Enterprise encounters the Vissians, a race that includes a third gender of "cogenitors" who are treated as second-class citizens.
Summary
The Enterprise NX-01 is studying a hypergiant star when it makes contact with a scout ship from another species, the Vissians. Vissian Captain Drennik offers Jonathan Archer the use of one of their stratopods to explore the inner workings of the star, an opportunity Archer gladly accepts, looking forward to improving the already friendly relations with the Vissians.
On Enterprise, Malcolm Reed makes friends with the Vissian tactical officer while Trip Tucker has a conversation with the chief engineer and his wife. Tucker then learns that the Vissians have three sexes: male, female and cogenitor. Cogenitors, who make up about 3% of the Vissian population, are treated in a very pragmatic way, being shipped from one couple to another to keep the population growing. A side effect is that they are treated like objects, not deserving names nor education.
Feeling that they are less than slaves, Tucker makes friends with the Vissian engineer's cogenitor after he learned from Phlox' analysis that they have the same intellectual potential as the two other sexes. He teaches it how to read and tries to make it understand that it has the same rights as the rest of its species. He then shows it the Enterprise and is amazed when it beats him at a game of Go, since the engineer has been undefeated for the last two years.
From there on, events chain up fast. T'Pol makes a speech to Trip about the touchy nature of first contacts when she learns that Tucker is not welcomed on the Vissian ship after the time he spent with the cogenitor. Then, the cogenitor asks Captain Archer for asylum, understanding that it will never be able to have a decent life amongst its own people. In order to not offend the Vissians, Archer refuses.
Even though the two ships depart with the best wishes and their captains hoping that the incident will not interfere with the relation between Earth and Vissia, the situation gets a lot less bright when Archer learns that the cogenitor committed suicide, an evident result of what Trip taught it. Calling Trip to his ready room, Archer severely reprimands Trip for his interference, as it has not only cost the cogenitor's life, but now the Vissian couple will not be able to have a child for a long period of time. Trip is deeply shocked, as Archer reminds him that despite all his time on Enterprise, he still compares other cultures to Earth standards and interferes without thinking first. Archer is upset that first contact with the Vissians led to this devastating conclusion, and Trip begins to realize the consequences his actions can cause.
Memorable Quotes
"I don't want to hear it"
"Ah, well, I have pictures!"
"Pretty nice to make first contact without charging weapons."
- - Trip
"Can we visit the armoury later? I'm anxious to see your tactical array."
"There's an old Earth expression: ‘I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.’"
"This is a question of human rights."
"They're not human."
- - Trip and T'Pol
Background Information
- F.J. Rio previously played Enrique Muñiz in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes "Starship Down", "Hard Time" and "The Ship".
- Andreas Katsulas played Tomalak in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes "The Enemy", "The Defector", "Future Imperfect" and "All Good Things..."
- Laura Interval previously played Erin Hansen in the Voyager two part episode Dark Frontier, credited in that episode as Laura Stepp.
- The Vissian stratopod interior was a reuse of the Starfleet inspection pod, which was in turn a reuse of the Phoenix cockpit from Star Trek: First Contact.
- This episode marks the first mention of photonic weapons, a technology employed by the Vissians. Enterprise would be equipped with photonic torpedoes only a few episodes later, in "The Expanse", suggesting that the Vissians shared the technology with the Enterprise crew.
- The piano music played in his quarters by Trip for the Cogenitor is an excerpt from the first movement of Mozart's Sonata in C, K.545
- When Trip chooses a film to show to the Cogenitor, the computer shows among the available science fiction films The Bride of Chaotica, the B-movie that will inspire Tom Paris (from Voyager) for his holonovel The Adventures of Captain Proton, specially for the chapter "Bride of Chaotica!".
- Another film in the list is Dixon Hill and the Black Orchid, a reference to Captain Picard's favorite gumshoe.
- Another film on the list is "Mr. Willis of Ohio", which may be a reference to a West Wing episode of the same name.
Links and References
Guest Stars
- Andreas Katsulas as Drennik
- F.J. Rio as the Vissian Engineer
- Becky Wahlstrom as the Vissian Cogenitor
- Laura Interval as a Veylo
- Larissa Laskin as Calla
Co-Stars
References
Alsatian muenster cheese; Ballantyne, Robery Michael; body-surfing; cheese; cogenitor; Didiron mountain range; Gorilla Hunters, The; Great Continent; Gulliver's Travels; Hamlet; hypergiant; Klaatu; Macbeth; nucleosynthesis; Oahu; La Farge, Oliver; omicron radiation; phase cannon; Pictoral History of the American Indians, A; Piano Sonata Number 16; Porthos; sarium; sex; Shakespeare, William; Sophocles; Stilton cheese; Swift, Jonathan; trinesium; Vissia; Vissia system; Vissian; Vissian starship; Vissian stratopod; warp drive
Movie References
Animal Control, Apache Serenade, Attack of the Martians, Banned in Phoenix, Beyond the Rocky Mountains, The Bride of Chaotica, Canyon of the Rustler, Curse of the Buccaneer, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Death in Arizona, Escape from Dodge City, Celestial Navigation, Frontier Maverick of the West, Jailhouse Promise, Love's Lovely Love, Montana Ambush, Sheriff's Revenge, The Stagecoach of Flame, Fear Planet, It Came From Beneath the Refrigerator, The Man From San Francisco, Mister Willis of Ohio, The Planet of the Undead, Strange Case of Mr. Cigars, Pirates From Hell, Supernova Dawn, Dixon Hill and the Black Orchid, The Underworld Aliens, World Beyond Zero
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Star Trek: Enterprise Season 2 |
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