I like that Phlox kept a zoo in sickbay. It shows that cures in the "early" days didn't come in a one-of-3-colored vial attached to a hypo spray injector. He was always like, "So you got a headache? Have I got a soborbian sea leach for you!"
I liked that too. In fact , the premise of the enterprise should have resulted in a much much better show than the one we got in the end . Phlox was the only part of the story i liked.
@@weenaxonce time travel got super involved they kinda lost me, i know its a staple of star trek but time travel usually feels kinda cheap to me and it makes events have less impact in my opinion.
@@buffalowt part of the issue is time travel was core to the whole story with the whole temporal cold war being the reason for a lot of the villains ie Silik being controlled by the shadow guy, then you have the Xindi and the sphere-builders, and lastly you have the aliens that travel back to WW2. Personally I found enterprise at its best when it was dealing earths pre federation dealings with the early races of the federation such as the andorian/vulcan conflict. Also enjoyed the eugenics wars and not just because Brent Spiner was in it. I guess I enjoyed the show when it was more focused on broadening pre existing canon then making completely new stuff like the Xindi. Which atleast to me is kinda what prequel shows should be about.
I found Phlox was the most "Star Fleet" member of the crew - he was always about learning about new cultures, and reminded other crew members of their primary mission.
@@adamskeans2515 I agree, although I believe if Phlox got as much screen time and as many story lines as Garak or Quark got, I might be able to argue they are on par
Phlox, and to a lesser extent Trip, carried ENT on their backs. I've been saying that since the show first aired. The writers didn't know what they wanted from the captain, they had a set-up for T'Pol that they didn't follow through on, they ignored the hot nerd and the veteran space traveler, and they rendered their solider obsolete by adding space Marines. Phlox and Trip seemed to be the only people who got personality and a solid foundation. Honestly, Phlox is one of the best characters in the franchise and it sucks that we don't have more of him.
I liked that Phlox had his own moral compass as an alien doctor. Often even when we have alien doctors in Star Trek, they are basically just humans in a facemask. They made some effort to actually make Phlox's approach to things be a cultural different at times.
I have had the discussion of "which star trek doctor would you want as your trans health care provider?" with many other trans star trek fans. Phlox always wins first. He delights in differences, he's empathetic, curious, always eager to learn more, always willing to acknowledge he doesn't know everything, and has limitations. These are traits we wish our own often dogmatic healthcare providers had
I met John Billingsley at the London Trek Con last year and he was absolutely wonderful to talk to. His performances in ENT were brilliant and a great example of Trek getting it right with truly alien alien characters.
Yes, Phlox was one of the few Trek characters to come across as actually alien. Relatable enough that you forget most of the time, but then doing or saying something every so often that was just weird and slightly unsettling.
I met him a few times when we were in a small movie together, and didn't put it together that he was Phlox until the premiere (or more specifically, watching 2012 on a lark and going "oh neat, what else was he... in... SONUVABITCH!" in between filming and said premiere)
I find it especially satisfying that his alien cultural differences feel relatable, especially as a (mostly) human being who has explored around the edges of a great many subcultures and countercultures here on 20th-21st century Earth.
My dad would relate to Phlox. He tried to bring up my sister, brother and myself without the stupidity of his generation when it came to race, ethnicity, religion, etc, and he was successful in that. He said that was one of the things that brought made him proud, that his children were not repeating the stupidity of his generation. At the same time, he said one of his two biggest regrets of his life was that he could not completely rid himself of his generation’s stupidity. That made me respect him all the more, that he was self-aware of his own flaws and that he could overcome them to do what was right.
A bit off topic, but speaking of “dear doctor” I’m reminded of how Dr Crusher would always choose life no matter what the ethical nuances were. She seemed to always share my gut instinct for how and whom to help. Prime directive be damned Beverly will do what is right!!! I always loved the dynamic of her and Picard arguing over the spirit of the law versus the letter of the law.
It wasn't so much about the prime directive as his moral code for changing the natural order and development of a world. Imagine how our world would be if an alien race diverted the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs. Would humans have made it past the early developmental stages
One of my favourite Phlox bits is from the first season, where we learn about his species' sleeping habits, explaining why he keeps such strange hours. He's such an interesting character. And he's great when woken up early.
Doctor's Orders is one of my favorite Enterprise episodes. It was a great Phlox episode and Billingsley played someone struggling with solitude perfectly. The balance of depicting T'Pol as both a valued social confidant and yet utterly impotent when it comes to physically doing anything helpful was pretty brilliant.
I kinda wish the episode with Phlox being alone on the ship ended with Archer playing an edited reel of Phlox wandering the halls nude and saying "You know there are security cameras everywhere, right? Just because you were the only one awake doesn't mean you should be strutting your stuff everywhere."
One of my favorite scenes with Phlox was when he confronted the Vulcan doctor that was examining Archer in "The Expanse." "You come to my sickbay under false pretenses? Where are your medical ethics?!" Other good Phlox episodes are "Affliction" and "Divergence," when he deceived the Klingons while trying to cure them (without the Augment enhancements that the Klingons were originally aiming for). 🖖😎👍
Whoever wrote his character, made him a "serious character" with a sense of humor and a point to be there vs a silly character with a sense of humor and no point.
@@TheSorrel: I didn't find him to be that bad as a character, either. As an "alien" being, the same as Phlox, he just had his own culture that he was raised in, and he attempted to adjust to the culture of the crew he found himself with, and use his skills and knowledge of the other Delta Quadrant denizens to aid them in their journey.
Reflecting on these classic Phlox moments hit me a little differently than the first time I watched the series; because since my only watchthru, I've experienced my own journey of polyamory, parental estrangement, and job conflicts involving ethics. I enjoyed Phlox before; I think I admire him even more deeply now.
Hi Steve. Great show. I remember a scene in the 2009 Star Trek movie where Scotty explains his exile to that ice planet was because Admiral Archer never forgave him for what he did to his beagle. Funny callback.
Awesome take on the episode with the Antarrens. Like you said Steve, I was also raised with casually racist grandparents. My grandparents didn't hate black people they just didn't understand them and avoided them. They wouldn't treat a black person bad or anything they would just go to the moon and back to avoid them. They were a product of their times. My mother in particular raised me to treat everyone as equals. I've lived my life that way. Also being poor in Alabama in the 80s along side poor black people, white people and Hispanic people helped. None of us kids were any different. We were all BROKE AF. No time to be racist when you are playing in the dirt along side each other and eating the same meals!
I seem to remember Phlox’s species is pretty long lived. Assuming (based on nothing) the species they accidentally genocide 20 million people from have lifespans closer to humans, it might explain some of the cultural tensions, misgivings, resentments and the fear… like, Phlox could personally know people who carried out that genocide if he’s only one or two generations removed from the incident.
I loved Phlox as a doctor and as a character. I think one of the episodes you should have talked about was when Phlox was kidnapped by Klingons to help prevent a virus with augmented human DNA, resulting in the deformed cranial ridges, which was shown later in Star Trek, the original series. Phlox really pulled a "Boss" move by exposing the Klingon crew with the virus and forcing them not to destroy the colony world that they were working from, lol. The character was put under immense pressure, but adapted, kept his calm, was smart and cunning. More impressively, he didn't seem to hold any grudges against the Klingons for kidnapping him in the first place, given the circumstances. Maybe he was just experienced enough with people who were infected and desperate doing crazy actions to survive. I, for one, would love to see Phlox on his home-world, maybe when he retired or something, consulting on some matter.
An episode set on Denobula would have been very interesting, exploring its landscapes, culture and people. They did it somewhat with Vulcan and Andora a few times, but they didn't do it very often with other worlds.
Phlox is great, but I've always gravitated towards Trip. Trip's personality embodied the soul of the series - which was Star Trek but this time with ordinary people exploring the galaxy. I always liked when he talked with aliens and especially T'Pol with his salt-of-the-Earth demeanor clashing against their often-more formal cadences. Plus I think there's something hopeful and very Trek-inspired about a someone who on the surface could be caricatured as a Southern Yokel not only actually being very smart and innovative (he is the chief engineer after all) becoming more open to learn and respect people and cultures from different worlds. Loved that about Trip. Hated that he died for no reason in the finale. Happy the books kindly brought him back.
