Cogenitor

[Honeybee]

Many people have accused Archer of hypocrisy in Cogenitor, especially given his own habit of sticking his nose into complex situations and deciding what is right. But if you do interpret his reaction as seeing a little too much of himself in Trip's actions - it makes total sense.

And I'll say the following as well - I still side with Trip, not only based on the morality of the situation but based on the fact that once the Cogenitor had decided it wanted a better life and once the society's real oppression of its Cogentiors was revealed, returning Charles would have been very dangerous because Charles had the potential to start a righteous rebellion. Even its suicide may well have served as a beacon to other disgruntled Cogenitors and caused a rebellion that the society wasn't ready for.

And I don't blame Trip either. If you visit a culture that prides itself on equality and parade around your sex/procreation slave, spew delusions about its intelligence and value and in general act like douches - don't be surprised if someone sympathizes with your slave and tries to help it. It would be an entirely different matter if Trip misunderstood the situation - but there's no evidence he did. His mistake was not understanding the consequences of his actions, not being wrong about Charles being oppressed.

So, I definitely think that deep down, Archer sees himself in Trip's actions - and realizes that it could have been him that caused the tragedy. That's why he comes down so hard on Trip.

[EntAllat]

And I don't blame Trip either. If you visit a culture that prides itself on equality and parade around your sex/procreation slave, spew delusions about its intelligence and value and general act like douches - don't be surprised if someone sympathizes with your slave and tries to help it. It would be an entirely different matter if Trip misunderstood the situation - but there's no evidence he did. His mistake was not understanding the consequences of his actions, not being wrong about Charles being oppressed.

So, I definitely think that deep down, Archer sees himself in Trip's actions - and realizes that it could have been him that caused the tragedy. That's why he comes down so hard on Trip.

I agree completely. Though it had tragic consequences here, it may have sparked something positive over the long term. And ditto: I think Trip saw the truth of the situation and had the right reaction to it.

[Kathy Rose]

What makes Cogenitor especially tragic, at least for me, is that I got the sense that the cogenitor wanted to learn and grow. I think Trip recognized that and tried to help.

There could be arguments for either side -- leave the cogenitor alone because it has no other purpose/is part of an alien culture humans have no right to mess with/etc. vs. helping a person who has wants and needs that aren't being met. I really think the bigger error was on the part of the cogenitor's species, by not recognizing or ignoring that fact, but it was Trip (and the poor cogenitor) who bore the consequences of trying to change it.

[Glory1863]

For some reason, Cogenitor seems to me to be another example of "we have a Prime Directive not to interfere with other cultures, but it's only a rule to prove the old adage that rules are made to be broken."

Now, I'm not saying it was a bad show or that it didn't raise interesting issues, because obviously it did, just that it is also a common plot device in Trek. It's not clear to me that the "Prime Directive" exists at the point of Enterprise, but Cogenitor, along with The Communicator, not to mention a strong push by the Vulcans (who don't necessarily follow their own rules, either) may have been the genesis for it. And ya'll know how I prefer to see things in Enterprise that actually organically fit in with the later incarnations of Trek.

Do you also notice that whenever the captains choose to ignore the Prime Directive, they usually do so in favor of an American/Western solution? Being American, I never really gave that a second thought until I got involved in fan fiction and actually interacted on line with people from other countries and saw the variety of places where people lived who were clicking on my stories over at ff.net. If Star Fleet (as presented) had not been dominated by Americans, do you think some of the responses in these types of stories would have been the same? Would there necessarily have been an intervention at all?

[Kathy Rose]

There wasn't an established Prime Directive during the time of Enterprise. And at some point during the first season, Archer and T'Pol have a discussion about that, with Archer saying something along the lines that no doubt guidelines/protocols will probably be established in the future.

[Honeybee]

Yes. There is no prime directive during the time of Enterprise.

I think Cogenitor was conceived as an episode explaining the reasons why a Prime Directive was necessary. Although, there's something of a plot hole in that since the Prime Directive only applies to non-warp capable species - and the aliens in Cogenitor were obviously warp capable.

I get a sense that the Federation used a carrot and stick approach to non-Federation species. They would have not admitted the species in Cogenitor until they got their "human rights" act together and granted their third gender equal rights, but the species would have had to do it in their own time and in their own way.

