The Enterprise visits an interstellar medical conference, at which Dr. Phlox is looking forward to obtaining some new medical supplies while visiting his second wife (Melinda Page Hamilton). Phlox has another reason for wanting to attend the conference, as well. The forced mind meld T'Pol was subjected to in Season One has resulting in her contracting a Vulcan neurological disease. Though T'Pol urges him not to discuss the disease with the Vulcan medical contingent, Phlox feels he has no choice.
Phlox's request for information, though veiled by the doctor as being of interest to his own species, arouses the Vulcans' suspicion. The disease is spread only through mind-melding, a practice that the Vulcans currently regard as abhorrent and deviant. As Ronald Reagan is the Vulcan President, curing AIDS is not currently a priority (well, if they're not going to subtle with their allegory, why should I?). Now T'Pol finds herself facing a Vulcan inquiry, which could result in her reassignment.
CHARACTERS
Capt. Archer: Scott Bakula's performance is at its best when Archer is either angry or frustrated. In this episode, he gets to be both. Bakula is terrific when he's confronting the Vulcans, looking for all the world like he's restraining himself from physically attacking them. For all his anger, he doesn't deal with the situation entirely impulsively. Instead, he reviews the rules and procedures, and uses them to earn T'Pol a hearing.
T'Pol: Refuses to reveal that the mind meld was forced upon her, because she will not confirm the High Command's prejudices even to benefit herself. Conceals her condition from Archer, and ultimately makes Archer promise to go along with her refusal to disclose what happened.
Trip: Gets the "B" plot of the episode, continuing the second season's inistence on having Trip be prominent in seemingly every show. At least he's not the centerpiece of this one, and his subplot with Phlox's wife is amusing. Connor Trinneer does well with Trip's discomfort with the woman's advances, and the scene in which he confesses all to Phlox is quite amusing - not least for Phlox's reaction.
Dr. Phlox: A Phlox-heavy episode is always welcome, all the moreso given how relatively little focus has been given to Phlox in recent episodes. Here, we see more of the Denobulan culture. It turns out, Phox wasn't being at all immoral by the standards of his own species when he encouraged Cutler's crush on him despite being married. His culture is evidently very open about sexuality, and not at all monogamous.
We also see a lot of Phlox in his role as Doctor, where he is willing to get himself into trouble, to the point of making himself persona non grata at the medical conference, rather than compromise either the welfare or the confidentiality of his patients. When Archer hauls him on the carpet for keeping the situation from him, Phlox has no apologies. He calmly replies by citing doctor/patient confidentiality. He finds the Vulcans' refusal to prioritize a cure for a potentially deadly disease repugnant, and when he does get some research, believes he can make some strides toward better treatments at a faster rate than the current Vulcan High Command is likely to do.
THOUGHTS
OK, so the episode doesn't win any points for subtelty with its Reagan era AIDS allegory. Some of the Vulcan rhetoric comes almost word-for-word from the right wing rhetoric regarding AIDS at that time, and there's never any doubt as to what this episode is actually "about."
That said, this is a good episode. I might have wished for more subtelty, but I'm quite happy with what we got. The episodes looking at 22nd century Vulcan society have consistently been among Enterprise's most interesting, no matter how much they may annoy a certain strand of Trekkies/Trekkers. It's interesting to see the hypocrisy with which this particular Vulcan society greets anything that compromises its worldview, and to see hints of the division within Vulcan culture. It's good to see the series returning to one of its more interesting strands. I hope this leads to furhter developments in the future.
It's a particularly strong episode for T'Pol, as we see her character breaking ever more from the mainstream of Vulcan society. Early T'Pol was more or less in lockstep with the Vulcan High Command. She has already begun questioning acts sanctioned by the High Command, and now we see her displaying a lot of courage in defying their prejudices. Even when she receives the needed research and is "acquitted" (she got it from a rape, so it's OK to consider her a victim. It's those willing hedonists who aren't to be sympathized with, y'know), she makes clear her intention to continue fighting, which earns Archer's full approval.
Rating: 7/10
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