10 Star Trek Episodes That PISSED People Off
2. Dear Doctor
Dear Doctor is one of the first great episodes in Enterprise. The Star Trek prequel series had struggled somewhat in its first year, relying on a standard that had worked for The Next Generation and Voyager, in that the episodes were all stand alone and, often, toothless.
Dear Doctor was a step away from this, while still remaining stand alone. The episode is the first tease of the Prime Directive. The structure of the episode is quite like Data's Day, in that much of the story is told in voiceover, from Phlox's point of view. The ship encounters a world with two alien races - one of which is reaching the end of its genetic life.
While Phlox discovers a way to change this, Archer decides to withhold this information, as it would interrupt the natural flow of evolution on the planet.
This episode generated a lot of controversy in the decision to let evolution play its part. The episode was accused of okaying genocide, simply to avoid breaking the rules. This seems something closer to personal taste, while technically there was no Prime Directive so - ?