#cogenitor

[raurquiz]

#transdayofremembrance #startrek #thenextgeneration #theoutcast #soren #odan #deepspacenine #dax #ezridax #enterprise #cogenitor #StarTrekDiscovery #adiratal #graytal #strangenewwords #DrAspen #CaptainAngel #startrekpicard #kovarinesmar #startrekprodigy #zero #startrek58

[s3venofhearts]

may have just watched the worst star trek episode i have ever seen in my life (Ent: Cogenitor) moments before checking my phone to see that tiktok shut down. what a day

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Charles “Trip” Tucker

By Ames

Screw Jonathan Archer. Trip Tucker is the real hero of Star Trek: Enterprise. He’s more likeable. He grows more as a character. Unlike John, he actually overcomes some of his racism. He commits way fewer atrocities than John too! We testify all the time on the podcast that he has the character journey that Archer should have had. So this week, your A Star to Steer Her By hosts are here to analyze the best Florida Man out there.

Don’t let the accent fool you: Trip knows his engineering shit. This Southern charmer is not only personable to everyone he meets, he’s more emotionally self-aware than most characters across the franchise. We need more Trip Tuckers in the world. So read on below and listen to this week’s podcast episode (tightrope walk over to 45:57) as we highlight our catfish-loving friend. And pass the pecan pie.

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

Challenge your preconceptions or they’ll challenge you One of the early moments of growth we see from Trip comes in “Strange New World.” He spouts some absolutely horrid racist jargon at T’Pol while under the influence of space pollen, but when he snaps out of it, he not only apologizes, but he recognizes that he’s still learning to overcome the systemic racism he grew up surrounded by, which is hella introspective.

I feel like I got caught with my hand in the cookie jar Speaking of Trip apologizing to T’Pol, he knows to come clean to her after he read her very personal letter in “Breaking the Ice.” It’s Trip’s suggestion to Archer to have Hoshi decrypt the message instead of to (ya know) ask T’Pol about it, which is shitty, but then he’s honest enough afterwards that T’Pol sees in him someone she can trust to ask for advice about her arranged marriage.

I am just going outside and may be some time Who other than Trip could get Malcolm Reed, ship introvert, to come out of his shell? Their friendship becomes a show highlight after their misadventure during “Shuttlepod One.” Trip is even willing to Captain Oates himself to give Reed a fighting chance, but then ends up saving their asses when he prolongs their life support and then detonates their engine to get the Enterprise’s attention.

We all scream for ice cream Earlier in “Breaking the Ice,” Trip advised T’Pol to do what’s best for her (and eat pecan pie). Now in “Oasis,” we see him continue the trend when he advocates for Liana to make her own decisions, and it won’t be the last we see him champion others’ decisions. He also introduces Liana to ice cream, which makes him a goddamn hero. Someone, get this girl a bowl of rocky road.

It’s the CAPTAIN’S chair This is one of the cute moments we couldn’t help but include. It’s also a fun little acting showcase for Connor Trinneer when Trip gets absolutely fixated on tuning up Archer’s chair in “Singularity.” And when he’s clear-headed enough again not to redesign the whole thing, he figures out all he needs to do is lower it one centimeter. Work smarter, not harder, friends.

I’m not leaving him here We get even more benevolence from Tucker in “Dawn” when he’s stranded on a moon with Zho’Kaan, an Arkonian with whom he has no way of communicating. Though they’re distrustful and combative at first, the two men learn to help each other survive as the oppressively hot sunrise approaches. It’s just Geordi in “The Enemy” again, but that’s hardly a bad thing.

They would never let me learn those things There was a bit of a debate about which list to put “Cogenitor” on. You can’t deny that Trip is NOT the person to be making the legal and psychoanalytical decisions on Charles’s behalf. Problem is, there IS no such person on the Enterprise and the one person who could have granted them asylum resolutely refused. So that’s on Archer. Trip, on the other hand, is the only person treating Charles like a person, being the most compassionate crew member yet again.

