A Night in Sickbay 

After previously offending the Kreetassans, Enterprise attempts to make a better second impression, only to upset the alien race once again. A frustrated Captain Archer returns from the ... See full summary »

Director:

David Straiton

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (based upon "Star Trek" created by), Rick Berman (created by)

Stars:

Scott Bakula, John Billingsley, Jolene Blalock

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Scott Bakula	...	Captain Jonathan Archer
John Billingsley	...	Dr. Phlox
Jolene Blalock	...	Sub-Commander T'Pol
Dominic Keating	...	Lieutenant Malcolm Reed
Anthony Montgomery	...	Ensign Travis Mayweather
Linda Park	...	Ensign Hoshi Sato
Connor Trinneer	...	Commander Charles 'Trip' Tucker III
Vaughn Armstrong	...	Kreetassan Captain

Storyline

After previously offending the Kreetassans, Enterprise attempts to make a better second impression, only to upset the alien race once again. A frustrated Captain Archer returns from the planet only to be further upset to find that his dog Porthos, has been affected by a pathogen native to the world. While Phlox works around the clock treating Porthos, Archer stands vigil in sickbay, experiencing first-hand the quirky everyday life of his Denobulan Doctor.

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Plot Keywords:

dog | alien physician | alien medical doctor | alien ritual | interspecies transplant | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Release Date:

16 October 2002 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Network Television,Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

43 min

Did You Know?

Trivia

A couple of shots used a prosthetic Porthos figure; one is shown suspended in the super-hydration tank and another is depicted resting inside the quarantine chamber. These prosthetic dogs were designed and constructed by Joel Harlow.

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Goofs

Dr. Phlox tells Captain Archer about Porthos' condition by saying that his autoimmune system had collapsed. While there are autoimmune conditions in which one's immune system attacks healthy tissue or cells, it would be more appropriate for Dr. Phlox to say that Porthos' immune system had collapsed.

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Quotes

Captain Jonathan Archer: Whatever friction there's been between us, I'd like to try to minimize it.
Sub-Commander T'Pol: Friction is to be expected whenever people work in close quarters for extended periods of time.
Captain Jonathan Archer: I guess that's always been true, especially when the people are of the opposite sex.
Sub-Commander T'Pol: Then it's good that you're my superior officer, that we're not in a position to allow ourselves to become attracted to one another, hypothetically. If we were, the friction that you speak of could be much more... problematic.

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Connections

Referenced in Eureka: A Night in Global Dynamics (2007)

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Soundtracks

Where My Heart Will Take Me
Written by Diane Warren
Performed by Russell Watson
Episode: {all episodes}

User Reviews

Succeeds in being courageous and different in a series that rarely offered either of these two qualities

A Night in Sickbay is a truly bizarre and unusually dramatic episode of enterprise. Unlike most episodes of this series, the action focuses on character development. If you were to watch the series episode by episode, this one would likely increase your understanding of Captain Jonathan Archer tenfold, your understanding of Doctor Flox by about double, and would also provide nice insights into the character of T'pol.

Archer's achilles heal turns out to be his beagle Porthos. Porthos is sick with a life threatening illness, and Scott Bakula does a great job of acting out a manic, somewhat deranged Captain Archer as he crumbles under the stress of the possible loss of his best friend. For once, we are presented with a Captain Archer who is not guided by his best lights of professionalism. Stress also affects his job performance, as he can not concentrate on an important diplomatic mission, and repeatedly offends those who he is negotiating with.

In the end, the story offers a nice take on a Star Trek theme which can be traced back to the first series - how even the most powerful members of a team need every member of that team to get them where they need to go.