Dr. Phlox, as played by John Billingsley on “Star Trek: Enterprise,” may be one of the best characters in the franchise. Phlox was on board the Enterprise as part of a species exchange program, and he was eager to serve among humans, tickled by their optimism and amused by their prudishness. He was a Denobulan, a species with its own set of medical ethics (the will of the patient supersedes an Earth doctor’s pledge to first do no harm), leading to some principled discussions of right and wrong. His species also married into vast, complex polycules where each man takes three wives and each woman takes three husbands. When asked if that made things complicated on his homeworld, Phlox smiled impishly and replied, “Yes.”
Phlox was always upbeat, however, and was eager to explain cultural differences to curious human seekers. Phlox also practiced weird, but scientifically proven, medical techniques, often…
