Show: Star Trek; Enterprise
Episode
Particulars: S3EP11, “Carpenter Street”
Standalone
Thoughts: To be honest, for all I’ve been eager for this arc to get more
Xindi-centric, this episode doesn’t do much for me despite granting my wish.
That being said, there’s plenty to talk about here, so maybe I’ll be able to
figure out why along the way.
To start with, the teaser is interesting. There’s a long
stretch when we’re just watching Loomis return and settle into his rat-trap
apartment, before he finally gets a phone call from what turns out to be a
Xindi. It goes on long enough that I wonder if audiences watching it as it
aired were confused and wondering if they were on the wrong channel, or if they
realized immediately that we were dealing with a time travel/Temporal Cold War
episode. I feel like it goes on a touch too long for the introduction of the
sci-fi elements to make a proper impact, but at least it makes the teaser stand
out, rather than some of the stuff we were getting in Season One.
Next, we have the exchange between Archer and Daniels, which also doesn’t necessarily work the way it should. When you get right down
to it, the conversation basically consists of Archer saying “Can you help me or
at least explain what’s going on?” and Daniels responding “I’m as confused as
you are.” The intent may have been to suggest to the audience that this whole
Xindi conflict was part of a much larger thing we’re only getting hints of, but
in practice, it’s confusing, annoying, and more than a little convenient for
the writers so they don’t have to explain anything. I’m kind of sensing the
hand of Admiral Plot Device here…
The third and fourth points are kind of related; the time
travel aspect has a different vibe than most of the Trek episodes that deal with that subject, and Archer and T’Pol
(Archer especially) don’t always behave like good guys. In my experience with Star Trek time travel episodes, they’re
either comedic (generally due to culture clash), or have a heavy sci-fi element
(paradoxes, changing history, going to a point that’s still in our future,
etc.). Here, while tricorders, communicators, and phase pistols are used, and
the Xindi are clearly using future tech, it’s not the primary focus of the
episode. In fact, get rid of the Xindi makeup and tone down the technology a
little, and this could very easily be a normal police drama, or at least
believable as an episode of 24. About
the only thing that’s similar to other time travel stories is the various
discussions about how different the past was, and it’s generally said by T’Pol
in a disapproving way, which leads to it feeling somewhat preachy (perhaps
that’s part of my problem with it). Of course, she’s one to talk—over the
course of the episode, she and Archer steal a car, steal money from an ATM,
break into an apartment, and rough up a suspect. It’s in keeping with the
police drama tone and the whole “how far will Archer go to save Earth” theme, but
it just doesn’t feel believable to me. Sure, we’ve seen Archer willing to
resort to less savory methods already in this arc, but he’s barely in 2004 for
two minutes and the first thing we really see him do is look for a car to break
into. More acknowledgement that he was aware of his bad behavior might have
helped here.
After thinking everything over, I guess the reason this
episode doesn’t work for me is that it kind of feels like it’s trying to be
something it’s not. “North Star” was reveling in the old Western tropes while
adding sci-fi elements, while this episode seems more interested in the police
drama aspects than the sci-fi aspects. Add in the hints of preachiness, and the
result is an episode that moves things forward, but doesn’t necessarily go
about it in the most entertaining manner. Naturally, your opinion may differ on
this, especially if you like police dramas and the tropes associated with them,
but from my perspective, the execution left a lot to be desired.
How it Relates to
the Whole: The ending of this episode alone implies that there’s going to
be a followup in the next episode, though there’s no guarantee of that. Even
so, we’re finally getting more of the plot thread introduced in “Rajiin” and the Temporal Cold War makes a
reappearance. I think we can safely say this episode is arc relevant.
Other: *I’m
willing to bet that Loomis was named after the character from Halloween. Though I’m not sure if I can
figure out a specific reason for that choice off the top of my head. Then
again, I’ve never been much for horror movies.
*During the scene where Archer and T’Pol interrogate
Loomis, the camera dips sharply, giving off a handheld vibe. It wasn’t
noticeable in any other shots, so I’m guessing it was deliberate. I’m just not
sure if it was meant to be aping the filming techniques that were popular in
the early 2000’s or if they thought it was appropriate to the scene. All I know
for sure it’s that it’s slightly distracting, but not in an immersion breaking
way.
Badass Malcolm
Moment: We’ve got another episode where the majority of the characters
don’t appear, but at least we get to hear Malcolm’s voice over the
communicator. And when we do hear him, it’s clear he’s going to do what was
asked of him, no questions asked. Admittedly, that can also be a bad thing, but
it suggests he trusts Archer’s judgment and knew his Captain’s tone of voice
made it clear that this was serious and needed to be tended to immediately.
Which is probably something all good military men learn how to judge.
(Ok, this isn’t my best effort, but give me a break; I
had five seconds to work with here.)
After the Fact
Update: Sure enough, the name Loomis is indeed a reference to Halloween, and there are apparently
other references scattered in there as well (including in the title, as Halloween’s director was John
Carpenter). However, the reason for paying so much homage to Halloween is still not explained.
No comments:
Post a Comment