Been saying this since the beginning. The thing about Phlox is, he's easy-going. Not uptight and judgmental, like a Vulcan; just easy-going. There aren't many other recurring Trek characters like that. (Can't think of one, actually.) It takes real leverage to get under his skin, and very little fazes him in the way of plot complications; dude just has the full measure of self-confidence, without going overboard into arrogance.That's what made him so interesting, on a crew of typical prickly Trek go-getters.
John Billingsley is a WIN in whatever show you find him. I remember when Enterprise was released, and Billinglsey appeared in another Paramount property, “Out of Time.” Billingsley is a wonderful character actor. The legacy Star Trek show runners never miscasted the doctors, and Billingsley represented the very best of the great tradition of doctors.
Billingsly was awesome. Although my favorite appearance of his (in Enterprise, SG-1, and the Orville), was seeing him antagonize Robert Picardo's character in the Orville. He can play a hideously evil guy really well. "Spock of Nine" had me on the floor. Well done.
I was worried he was going to be a Neelix. I ended up liking him for multiple reasons including his unending curiosity of culture and science and multi-species knowledge of biology. He's an amazing wealth of knowledge, but still so open-minded. Not stuck to textbooks like so many rl doctors
Had Enterprise gone to Season 5 we'd probably have found out that the Romulan war really started because Archer nuked them for holding his dog to ransom.
Archer certainly had potential to be a vengeful badass, perhaps even genocidal. But, to invoke a certain green muppet from another notable science fiction franchise, “John Wick, Archer was not.”
On Phlox's sexuality, which you briefly brought up - They seemed willing to give him agency in his sexuality, something rarely afforded to any other character in Enterprise, be it via the eyeroll inducing decontamination scenes that felt like they were entirely present for the audience's gaze. Or that 'comedy' mpreg rape plot that to my recollection the show refused to acknowledge was a rape plotline in the case of Unexpected. ...Meanwhile Keating was attempting to play Reed as gay and just getting nothing from the writers to support it (...Funny how that was a trend for Trek shows in the 90s, actors wanting either their character to be bi or gay, love interests portrayed by someone of their gender, or the show to have gay representation generally and just... That not happening)
I am upset that John Billingsey was not asked to reprise his role on strange new worlds it was shameful they asked him to reaudition for his role, he was brilliant as Phlox
I finally came around to watch Enterprise for the first time. And I got to say, it's been a fantastic show so far. Well fleshed out characters, appealing stories and a strong own identity. I feel like this one is a real underrated gem, and Phlox for sure is the most interesting of the bunch.
Re: the Menk and Valakians, the thing that kills me is that you could have just had Phlox not find a cure and made the dilemma "do we give this slave-owning society warp drive technology to save them from extinction?" At least then a refusal would make *some* sense.
They could have also just taken the moral stance of "they enslaved another fully sentient species. Fuck 'em." at least that would have shown some guts.
@@richardarriaga6271 but that isn't an option here, the slave race doesn't get to be free unless the masters die, unless the Enterprise is going to go TOTAL interventionist ie the opposite of prime directive, and get into nation building, which takes generations to do successfully. I always thought it was an ethical judgement against the slavers. If they had not been slavers, he would have given them the cure.
@@farshnuke if they weren't slavers he would've given them the cure obviously. It's just trying to make it look like it's not his decision but nature's/gods.
@@rickwrites2612 I don't buy that. Phlox actually *defends* the Valakians' treatment of the Menk when another crew member questions it, and tells her to stop being so judgemental about other cultures. The writers clearly did not realise that they wrote the Menk as slaves, because none of the main cast see anything wrong with how they're treated and it does not factor into anyone's thinking at any point during the episode - aside from that one crew member, but she's just told to respect the Valakians' right to treat the Menk like shit because at least the Valakians are not actively committing genocide against them. That was not why he refused to hand over the cure. Also, *hard* disagree with the idea that genocide is a justifiable punishment for...well, anything. I'd lose no sleep if the Menk violently overthrew the Valakians and the leaders were all guillotined, but there's a huge moral difference between that and guillotining every single member of a sapient species, including the children. My argument wasn't that it would be morally justifiable to let them all die preventable deaths because their society kept slaves, it was that giving these people Warp Drive technology might be like giving the 19th-century British Empire nuclear power. Giving the Valakian leadership Warp Drive could easily lead to them building an interplanetary slave empire. "You don't know what the consequences would be" would actually be a sensible argument if it was a choice between "allow this entire species to die preventable deaths" or "risk the ruling class abusing your advanced technology to found a powerful slave empire."
I absolutely ADORE Dr Phlox. I wish we had more material regarding his species and culture. Would absolutely love another Denobulan (probably spelled that wrong) character in new Trek.
I feel like in Phlox they perfected the sort of jovial wit that Neelix was supposed to have on Voyager. It helps that in Phlox's case he is paired with an actual field of competence. Something Neelix lacked, which is why he rubbed so many people as obnoxious.
Enterprise will always have a special place in my heart, as it was the only one I watched every week as it came out and fell in love with the characters. While I think you're underselling one of my first crushes in Reed, Phlox is unquestionably the best character and arguably the best doctor across the franchise in my humble opinion. I mean that on a writing level, but also on a literal level- are we forgetting some of the crazy stuff he pulls off with some rather unorthodox medical equipment? Don't insult to McCoy's bag or one of my first crushes in Bashir, but I'd want Phlox on my ship. Him and all his little pets. P. S. We all know Shran is the other best character on this show.
I feel like "Dear Doctor" was a really good story premise, that could have worked, and been uncontroversial, if evolution worked like the writers think it does. Sadly, it doesn't, and that fact turns Dr Phlox from an ethical, humble physician, bowing to the predestined nature of the universe, to a lazy eugenicist. I'm not sure how you'd rewrite the episode so it works, but I really wish the room full of professional writers behind it had done that work, the genesis episode of the Prime Directive deserved better.
I think you would totally enjoy resident alien!! It’s a solidly written positive world outlook comedy with a touch of drama sci-fi wrapped up in a mystery and of course Alan Tudyk.
@@sebastiang7394 Right but we're talking about polyamory, not polygamy, religious-or-otherwise. Hopefully showing it on Star Trek encouraged people to educate themselves on the subject. _cough cough_
Umm dunno, between Phlox's lines you can hear him talking about a society that is familiar with drama, with exhausting family life, which might be the reason his species was so warlike in the past.
I agree, Phlox was great for all the mentioned reasons. In some way Dr. Phlox is like Dr. Zoidberg. Both are from a different species and culture amongst a mostly human crew, and those differences become part of the character, without becoming the all the character is. And Archer as lead had the opportunity to mess up first contact with many of the known Trek species, and he didn't disappoint on that front. And what I love the most about "Dear Doctor" is that it stays ambiguous whether or not the crew made the right choice. We have many episodes where our heroes end up being forced to influence a civilization and have to make a choice, and usually the option they choose end up being the right one. The shows tell us that much. But in "Dear Doctor" they don't. There is talk if changing the course is their right to do and which option is the morally right one. And in the end the choice Archer (as the captain) and Phlox (as the professional in the field) go with is ambiguous. I guess that is why people are so split about the episode. Our heroes don't do the obviously "good" thing and some people don't like that, while others enjoy seeing a crew with flaws to outgrow. And "The Breach" reminds me of the Voyager episode "Jetrel", where we get two species that had nasty conflicts in the past and who still distrust each other. With one who decides that he should make good on what people in the past did and trying to convince the person from the other culture that they should leave the past behind. "Similitude" reminds me of "Tuvix" and "Doctor's Orders" reminds me of "One", in both cases Voyager had a similar premise for the episode (sacrificing one person for another and going around an area taking to long, so they put everyone to sleep and one person has to fly the ship), but both shows go at it differently.