You owe me one Turns out Sim, Trip’s symbiote in “Similitude,” is just as honorable a man as the original. First off, his engineering ingenuity saves the ship from the polaric field it was stuck in. And what a phenomenal job from Trinneer, distinguishing this subtly different character from Trip, and fighting for his right to exist. It’s a gut punch watching Sim accept his fate after his short life. Ow, my gut!

I’ve been putting off writing this for a while Trip’s emotional journey in season three is probably the most profound. We get to witness various stages of the grief he goes through after his sister’s death to the Xindi probe. Most of the season is anger, which is to be expected. But by the end of “The Forgotten,” we see how far he’s come when he writes the condolence letter to the Taylors, reflecting heavily on his own loss.

If I had suffered your loss, I’d feel the same way All the season three growth really does go to Trip! While Archer is torturing people and trying to kamikaze the Xindi, and T’Pol is a junkie for no logical reason, Tucker is here developing as a person. It’s just before Degra’s death in “The Council” that Trip and the Xindi weapons designer come to a sort of understanding with each other. There’s hope in this universe after all!

I think it was called: “The Ship that Couldn’t Slow Down” It may be pure spectacle, but it’s also impressive as hell when Trip shimmies through space between the Columbia and the Enterprise on a skinny little wire in “Divergence.” As usual, Trip is the only person who can save the day when the Enterprise has taken a cue from Speed and can’t slow down. Who else can say they tightrope-walked between ships at warp?

You’re sweet-talking the wrong guy While I would have much preferred if any of the lady crewmembers of the Enterprise did literally anything when the Orion slave girls take over the ship in “Bound,” I guess I’ll take the next best thing and see Trip do it. Because the typical Vulcan immunity is apparently transferable to their boytoys, Commander Tucker gets to save the day because pheromones don’t work on him.

—

Worst moments

Three hours of decompression in each direction Having to undergo decompression to visit an alien ship is a pretty cool concept we don’t see enough of in Trek, and maybe it’s for good reason. When Trip is decompressing during “Unexpected,” he’s absolutely insufferable. He spends the whole three hours whining and whining and whining, and flips the hell out even while Ah’len is assuring him everything’s fine.

Roll a stealth check Though we get some fun guest stars out of “Acquisition,” it feels like it’s missing something all episode long. I posit that what we’re missing is literally any clever engineering tactics from Trip, the only crew member free on the ship after it’s been taken over by Ferengi. Not only does he not do anything “Starship Mine”-y, but he gets himself nabbed by those doofuses!

A Night at the Risa-bury You wanna get your kicks on Risa, you go for it, Trip, but don’t be so disgusting about it. Watching him and Reed ogling all the aliens in the club in “Two Days and Two Nights” gets real gross real fast. But having the two of them get so thoroughly tricked by shapeshifting con artists until they were left tied up in their underwear shows how out of their depths they are.

I’d hate to be responsible for giving the crew the runs Considering how often you see other crewmen sitting in the chair whenever the captain is off gallivanting, it seems peculiar how utterly clueless Tucker is when he’s left in command during “The Seventh.” It’s like he’s forgotten how to make decisions. Or communicate with Vulcans. Or let Phlox and Reed do their damn jobs. Why is he suddenly inept?

Gives a whole new meaning to doing “The Stranger” Like we talked about a lot in our Kes post, some bad moments are actually things that don’t happen when they should. In this case, there is absolutely no pay off when Trip’s arm turns invisible in “The Communicator.” Nothing comes of this! In an episode where it would behoove everyone to be able to retrieve something undetected, wouldn’t an invisible hand work nicely?

Why, you stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf herder! Aside from just plain being a bad episode, “Precious Cargo” also contains a lot of terrible work from Commander Tucker. There is absolutely no chemistry between him and First Monarch Kaitaama, and yet they go to bone town just because the plot needs them to. You’d think someone who’s gotten pregnant before from engaging in less would show a little more restraint.

