6 Ups & 5 Downs From Star Trek: Discovery 5.6 — Whistlespeak
7. DOWN — Denobulan Tease
One of the names on Kovich's list, and current clue provider, we find out, is "HITOROSHI KREEL (DENOBULAN)" — "speciality," making it rain with "weather modification towers". The very mention of everyone's favourite Phloxian species very nearly got an UP, but for what came next:
Tilly: "So, we're going to Denobula?"
Overly excited, and very much hook, line, and sinkered, this writer squealed out "Whaaat?" at the screen before Stamets could get a word in:
Stamets: "Maybe not."
This might well have been the knowing-est of nods to the fact that we've never actually visited the planet Denobula on screen, and we know there are budget constraints (especially for depicting a planet so apparently populous), but no, don't tease us with Denobula! We've been waiting for that for far too long already!
Indeed, as recently as January 2024, Doctor Phlox actor John Billingsley told Cinemablend's Mick Joest:
I would love to go to Denobula. I would love to see what life is like on Denobula. […] I'd be curious to know how this culture has figured out how to live with incredible density and to have apparently adopted some sociosexual practices that would lead to an increased population.
Had Star Trek: Enterprise gotten that fifth season, then fourth season showrunner Manny Coto, who sadly passed away in July 2023, revealed all the way back in 2005 that plans had been put in place for a visit to Phlox's homeworld. Let's hope we do get to go there someday, rather than forever chasing the carrot of a planet on a stick.