@@Josep_Hernandez_Lujan 4 is my favourite of the bunch, mostly because we see a lot more of humanity’s space colonisation in it, rather than solely going places they’d never been before. Cold Station 12, the Luna and Mars colonies, and interstellar diplomacy. (I also like the episodes earlier on with the freighter ships for the same reason.)
Don't get me wrong I love Phlox! But I find most of the characters on Enterprise to be very relatable. I think it's because the show is built so to have characters more like current era humans. Hoshi is a complete and utter language nerd. If it's not about language she doesn't care or she'll bring it back to a linguistic topic.I have a friend just like that (but a biology nerd). I relate to Archer a fair amount. He starts a new job very excited and he realizes that it's nothing like he expected it to be. And it kind of suck. And he doesn't really know what he is doing. Who has NOT been there?
I like Enterprise’s characters, i mean even Malcolm gets a little interesting/sympathetic. But man it was so damn annoying seeing how Enterprise felt like taking another step back, it felt more old-fashioned/conservative in terms of casting a bit like Voyager. Especially becuz its the early 2000s and the writers literally only included American/Anglo characters for the humans. THREE of the main cast are American, one is a Korean-American actress, another is British, and then we have two aliens. But seriously why the hell did they have to have such boring stereotypical American characters, mr florida and mr nantucket from whatever southern state he’s from. The fun of star trek is the diverse backgrounds, let alone their personalities. I think after DS9 the diversity/uniqueness of the crew really seemed to falter a lot, like no one could think to give any character a non-Anglo background??? I mean get rid of Travis first of all cuz he’s the character clearly abandoned by the writers with nothing interesting. Malcolm is so plain and not much beyond military-raised British dude. And the Captain is an interesting character but with no interesting background. Hoshi is cool if they’d actually use her more
I had a pretty terrible night with a medical emergency, hospital and no sleep and I was thinking about Phlox's weird smile and how little sleep he needs. Oh how I wish I could sleep as little as that and live a perfectly healthy life. I could doom scroll twice as much.
I think I said this in our exchange on Twitter when you announced you were working on this video, but Phlox is my favorite CMO. No disrespect intended towards "Bones" (OG or Urban), or any of the others. There's something about the character that really appeals to me.
Re: the dog getting sick / A Night in Sickbay. That whole situation was brought on by Archer. It's his fault the dog is sick. He willingly brought the dog down to an unknown planet, and exposed it to whatever pathogens, diseases and so on that the planet has. The dog does what dogs do, and then he got sick. Yeah, that sucks, but at the end of the day Archer was willing to strand his crew in the ass-end of space (they were out of spare "plasma injectors") years away from Earth or any friendly ship all because he was racist (specist) towards the Kretassans for their "strange" behaviors. That's the mark of an incompetent and morally dubious lunatic, not a Starfleet Captain. The Kretassans were mad because the dog pissed on their sacred trees, and all they wanted was an apology on their terms. Archer was willing to kill his entire crew, and the dog, because he was unwilling to swallow his pride and apologize for the dogs actions; until it was the last possible minute and FINALLY acquiesced. Which is why I say Archer is an experiment to show what would happen if a completely unprepared and incompetent person were put in charge of a Starship. Whether that was intentional or not is left to the writers/creators of Enterprise. Why Archer is seen on lists of Great Captains in future series/movies and has spacedocks named after him is beyond me.
I see Phlox as the best “point of view” character in Star Trek, he’s in my understanding *the* alien point of view character he’s on the other side of the usual POV character as at this point there’s literally no non human’s officially in Starfleet Phlox is there as an observer watching these crazy humans being both Amused and at times scared to death of them! Yes I know Spock was the outsider character in TOS but his observations are how the humans dont relate to him. Phlox is just bubbling over with WTF do I get to see today!
The Berman Era had it's shortcomings; with "Enterprise" being the Apotheosis (of sorts) for those quirks. But I have to say Characters that could've been reduced to mere Comic Relief were given dramatic range/Depth, I'm thinking of Phlox,Neelix,and Quark Respectively
I think the most relatable Phlox moment is actually in Similitude. I've made clones to harvest their brains so many times I've lost count, and it's always a struggle to decide whether to kill clone and harvest its brain or heed its desperate pleas for life
I recommend watching Resident Alien if you’re down for fish out of water comedy specifically. Important: it’s a show about an alien trying to fit into human society, not House but and alien.
I haven't made it through the full video yet so maybe you mention this, but my favorite part of Phlox's character was that he truly was as curious and excited to explore the universe as the human characters. The Vulcans in Enterprise give off the impression that they have no interest in exploration (even though they clearly do and their objection to that characterization seems purely semantic but my issues with the Vulcans, particularly in Enterprise could not be summarized in the character limit of a youtube comment...) And the Andorians seem to only care about expansion. Season 1 in general seems to try to imply that curiosity is a uniquely human trait which, I find very lame. Anyway, it was very gratifying to see a non-human character display the kind of curiosity and lust for adventure that is often reserved for human characters in this kind of media and especially for whatever reason in Enterprise. Also Phlox's healthy supportive relationship with his polycule is goals.
OMG you are one of the funniest people I have ever heard! Great Show. Appreciate the laughs and loved "magic breast implant" and "grows up so fast you'd think his parents are Troi and Tinkerbell." 😆
Honestly, I dont count the episode "Dear Doctor" when trying to form an oppinion about Phlox and Archer. This is one of those episodes where the characters are not doing terrible things due to their establishe personalities/flaws/beliefs but because the writers forced them to make those things so the plot could happen
Same. Also with Progenitor. I know people who refuse to even look at those two characters because of these two episodes, but I can basically put it out of my mind as “not canon” for the characters’ values and motivations.
Great vid as always, "I haven't killed millions... directly" had me laughing out loud (not great as I'm in the office... sshhhh). Separately, whenever Enterprise is discussed it reminds me what a waste of potential it was. Esp. Mayweather actually, having a space-trucker as the driver could (read should) have led to all manner of hijinks and character moments, instead of the [struggles to think of any interesting Travis events] we got.
You are so good at breeching "the culture war" topics positively, whether it be in star trek or your regular video... Some youtubers actively avoid any social commentary and relation of fiction to our real world. I just hope people see your videos, then slowly make the (very obvious) IRL connection you're making. Keep it up.
Phlox was definitely my favorite and we needed more episodes with his species we probably would have gotten in later seasons, but Tucker was just the best. Man's was an adorable ride or die. What's not to love?
Getting ready to watch now, but I will pre-emptively say that I whole-heartedly agree! Love me some Phlox. BTW: There's a great interview with Billingsley on the Enterprise podcast (with Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating) on RUclips.
Hippocrates was not Denobulan😂. Great line in the episode not quoted here, great episode. I absolutely love Enterprise, and love the character interaction of the cast, Phlox is an interesting character. Archer is ENTs best character IMO as he has the most complex moral dilemmas, especially in season 3, character growth re relationship with Vulcan etc. I always enjoy your comedic narration of the various episode descriptions
Once again I agree with you. I love his pragmatic approach. When I think of StarTrek Doctors, I think of naive, the world is black and white doctor. Which never made sense to me since Starfleet, while primarily peaceful organization, IS a military force first. Phlox brings the views and approach to the world that is embodies the ideals of what would become the Federation. I also loved his ethical dilemmas. Sure the captain gets some good ones but they seem to just be rehashes of old questions. Like Archer's Sim question comes down to being just a rehash of the Tuvix question. And gets the same answer. Which in both cases, I think was the wrong answer but at least it made Archer and Janeway fallible. But Phlox, he got questions unique to him, and on top of that played ship's therapist with many of the characters. And through him posing them with questions that were very thought provoking. His views, shaped by his culture and experience provided great material for the human crew to learn to acceptance and a non-judgmental attitude towards other cultures. Lessons they never seemed to learn. Honestly, I've never been able to decide if he is wrong in "Dear Doctor" but I love that. His ethical argument has enough validity that you can puzzle over it for years after the show.
