Cogenitor

Season 2, Episode 22, Aired
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Episode Summary

The Enterprise crew makes first contact with the Vissians, a species with three genders. When Trip meets one of the species' third gender, known as Cogenitor, he is disturbed to learn that all cogenitors are treated extremely poorly.
8.2
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Fan Episode Reviews (9)

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  • A brilliant and brutally realistic piece of science fiction that asks tough questions and leaves us with absolutely no answers. [NOTE: Major spoilers in the full review.]

    9.7
    "Superb"
    By SirLemming, Oct 23, 2011 Report Abuse
    It's unfortunately rare that we get television this good, but when we do, you can bet that it's a Star Trek episode. Even if there were no other episodes in the entire series worth watching (which isn't the case, thankfully), this episode would still prove Enterprise's worth.

    Like most great Star Trek episodes, the basic idea of this one is to throw us a situation we've never had to deal with and let it play out in the most realistic way possible. Here, the situation is that the humans have their first encounter with a three-gendered species (the Vissians) whose third gender is treated as a lower class of citizens. More specifically, they meet a Vissian "couple" for dinner and Tucker notices that their cogenitor (the member of the third gender) is treated as a pet, or perhaps a slave. The cogenitor is involved in the reproduction process and is then usually "used" by another "couple".

    It's a "what if" that is completely improbable given our current knowledge of the universe, yet also completely relevant. We can all imagine how we might react to the situation, and the questions it raises are real ones, even if they can't yet be applied to any real situations. Perhaps that's the greatest strength of this kind of science fiction: there's no real parallel situation, nothing we're really emotionally involved in that might influence how we view the dilemma. This is the power of the hypothetical, fully realized.

    Tucker takes pity on the cogenitor and eventually discovers that it has the same mental capabilities of any other Vissian. He teaches it to read. When the Vissians want to leave, the cogenitor doesn't, and it requests sanctuary. Captain Archer carefully considers and discusses the request, but eventually decides that he must respect the Vissians' culture even though he finds it appalling. Shortly after returning to the Vissians' ship, the cogenitor commits suicide.

    It's hard to think of any other TV episode or movie that poses such thought-provoking questions without promoting any agenda or falling on any side of the issue. The ambiguity of this episode is not frustrating; it's true. How far should cultural relativism go? To what extent should it override human rights? But furthermore, what if, as T'Pol pointed out, we're not dealing with "human" rights? Can we accurately assess a three-gender situation given that we've only had to deal with two? Nobody has the answers to these questions: not the liberals, not the conservatives, not the libertarians, not even Gene Roddenberry. In fact, this episode deals a pretty serious blow to the Star Trek franchise's highly optimistic and sometimes even arrogant view of human reason and progress. It's a powerful dose of humility.

    Of course, credit for the episode's success must also go to the strong characters and the actors portraying them. In particular, Connor Trineer and Scott Bakula both deserve Emmys for their performances in this episode, and the writers also deserve Emmys for creating such interesting characters. Despite the fact that Tucker is largely responsible for the cogenitor's death, few of us can say we don't empathize with the way he handled the situation. He saw someone being oppressed -- not to mention the thousands of others in the same situation -- and felt the need to help her/him/it. He went into this not with arrogance or self-righteous nobility, but with love. And, tragically enough, as sometimes is the case in real life, love failed.

    How do we respond to this? No one knows. Archer certainly didn't know. While he strongly reprimanded Tucker for his actions, he also had to admit that he had no idea what he would have done. The final minutes of this episode paint a powerful picture of sheer frustration, the frustration that plagues us all when we face uncontrollable, unanswerable, unwinnable situations. And it's much more real than what we usually see on TV. When Tucker said "I'm responsible", my instant prediction was that Archer would say something along the lines of "No, no, it's not your fault," which is what usually happens in these shows. But instead we get the shocking, succinct "You're damned right you are," which surprises even Tucker. This is the other half of what makes this episode so fantastic. It's both socially significant and undeniably human. Rarely do those two come together as well as they do here.moreless

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    5 1

  • really stupid! there is no relativity in freedom! have nearly 50 years of amnesty international not told your american screenwriters *something*???

    1.5
    "Abysmal"
    By Kopernikus38, Oct 23, 2011 Report Abuse
    "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue! "

    A Slaveholder stays a slaveholder, even if he is the nicest person on the block! They say that even Adolf Hitler was nice to his dog. And there are a lot of Totenkopf-SS members who probably were really fun to have around, if you werent a "untermensch". I dont have anything against diversity in culture, as long as everyone is free to *choose*. If someone likes to live in a closed community, hitting himself daily with a whip, who am I to keep him from doing so? But if 10 of these guys get together to keep the eleventh from leaving and living his life different... I have to say that Id told Archer to kiss my ass, the responsibility for the suicide of the cogenitor rests solely with the oh-so-nice Vissians.moreless

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    2 2

  • Captain Archer shows he can totally ignore his own behaviour to play moral high-horsing

    3.2
    "Bad"
    By ProphetTenebrae, Apr 11, 2011 Report Abuse
    This episode is just WRONG - we're supposed to believe Archer is a moral man but when he learns about Trip tries to teach an essentially repressed minority that they're being repressed, Archer turns around and starts pretending that this is something that would never have happened if he'd been in charge - when in fact it's obvious it would.

