A Night in Sickbay

I know, sex is part of life, but these people seem a little overly obsessed with it. I find it disappointing and a little disgusting, the way Archer acted throughout this episode; not only the sexual tension bull pucky with T'Pol, but also the dog. I love dogs, but I would never presume to take my dog to some alien planet, for the dog's safety. I honestly don't think the dog should be on the Enterprise in the first place. Archer wants something from these people, but instead of doing whatever he can to be nice and try to observe their cultural requirements, he acts like an arrogant asshole. The best part of this episode, and the only reason it got a 4 instead of a 1, was the scene with Archer and the Doctor trying to catch the bat; that was entertaining.

This was a fun episode for me. It never tries to take itself too seriously.

I got a kick out of how Archer showed love and concern for his dog Porthos.

It was also fun to watch the tension between Archer and TPaul.

I've enjoyed his juvenile attitude towards the race he offended twice now.

If you're looking for some huge story arc or space battles or something that has to do with an anomaly this is not an episode for you.

A Night in Sickbay is a truly bizarre and unusually dramatic episode of enterprise. Unlike most episodes of this series, the action focuses on character development. If you were to watch the series episode by episode, this one would likely increase your understanding of Captain Jonathan Archer tenfold, your understanding of Doctor Flox by about double, and would also provide nice insights into the character of T'pol.

Archer's achilles heal turns out to be his beagle Porthos. Porthos is sick with a life threatening illness, and Scott Bakula does a great job of acting out a manic, somewhat deranged Captain Archer as he crumbles under the stress of the possible loss of his best friend. For once, we are presented with a Captain Archer who is not guided by his best lights of professionalism. Stress also affects his job performance, as he can not concentrate on an important diplomatic mission, and repeatedly offends those who he is negotiating with.

In the end, the story offers a nice take on a Star Trek theme which can be traced back to the first series - how even the most powerful members of a team need every member of that team to get them where they need to go.

Trip advises that the Enterprise needs one additional plasma injector for safety reasons, and Captain Archer contacts the Kreetassans, who produce a high quality device. However, the aliens end their conversation feeling offended again with some unknown attitude of the diplomatic group and Archer returns upset to Enterprise. While in the contamination chamber, Dr. Phlox finds that the immunologic system of Porthos is affected by a pathogen from the planet, and puts the dog in quarantine in the sickbay. Archer spends the night in the sickbay with Pathos and Dr. Phlox, and learns about the life of the Deobulans, sexual tension and humbleness to say I am sorry.

"A Night in the Sickbay" is a different episode based on the friendship of Captain Archer with his pet and the revelations of Dr. Phlox. The unbalanced attitude of Archer, prioritizing his dog over the needs of the Enterprise, is weird and unexplainable, disclosing a total level of lack of professionalism and childish behavior. The low paced story has funny moments but also silly ones, and I liked the dream of Archer with the gorgeous and sexy T'Pol. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Uma Noite na Enfermaria" ("A Night in the Sickbay")

I confess, I really like this goofy episode. I read over all of the reviews here, and, in many ways, the reviewers managed to point out aspects of this odd little episode that fly in the face of what Trek is all about -- duty, responsibility, open-mindedness to alien civilizations, etc.

Obviously, why Archer chooses to bring his dog to the planet is a head scratcher. He explains that even Porthos deserves a little fresh air sometimes, but, given the importance of the visit -- to acquire some much needed hardware for the ship -- it is ill-conceive to risk offending the natives of this planet who we know to be a sensitive lot based on the last time the crew of Enterprise met them.

Nevertheless, I think the other reviewers are being a little bit slavish in their commitment to "Trek-canonical continuity", or whatever you want to call it, and would be well disposed to suspend their religious-like devotion to the tenets of Starfleet, and enjoy the goofiness of this very good-natured episode.

From the suggestion that Archer subconsciously lusts after SubCommander T'Pol -- and his amusing Freudian slips in support thereof -- to the sappy-but-compelling story of a grown man's genuine affection for his quadraped, and, well, the "heart" of this episode defeats the logic of it, handily.

If you are willing to enjoy it as an intergalactic drawing room comedy, and not an "affront" to all that is sacred Trek-wise**, it's an amusing and, at times, touching episode.

** As much as I love Trek in all its incarnations, I certainly do not share the absurd conviction of those humourless drones who seem to view the show as sacred text, and Gene Roddenberry as their saint. If every episode involved a serious inquiry into the manifold issues of intergalactic travel, the prime directive, and the philosophical implications of exploring the galaxy...well, then the various series would be crushed under their own self-important weight, and the concepts themselves would implode, pulling the entire series into a dull, lifeless black hole of preachy sanctimony. The series needs -- nay, demands episodes like this one, if for no other reason than to remind the viewers that, particularly in the early years of warp-speed space exploration, mistakes and folly were as much a part of the growth process as revelation and enlightenment.

In short to the naysayers: lighten up. It's just a television show.