The part about Phlox being uncomfortable around the antaran(that has to be a typo) is apparent in the episode but the real question would be is he uncomfortable being around him because of what the other alien is or uncomfortable because of what his people did in the past
I agree with most of these thoughts and I love that you brought up that moment when he nearly shot Porthos. However I can't agree that he's the best character in Enterprise. The best character is Porthos. He has faced down phaser fire, spacial anomalies, sentient spiderjizz, and getting goneria from pissing on an alien tree. Every time he's on screen he's the most interesting character there, and his journey from a cheese addict to a (mostly) dairy-free doggo until Scotty vaporized him in the Kelvin timeline is an amazing character arc.
Porthos. Talking about Doctor Phlox and Porthos, the conversation I remember most between Phlox and Archer came from early season one, where Phlox asked Archer why humans are so close to these “inferior quadrupeds”. And Archer, like most humans, tried to explain our relationship with dogs, but struggles as we don’t even fully understand our relationship with dogs.
@@powerofk I would’ve probably said something like “well, we evolved together. Dogs’ ancestors spontaneously started cooperating with our ancestors on hunts and protected us in camp, so in many ways we wouldn’t exist without them. This has left a mutualist bond between our species, perhaps on a genetic level”. I suspect Phlox would at least respect that more, if not be able to directly appreciate it.
That’s really interesting, a gf of mine calls him Space George Bush too. I’ve never seen the similarity - if anything I think Bakula looks more like Bush Sr, but even that is a stretch to me. Maybe I’m focused too much on how narrow Bakula’s head is compared to W’s, and maybe you’re focusing more on other aspects.
I agreed with you about Phlox being Enterprise's best character even before watching this. He was definitely eccentric and could be goofy and funny but he also had as much gravitas as any other character of the show.
They certainly tried to do the eccentric alien before. Phlox could have turned out to be a clown. Yes he was slapstick, but they MADE him competent. For which i am thankful. By contrast, they wrote inept cooking into Neelix's character. Had he been an effective chef, he would not have come across as goofy.
Ironically Neelix was actually a decent chef by about halfway through the show, once he finally stopped being Local Guide. But then his reputation stuck.
Really relate to what you said. About growing up surrounded by people with bigoted attitudes, and living a life rejecting those beliefs and the need to always remember where you came from. It's such an important thing.
i can't argue with this. phlox and maybe archer are the only characters on the show that feel like they could have fell into the other shows. Phlox and The Doctor are by far my favorite medical officers.
Wow there is nothing that would make me refuse life saving care just based on the doctors inborn identity alone. Hell, I wouldn't even if based on active politics of hate. It seems ridiculous, if nothing else he owes me.
I am a Florida native. I was really surprised when I saw Connor Trinneer in an interview explaining that he is from Calif and was acting the accent. He did an outstanding job acting it. He fooled me.
I was hilariously fun-struck in the third season of what we do in the shadows, as lazlo, Nadiya and Nandor found Scott Bacula's facetime, and tried to expose him as a vampire in hiding..
No, its canon; all the excuses/workarounds are from non-canon/beta-canon works. Oh, not saying I agree with it, but until there is any evidence that the events weren't accurate come to light - on screen - they canonically killed off Trip in that dumbassed way.
@@Sephiroth144 Agreed; it's canon. A lot of details in a holodeck simulation can be inaccurate, but not something as well-documented as an officer's death. That said, I have my own Star Trek headcanon that discounts it as well as all the ST:TNG movies (that's right, I don't care for any of them; not even 'First Contact').
It's canon, and it's realistic. Death is almost always a lottery. One day you're fine, the next... a stroke, heart attack, a fall, some drunk driver hits you, etc. It's just pure dumb luck, and you almost never have control over it. Few people ever get the chance to go out heroically on their own terms. Ask any soldier who's seen real combat, and they'll tell you just how random and stupid and pointless death can be, and how it can strike down anybody at any random time. All it takes is for a piece of shrapnel to come in at just the right angle, and boom, it hits your jugular instead of your helmet.
@@JanetStarChildokay dude, chill tf out. What is this obsession with non-canon, you don’t like the movies, fine, deal with it, how pathetic do u have to be to get so worked up to invent any excuse for them being non-canon. They are canon, just live with it you weirdo
Preaching to the choir as far as I'm concerned. Actually, you managed to put into words my vague feelings about the doctor. Definitely one of my favourites of all ST characters.
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I like that Phlox kept a zoo in sickbay. It shows that cures in the "early" days didn't come in a one-of-3-colored vial attached to a hypo spray injector. He was always like, "So you got a headache? Have I got a soborbian sea leach for you!"
I liked that too. In fact , the premise of the enterprise should have resulted in a much much better show than the one we got in the end . Phlox was the only part of the story i liked.
@@weenaxonce time travel got super involved they kinda lost me, i know its a staple of star trek but time travel usually feels kinda cheap to me and it makes events have less impact in my opinion.
@@buffalowt part of the issue is time travel was core to the whole story with the whole temporal cold war being the reason for a lot of the villains ie Silik being controlled by the shadow guy, then you have the Xindi and the sphere-builders, and lastly you have the aliens that travel back to WW2.
Personally I found enterprise at its best when it was dealing earths pre federation dealings with the early races of the federation such as the andorian/vulcan conflict. Also enjoyed the eugenics wars and not just because Brent Spiner was in it. I guess I enjoyed the show when it was more focused on broadening pre existing canon then making completely new stuff like the Xindi. Which atleast to me is kinda what prequel shows should be about.
Tripp being stereotyped as "Florida Man" may be my favorite new interpretation of a ST character
Ironic title considering the Xindi attack.
Sorry, you mean that there are people under 70 living in Florida??? Really???
@@Donnagata1409 Yup. Just 70. The rest are tourists and wildlife.
I loved Enterprise apparently more than most, especially Trip. But yeah.. I agree that is a pretty great joke.
“Hoshi is the hot nerd.” FINALLY someone that agrees!!
Who thinks Hoshi is not hot?
Hoshi was very hot.
I'm not sure who was arguing. She showed up in about as many fanservice scenes as T'Pol and Trip, the other two HVAC techs on the show.
Shinzon would certainly agree!
@@feralguyver you need only watch “In a Mirror, Darkly” to know that.
I found Phlox was the most "Star Fleet" member of the crew - he was always about learning about new cultures, and reminded other crew members of their primary mission.
Which is ironic, as he's just there because he happened to know what a Klingon was.
Phlox is amongst the best characters in all of star trek, not just Enterprise.
Absolutely agree.
He was great, but I think Garak and Quark are better
Couldn’t agree more. Imo, Billingsley and Blalock carried the show.
@@adamskeans2515 I agree, although I believe if Phlox got as much screen time and as many story lines as Garak or Quark got, I might be able to argue they are on par
Phlox, and to a lesser extent Trip, carried ENT on their backs. I've been saying that since the show first aired. The writers didn't know what they wanted from the captain, they had a set-up for T'Pol that they didn't follow through on, they ignored the hot nerd and the veteran space traveler, and they rendered their solider obsolete by adding space Marines. Phlox and Trip seemed to be the only people who got personality and a solid foundation. Honestly, Phlox is one of the best characters in the franchise and it sucks that we don't have more of him.
They were the two strongest actors on the show, and that pains me to say with Scott Bakula in the cast.
I liked that Phlox had his own moral compass as an alien doctor. Often even when we have alien doctors in Star Trek, they are basically just humans in a facemask. They made some effort to actually make Phlox's approach to things be a cultural different at times.
Dr Selar is not amused! 😣
I have had the discussion of "which star trek doctor would you want as your trans health care provider?" with many other trans star trek fans. Phlox always wins first. He delights in differences, he's empathetic, curious, always eager to learn more, always willing to acknowledge he doesn't know everything, and has limitations. These are traits we wish our own often dogmatic healthcare providers had
Yeah. I definitely wouldn't want McCoy as my trans healthcare provider. Haa...
There's also a chance you can have sex with his wife.
gonna have to go with voyagers doc.
@@leion800 not a bad choice either
Julian is shown to just be able to do a whole body gender swap in record time though. Does he lose out for being less ethical and understanding?