I was brought up believing you don’t play around with another man’s wife Let’s be clear: Trip does nothing wrong in how he associates with Feezal in “Stigma.” This is one of those moments that’s all on the writers. Someone continuously and gratuitously coming on to another person who displays no interest is sexual harassment. And yet the jokey, cutesy tone suggests it’s Trip’s error in not banging someone he shows no desire to bang. That’s gross.

You can’t do that on the balcony, buddy? This show is pretty much four seasons of white men not listening to a woman, and it’s enraging. T’Pol, as logically as usual, suggests that Tucker not test the Xindi rifle in the middle of the armory (of all places!) in “The Shipment,” but Trip refuses to listen and nearly blows the thing up in the most explosive area of the ship. Go outside and blow things up like a normal person!

This mission is to save Earth, not an alien hatchery I’m not done shitting on “Hatchery,” which I started doing last week. And in our season three wrap. And in our series wrap. I just find it so detestable that the show tries to glorify Tucker organizing a full mutiny because the captain is trying to save the baby Insectoids. Exactly no one on the ship seems to understand that that is the ethical thing to do, even during war time. Especially during war time.

Bugs Bunny sawed off Florida too, you know We just spent a couple points above praising Tucker for overcoming his hatred of the Xindi, but to get there, he first had to be overwhelmed with wrath. It’s understandable after the lancing of Florida, but when Trip just starts riling Degra in “The Forgotten,” it is not the right time, dude. At this point, Degra is working with Starfleet. Save the guilt trip for when you’re less busy.

Taking my ball and going home The will-they-won’t-they shenanigans between Trip and T’Pol have gotten very tired by the time we get to “The Aenar.” The both of them are acting so juvenile because they can’t work through their emotions nor act professionally around each other. So it’s frankly pathetic that Trip runs away from his feelings by asking for a transfer to the Columbia. And the Tri’Pol shippers lament. 

Have a nice Trip. See you next fall. No Worst Moments list would be complete without the awful, awful way that they kill off a beloved character. “These Are the Voyages…” does Trip even dirtier than Nemesis does Data in how pointless a death it is. It feels like a slap in the face to fans, ya know, like that whole finale does. The explosion scene is rushed. The acting is subpar. A piss-poor way to go.

—

We, however, still have a long road to go ourselves, with several more character spotlights on the way. So make sure you’re following along here, keeping up with our watchthrough of Discovery over on SoundCloud (among all the other podcast places), get some neuropressure with us over on Facebook, and save us some popcorn at movie night!

[tinabelcherseverythingisokface]

Just finished the Cogenitor episode of Enterprise (S2E22) and I’m fucking pissed. I’ve liked Archer up until this moment, and trying to blame Trip for what happened is bullshit, this is on Archer. If he had respected the right of a sentient member of a poorly treated underclass to request asylum, this wouldn’t have happened.

[hashkath-skies]

"Plato's Stepchildren is the worst episode of Trek" this

"Dear Doctor is the worst episode of Trek" that

First of all, Cogenitor is the worst episode of Trek, followed by Code of Honor and Turnabout Intruder, so jot that down

Second of all, did you SEE the togas Kirk and Spock were put in in Plato's Stepchildren? Did you miss the Spock panty shot? Clearly you have no taste 😆

[wildishmazz]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Trek: Enterprise Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Jonathan Archer, Charles "Trip" Tucker III Additional Tags: Alternate Ending, Episode: s02e22 Cogenitor (Star Trek Enterprise) Summary:

What if Charles had lived, and gone back to Vissia with a plan?

[giffingthingsss]

Cogenitor

Uncomfortable. I avoided a rewatch so I might not remember everything perfectly. But here's my take on it anyway.

