689. North StarFORMULA: Spectre of the Gun + The 37s + Patterns of Force
WHY WE LIKE IT: The last action sequence. The look.
WHY WE DON'T: Where did the clothes come from?
REVIEW: Another high concept side-trip in the style of Impulse, North Star is essentially a western. Enterprise encounters another of those human "colonies" created by alien abduction, and in the intervening 300 years since that abduction, though the humans have overthrown their alien masters, they haven't progressed beyond their old west trappings and attitudes. Does it take some kind of critical mass for a society to evolve? But that's a secondary consideration, since North Star is a throwback to those old TOS episodes where the "past" could be explored on an alien planet. The justification was usually even thinner.
As a western, the episode indeed does work. The bleached look and varied shutter speeds fully embraces that other genre (even of Star Trek grew out of the western tradition), but also creates an arid land under a harsh sun. In an effort to bring an authentic flavor, the episode does make use of some clichés, especially in the irredeemable character of Deputy Bennings. There isn't a lot of gray in a character that quits his job when it stops including harassing the Scagaran underclass. The sheriff is a lot more ambiguous, a duty-bound lawman practically willing Archer to interfere and stop the madness. The final shoot-out has its share of cliched gags, but once the phase pistols come out, the Starfleet crew shows its technological advantage: Reed stuns a hostaged T'Pol out of the way and Archer collapses a balcony to get at one of the goons. Archer makes a fine action hero here, as badass when he's defusing tensions in the saloon as he is wrestling with Bennings under a horse (with a gory shotgun wound to boot!).
North Star isn't just TOS-like in its use of a historical setting however, it also revisits the theme of intolerance at the heart of many Star Trek stories. Does it have anything new to say though? I'm not sure. It works for what it is - though turnabout is fair play, the humans have been oppressing the "Skags" for centuries, over-penalizing them for their ancestors' crimes. The episode is a bit manipulative about its opinion on the subject, presenting us with Skag children and a teacher with a heart of gold, as opposed to the human Bennings and a 10-year sentence on Bethany's head for teaching fractions. There was never any real moral dilemma.
One of the questions the episode makes us ask though is just where Enterprise got 19th century attire and weapons. Middle of the Expanse, no replicators... Either they stole them (which would have deserved a mention) or the ship is staffed by tailors and gunsmiths (unlikely). Clothes aren't such an issue, really, but the gun wouldn't have been one if Trip and T'Pol didn't need to buy a horse with it. And I don't know what purpose that scene has beyond the very slight humor of 22nd-century characters trying to ride a horse. In any case, when the cavalry arrives, it's a shuttlepod. Shocking after so much Trek based around not showing your technology to the natives, this is a really cool show of force, made even cooler when the shooting starts and Archer doesn't even duck.
LESSON: Earth used to be the Ivory Coast of the galaxy.
REWATCHABILITY - High Medium: Though it's a major break in the Xindi storyline, North Star is still a fun stand-alone episode. Another one to watch for style and action rather than content.
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