Dr. Phlox, as performed by John Billingsley on “Star Trek: Enterprise,” could also be top-of-the-line characters within the franchise. Phlox was on board the Enterprise as a part of a species change program, and he was desirous to serve amongst people, tickled by their optimism and amused by their prudishness. He was a Denobulan, a species with its personal set of medical ethics (the desire of the affected person supersedes an Earth physician’s pledge to first do no hurt), resulting in some principled discussions of proper and fallacious. His species additionally married into huge, advanced polycules the place every man takes three wives and every girl takes three husbands. When requested if that made issues sophisticated on his homeworld, Phlox smiled impishly and replied, “Sure.”
Phlox was at all times upbeat, nonetheless, and was keen to elucidate cultural variations to curious human seekers. Phlox additionally practiced bizarre, however scientifically confirmed, medical methods, typically utilizing animal excretions and strange herbs to remedy the crew of the Enterprise. He was like your laidback hippie uncle from Venice, California.
Dr. Phlox could also be Billingsley’s most seen appearing function, though he had been showing on TV because the early ’90s, taking part in supporting elements in exhibits like “The X-Recordsdata,” “Northern Publicity,” and “NYPD Blue.” He was in all 13 episodes of the 2000 sci-fi sequence “The Others,” and, after “Enterprise,” would have common roles on “The 9,” “True Blood,” “Intelligence,” and “Stitchers.”
In 2010, Billingsley participated in a fan-driven FAQ, hosted by StarTrek.com. He was requested his favourite and least favourite episodes of “Enterprise” — that did not characteristic Dr. Phlox — and the affable actor had particular solutions. Curiously, neither his favourite nor his least favourite had been significantly infamous or beloved amongst Trekkies.
John Billingsley loves the episode the place Journey Tucker was cloned
Billingsley was seemingly biased when it got here to Phlox episodes, however exterior of his personal character, he appeared to give attention to episodes that target the Enterprise’s engineer Charles “Journey” Tucker (Connor Trinneer). He described his favourite thus:
“I might say the one through which we cloned Journey. I believed that was the very best episode for lots of causes. Everybody within the solid was concerned and everybody had an emotional through-line. Some episodes, of any present, actors are used to convey info or they’re shunted apart. That episode, I believed it was the very best of our ensemble items and it did what ‘Star Trek’ does greatest, which is to take care of a topical query that has some sociological significance in a means that brings humanist values into play. And I received to deal with a child.”
The episode Billingsley is referring to is named “Similitude” (November 19, 2003), and it has an intriguing premise. Journey is injured in an explosion and falls right into a coma. Dr. Phlox, not having any appropriate organ donors on board, affords to develop a mimetic clone of Journey, one with a lifespan of two weeks, aiming to reap its organs for transplant. In the course of the clone’s transient life, nonetheless, it grows a full consciousness and even a few of Journey’s recollections. It additionally learns of a process that may prolong its life past two weeks … and asks to be allowed to reside.
The clone in the end chooses to sacrifice itself to avoid wasting Journey’s life, as he begins rising recollections of Journey’s mission, and understands that he and Journey are basically one and the identical. The episode is a good moral conundrum, a miniature morality play that’s “Star Trek’s” inventory in commerce.
John Billingsley hates the episode the place Journey Tucker went on the lam with an area princess
When requested his least favourite, Billingsley had a solution there too. He answered:
“I feel it was the episode with Padma Lakshmi. It wasn’t her fault, however she performed an alien princess. She and Journey had been on the run from whoever was pursuing her. I do not keep in mind all the small print. I believed that was an unlucky episode throughout. It simply did not work. Once more, no fault of the actors. It simply did not come collectively. And it was at a sensitive level in our second season. We had been holding on to not-great, however ample viewers numbers and after that episode our numbers simply plummeted and we by no means received the viewers again once more.”
The episode in query was referred to as “Treasured Cargo” (December 11, 2002), and Billingsley is true: it is not superb. Within the episode, the Enterprise helps an alien diplomat transport a stasis pod containing a lady named Kaitaama (Lakshmi). She is in stasis as a way of saving assets on prolonged deep-space flights. When the pod malfunctions and Journey units her free, nonetheless, she reveals that she is a kidnapped princess and her caretakers are literally intending to carry her for ransom. The pair find yourself absconding in an escape pod and going briefly on the lam.
As Billingsley identified, “Enterprise” was by no means a scores bonanza, and episodes like “Treasured Cargo,” he feels, are a big purpose as to why. The story wasn’t terribly fascinating, and will have occurred on any of the “Star Trek” exhibits that got here earlier than it (and sort of did within the “Star Trek: The Subsequent Era” episode “The Excellent Mate”).
One may assume that if he had been allowed to choose Phlox episodes, although, Billingsley would have tilted in that course.
