"Doctor's Orders"

Written by Chris Black
Directed by Roxann Dawson


In which Phlox is left in charge of Enterprise when the crew is forced into stasis, and he finds being in solitary conditions to be more challenging than he expects...

Captain's Log - Final Analysis







Captain's Log

Going back to “Next Generation”, there have been several episodes involving one member of the crew, usually someone with an unusual personality or character aspect, left to care for the crew while they are passing through “dangerous space”. In the case of this episode, there is an almost identical episode from “Voyager” called “One”, which took Seven of Nine and explored the effects of solitude on her psyche.

On several occasions, Phlox has referred to the extremely high population density preferred by Denobulans, as well as the difficulty of serving with a relatively small and isolated crew. This hasn’t been fully developed in any real fashion, and one would imagine that this is supposed to be the natural outgrowth of that character trait.

Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks to this approach, not the least of which is a feeling of familiarity. As with the aforementioned “One”, there is a spatial disturbance (neatly tied into the revelations of the previous episode) that requires the entire crew to be placed in stasis. As a Denobulan, Phlox is supposedly able to handle the effects of the altered space, so he remains awake to monitor the crew and run Enterprise. As one might expect, hilarity ensues.

It’s simply not clear what the writers were hoping to accomplish. Granted, everything that happens in this episode is based in an established character or species trait, so it all fits into the overall continuity of the series without a problem. It’s the needless repetition of the plot elements that seem unnecessary that takes away from the episode. Instead of playing to the strengths of Phlox as a character, Phlox is shoehorned into an all-too-familiar circumstance.

The execution of the idea isn’t terrible. In fact, very early into the episode, it’s clear that the writers were going for high concept: “Enterprise” meets “A Beautiful Mind”. Many in the audience would be forgiven for missing the immediate subtle signs that T’Pol is a reflection of Phlox’s own doubts and need for some form of communication, especially given the uneven manner in which T’Pol has been portrayed. Early into the episode, it even looked like T’Pol’s emotional state might have been the result of her experiments in human behavior, as mentioned in the previous episode.

As soon as the novelty of the concept wears off and T’Pol’s ephemeral nature is more or less revealed, the rest of the episode becomes something of an exercise. One looks to see if T’Pol actually touches Phlox at any point, to see if the hallucination premise is maintained. At least on first glance, it is admirably consistently depicted. This is also true in terms of what “T’Pol” knows, neatly bounded by what Phlox can yield from the technical database and his own recollections.

As with many of the episodes this year, the premise ultimately falls into the “all or nothing” category. There’s nothing else to deflect shortcomings, and so the quality of the episode rests fully on Phlox. In the smaller moments, such as his ongoing recordings to Dr. Lucas, Phlox shines with his usual wit and Denobulan flair. It’s the more generic moments that seem to fall short.

Billingsley doesn’t quite accomplish what he sets out to do in this episode, and part of the problem is the rather uninspired direction. Some moments work extremely well, such as the early moments where Phlox sees moving shadows and hears movement: these are very unnerving scenes. But once the hallucinations begin to take form, like the Xindi Insectoids, there’s a noticeable shift in the tone. It’s as the old adage: the undefined, unseen enemy is far more disturbing.

This comes back around to the “exercise” portion of the episode. Once the concept is essentially revealed, there’s precious little else to do other than see where Phlox goes next. T’Pol’s claims of emotional overload become less evasive and clever and end up merely annoying. Again, this is one of the drawbacks of pinning the entire running time on one solitary plot element. Unless that plot element goes into unfamiliar territory, the inevitable result is going to be more of the same.

Had this been the first time this plot device had been explored, it would have certainly won over the audience. There are moments when the “A Beautiful Mind” parallels are extremely well done, and the interaction between Phlox and Porthos is surprisingly good. But when things go wrong and the episode slides into the familiar scenarios, the episode needs to compensate with something character-specific, something unique to the series. This does not happen to the degree that it could have, and that’s where some disappointment sets in.

While directorial style always boils down to personal taste, Roxann Dawson seems to have a limited array of tools and techniques, and this is reflected again in this episode. It’s capable direction, but nothing spectacular. This episode simply needed more for the audience to grab onto, to compensate for the familiarity. Without those additional elements, the episode suffers.

All of that said, this is not a horrible episode. It fits into the arc in the same way that the episodes of the first act of the season fit into the search for the Xindi, by framing the story within the overall scope. It is, however, odd that the more stand-alone episodes are being shuffled into the “sweeps” period, especially when these episodes are not quite as strong as “Proving Ground” or “Stratagem”. Those episodes generated more excitement, which could have been a boost during a time when the series is facing more attention.


Final Analysis

Overall, this episode faced a difficult challenge, having to live up to the expectations of an audience well aware that the same plot device had been used for episodes in previous incarnations of the franchise. The results fell somewhat short, largely due to the ease by which the central “twist” of the plot could be discerned. Everyone did what could be done to make the episode work, but it was practically doomed from inception.

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 1/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 6/10




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