed to feel sympathy for these people? Because I don't.
Does it really matter? Even if the apparent lack of cogenitors was completely biological does it really justify them treating the people they need to keep their species going like crap? if anything shouldn't cogenitors have been treated extra well because of their importance? Given how the Vissians seem to think of cogenitors, I honestly get the impression the reason there are so few of them is because couples abort them before they can be born or commit infanticide, sort of the way the Chinese do when they find out they're having a girl instead of a boy because they are restricted to one child and already have misogynistic tendencies ingrained in their society.
No, it's just that everyone seems all interested in trade with the Vissians and come off as being angry that Trip exposed this aspect of their society. To me the only justifiable reason for Archer to not grant Charles asylum would be if he was risking war with the Vissians by doing so. I could even understand Archer being pissed about Trip sneaking around the way he did, but that isn't what Archer chewed him out about. Instead Archer became a hypocrite by chewing him out for "interfering."
It means it hit a nerve, yes. Unfortunately it was the wrong one.But still, you're debating the episode, so clearly the episode hit the right mark.
What upsets me about this episode the most are all the contrivances that were basically needed so that 24th century Borg could be defeated by 22nd century technology. Trying to pass off the Borg just not bothering to mention their name as maintaining continuity is a close second. Other than that it was just another Borg episode.
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