Top Five Jonathan Archer Command Decisions

[Alienesse]

intefering with evolution is something doctors do every day. Further, Phlox' explanations were pure racist pseudoscience-saying that a race was "destined" by evolution to become the superior one is complete, full-stop nonsense.

Doctors help individuals survive, they do not interfere with the long-term evolutionary process of entire species. I actually found Phlox's arguments to be valid, considering the fact that he had reached his conclusion based on scientific research.

Evolution is a process-it's about adaptation to environment. It has no "goal" in mind.

Right. Why give it a goal then? Archer and Phlox do not have the authority to tilt the balance in favor of one species or another. No one does. And recognizing when a situation exceeds your right to call shots is actually a sign of responsibility. I think the writers capture this idea very well in Archer's final words to Phlox:

"I have reconsidered. I spent the whole night reconsidering, and what I've decided goes against all my principles. Someday my people are going to come up with some sort of a doctrine, something that tells us what we can and can't do out here, should and shouldn't do. But until somebody tells me that they've drafted that directive I'm going to have to remind myself every day that we didn't come out here to play God."

As for "Andorian Incident"-Archer betrayed the main ally of Earth in a five-minute decision based on very little understanding. Had the Vulcans cut off relations or even retailiated militarily for his decision here, they would have been within their rights to do so. Archer is a clown.

The fact that someone is your ally does not mean that you have to cover for them when they mess up. The Vulcans had a peace treaty with the Andorians. As far as I know, spying on the party with which you signed a peace treaty constitutes a violation of that treaty. Under this circumstance, Archer, as a Starfleet representative, had no obligation to support them. And the Vulcans would have had no business retaliating with a military attack on Earth. Earth had done nothing wrong. It's like saying that, supposing you and I are friends, and I steal a car and you turn me over to the police, I'm within my rights to beat you up instead of just admitting that I committed a crime.

Phlox never used the word "destined." He was quite careful to qualify his opinions based on his tests, studies and projections. He said the Menk had the potential to become the dominant species, under certain conditions. I thought his example about altering the Neanderthals' evolution, which would have altered the emergence of Homo sapiens, was compelling.

Either position-- a "non-interference" directive, or stepping in and altering the gradual genetic progression of the Valakian condition-- could be argued as the one to take. That was the point of the whole episode, that there was no one unequivocally "correct" resolution to the situation.

Exactly! I think this episode effectively offers an argument as to why the Prime Directive is necessary. Sometimes, no one is qualified to offer a solution. And in that case it's best not to interfere with the natural progression of things.

I agree with Alienesse about "The Andorian Incident" as well. It was established early on that the Andorians suspected the presence of a spy station and were looking for it. The Vulcan monks were exposed as liars prepared to kill to keep the secret (although too clumsy about it to succeed). So much for Earth's allies being paragons of trustworthiness.

I'll say!

I'd like to see how humans felt if they were genetically time tabled to die out but there was a cure to prevent this.

Considering what we're doing to this planet, my feelings about that particular scenario are not entirely negative.

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

They didn't have to subjugate them, they could have changed their society to eliminate that and the other species could have freely evolved.

Since the Valakians seemed quite content being the dominant species, something would need to compel them to change their entire way of life, even their thinking, to treat the Menk as equals and give them room to grow and reach their potential. Looking at several past and contemporary situations here on Earth regarding the desire to dominate/conquer others, or wipe them out, such a paradigm shift would be a very tall order. Even if the Valakians' survival depended on it.

I found an interesting discussion on "What if Neanderthals had not gone extinct?" here. The point is brought up that two similar species essentially compete for the same food sources, living spaces, etc., which is why one would probably wipe the other out, directly (conquest) or indirectly (monopolizing food/land through superior force or an edge in intelligence).

 

[sonak]

They didn't have to subjugate them, they could have changed their society to eliminate that and the other species could have freely evolved.

Since the Valakians seemed quite content being the dominant species, something would need to compel them to change their entire way of life, even their thinking, to treat the Menk as equals and give them room to grow and reach their potential. Looking at several past and contemporary situations here on Earth regarding the desire to dominate/conquer others, or wipe them out, such a paradigm shift would be a very tall order. Even if the Valakians' survival depended on it.

I found an interesting discussion on "What if Neanderthals had not gone extinct?" here. The point is brought up that two similar species essentially compete for the same food sources, living spaces, etc., which is why one would probably wipe the other out, directly (conquest) or indirectly (monopolizing food/land through superior force or an edge in intelligence).

this is utter nonsense. Aliens didn't need to come to Earth to compel White Americans to give Black Americans full civil rights.

It was just more ridiculousness from "Dear Doctor" to make a fake and badly written dilemma. I'm not going to once again go into the ludicrousness of deliberately witholding a cure for pseudoscientific reasons of "non-inteference" in evolution, because it's just silly.

As for "andorian incident," if the Vulcans were breaking the treaty, they might have had good reason to. Also, if they were, it was an issue between the two powers, and not for Archer to betray an ally over.