    That Archer blames Trip for the whole incident is laughable, I think that this is an almost Janeway sized blunder on his part. Not to mention of course that this is never mentioned again... just as well the ole continuity button was off.

    Suffice to say that this episode is very much what was wrong with Enterprise. A show that tries to moral high horse but essentially can't decide what morals to espouse.moreless

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    3 3

  • Slavery sucks. Actions have consequences. And it's hard to be the captain. WARNING: Full review has spoilers.

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By irishturtle84, Feb 12, 2011 Report Abuse
    On the surface this episode is pretty basic. New advanced race with 3 genders meets the crew of Enterprise on friendly terms, but there's a problem. The new race treats some of its members like second class citizens. Trip tries to right this wrong and problems arise. In this episode people tend to take away what they want to see from it. Some see the situation with the Cogenitor and see the problems with prying too soon into a culture you know too little about in an honest and well meaning attempt to make things better, which results in disaster. Some see the necessity which Trip saw, to intervene in a situation because it is the right thing to do, which also ended in catastrophe. The brilliance in this episode is that it covers thought provoking topics without coming off as heavy handed in doing so. The problem with what Trip does is that he gave no thought to the possible outcomes and consequences of his actions. Slavery is wrong, as is the mistreatment of people based on belief or circumstances of birth. All should be treated fairly in a just world. The rub is though; that we do not live in a just world. Some see Archer's comments at the end of the episode as being out of character or too harsh on Trip, who after all, was only doing the 'right thing.' However, Trip did not stop to consider that he put all of humanity at risk with his actions. Trip provoked a technologically superior race by meddling in deeply rooted custom that drove the very fabric of their society. The entire race depended on the Cogenitors for it's existence and they could have reacted very badly to what Trip did. It very well could have ended with a bloody war that humanity would have lost. It is also important to note that the Cogenitor was not unhappy early in the episode. We don't see a huge smile and tap dance number, but neither do we see depression or sadness. Instead we see kind of a detached calm, a quiet contentment. Archer is upset because he realizes how horrible the whole situation is. The Cogenitor deserved a better life but it did not ask for help. If it had asked for help it's quite possible Archer would have jumped to help it as we so often see him do in other situations. Archer knew that giving help to the Cogenitor would have consequences. He wants to be able to help everyone but has been forced to pick and choose his battles. Being the captain and a representative of all humanity in this bold new frontier, he knows he cannot always do what he wants. He is forced to see the shades of gray that we are confronted with in everyday life. The best, and worst, part of the whole episode is the ending. Archer makes the very difficult decision to send the Cogenitor back to its people, only to receive message that it commited suicide. The acting in the scene where Archer tells Trip is superb. We wish for the happy ending but we get the reality. Actions have consequences. The Cogenitor died, a baby was never born, and a possible war was avoided. The Cogenitors will go on being treated like second rate people. No one is happy and everyone is forced to change the way they think about things. However, optimist that I am, I like to think that later on the Cogenitors take their place as equals in a great society.moreless

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    0 0

  • There are some problems that can't be resolved

    9.1
    "Superb"
    By sixgunsaint, Dec 26, 2010 Report Abuse
    For a rare instance, the crew finally meets a race that doesn't have some evil agenda against the Enterprise. And it is also an even rarer instant on 'Enterprise' where everything isn't tidely resolved by the end of the episode. These are all reasons why this was one of the best episodes so far. After a season of fairly standard plots, this one breaks free and brings something truly thought provoking to audiences. Definitely one of the best.moreless

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    2 0
 

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • Vissian Engineer:I read in your database that you've discovered only 92 [natural elements].

      Currently, there are 94 known natural elements out of 118 total known elements. Atomic numbers 95-118 are only known from artifical creation so far, while the others have all be found on Earth and in astronmical spectral analysis.

      Edit

    • Captain Archer states that Shakespeare only wrote thirty-six plays, but Shakespeare wrote thirty-seven plays over the course of his life.

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    • When Trip secretly goes to meet with the cogenitor, he tells the Vissian engineer that he's going to the mess hall. However, throughout the rest of the episode, everyone (including him) seems to think that he claimed to be going to Astrometrics.

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  • Notes

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    • The director of this episode, LeVar Burton, previously played Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

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    • Examining Trip's movie database, The Day the Earth Stood Still is the only real movie in it. There is also a movie called Bride of Chaotica! a reference to an episode of Voyager with the same name.

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  • Quotes

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    • Archer: (to Trip) You knew you had no business interfering with those people, but you just couldn't let it alone. You thought you were doing the right thing. I might agree if this was Florida or Singapore, but it's not, is it? We're in deep space and a person is dead -- a person who'd still be alive if we hadn't made first contact. Edit
    • Malcolm: There's an old Earth expression: I'll show you mine if... (cough) you show me yours. Edit
    • Trip: I didn't think it would hurt to teach her how to read. Archer: Then you didn't think hard enough. We're out here to meet new species, not tell them what to do. Edit

  • Allusions

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    • Tucker's game

      Though not named in the episode, the game that Tucker and the Vissian were playing was Go. Go is an ancient board game that originated in eastern Asia over 2,000 years ago.

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