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Changes: North Star (episode)

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| sImage = Archer north star.jpg
  
| sImage = Archer north star.jpg
 
| wsWrittenBy = [[David A. Goodman]]
  
| wsWrittenBy = [[David A. Goodman]]
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| wsTeleplayBy =
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| wsTeleplayBy =
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| wsStoryBy =
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| wsStoryBy =
 
| wsDirectedBy = [[David Straiton]]
  
| wsDirectedBy = [[David Straiton]]
 
| nNthProducedInSeries = 60
  
| nNthProducedInSeries = 60
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|aPrevInUniverseTimeline = The Shipment (episode)
  
|aPrevInUniverseTimeline = The Shipment (episode)
 
}}
  
}}
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{{Disambiguate|the Earth cargo ship|ECS North Star{{!}}ECS ''North Star''}}
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{{disambiguation|the Earth cargo ship|ECS North Star{{!}}ECS ''North Star''}}
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----
  
 
Archer and the crew try to discover why a 19th century-era Human settlement has been placed in the middle of the Expanse.
  
Archer and the crew try to discover why a 19th century-era Human settlement has been placed in the middle of the Expanse.
   
 
== Summary ==
  
== Summary ==
 
{{Pna-incomplete}}
  
{{Pna-incomplete}}
−
[[File:Trip Tpol horse.jpg|thumb|Trip and T'Pol discuss horses]]
 +
[[File:Trip Tpol horse.jpg|thumb|Tucker and T'Pol discuss horses]]
−
A group of men on horse take another man and hang him. They refer to that man as a Skag. They shoot their guns in the air and ride off.
 +
A group of men on horseback take another man and lynch him. They refer to the hanged man as a "[[Skag]]". They shoot their guns in the air and ride off.
   
−
While searching for the [[Xindi]] in the [[Delphic Expanse]] in [[2153]], the {{ShipClass|NX}} [[starship]] {{NX|Enterprise}}, [[commanding officer|commanded]] by [[Captain]] [[Jonathan Archer]], discovers a [[planet]] inhabited by [[Human]]s in a setting that resembles the [[19th century|late-nineteenth-century]] [[Ancient West|American West]]. Wearing period dress, members of the ''Enterprise'' [[crew]] visit the planet surface and learn that the Humans are descended from [[American]]s abducted from [[Earth]] in approximately the [[19th century#1860s|1860s]] by a [[species]] called the [[Skagaran]]s who, after bringing them to this planet, used them as [[slavery|slave labor]]. T'Pol, Trip and Archer scout out the town to find useful information. Reed, back on ''Enterprise'', informs the captain that there is a smaller town filled with aliens only ten kilometers away. Archer tells T'Pol and Trip to go to the town and find out what they can, while he heads off to a local [[bar]]. Trip and T'Pol go off to find the town, but Trip thinks getting a [[horse]] first will speed up the journey. Trip finds a horse dealer and trades him his [[gun]] (a gun from the nineteenth century period) and a [[harmonica]]. T'Pol asks Trip about his experience handling the creature and Trip says he has seen every John Ford western.
+
While searching for the [[Xindi]] in the [[Delphic Expanse]] in [[2153]], the {{EnterpriseNX}} discovers a [[planet]] inexplicably inhabited by [[Human]]s in a setting that resembles the [[19th century|late-nineteenth-century]] [[Ancient West|American West]]. Wearing period dress, members of the ''Enterprise'' [[crew]] visit the planet surface and learn that the Humans are descended from [[American]]s abducted from [[Earth]] in approximately the [[19th century#1860s|1860s]] by a [[species]] called the [[Skagaran]]s who, after bringing them to this planet, used them as [[slavery|slave labor]]. [[T'Pol]], [[Charles Tucker III|Tucker]], and [[Jonathan Archer|Archer]] scout out the town to find useful information. [[Malcolm Reed|Reed]], back on ''Enterprise'', informs the captain that there is a smaller town filled with aliens only ten kilometers away. Archer tells T'Pol and Tucker to go to the town and find out what they can, while he heads off to a local [[bar]]. Tucker and T'Pol go off to find the town, but Tucker thinks getting a [[horse]] first will speed up the journey. Tucker finds a horse dealer and trades him his [[gun]] (a relic from the nineteenth century period) and a [[harmonica]]. T'Pol asks Tucker about his experience handling the creature and Tucker says he has seen every John Ford western.
   