Porthos is clearly the best crew member/character.
> The Fauves have entered the chat
> ruclips.net/video/lxM7sLT0rQE/видео.html&feature=shares
He was a good boy.
For me it's definitely Chef. 👌
(Not the Will Riker version 😠)
Right. After all, Trip even said that Archer would be more comfortable with Porthos on the bridge.
Where do he poo
I met John Billingsley at the London Trek Con last year and he was absolutely wonderful to talk to. His performances in ENT were brilliant and a great example of Trek getting it right with truly alien alien characters.
Yes, Phlox was one of the few Trek characters to come across as actually alien. Relatable enough that you forget most of the time, but then doing or saying something every so often that was just weird and slightly unsettling.
I met him a few times when we were in a small movie together, and didn't put it together that he was Phlox until the premiere (or more specifically, watching 2012 on a lark and going "oh neat, what else was he... in... SONUVABITCH!" in between filming and said premiere)
I find it especially satisfying that his alien cultural differences feel relatable, especially as a (mostly) human being who has explored around the edges of a great many subcultures and countercultures here on 20th-21st century Earth.
KEWL!!
As a Floridian, I loved all the jabs at Florida via Trip. That was super fun to watch!
I was shocked to find out he’s not from anywhere near there (he’s actually from Washington), because he does a pretty solid southern accent!
My dad would relate to Phlox. He tried to bring up my sister, brother and myself without the stupidity of his generation when it came to race, ethnicity, religion, etc, and he was successful in that. He said that was one of the things that brought made him proud, that his children were not repeating the stupidity of his generation. At the same time, he said one of his two biggest regrets of his life was that he could not completely rid himself of his generation’s stupidity. That made me respect him all the more, that he was self-aware of his own flaws and that he could overcome them to do what was right.
Yikes
@@gunfighterzero ?
A bit off topic, but speaking of “dear doctor” I’m reminded of how Dr Crusher would always choose life no matter what the ethical nuances were. She seemed to always share my gut instinct for how and whom to help. Prime directive be damned Beverly will do what is right!!! I always loved the dynamic of her and Picard arguing over the spirit of the law versus the letter of the law.
It wasn't so much about the prime directive as his moral code for changing the natural order and development of a world.
Imagine how our world would be if an alien race diverted the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs. Would humans have made it past the early developmental stages
Life isn't always the most ethical choice. Usually, but not always.
" There's no way they're killing off Trip" Followed by the Sarcastic haha's gave me My 1st good laugh of the day. Thanks Steve.
"Is that show any good?" That show is *so* good, an absolute must watch
One of my favourite Phlox bits is from the first season, where we learn about his species' sleeping habits, explaining why he keeps such strange hours. He's such an interesting character. And he's great when woken up early.
Doctor's Orders is one of my favorite Enterprise episodes. It was a great Phlox episode and Billingsley played someone struggling with solitude perfectly. The balance of depicting T'Pol as both a valued social confidant and yet utterly impotent when it comes to physically doing anything helpful was pretty brilliant.
I kinda wish the episode with Phlox being alone on the ship ended with Archer playing an edited reel of Phlox wandering the halls nude and saying "You know there are security cameras everywhere, right? Just because you were the only one awake doesn't mean you should be strutting your stuff everywhere."
I don't think it would have bothered Phlox at all!
@@hankclay1376 Agreed. But it would have been another great opportunity for Phlox to lecture the humans about being uptight.
*always found it very odd that the very obvious fact of the cameras being everywhere on the ship was not brought up more often*
"And? Wait, don't tell me, this is another one of your human hangups... You really are a fascinating species, but the Vulcans are less uptight."
"Why, Captain, what makes you think I wasn't aware of the cameras?" Cue CGI smile.
"Hippocrates wasn't Denobulan" is one of my favorite lines in all of Trek.
One of my favorite scenes with Phlox was when he confronted the Vulcan doctor that was examining Archer in "The Expanse."
"You come to my sickbay under false pretenses? Where are your medical ethics?!"
Other good Phlox episodes are "Affliction" and "Divergence," when he deceived the Klingons while trying to cure them (without the Augment enhancements that the Klingons were originally aiming for). 🖖😎👍
I almost didn't give him a chance; I was so afraid of another Neelix. Love your work.
It's how they wrote him. He's a good doctor. The other was a bad cook. Never write someone who's characteristic is bad skills.
Same. Not to mention the creepy, stretchy face smile. Really glad they didnt feel the need to make him do that ever episode.
Whoever wrote his character, made him a "serious character" with a sense of humor and a point to be there vs a silly character with a sense of humor and no point.
He might have been a bad cook, but he was a very good morale officer.
@@TheSorrel: I didn't find him to be that bad as a character, either. As an "alien" being, the same as Phlox, he just had his own culture that he was raised in, and he attempted to adjust to the culture of the crew he found himself with, and use his skills and knowledge of the other Delta Quadrant denizens to aid them in their journey.
Even if he's not one's favorite, he's certainly the most FUN character.
Reflecting on these classic Phlox moments hit me a little differently than the first time I watched the series; because since my only watchthru, I've experienced my own journey of polyamory, parental estrangement, and job conflicts involving ethics. I enjoyed Phlox before; I think I admire him even more deeply now.
"Face eaten off by a bath salts cannibal" is probably the most fantastic summation of Florida I've ever seen.
Also sounds like a tagline to an episode of TOS.
Hi Steve. Great show. I remember a scene in the 2009 Star Trek movie where Scotty explains his exile to that ice planet was because Admiral Archer never forgave him for what he did to his beagle. Funny callback.
I didn't expect that when I watched for the 11th time.
Awesome take on the episode with the Antarrens. Like you said Steve, I was also raised with casually racist grandparents. My grandparents didn't hate black people they just didn't understand them and avoided them. They wouldn't treat a black person bad or anything they would just go to the moon and back to avoid them. They were a product of their times. My mother in particular raised me to treat everyone as equals. I've lived my life that way. Also being poor in Alabama in the 80s along side poor black people, white people and Hispanic people helped. None of us kids were any different. We were all BROKE AF. No time to be racist when you are playing in the dirt along side each other and eating the same meals!
I seem to remember Phlox’s species is pretty long lived. Assuming (based on nothing) the species they accidentally genocide 20 million people from have lifespans closer to humans, it might explain some of the cultural tensions, misgivings, resentments and the fear… like, Phlox could personally know people who carried out that genocide if he’s only one or two generations removed from the incident.
Even more likely, his "racist" grandma had many parents killed during those wars...
I loved Phlox as a doctor and as a character. I think one of the episodes you should have talked about was when Phlox was kidnapped by Klingons to help prevent a virus with augmented human DNA, resulting in the deformed cranial ridges, which was shown later in Star Trek, the original series. Phlox really pulled a "Boss" move by exposing the Klingon crew with the virus and forcing them not to destroy the colony world that they were working from, lol. The character was put under immense pressure, but adapted, kept his calm, was smart and cunning. More impressively, he didn't seem to hold any grudges against the Klingons for kidnapping him in the first place, given the circumstances. Maybe he was just experienced enough with people who were infected and desperate doing crazy actions to survive. I, for one, would love to see Phlox on his home-world, maybe when he retired or something, consulting on some matter.
An episode set on Denobula would have been very interesting, exploring its landscapes, culture and people. They did it somewhat with Vulcan and Andora a few times, but they didn't do it very often with other worlds.
Phlox is great, but I've always gravitated towards Trip. Trip's personality embodied the soul of the series - which was Star Trek but this time with ordinary people exploring the galaxy. I always liked when he talked with aliens and especially T'Pol with his salt-of-the-Earth demeanor clashing against their often-more formal cadences. Plus I think there's something hopeful and very Trek-inspired about a someone who on the surface could be caricatured as a Southern Yokel not only actually being very smart and innovative (he is the chief engineer after all) becoming more open to learn and respect people and cultures from different worlds. Loved that about Trip. Hated that he died for no reason in the finale. Happy the books kindly brought him back.