I don't look back on an episode like this and think 'oh what terrible ethics.' I look back and see a remnant of a time when we were all being told to question our ethics.

There was a period of time, I'm not exactly sure when, I just remember hearing talk of it growing up, when it was fashionable to say something like 'there are no absolutes.'

Sort of an intellectual exercise of 'there is no absolute good or evil, so don't be judgey.' Add those ideas with a post 9/11 where there's all this talk of things like the treatment of women in the middle east, and you've got some people going -

'....well, I mean, that looks terrible to me, but maybe I'm just seeing it through my western values prism. maybe I'm a dodo head. maybe there's some reason for how they do things that i just don't understand. who am I to impose my beliefs onto another culture? maybe bad things would happen if i stuck my nose into something i didn't understand.'

It's kind of a twisted attempt at humility, and it might be true in a lot of circumstances.

I understand people looking at that episode today like, 'wtf is this?' The mood today is basically the opposite. It's something more akin to individual moral absolutism. 'If you don't agree with me allow me to escort you off the planet. None other has ever been as enlightened as I.'

There must be some middle ground between 'my way or the highway' and 'i should probably smother my gut when it tells me something is wrong.'

So anyway, I look at this ep and go, 'oh yeah. I remember that intellectual exercise time period.'

[protectspock]

Archer's middle name should be "Iraq War Propaganda" also anyone who ever puts any captain over Archer when considering crimes against humanity (or sentient beings, whatever) hasn't seen the Official Worst Episode of Star Trek Ever, "Cogenitor"

[raurquiz]

#NationalComingOutDay #startrek #sulu #startrekbeyond #thenextgeneration #theoutcast #thehost #deepspacenine #lenarakan #dax #intendant #kiranerys #discovery #culber #stamets #enterprise #cogenitor #startrekpicard #7of9 #raffimusiker #lowerdecks #mariner #jennifer #startrek58

[star-trek-fandom-confessions]

Confession #173

"I hate "Cogenitor" for making Trip Tucker out to be the bad guy when he was the only main character in that episode who wasn't acting like a sexist douchebag."

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Jonathan Archer

By Ames

Just when you thought we were done with Enterprise, our character spotlight series returns somehow! And if our full watch of the series assured us of anything, it’s that Cap’n Jonathan Archer is an angry, ill-prepared, conceited, racist, little nepobaby. Now sometimes, that’s perfectly in character for a prequel series about confronting our first stumbling blocks into space exploration. And sometimes, it’s agonizing to watch how humans as a species were represented by a man who made the worst choices you could make, and then patted himself on the back about it.

But I’m getting ahead of myself! Your hosts here at A Star to Steer Her By can always find something that Archer did to gripe about. And even a couple moments we didn’t hate his guts. Check them all out below and listen to our diatribe on this week’s podcast (jump in time to 1:00:09) as we peruse the actions of our first Enterprise captain. Now back in the pool for some water polo!

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

Torturing prisoners = bad! I laugh because this sentiment will be entirely contradicted when we get to season three, but Archer starts out in “Fortunate Son” advocating NOT capturing and torturing pirates. The bar was low for us back in season one, and Archer meets it when he tells Mayweather that humans should display proper ethics in situations like the Fortunate’s dealings with Nausicaans.

T’Pol’s had enough of your help. Stay away from her. After spending much of season one racially profiling every Vulcan he meets (more on that in the next segment), Archer meets a Vulcan that everyone is right to hate in “Fusion.” While he is way too quick to trust the V’tosh ka’tur just because they like having emotions, Archer deserves some credit for believing T’Pol about her assault and letting Tolaris have it, that asshole!

Now is not the time for British gumption Archer may be the extrovert that makes us introverts uncomfortable, but it actually pays off in “Minefield”! Reed is pinned in the leg, and the captain is able to deal with both disarming the Romulan mine AND keeping his security chief alive when he is fully prepared to martyr himself at the drop of a hat. Their smalltalk keeps the tension in check and Reed mostly lucid.

