249: Linguistic Games

“Cogenitor” 20th-anniversary reflections

The Enterprise makes first contact with the Vissians, a species that has a lot in common in with humans, such as a love of exploration, a fascination with ice cream, and an interest in large tactical arrays. But they also have key differences, like a third gender that enables reproduction. Given the specialized role these cogenitors, as they are called, play in Vissian society, they have little need for niceties such as literacy. That doesn't sit well with Trip, who befriends the cogenitor of the Vissian chief engineer and his wife, Calla. When Trip teaches the cogenitor to read, it leads to them questioning—and taking—their own life. While Trip’s intentions may have been good, the outcome was not.

In this episode of Warp Five, hosts C Bryan Jones and Matthew Rushing continue our 20th-anniversary retrospective that takes you through all of Star Trek: Enterprise, one episode at a time. In this installment, we continue Season 2 with “Cogenitor” as we discuss first contact, equal rights, cultural relativism, missed opportunities, and why we wish this important story had been expanded and revisited.

Chapters
Intro (00:00:00)
Moral Quandaries and Fast Friendships (00:02:49)
Trip’s Dilemma (00:09:05)
Restraints of the Format (00:14:40)
The Dangers of Labeling (00:16:43)
Archer vs. Trip (00:20:10)
Does the Framework Work? (00:25:02)
Equal Rights and Opportunities (00:30:12)  
Final Thoughts and Ratings (00:32:22)
Closing (00:35:45)

Hosts
C Bryan Jones and Matthew Rushing

Production
C Bryan Jones (Editor and Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer)