Cogenitor

It took me awhile, but I finally warmed up to Enterprise. My least favorite character was Capt. Archer. He struck me as exceedingly arrogant and narcissistic. This episode epitomizes that perception. At the end of the episode when Captain Archer is berating Commander Tucker, Tucker tells the Capt that he was just doing what the Captain would have done, and that is absolutely true. The Captain replies "If that's true, then I've done a pretty lousy job setting an example around here", also absolutely true.

Let's recount some examples of Archer's escapades:

Archer get's involved in "championing" the rights of the downtrodden in "Detained" (Season 1 Episode 20). He decides he "must" free the captive Suliban, even though he and Mayweather were going to be released.

Season 1 Episode 6, The Andorian Incident, he decides to go against the wishes of the Vulcans at the P'Jem sanctuary. Why? It is their facility; they have been through raids by the Andorians before; the Vulcans want to let the Andorians look until they're satisfied and leave. Archer won't respect the wishes of the Vulcans and his interference results in the destruction of the sanctuary.

Season 1 Episode 16, Fusion, Archer "orders"/strongly "suggests" T'Pol to spend time with the visiting Vulcans, even though she is clearly uneasy at the thought. The result, she is assaulted by one of the Vulcans and develops Pinar Syndrome.

Season 1, Episode 17, Rogue Planet, Archer interferes on behalf of the downtrodden creatures that are being hunted. He interferes in the culture, on a "first contact" mission, by providing a masking agent so the creatures can evade the hunters.

Season 2, Episode 6, Marauders, Archer interferes on behalf of the downtrodden because he's never liked "bullies".

Season 2, Episode 21, Breach, Archer orders Doctor Phlox to perform medical treatment on a patient, against the patient's wishes. He says "On Earth, we don't let people die when we could save them." Really? I thought, even on Earth, a doctor must receive patient consent.

I'm not saying I agree or disagree with the actions taken by Archer or Tucker, just that, throughout this series, Archer will take certain actions, the consequences be damned, but chastise others for doing the same type thing. Like I said, overall I like the series, but I never learned to like Captain Archer.

We have to remember this was 2003 - 17 years ago - and I hope a different time than today (heavy emphasis on HOPE). The lost potential here was to really make a statement about GENDER. What if the performer cast to play the Cogenitor was a cis-gendered male actor? (This could be seen as an allegory for transgender rights as well, so what about a transgendered actor?) How would that have changed the dynamic of Trip trying to "rescue" the Cogenitor? T'Pol asked Archer the same question in Rogue Planet (2002). How would the story change if it were played by a male actor? Consider, The Outcast (1992), what if Soren was played by a male actor? That would have made for an interesting twist and would make the conversation much more relevant. The other reviewers have mentioned the dubious morality of Archer and that is not my issue here (as I agree with the double standards he sets for Trip). What do you think?

Trip proving again what a liability he is. Chief engineer should be locked in engineer room

Not sure why he is so popular

I thought this was quite a provocative episode. Archer is being seen by some as lacking in concern for human rights and almost Hitler like. Unfortunately, he is between a rock and a hard place here. He is thrilled that a friendly species has hooked up with Enterprise and is interested in sharing what they have. The problem is that while he is having a great time, Trip is back at the ship, trying to teach a creature whose sole purpose in life is to aid in reproduction. When he realizes that she/he/it has potential to be more than a facilitator of producing children, he disobeys his captain. The problem is that many see Archer as a sellout because he has been rebellious in the past. I think the problem here is the speed with which everything happens. No study of the culture. No more deliberation before entering on disruption. Archer is on a short leash. One thing no one mentions is that without the cogenitor, this race dies. Another question is, give a little negotiating time, perhaps there could be a cogenitor that has other possibilities other than the primary role. Just food for thought.

LeVar Burton's directing and J. P Farrell's writing help to give this excellent example of Enterprise an edge which was lacking in most of the series' episodes. The Enterprise is involved in a first contact with some kindred spirits - explorers whose technology is about a thousand years ahead of Star Fleet's. Everything is going along fine as earth culture and Vissian culture begin to interact. The Vissian's share technology and more with the Enterprise crew.

This episode's theme is, once again, the prime directive. Since Star Fleet's prime directive did not exist in Archer and company's time, we are seeing one of what must have been dozens of first contact incidents which went wrong. I was only a little annoyed by the Vissians' willingness to share their advanced warp drive technology but rather strident insistence that earthlings not be permitted to interfere with their culture.

Eventually, it is revealed that the Vissians have three sexes - male female and cogenitor. All three are required for sexual reproduction, and the cogenitor sex is very rare and - therefore somewhat oppressed, valuable and treated as a commodity. Unfortunately, the writers use the word "gender" to describe this, as opposed to sex. Since gender is a social construct and social/sexual identity, connected to, but not defined by sexual reproductive organs, this is a systematic error.

Trip befriends the cogenitor and decides to clandestinely educate it in order to help it liberate itself from its bondage. This backfires when the cogenitor asks for asylum on the Enterprise. To this point, only the directing and the originality of the alien species set this episode apart from the typical Enterprise episode, however, the drama steadily mounts toward the end as the series does something with this conclusion which it had never attempted before.