How much is that doggy in the incubator? One sympathetic trait that the writers were wise to build into the Archer character is his love for Porthos. It’s easy to connect with a dog person, so Archer is at his most humanized during “A Night in Sickbay” when all he wants is to be with Porthos during the beagle’s time of need. The rest of that episode, not so much, but how much he cares for his puppy is lovely.

What if we trap them in an elevator together? Because Enterprise is a prequel, we know very well that Humans, Andorian, and Vulcans (and Tellarites eventually) will get along well enough to found the Federation. But right now, it’s baby steps and Archer’s goal is to just get them in a room together without actively killing each other in “Cease Fire.” So major kudos for getting Shran and Soval into a conference room.

The House of Duras is without honor We gave Worf credit back when he did a similar thing back in “Reunion,” so we’ll have to count this one for Archer as well, and that’s killing the hell out of Duras. That whole Klingon line is just no good, so when Archer blows his ship to high hell in “The Expanse,” we are very pleased. The only good Duras is a Duras blown to high hell.

I’m not leaving you In a spur-of-the-moment decision, Archer saves T’Pol from a wave of some anomaly or other in “Twilight,” even after she told him to save himself (or perhaps because he’s just so used to doing the opposite of everything she says). We learn non-chronologically that the anomaly that hits him because of this causes his anterograde amnesia, but it was nice of him to help his XO.

You wanted to kill someone, kill me Not only does it take responsibility and honor to sacrifice himself when the Triannons force them to adhere to their dumb justice system in “Chosen Ream,” but it turns out to be a ruse when Archer tricks them into thinking the transporter is a disintegration device that kills people. Fools, it’s only that some of the time! We commend Archer for his really clever thinking!

We’re talking about a one-way trip Speaking of Archer taking responsibility when the going gets tough, he is fully prepared to kamikaze the Xindi weapon in “Azati Prime,” even after both Mayweather and Trip have offered to do it (I guess Reed was out of earshot or he’d’ve begged to do it too). We’ll talk in a second about how bad of an idea this was, but hell, he was ready to get blown up to save humanity.

If that’s what it takes to be advanced, I don’t want any part of it You’ve got to love when a captain calls out another race for absolutely bullshit behavior, and Archer is fully righteous when he tears the Organians a new asshole for treating other species like test subjects in “Observer Effect.” Plus, yet again he is ready to sacrifice himself for crewmates when he exposes himself to the contagion to try to save Trip.

Loop-de-loop hole Archer is again attempting diplomacy in getting the Andorians and Tellarites in a room together without killing each other (this sounds familiar), and volunteers himself to duel in the Ushaan in “United.” It all conveniently works out because for some reason this fight to the death has enough loopholes in it to scare off a trypophobe. But it’s nice of Archer not to kill Shran.

The final frontier begins in this hall. Let’s explore it together. Finally, the two-parter “Demons” and “Terra Prime” really succeeds at reminding us that we all need to overcome our prejudices and malice if we want to make our ways in the universe. Archer sums the whole thing up after defeating Paxton and his Terra Prime cult members. His speech at the end of “Terra Prime” really should have been what the whole show finale’d on.

—

Worst moments

What’s all that mean anyway? You know I have to include Archer’s constant xenophobia against Vulcans because it really colored my perception of the captain, and “The Andorian Incident” is emblematic of that. Out of sheer racism, he forces T’Pol to bring him to P’Jem after she advises against it, makes a terrible impression on the monk who’s only doing his job, and then wrecks up the chapel room to expose an Andorian. Maybe ask first, dingbat.

Correction, sir, that’s blown out We also just had to include this early example of just awful acting out of Scott Bakula. Though the bay is being rapidly decompressed, Archer somehow drapes himself over a railing and dangles over the side during his fight with Silik in “Cold Front.” Was he in any danger? Did he expel all the air from his lungs? Were there any consequences to being in vacuum? Who knows.

