- Stigma (Enterprise)
ST episode
name = Stigma
T'Pol is diagnosed with Pa'nar Syndrome
series = Enterprise
ep_num = 40
prod_num = 214
date =February 5 ,2003
writer =Rick Berman Brannon Braga
director =David Livingston
guest =Melinda Page Hamilton Michael Ensign Bob Morrisey Jeffrey Hayenga Lee Spencer
stardate = unknown
year = 2152
prev = Dawn
next = Cease FireStigma is the 40th episode (production #214) of the
television series "".ynopsis
In the episode, it is revealed that
T'Pol has a degenerative disease, Pa'nar Syndrome, contracted from hermind-meld in "Fusion". She must face being ostracized by Vulcan society and losing her position on Enterprise.Plot
Dr. Phlox tells T'Pol that his treatment of her possibly fatal Pa'nar Syndrome is losing effectiveness, and he'd like to make confidential inquiries about the disease with Vulcan doctors attending an interspecies medical exchange on the planet Enterprise orbits. She resists, but Phlox chooses to go anyway. Before he does, one of his wives, Feezal, arrives to help install a new microscope.
Phlox's inquiries with the Vulcans yields little information. When the Vulcans come on board Enterprise and interview Phlox and T'Pol, it is clear that his subterfuge had failed. The Vulcans trick T'Pol into giving a medical sample, which confirms to them that she has Pa'nar.
Archer is upset that he had to learn about T'Pol's condition from the Vulcans. It then comes out that T'Pol could lose her commission because Pa'nar is a stigmatized disease. It is only transmitted via mind meld, and the Vulcans have a low opinion of the practice. Archer then pays his own visit to the Vulcans — which is no more fruitful than Phlox's first visit. That is until one of the doctors, Yuris, sets up a secret meeting with T'Pol to give her the information she seeks. He is a mind melder, and feels a sort of bond with her. But she lets it be known that the infectious mind meld, her only experience, was forced. He tells her to tell the others before the Vulcan High Command is informed of her condition. She refuses.
Archer uses a loophole in Vulcan protocol to force a hearing. T'Pol stands by her silence, and Archer stands by his science officer, all the while arguing with the Vulcan doctors. Dr. Yuris then exposes T'Pol's secret, and comes out of the mind meld closet himself. As a result, he's suspended, but T'Pol is allowed to remain on Enterprise. T'Pol continues to take the high ground and will inform the High Command about the events — Yuris shouldn't be condemned without a fight.
While all of this was going on, Feezal was making constant amorous advances on poor Commander Tucker. He can't quite wrap his mind around a culture where polygamy from all sexes is the norm. He bows out as gracefully as he can, but Phlox and Feezal can only shake their heads and laugh in bemused wonder... "Humans."
Production history
In the fall of
2002 ,Viacom , the owners of the UPN network on which "Enterprise" was aired, mandated that all fictional programs on its schedule would, sometime during the 2002-2003 season, produce a special episode addressing theAIDS crisis. This proved to be a challenge for "Enterprise" since, being a set 150 years in the future and not mentioning AIDS, it presumably takes place after a cure for AIDS has been discovered.The episode proved controversial. Some
Star Trek fans felt it was untimely (too little too late) and acop-out because the episode never mentions the AIDS pandemic on earth, fails to make an explicit plea for compassion for those living with HIV, and, as some producers of the series publicly acknowledged, it dodges the issue ofsexual orientation Fact|date=February 2007. However, some viewers have responded positively to the parallels between the episode and the intolerance in human society. [cite web|url=http://www.geekie.org/startrek/2007.10/53.intolerance-in-the-world.web|title=Intolerance in the world|year-2007-10-07 |accessdate=2007-10-12]External links
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
