ENT – Carbon Creek

Plot – This strikes me as exactly the sort of thing that Enterprise was designed to do. To lean into the history of Star Trek and put a pleasing new slant on it. So, I can see why the pitch of rewriting the details of where the Vulcans first met the humans is something that was grabbed at with both hands.

Character – If you take Dr Phlox away (because he is always going to win a best character competition, right?) I think T’Pol would probably take that spot simply because she went on such a progressive journey over the four years of this show. From ice queen to drug addict to grieving mother over the course four years, it was a hell of a journey with her character and because T’Pol is so reserved it often makes her a hard person to care about even when she is going through something extreme.  But I rather like that contradiction and Jolene Balock always ensured to give the character a charming disinterest that made her very easy to relate to. Toasting over her ability to remain on Enterprise at the beginning of this episode is earned because this time last year all she wanted to do was to get away from these people. Astonishing what a dreary debut season can do to a character.  In a wonderful moment that causes Archer to pause, T’Pol tells Archer that she has just finished her evaluation of him for the High Command.

T’Mir is the one truly deplorable character in this tale. She’s the one who remains resolutely Vulcan and insists on not enjoying her time on Earth, pushing away friendships, criticising her fellow officers for adapting to their environment and is willing to let people die rather than risk cultural contamination. In terms of Star Trek, she is doing all the right things. But because we like the people in this episode and because her fellow Vulcans prove that they have a heart she comes across as a clinical, stuffy jobsworth. It makes her ultimate decision at the climax have emotional resonance. She’s come good and helped the people that helped her. That might sound trite but it’s directed delicately and made me feel warm and fuzzy.

Performance – Making one of the characters T’Pol’s relative means we can play out the first contact scenes and Balock can play one of the Vulcans. You might think that that would afford Balock the luxury of shaking up her performance a little but it is literally as though T’Pol is acting out these scenes. Is the inference that Vulcans are all pretty identical from one generation to the next?

Great Dialogue – ‘It’s unfortunate that you’ll be leaving these people without experiencing one thing they have to offer’ ‘Such as? Alcohol? Frozen fish sticks? The constant threat of nuclear annihilation?’ ‘There’s much more to them. You just refuse to see it.’

Production – This doesn’t feel like you usual Star Trek episode on location. That is often either set in some dusty old canyon out in the sticks, takes place a waterworks posing as Starfleet HQ or is set in the modern day (ala The Voyage Home and Futures End). Instead, here we have something much more atmospheric and pastoral, middle America at its most rural and charming. The music understands the tone of the episode and is present but catchy and appealing, using the sort of instruments that Star Trek doesn’t usually play about with.

As I was watching the episode, I was drawn in by the gorgeous Vulcan character of Mestral who seems to enjoy breaking the rules and settling in to their alien setting by trying things out and enjoying himself. He’s a most atypical example of the species and he really stood as a result. Bugger me if he didn’t turn out to be the same actor who played One in Drone, the Voyager episode I reviewed before this. He has a similar kind of restraint but is having much more fun with Mestral and the most fun he seems to have is making T’Mir flustered. When he mentioned that he wanted to watch I Love Lucy, I started to wonder if we had the wrong Vulcan featured on Enterprise.

Best moment – The episode refusing to take the obvious route of the Vulcans being met with hostility but instead being treated with empathy and compassion. It’s easy to write conflict. It is a lot hard to sustain the viewers interest when everybody is being nice. The scene where Mestral was kissed was especially enjoyable because he manages to give the blandest response to the surprise whilst still salvaging the moment.

I wish they hadn’t done that – It feels like a bizarre choice to begin the second season fresh (after the conclusion to the two part, ahem, spectacular) with an episode that doesn’t feature any of the regulars in any significant way. It does feature Archer, Trip and T’Pol and so it’s mission seems to suggest that these are the only true important characters on the show, a bit like the triumvirate in TOS. It’s a mission statement they live up to.

A reason to watch this episode again – This could have been a very different story. Given that the Vulcans look like Native Americans to some extent I was expecting a race hate tale that sees the Vulcans facing up to the worst of humanity as they try and live among them. Instead, this is much gentler and less confronting, but also less obvious and more charming. Carbon Creek isn’t trying to rock your world with continuity shake ups (which the pre-titles seems to suggest it might be) but instead wants you to relax into its atmosphere and character work and show the very Star Trek morality of cultures mixing together successfully and fruitfully. In terms of tone, it’s closest parallel is Voyager’s 11:59. I often enjoy it when Trek takes a step into the past and this is very sweet representation of 1957 with some of the loveliest (in terms of that they pose no real threat) guest characters you will ever meet. Trip says this is like an episode of The Twilight Zone but I would say this more like a 50s sitcom featuring three Vulcans trapped in rural America. Whether or not this episode needed to be made is irrelevant, it’s a pleasant watch and I’ll take that over the many attempts too hit big in the first two seasons that fall flat on their face. This is aiming pretty low in terms of ambition but it actually achieves its goal in spades and wraps you up in a big hug as it does so. I really enjoyed how much the Vulcans enjoyed their stay. Even stuffy T’Mir.  I wouldn’t mind if this sitcom ran for a few seasons. Mestral’s final decision, and T’Mir’s decision to lie for him is quietly one of the best endings to an Enterprise episode.

**** out of *****