Someday my people are going to come up with some sort of a doctrine This one will surely come up again in our Phlox character spotlight, but it was Archer’s word to permit the genocide by inaction in “Dear Doctor.” Not only is it morally reprehensible to wash their hands of the fate of the Valakians, but the science that Phlox easily convinces Archer is emphatically wrong. And the Prime Directive reference? The turd on top of this shit sundae.

What else should I be? All apologies. Though we commended Jonathan for his devotion to Porthos in “A Night in Sickbay,” for the rest of the episode he’s an absolute pissant. All the Kreetassans want is for him to apologize for defiling their sacred tree with Porthos’s piss. You’d think he’d not have brought his filthy dog to their sacred site in the first place, but to act like such a prick about it is even more pathetic.

On my world, when someone asks for asylum it has to be given serious consideration We’ve struggled with the messaging of “Cogenitor” from the get go, and apparently so has Archer. Charles requests asylum from the Starfleet crew and Archer forces them off the ship instead, back into the hands of their oppressive culture. And then Archer screams (screams!) at Trip about violating the non-existent Prime Directive. And he’s supposed to be right?

Torturing prisoners = good? Most of Archer’s bad moments are rightly coming from season 3, an absolutely drek collection of episodes, and it immediately goes south in “Anomaly.” This is Archer’s first foray into torturing people, as he throws Orgoth, the Osaarian prisoner, into an airlock and threatens to space him just to get information. And the cap’n’s actions will only get worse from here…

These are Trip’s quarters It’s a controversial choice for Archer to allow the simbiot to be created in the first place in “Similitude” just to harvest his organs. But that’s mostly a Phlox fault. What we’re harping on here is how terribly Archer treats Sim. Again, he screams at him (there’s a lot of Bakula screaming at Connor Trinneer in this show) for staying in Trip’s quarters and for, I dunno, wanting to live.

How selective could this memory wipe be? A lot of interesting concepts come out of “Stratagem,” but then if you think about it for more than a second, you realize what Archer does to Degra is super messed up. Normally, when someone tampers with someone else’s mind to exploit them for information, it’s the villain of the show doing it. So it’s clever as a scheme, but Archer, my dude, you are the bad guy of this episode.

Let’s torture the canary we took out of this coalmine One of the absolute worst things we see Archer do comes in “Harbinger” (you’re going to see a lot of “Harbinger” in this spotlights) when he tortures that Sphere Builder before he even knows who they are. He jumps to the wildest conclusion that this guy might have information, with absolutely no proof at first, and he tortures the guy. And this is the hero of the show, people!

If that’s a problem for history, then history will have to suffer We may have just credited Archer with doing the honorable thing and wanting to sacrifice himself in “Azati Prime,” but it’s also absolutely idiotic. For once, Archer refuses to listen to Daniels who warns him that if Jon destroys the Xindi weapon, they will only build another one. Please, Archer, do the peaceful, diplomatic thing. No? Why choose now to be so unreasonable?

Out of my way, I’m a motorist! We rag on “Damage” a lot because of the hypocrisy of it all. Archer finally thinks he’s crossing a line when he steals the warp coil from the Illyrians’ ship, despite all the lines he’s been crossing all season. And what a shitty thing to do to these people! He strands them in the expanse and we never hear about them again. Dude, at least send them an Uber.

Even though you don’t wish to own me, I still wish to please you Because I feel like shitting on “Bound” at least a little bit, let’s shit on how Archer so easily gets tricked by the Orions all episode long. You can blame the pheromones for tampering with his senses, but dude, you couldn’t have put some female MACOs in charge once you knew the ruse? You didn’t smell something was up when space pirates wanted to do business? And god, that scene when he talks about sexual slavery is just so uncomfortable. Vomit.