I feel like the writer wanted the audience to identify with Trip more than Archer!
You need to meet more southerners
And I loved his friendship with Malcolm
@@emmaincalicoespecially their banter in Shuttlepod One.
Been saying this since the beginning. The thing about Phlox is, he's easy-going. Not uptight and judgmental, like a Vulcan; just easy-going. There aren't many other recurring Trek characters like that. (Can't think of one, actually.) It takes real leverage to get under his skin, and very little fazes him in the way of plot complications; dude just has the full measure of self-confidence, without going overboard into arrogance.That's what made him so interesting, on a crew of typical prickly Trek go-getters.
John Billingsley is a WIN in whatever show you find him. I remember when Enterprise was released, and Billinglsey appeared in another Paramount property, “Out of Time.” Billingsley is a wonderful character actor. The legacy Star Trek show runners never miscasted the doctors, and Billingsley represented the very best of the great tradition of doctors.
Out of time is such an under appreciated movie. He was great in that
Phlox's imperfections are what gave him depth and made him relatable.
He was so... human.
Billingsly was awesome. Although my favorite appearance of his (in Enterprise, SG-1, and the Orville), was seeing him antagonize Robert Picardo's character in the Orville. He can play a hideously evil guy really well.
"Spock of Nine" had me on the floor. Well done.
Trip gets the engineer role but also the "old friend" trope like with riker and deanna, jadzia and sisko, janeway and tuvok.
Ooh good point. Multiple tropes. Tropes for days.
@@matthewgelfer4955 LOL
I have died with laughter at Florida Man.
Yes, he is exactly that.
I was worried he was going to be a Neelix. I ended up liking him for multiple reasons including his unending curiosity of culture and science and multi-species knowledge of biology. He's an amazing wealth of knowledge, but still so open-minded. Not stuck to textbooks like so many rl doctors
Had Enterprise gone to Season 5 we'd probably have found out that the Romulan war really started because Archer nuked them for holding his dog to ransom.
I accept it as canon.
Plausible lol
Archer certainly had potential to be a vengeful badass, perhaps even genocidal. But, to invoke a certain green muppet from another notable science fiction franchise, “John Wick, Archer was not.”
On Phlox's sexuality, which you briefly brought up - They seemed willing to give him agency in his sexuality, something rarely afforded to any other character in Enterprise, be it via the eyeroll inducing decontamination scenes that felt like they were entirely present for the audience's gaze. Or that 'comedy' mpreg rape plot that to my recollection the show refused to acknowledge was a rape plotline in the case of Unexpected.
...Meanwhile Keating was attempting to play Reed as gay and just getting nothing from the writers to support it (...Funny how that was a trend for Trek shows in the 90s, actors wanting either their character to be bi or gay, love interests portrayed by someone of their gender, or the show to have gay representation generally and just... That not happening)
But Reed is always straight anyway, so I guess that's a good thing.
I am upset that John Billingsey was not asked to reprise his role on strange new worlds it was shameful they asked him to reaudition for his role, he was brilliant as Phlox
Hello, do you have a source that I could read that way I can be upset legitimately?
My understanding is they didnt even know he played a character in enterprise and wanted him to audition for *another* role in snw.
I finally came around to watch Enterprise for the first time. And I got to say, it's been a fantastic show so far. Well fleshed out characters, appealing stories and a strong own identity. I feel like this one is a real underrated gem, and Phlox for sure is the most interesting of the bunch.
Re: the Menk and Valakians, the thing that kills me is that you could have just had Phlox not find a cure and made the dilemma "do we give this slave-owning society warp drive technology to save them from extinction?" At least then a refusal would make *some* sense.
They could have also just taken the moral stance of "they enslaved another fully sentient species. Fuck 'em." at least that would have shown some guts.
That would have been no less intrusive in thier natural order
@@richardarriaga6271 but that isn't an option here, the slave race doesn't get to be free unless the masters die, unless the Enterprise is going to go TOTAL interventionist ie the opposite of prime directive, and get into nation building, which takes generations to do successfully. I always thought it was an ethical judgement against the slavers. If they had not been slavers, he would have given them the cure.
@@farshnuke if they weren't slavers he would've given them the cure obviously. It's just trying to make it look like it's not his decision but nature's/gods.
@@rickwrites2612 I don't buy that. Phlox actually *defends* the Valakians' treatment of the Menk when another crew member questions it, and tells her to stop being so judgemental about other cultures. The writers clearly did not realise that they wrote the Menk as slaves, because none of the main cast see anything wrong with how they're treated and it does not factor into anyone's thinking at any point during the episode - aside from that one crew member, but she's just told to respect the Valakians' right to treat the Menk like shit because at least the Valakians are not actively committing genocide against them. That was not why he refused to hand over the cure.
Also, *hard* disagree with the idea that genocide is a justifiable punishment for...well, anything. I'd lose no sleep if the Menk violently overthrew the Valakians and the leaders were all guillotined, but there's a huge moral difference between that and guillotining every single member of a sapient species, including the children. My argument wasn't that it would be morally justifiable to let them all die preventable deaths because their society kept slaves, it was that giving these people Warp Drive technology might be like giving the 19th-century British Empire nuclear power. Giving the Valakian leadership Warp Drive could easily lead to them building an interplanetary slave empire. "You don't know what the consequences would be" would actually be a sensible argument if it was a choice between "allow this entire species to die preventable deaths" or "risk the ruling class abusing your advanced technology to found a powerful slave empire."
I absolutely ADORE Dr Phlox. I wish we had more material regarding his species and culture. Would absolutely love another Denobulan (probably spelled that wrong) character in new Trek.
I feel like in Phlox they perfected the sort of jovial wit that Neelix was supposed to have on Voyager. It helps that in Phlox's case he is paired with an actual field of competence. Something Neelix lacked, which is why he rubbed so many people as obnoxious.
Enterprise will always have a special place in my heart, as it was the only one I watched every week as it came out and fell in love with the characters.
While I think you're underselling one of my first crushes in Reed, Phlox is unquestionably the best character and arguably the best doctor across the franchise in my humble opinion. I mean that on a writing level, but also on a literal level- are we forgetting some of the crazy stuff he pulls off with some rather unorthodox medical equipment? Don't insult to McCoy's bag or one of my first crushes in Bashir, but I'd want Phlox on my ship. Him and all his little pets.
P. S. We all know Shran is the other best character on this show.
I feel like "Dear Doctor" was a really good story premise, that could have worked, and been uncontroversial, if evolution worked like the writers think it does. Sadly, it doesn't, and that fact turns Dr Phlox from an ethical, humble physician, bowing to the predestined nature of the universe, to a lazy eugenicist. I'm not sure how you'd rewrite the episode so it works, but I really wish the room full of professional writers behind it had done that work, the genesis episode of the Prime Directive deserved better.
His ethics were the correct choice for the overall development of that planet
I think you would totally enjoy resident alien!! It’s a solidly written positive world outlook comedy with a touch of drama sci-fi wrapped up in a mystery and of course Alan Tudyk.
I love the sarcastic ways you describe whats happening in the videos. It is one of my favorite things you do.
I love how Phlox and his extended family show the idea of polyamory and multiple partners in a positive and healthy light.
It woulda been nice if we’d been able to see it on screen instead of just being mentioned occasionally.
@@sebastiang7394 Right but we're talking about polyamory, not polygamy, religious-or-otherwise.
Hopefully showing it on Star Trek encouraged people to educate themselves on the subject. _cough cough_
This!
I found him annoying.
Umm dunno, between Phlox's lines you can hear him talking about a society that is familiar with drama, with exhausting family life, which might be the reason his species was so warlike in the past.
I agree, Phlox was great for all the mentioned reasons. In some way Dr. Phlox is like Dr. Zoidberg. Both are from a different species and culture amongst a mostly human crew, and those differences become part of the character, without becoming the all the character is.
And Archer as lead had the opportunity to mess up first contact with many of the known Trek species, and he didn't disappoint on that front.
And what I love the most about "Dear Doctor" is that it stays ambiguous whether or not the crew made the right choice.