Given the fact that they were warp capable, my guess is that The Federation would have given Charles asylum - because they did it for the "female" from the gender neutral species in TNG.

I feel like in a civilized society like the federation, they have every right - and in fact a moral duty - to see to it that sentient beings are given a baseline of what we would call "human rights" - before allowing admission.

[JiNX-01]

I love this episode. Leave it to Trip to wonder what was up with the cogenitor.

Perhaps he noticed....



... that the cogenitor didn't have a plate of food.

My only gripe: I wish TPTB hadn't been so hooked on having A-plots and B-plots, because this was a story that didn't need a B-plot (Malcolm gets laid. So what?).

Tho' I would have settled for a follow-up episode because I have so many questions about the structure and origins of this society. Had cogenitors always been third-class citizens?
Why are there so few of them (3% of the Vissian population)? Is it natural? Is it a consequence of expectant parents aborting cogenitors because they want a child who will have a promising future? Was there a time when population pressures made it necessary to keep the cogenitor population down -- just as the Chinese government limits families to one child? If so, was the policy achieved by changes in the society or genetic engineering?

Who controls "distribution" of the cogenitors? Government? Or is it a business? How do couples qualify? The couple in the episode had entirely different viewpoints about the cogenitors: the husband tells Trip that 3% is sufficient, while his wife gripes to Archer that they had a long wait for a cogenitor. In light of the small cogenitor population, would being allowed to take it off-world for a long-term space voyage be a special circumstance?

One thing I think could have made the "Malcolm gets laid" plot work in conjunction with the episode is if the Vissian tactical officer had arranged to "borrow" the cogenitor to join them in sex. Malcolm tells Trip who gets gets very angry. He tells Reed the cogenitor is a slave who didn't have a choice.

I also think Archer's discussion the Vissian captain and the couple should have included Phlox, Trip and Charles. Just because Charles was a "lesser person" in the eyes of the Vissians, didn't mean Archer had to go along.
And finally, I would like to have had a scene where Archer weighs the general question of what humanity's relationship with other species should be. And he reaches a decision concerning Charles (for or against) based on that fundamental question.

And the reason I wish we had gotten that scene is that the scene in the corridor as Archer and T'Pol are heading for Trip's quarters left me with a strong impression that T'Pol had significant influence on his decision.

[paulinem]

You bring up a lot a valid questions, JiNX-01, I've been asking myself some of those same questions lately, but I like this point.

And the reason I wish we had gotten that scene is that the scene in the corridor as Archer and T'Pol are heading for Trip's quarters left me with a strong impression that T'Pol had significant influence on his decision.

This has been mulling in my mind for a while as well, and after watching it again last night a thought came to me. During the episode she tells Trip that he should not meddle, yet by telling Archer that he made the right decision (which implies that she had influenced his decision as you say), isn't that by extension, meddling? She also says that Trip was going against the captain's wishes. What wishes? I don't remember Archer instructing Trip on anything. Another thing I noticed, and this is because I was watching Cogenitor with a blind friend last night, is that at the end you have this:





Because I needed to describe what was going on, it was the first time that I really took in Archer's appearance. To me, he doesn't look too comfortable with his decision. So when it came to chewing Trip out, I wonder if it's what I call a 'knee jerk' reaction that happend. Sort of like when a friend of mine tried to exit through an entrance in a carpark, she got such a fright (because there was a car trying to enter), that she took it out on me.

Just a few thoughts...

[Glory1863]

Having watched the episode again not long ago, I have another question: Would Archer have been as ticked off with Trip if he hadn't gone joy-riding with the Vissian captain and hoped to learn more about their advanced technology? Trip sure threw a wrench into that plan. I'm afraid I can't agree that the Federation (or maybe I should just say Starfleet) would do the right thing and grant the cogenitor asylum if it meant losing out on advanced techology. Governments, including my own, pull this all the time. They may talk a good game, but they don't always walk the talk, especially if it isn't to their immediate advantage in some other sphere.

[Kathy Rose]

Having watched the episode again not long ago, I have another question: Would Archer have been as ticked off with Trip if he hadn't gone joy-riding with the Vissian captain and hoped to learn more about their advanced technology? Trip sure threw a wrench into that plan.

It may be even more simple than that. For once, they'd met a species that was happy to meet them, and didn't want to blow them to pieces, use them, etc. There hadn't been any problems until Trip caused one. I think I can understand Archer's frustration with that.