—

Sorry, Cap’n, but someone needed to put you in your place. Will our other Enterprise character spotlights be a little more positive? Keep track by following along here on the blog! You should also keep up with our watchthrough of Discovery over on the podcast on SoundCloud (or wherever you listen to podcasts), exchange water polo gossip with us over on Facebook, and maybe scream at Trip a little less. Just a little.

[pissfaggit]

I know I've pretty much already said it but Tucker is such an interesting character to me solely because he's a commander who low key fucking sucks at his job and I find the subtle but very present implications that he actually does fuck all most of the time SO FUCKING FUNNY. Like he's the third highest ranking officer on the ship but he's more preoccupied with what film to show next on movie night than his actual job 😭 and like there'll be really serious high stakes life or death episodes but then they'll throw in a Tucker B Plot™ that's like. "Trip accidentally loses a wrench down a tube in engineering and has to figure out how to get it out" and that'll be it 😭😭

[dalesramblingsblog]

OK conversely to my rant about The Disease, I have to confess that I... do actually quite like Cogenitor. Like, I understand why people have such a visceral reaction to it, I really do. The dialogue around gender is, well, it's a very 2003 understanding of gender; Archer's condemnation of Trip's actions is very tough to stomach, and it's easy to read the episode as a straightforward agreement with that condemnation.

But I think a *lot* of the discourse surrounding this episode really fails to take into account that the issues of moral relativism and unilateral intervention here have a very specific resonance for the world of April 2003. In a world where right-wingers were constantly bringing up the plight of women and girls in countries like Afghanistan and Iraq purely to justify an opportunistic imperialist invasion, Trip's actions were very pointed.

And, like, for all that people really like to say that Trip was made out to be the villain of the piece, I... really don't think he was? He's shown to have slipped up, yes, but I think the episode is actually remarkably clear in showing every step of his thought process, and how the values traditionally associated with Star Trek led him to the conclusions he made. The fact that so many viewers empathised with him enough to feel outraged at Archer's closing speech *IS VERY MUCH THE EPISODE'S POINT*.

The point is not "You are wrong, viewer, for feeling the same way as Trip, and while we're at it you shouldn't protest the treatment of women by the Taliban btw." It's something a lot more nuanced, and frankly for an episode produced just a month after the Iraq War began - even though Trip's actions are obv far less severe - it's actually a rather bold indictment of American foreign policy and the tendency to assume that the global south is just full of backwards villains who need a rugged square-jawed good old boy from the South to liberate them.

(For the best illustration of how warped the discourse around this episode is, look no further than the person who claimed that Cogenitor exemplified Enterprise's inheritance of the post-9/11 political climate. Which really doesn't jive with the whole "It's a polemic against meddling in other cultures because 'muh moral relativism'" narrative, unless you're seriously under the impression that the dominant response to 9/11 was "Actually, we shouldn't invade the Middle East because morals are relative." And frankly if that really is what you think well then that's fucking precious. Like, babe, do you even *know* who Donald Rumsfeld was?)

[youngpettyqueen]

what is with Archer in these last couple episodes?? first he's gonna sit there and tell the victim of oppression and mass murder that a conversation with one of his oppressors will change his mind, and now he's blaming Trip for the death of the cogenitor?? so he's willing to violate the Antaran's right to refuse treatment and Phlox's right to abide by his patient's wishes but he draws the line at saving someone asking for asylum?? ok

[section-69]

really need to stop listening to star Trek podcasts but unfortunately the rage fuels me

[classified-bluerose]

okay i just watched Enterprise Season 2 Episode 22 "Cogenitor" and what the fuck. i am actually horrified? archer chose to deny a sentient being asylum and then blamed trip for their suicide? and the writing supports that narrative?

this was a sentient humanoid person who was literally being used - and referred to - like an inanimate object. it's borderline sex slavery, and yet they use the excuse of 'it's someone else's culture we have no right to judge'? that's bullshit. archer has gone way down on my list now i can't lie.