We have many episodes where our heroes end up being forced to influence a civilization and have to make a choice, and usually the option they choose end up being the right one. The shows tell us that much. But in "Dear Doctor" they don't. There is talk if changing the course is their right to do and which option is the morally right one.
And in the end the choice Archer (as the captain) and Phlox (as the professional in the field) go with is ambiguous.
I guess that is why people are so split about the episode. Our heroes don't do the obviously "good" thing and some people don't like that, while others enjoy seeing a crew with flaws to outgrow.
And "The Breach" reminds me of the Voyager episode "Jetrel", where we get two species that had nasty conflicts in the past and who still distrust each other. With one who decides that he should make good on what people in the past did and trying to convince the person from the other culture that they should leave the past behind.
"Similitude" reminds me of "Tuvix" and "Doctor's Orders" reminds me of "One", in both cases Voyager had a similar premise for the episode (sacrificing one person for another and going around an area taking to long, so they put everyone to sleep and one person has to fly the ship), but both shows go at it differently.
Trip and Archer morphing into Tuviks and Janeway caught me so off guard that I had to pause the video to literally laugh out loud!
I've only seen the first two seasons of Enterprise, but I loved Phlox. Always nice to see a polyamorous icon in media
@@Josep_Hernandez_Lujan that's what I heard, I just never got around to finishing it
@@Josep_Hernandez_Lujan 4 is my favourite of the bunch, mostly because we see a lot more of humanity’s space colonisation in it, rather than solely going places they’d never been before. Cold Station 12, the Luna and Mars colonies, and interstellar diplomacy. (I also like the episodes earlier on with the freighter ships for the same reason.)
Oh man 🤣🤣🤣 the 'Trip is Tuvix' & 'Archer is Janeway' thing 😂😂😂
The good doctor was certainly one of my favorites. Such an engaging personality and such a kindness and desire to help others.
Don't get me wrong I love Phlox! But I find most of the characters on Enterprise to be very relatable. I think it's because the show is built so to have characters more like current era humans.
Hoshi is a complete and utter language nerd. If it's not about language she doesn't care or she'll bring it back to a linguistic topic.I have a friend just like that (but a biology nerd).
I relate to Archer a fair amount. He starts a new job very excited and he realizes that it's nothing like he expected it to be. And it kind of suck. And he doesn't really know what he is doing. Who has NOT been there?
I like Enterprise’s characters, i mean even Malcolm gets a little interesting/sympathetic. But man it was so damn annoying seeing how Enterprise felt like taking another step back, it felt more old-fashioned/conservative in terms of casting a bit like Voyager. Especially becuz its the early 2000s and the writers literally only included American/Anglo characters for the humans. THREE of the main cast are American, one is a Korean-American actress, another is British, and then we have two aliens. But seriously why the hell did they have to have such boring stereotypical American characters, mr florida and mr nantucket from whatever southern state he’s from. The fun of star trek is the diverse backgrounds, let alone their personalities. I think after DS9 the diversity/uniqueness of the crew really seemed to falter a lot, like no one could think to give any character a non-Anglo background??? I mean get rid of Travis first of all cuz he’s the character clearly abandoned by the writers with nothing interesting. Malcolm is so plain and not much beyond military-raised British dude. And the Captain is an interesting character but with no interesting background. Hoshi is cool if they’d actually use her more
I am glad someone finally said it! He was the primary reason I watched the show.
I had a pretty terrible night with a medical emergency, hospital and no sleep and I was thinking about Phlox's weird smile and how little sleep he needs. Oh how I wish I could sleep as little as that and live a perfectly healthy life. I could doom scroll twice as much.
I think I said this in our exchange on Twitter when you announced you were working on this video, but Phlox is my favorite CMO. No disrespect intended towards "Bones" (OG or Urban), or any of the others. There's something about the character that really appeals to me.
Re: the dog getting sick / A Night in Sickbay. That whole situation was brought on by Archer. It's his fault the dog is sick. He willingly brought the dog down to an unknown planet, and exposed it to whatever pathogens, diseases and so on that the planet has. The dog does what dogs do, and then he got sick. Yeah, that sucks, but at the end of the day Archer was willing to strand his crew in the ass-end of space (they were out of spare "plasma injectors") years away from Earth or any friendly ship all because he was racist (specist) towards the Kretassans for their "strange" behaviors. That's the mark of an incompetent and morally dubious lunatic, not a Starfleet Captain. The Kretassans were mad because the dog pissed on their sacred trees, and all they wanted was an apology on their terms. Archer was willing to kill his entire crew, and the dog, because he was unwilling to swallow his pride and apologize for the dogs actions; until it was the last possible minute and FINALLY acquiesced. Which is why I say Archer is an experiment to show what would happen if a completely unprepared and incompetent person were put in charge of a Starship. Whether that was intentional or not is left to the writers/creators of Enterprise. Why Archer is seen on lists of Great Captains in future series/movies and has spacedocks named after him is beyond me.
Ethical Nonmonogamy is tragically underrepresented (as are many other groups), so phlox is much appreciated!
I can speak personally on that one.
"...you'd think his parents are Counselor Troi and Tinkerbell." I f'ing lost it! 😂
I see Phlox as the best “point of view” character in Star Trek, he’s in my understanding *the* alien point of view character he’s on the other side of the usual POV character as at this point there’s literally no non human’s officially in Starfleet Phlox is there as an observer watching these crazy humans being both Amused and at times scared to death of them! Yes I know Spock was the outsider character in TOS but his observations are how the humans dont relate to him. Phlox is just bubbling over with WTF do I get to see today!
A 42-minute video dedicated to the absolutely beauty that is Phlox? This is everything I want from life
Resident Alien is legitimately hilarious
Love the "Tommy from Galaxy Quest" line. Nailed it indeed!
The Berman Era had it's shortcomings; with "Enterprise" being the Apotheosis (of sorts) for those quirks.
But I have to say Characters that could've been reduced to mere Comic Relief were given dramatic range/Depth,
I'm thinking of Phlox,Neelix,and Quark Respectively
I think the most relatable Phlox moment is actually in Similitude. I've made clones to harvest their brains so many times I've lost count, and it's always a struggle to decide whether to kill clone and harvest its brain or heed its desperate pleas for life
lmao
It was a total cop out to make it seem like Sim chose to sacrifice. He was coerced and basically told they'd kill him either way.
I recommend watching Resident Alien if you’re down for fish out of water comedy specifically. Important: it’s a show about an alien trying to fit into human society, not House but and alien.
There's a novel by Eduardo Mendoza, "No news from Gurb". If you like alien POV, that's a treat.
I haven't made it through the full video yet so maybe you mention this, but my favorite part of Phlox's character was that he truly was as curious and excited to explore the universe as the human characters. The Vulcans in Enterprise give off the impression that they have no interest in exploration (even though they clearly do and their objection to that characterization seems purely semantic but my issues with the Vulcans, particularly in Enterprise could not be summarized in the character limit of a youtube comment...) And the Andorians seem to only care about expansion. Season 1 in general seems to try to imply that curiosity is a uniquely human trait which, I find very lame. Anyway, it was very gratifying to see a non-human character display the kind of curiosity and lust for adventure that is often reserved for human characters in this kind of media and especially for whatever reason in Enterprise. Also Phlox's healthy supportive relationship with his polycule is goals.
OMG you are one of the funniest people I have ever heard! Great Show. Appreciate the laughs and loved "magic breast implant" and "grows up so fast you'd think his parents are Troi and Tinkerbell." 😆
Honestly, I dont count the episode "Dear Doctor" when trying to form an oppinion about Phlox and Archer. This is one of those episodes where the characters are not doing terrible things due to their establishe personalities/flaws/beliefs but because the writers forced them to make those things so the plot could happen
Same. Also with Progenitor. I know people who refuse to even look at those two characters because of these two episodes, but I can basically put it out of my mind as “not canon” for the characters’ values and motivations.
Great vid as always, "I haven't killed millions... directly" had me laughing out loud (not great as I'm in the office... sshhhh).
