Similitude

***** (5 stars out of 5)
When Tucker is critically wounded, only a neural tissue transplant from himself could cure him. Can't be done, right? Wrong! It turns out Phlox can give us another Trip. It's a One Time Only magic space fantasy, but easy as peasy. Livin' greasy.

Lyssarrian Larvae are mimetic simbiots. If you give a taste of DNA to this little jellfish, it will become a copy, only with a mere 15 day lifespan. A being created solely to save the life of his donor. Right or wrong, (and since it's illegal and immoral, mostly wrong) morality is tossed aside by Archer to save his friend's life and thus, the mission, and thus, all life on Earth.

The replicant is named Sim and raised by Phlox, with an astonishing mind and a strong sense of Trip's memories.  He grows to love his fellow crew, (with a particular emphasis on one non-fellow), and he saves the ship from a magnetic rust storm with flair. But when it comes down to it, he'd rather live out his last week than die for the original. But will he force the others to murder him, or will he step up?

"Similitude" was the first written contribution Manny Coto made to Star Trek, and he's kind of my hero. Mr. Coto took the best approach I can imagine to writing for a show: he watched every previous Enterprise episode. Twice. Both his respect for the source material and an ability to raise the stakes brings one of the series' finest hours.