I wouldn't consider Dr. Sevrin evil from what I understand he only wanted to live outside the sterile ,artificial society he lived in where everything is controlled the air ,the weather,nature, all made and controled by The Federation ,safe and ..boring .I would call Sevrin more naive and unprepared rather than evil I think that is part of Roddenberry's criticism on the hippies where all is very utopic and like paradise,but naive to the dangers of the World outside where things can hurt and even kill you if you are un- or illprepared.

But remember, Sevrin knew that the disease he carried would destroy any primitive culture he encountered.

Is that not evil?

("Are we not men? We are DEVO!")

by knix:

Question: was Dr Sevrin (from "The Way To Eden") more or less evil than Zora of Tiburon ("The Savage Curtain")?

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I just finished watching both episodes to refresh my memory.

Dr. Sevrin was insane.

He wanted to go to Eden and live with the natives. The fact that he would have infected and caused their death could be considered an evil action, but it was clear he was completely nuts. In the eye of the law, being insane impairs a person's judgment and capacity to act rationally.

Adam had died eating a fruit, and Dr Sevrin's feet had been burned, yet he insisted he wanted to stay on the planet; he escaped on a tree and ate a fruit which killed him.

Zora was evil. She did experiments on the locals. She reminds me of Mengele. When the war was lost, he escaped because he didn’t want to be judged and sentenced to death for his crimes. He felt no remorse or empathy for his victims.

Ordinary people might label him as insane to explain the atrocities he committed, but medically speaking, Mengele was not considered insane.

Fair point, by that time. I just think he was probably evil first, and then insane. We only saw the insane version.

And of course Zora could have been insane too, we never got her backstory.

My main point was about them both having been from Tiburon. But that could just mean there was a street named Tiburon in Gene Roddenberry's neighborhood. Apparently that's where he got many names from.

by knix:

Fair point, by that time. I just think he was probably evil first, and then insane. We only saw the insane version.

We do know in board terms Dr.Sevrin's history.

He was a brilliant engineer. Part of his research findings were even used by the Federation, but then his work came to a sudden halt when he contracted synthococcus novae.

A disease that some people develop due to living in unnatural, technological settings.

The technological society in which he lived in and was contributing to with his research is what caused him to fall ill.

After getting diagnosed, his movements were restricted, and slowly he started to refuse, then hate modern technology.

This caused him a mental breakdown. He became the leader of a group of activists who were against modern technology.

Dr. Sevrin then wanted to find Eden and live with Mother Nature.

He could have turned evil and tried to destroy his city; he was an engineer ( he did neutralise the Enterprise crew ), others would have followed him. Instead, he was just fixated on finding the mythical planet Eden and live a peaceful life with Mother Nature and the natives.

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My main point was about them both having been from Tiburon. But that could just mean there was a street named Tiburon in Gene Roddenberry's neighborhood. Apparently that's where he got many names from.

But were they both native of Tiburon. Dr. Sevrin has huge cauliflower ears. Zora has all that fuzzy hair, so you can't see hers, but she has very long, bushy eyebrows.

In the TOS series, characters of the same species shared common physical traits, didn't they? eg. Vulcans have a slightly brown, greenish-grey hued skin, are tall, black-haired ( elders have some grey), with pointed ears and up-swept eyebrows.

Dr. Sevrin and Zora look completely different.

Male vs female, perhaps.

And Sevrin's ears might have been a fashion statement. Like some people do now.