 

[Skywalker]

I can't condone allowing millions to die, when I have the means to save them, just on the chance that another species might develop into something more in a few millennia. I don't consider Archer's choice to be a good one because I think both he and Phlox were wrong. There was no guarantee that the Menk's descendants would evolve without the Valakians around anymore. For all we know, they could have ended up dying out, too, because they no longer had access to the Valakians' advanced medicines or technologies.

It's possible that the Valakians could have experienced a social revolution in which the Menk were granted greater freedoms and rights in the near future. They seemed to be on the cusp of developing warp drive, maybe just a few decades from where humanity was by 2063. That would have meant that they no longer would have had to worry about competing with the Menk for resources on their homeworld; they would have been able to spread out, giving both species more room and a better chance to co-exist.

I like to imagine that someone more enlightened happened upon the Valakians a few years later and helped them develop a cure.

 

[T'Parm]

I'm more inclined to go with the belief that the Neanderthals and the Homo sapiens inter breed rather than one of them went extent. (I know some humans that like to think we destroy everything and so automatically come up with the worst possible scenario.) That would probably be the better solution for the Valakians, if they developed on the same planet their DNA would be very close so it should be a possibility, but of course if it was they would have already found it so maybe one of the species was from a different world and they lost that information and so believed they had developed there.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

This episode also upsets me because I know two people who stopped watching ENT because of the decision made and use it as an example of how horrible ENT was.

 

[Alienesse]

I know two people who stopped watching ENT because of the decision made

Doesn't that say more about those people and less about the episode itself? It's just an episode out of many, after all. I'm not sure it's fair to stop watching an entire series because of ONE episode. I thought "A Night In Sickbay" was ghastly for making the captain of the Enterprise act like a five year old, but I didn't walk away from the show with the idea that all of it is crap.

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

Yeah, no TV series is perfect -- they all have their "Spock's Brain" or "Threshold" episodes. Their loss for quitting based on one show that didn't work for them.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

OH I know, I'm just sick of hearing about it all the time! Of course it is their loss and I'm sure they find it perfectly easy to overlook heinous episodes in other series.

 

[Admiral Shran]

I stopped watching TOS after that awful The Alternative Factor. Seriously how could anything with the Star Trek label be good after that?

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Since you mentioned TOS and since the TOS forum has no hum ..*cough* place to put vids and since I simply MUST share this 25 second video with someone I am going to post this here. There are no gazelles in it.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0YsIADqZQQ&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL[/yt]

 

[Alienesse]

^ Brilliant!

I'm sure they find it perfectly easy to overlook heinous episodes in other series.

Well, it sounds to me like they don't really understand what Trek is all about.

I stopped watching TOS after that awful The Alternative Factor. Seriously how could anything with the Star Trek label be good after that?

God, I gave up on The Alternative Factor about five minutes into the episode. I just couldn't take it. However, that didn't stop me from watching the rest of TOS, which, with a few other exceptions, is just fantastic.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

^ Brilliant!

I'm sure they find it perfectly easy to overlook heinous episodes in other series.

Well, it sounds to me like they don't really understand what Trek is all about.

Fantastic stories and themes interspersed with gazelle speeches, lizard babies with your pilot and genocidal hiccups?

 

[Alienesse]

^ Err, not exactly. I meant the prejudice-free frame of mind that allows someone to treat all series in a franchise fairly.

 

[sonak]

^ Err, not exactly. I meant the prejudice-free frame of mind that allows someone to treat all series in a franchise fairly.

eh? What does not liking a particular Trek series as much as another one have to do with a "prejudice-free frame of mind?" Am I not allowed to differentiate between shows or movies that I like vs ones that I don't?

I happen to think ENT is the worst of the five Trek series. It does improve A LOT starting from season 3, but taken overall, it doesn't compare favorably. But that doesn't make me prejudiced.

 

[Alienesse]

^ Err, not exactly. I meant the prejudice-free frame of mind that allows someone to treat all series in a franchise fairly.

eh? What does not liking a particular Trek series as much as another one have to do with a "prejudice-free frame of mind?" Am I not allowed to differentiate between shows or movies that I like vs ones that I don't?

Of course you're entitled to dislike or like whatever series/movies you want. I was referring to the fact that:
1. It's not quite fair to judge an entire series by 1 episode.
2. It's not quite fair to hate an entire series on account of ONE episode and without even watching the rest of it, but at the same time be perfectly willing to overlook the clunkers in other series.

That spells double standard to me.

 

[bluedana]

One of my favorite Archer command decisions is when he authorizes Reed to blow the Borgified aliens out of the airlock in Regeneration. You can see the pain on his face as he realizes that they can't help them, they can't defeat them, and they can't stop them. There's philosophical speech on the meaning of life, but it's also not casually done. He just does what he has to do, and is fully aware that it sucks. Even T'Pol's assurance that it was necessary is just the right touch.