Star Trek: 10 Alien Species You’ve Probably Forgotten About

The Star Trek: Enterprise episode The Breach is a bit of a mixed bag (of speleothems mostly). On the one hand, it's an attempt at a moral tale about the perniciousness of deep-seated historical prejudices, and on the other, it's a comedy cave rescue caper. You've likely also forgotten about the alien species at the centre of that first plotline — the Antarans — once embroiled in a bloody series of wars with the Denobulans.

The actual fighting might have ended over 300 years ago, but an extreme animosity remained between the two peoples, so much so that an Antaran patient, Hudak, refused life-saving treatment from Doctor Phlox aboard Enterprise. Captain Archer then ordered Phlox to treat Hudak against his will (even suggesting sedation), arguing that the Doctor was ethically bound to help if he could. Phlox refused, stating, "Hippocrates wasn't Denobulan".

Whatever the reasons, Hudak had the capacity at that stage to refuse care — treating him would have, therefore, been unethical. It seems more than a little odd that Archer would have forgotten about the importance of informed consent in Earth medical practice. In any case, Phlox and Hudak began a different kind of healing process, but it's one we never hear about again.