Separately, whenever Enterprise is discussed it reminds me what a waste of potential it was. Esp. Mayweather actually, having a space-trucker as the driver could (read should) have led to all manner of hijinks and character moments, instead of the [struggles to think of any interesting Travis events] we got.
And not to mention musics dating back to the truckers of old.
This was a good one, thank you. Phlox was a really fun character, and John Billingsley was excellent in the role.
You are so good at breeching "the culture war" topics positively, whether it be in star trek or your regular video... Some youtubers actively avoid any social commentary and relation of fiction to our real world. I just hope people see your videos, then slowly make the (very obvious) IRL connection you're making. Keep it up.
Alien disses Porthos.
Archer: "We'll nuke the planet. It's the only way to be sure."
Phlox was definitely my favorite and we needed more episodes with his species we probably would have gotten in later seasons, but Tucker was just the best. Man's was an adorable ride or die. What's not to love?
Getting ready to watch now, but I will pre-emptively say that I whole-heartedly agree! Love me some Phlox. BTW: There's a great interview with Billingsley on the Enterprise podcast (with Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating) on RUclips.
Easily my favorite character in Enterprise. Second series in a row (Voyager) where the doc was the best and most interesting character.
Hippocrates was not Denobulan😂. Great line in the episode not quoted here, great episode.
I absolutely love Enterprise, and love the character interaction of the cast, Phlox is an interesting character.
Archer is ENTs best character IMO as he has the most complex moral dilemmas, especially in season 3, character growth re relationship with Vulcan etc.
I always enjoy your comedic narration of the various episode descriptions
Once again I agree with you. I love his pragmatic approach. When I think of StarTrek Doctors, I think of naive, the world is black and white doctor. Which never made sense to me since Starfleet, while primarily peaceful organization, IS a military force first. Phlox brings the views and approach to the world that is embodies the ideals of what would become the Federation. I also loved his ethical dilemmas. Sure the captain gets some good ones but they seem to just be rehashes of old questions.
Like Archer's Sim question comes down to being just a rehash of the Tuvix question. And gets the same answer. Which in both cases, I think was the wrong answer but at least it made Archer and Janeway fallible. But Phlox, he got questions unique to him, and on top of that played ship's therapist with many of the characters. And through him posing them with questions that were very thought provoking. His views, shaped by his culture and experience provided great material for the human crew to learn to acceptance and a non-judgmental attitude towards other cultures. Lessons they never seemed to learn.
Honestly, I've never been able to decide if he is wrong in "Dear Doctor" but I love that. His ethical argument has enough validity that you can puzzle over it for years after the show.
Nice job going all Honest Trailers when you named the crew.
The part about Phlox being uncomfortable around the antaran(that has to be a typo) is apparent in the episode but the real question would be is he uncomfortable being around him because of what the other alien is or uncomfortable because of what his people did in the past
I agree with most of these thoughts and I love that you brought up that moment when he nearly shot Porthos. However I can't agree that he's the best character in Enterprise. The best character is Porthos. He has faced down phaser fire, spacial anomalies, sentient spiderjizz, and getting goneria from pissing on an alien tree. Every time he's on screen he's the most interesting character there, and his journey from a cheese addict to a (mostly) dairy-free doggo until Scotty vaporized him in the Kelvin timeline is an amazing character arc.
Porthos. Talking about Doctor Phlox and Porthos, the conversation I remember most between Phlox and Archer came from early season one, where Phlox asked Archer why humans are so close to these “inferior quadrupeds”. And Archer, like most humans, tried to explain our relationship with dogs, but struggles as we don’t even fully understand our relationship with dogs.
@@powerofk I would’ve probably said something like “well, we evolved together. Dogs’ ancestors spontaneously started cooperating with our ancestors on hunts and protected us in camp, so in many ways we wouldn’t exist without them. This has left a mutualist bond between our species, perhaps on a genetic level”. I suspect Phlox would at least respect that more, if not be able to directly appreciate it.
Tommy from Galaxy Quest, lol. That had me laughing so hard, I started to cough bad lol.
Even before Enterprise went all Space War on Terror, I thought of Archer as a stand-in for George Bush. He even looked the part to a scary degree.
That’s really interesting, a gf of mine calls him Space George Bush too. I’ve never seen the similarity - if anything I think Bakula looks more like Bush Sr, but even that is a stretch to me. Maybe I’m focused too much on how narrow Bakula’s head is compared to W’s, and maybe you’re focusing more on other aspects.
I agreed with you about Phlox being Enterprise's best character even before watching this. He was definitely eccentric and could be goofy and funny but he also had as much gravitas as any other character of the show.
They certainly tried to do the eccentric alien before. Phlox could have turned out to be a clown. Yes he was slapstick, but they MADE him competent. For which i am thankful.
By contrast, they wrote inept cooking into Neelix's character. Had he been an effective chef, he would not have come across as goofy.
Ironically Neelix was actually a decent chef by about halfway through the show, once he finally stopped being Local Guide. But then his reputation stuck.
Really relate to what you said. About growing up surrounded by people with bigoted attitudes, and living a life rejecting those beliefs and the need to always remember where you came from. It's such an important thing.
Phlox made me laugh like never before on many occasions.
i can't argue with this. phlox and maybe archer are the only characters on the show that feel like they could have fell into the other shows. Phlox and The Doctor are by far my favorite medical officers.
I actually relate to the Antaran which is what makes Breach my favorite episode. Thank you for "taking his side" for a couple of minutes.
Wow there is nothing that would make me refuse life saving care just based on the doctors inborn identity alone. Hell, I wouldn't even if based on active politics of hate. It seems ridiculous, if nothing else he owes me.
I'm early to a Steve Shives! I love these videos so much, you're very good at presenting ideas
Dr. Phlox was a great character, and John Billingsley was amazing!
I am a Florida native. I was really surprised when I saw Connor Trinneer in an interview explaining that he is from Calif and was acting the accent. He did an outstanding job acting it. He fooled me.
Phlox was definitely one of the best parts of Enterprise... and yes Resident Alien is well worth watching.
He kinda reminds me of Dr. Zoidberg. Like a non human doctor on humanity's first deep space ship. "Don't worry, bro, on my planet I'm a vet."
I was hilariously fun-struck in the third season of what we do in the shadows, as lazlo, Nadiya and Nandor found Scott Bacula's facetime, and tried to expose him as a vampire in hiding..
What the heck is that even about?
Trip's supposed death (in Holo Ep) is not canon. It's Riker"s recollection of Enterprise era events.
No, its canon; all the excuses/workarounds are from non-canon/beta-canon works. Oh, not saying I agree with it, but until there is any evidence that the events weren't accurate come to light - on screen - they canonically killed off Trip in that dumbassed way.
@@Sephiroth144
Agreed; it's canon. A lot of details in a holodeck simulation can be inaccurate, but not something as well-documented as an officer's death.
That said, I have my own Star Trek headcanon that discounts it as well as all the ST:TNG movies (that's right, I don't care for any of them; not even 'First Contact').
It's canon, and it's realistic.
Death is almost always a lottery. One day you're fine, the next... a stroke, heart attack, a fall, some drunk driver hits you, etc. It's just pure dumb luck, and you almost never have control over it. Few people ever get the chance to go out heroically on their own terms.
Ask any soldier who's seen real combat, and they'll tell you just how random and stupid and pointless death can be, and how it can strike down anybody at any random time. All it takes is for a piece of shrapnel to come in at just the right angle, and boom, it hits your jugular instead of your helmet.
@@JanetStarChildokay dude, chill tf out. What is this obsession with non-canon, you don’t like the movies, fine, deal with it, how pathetic do u have to be to get so worked up to invent any excuse for them being non-canon. They are canon, just live with it you weirdo
Hey Steve! Thanks for making my day better with this wonderful video!
Preaching to the choir as far as I'm concerned. Actually, you managed to put into words my vague feelings about the doctor. Definitely one of my favourites of all ST characters.
He was definitely the highlight of Enterprise. I loved it when he played the psychopathic killer on those episodes of Cold Case. Scary!