−
While at the bar, Archer finds out that a man called [[Cooper Smith]] was the man who liberated the Humans from the Skagaran. He meets the [[deputy]] sheriff [[Bennings]], and stops him from harassing a skag, who also was his waiter. When the sheriff comes in to see what the trouble was, the deputy informs him that Archer butted into a conversation he was having with the waiter. The sheriff asks what Archer's business is in town, and tells him it is too hot for [[coffee]], a drink he got for free from the bar. Archer says he is passing through on his way down south, to meet his brother who was herding bluehorn. Once Archer leaves the bar, the Sheriff tells his deputy to "keep an eye" on Archer.
 +
While at the bar, Archer finds out that a man called [[Cooper Smith]] was the man who liberated the Humans from the Skagaran. He meets the [[deputy]] [[sheriff]] [[Bennings]] and stops him from harassing a Skag, who also was his [[waiter]]. When the sheriff comes in to see what the trouble was, the deputy informs him that Archer butted into a conversation he was having with the waiter. The sheriff asks what Archer's business is in town, and tells him it is too hot for [[coffee]], a drink he got for free from the bar. Archer says he is passing through on his way down south, to meet his brother who was herding bluehorn. Once Archer leaves the bar, the sheriff tells his deputy to "keep an eye" on Archer.
   
−
Archer goes to the house of a teacher, who he saw earlier in the day, standing next to a dead Skag in a coffin. After a short conversation with the [[teacher]], asking him why he barged into her home, he says he would like to know more about the Skagarans. She replies that everyone knows about the Skagarans. Archer says in response that up north quite a ways, where he lives, there are none. He goes on to say that his actions in the bar were because he doesn't think that the Skagaran life is any less valuable than his. The teacher asks Archer if he would like to meet more of them and, when Archer nods his head in agreement, they go off in a carriage to Skag town. On the way the deputy and some men come out of an alley way and watch the pair leave.
 +
Archer goes to the house of a [[teacher]] who he saw earlier in the day, standing next to a dead Skag in a coffin. After a short conversation with the teacher, asking him why he barged into her home, he says he would like to know more about the Skagarans. She replies that everyone knows about the Skagarans. Archer says in response that up north quite a ways, where he lives, there are none. He goes on to say that his actions in the bar were because he doesn't think that the Skagaran life is any less valuable than his. The teacher asks Archer if he would like to meet more of them and, when Archer nods his head in agreement, they go off in a carriage to Skagtown. On the way the deputy and some men come out of an alley way and watch the pair leave.
   
−
When the teacher and Archer arrive at the place, the teacher has to inform some Skagarans that Archer is all right. While Archer walks through some metal archways he spots T'Pol, and Trip. He calls the teacher, [[Bethany]], over and says these are the friends from up north he was telling her about. Bethany goes back over to a fire pit and lets Captain Archer talk to his friends. T'Pol shows him some data [[log]]s retrieved from the wreckage of what was apparently the [[spacecraft]] that had brought the Humans to the Delphic Expanse. Archer tells Trip and T'Pol to go back to ''Enterprise'' and find out what they can. T'Pol asks what John is going to do. He tells her that he doesn't want to miss his first day of school. Bethany starts to teach six Skagarans, among them [[Yral]] and [[Kret]], multiplication tables. She says next week they will start long division. The deputy, Bennings, and some men, [[Nash]] and [[Franklin (cowboy)|Franklin]], then come out from the shadows to arrest Bethany. She tells the kids to run home.
+
When the teacher and Archer arrive at the place, the teacher has to inform some Skagarans that Archer is all right. While Archer walks through some metal archways he spots T'Pol and Tucker. He calls the teacher, [[Bethany]], over and says these are the friends from up north he was telling her about. Bethany goes back over to a fire pit and lets Captain Archer talk to his friends. T'Pol shows him some data [[log]]s retrieved from the wreckage of what was apparently the [[spacecraft]] that had brought the Humans to the Delphic Expanse. Archer tells Tucker and T'Pol to go back to ''Enterprise'' and find out what they can. T'Pol asks what Jon is going to do. He tells her that he doesn't want to miss his first day of school. Bethany starts to teach six Skagarans, among them [[Yral]] and [[Kret]], multiplication tables. She says next week they will start long division. The deputy, Bennings, and some men, [[Nash]] and {{dis|Franklin|cowboy}}, then come out from the shadows to arrest Bethany. She tells the kids to run home.
   
−
[[File:Deputy Bennings with North Star Cowboys.jpg|thumb|left|Deputy Benning and his men.]]
 +
[[File:Deputy Bennings with North Star Cowboys.jpg|thumb|left|Deputy Benning and his men]]
−
From these logs and the short lessons from Bethany, they learn that shortly after the Humans' arrival, they had revolted against their Skagaran oppressors, overthrown them, and thereafter subjugated them as a means of preventing them from regaining control. As a further means of keeping the Skagarans – or "Skags," as they were disparagingly called and referred to – subjugated, the liberated Humans had made it [[crime|illegal]] to teach successive generations of the [[alien]]s to read, write, or calculate. When Archer's involvement indirectly led to Bethany's being discovered doing so, she was given a minimum ten-year [[prison]] sentence and incarcerated. Feeling responsible, Archer helps her escape from jail, but during the effort she is shot and seriously wounded by Bennings. With Bethany incapacitated and facing the deputy's [[projectile weapon|gun]] himself, Archer is forced to [[beam]] up to the ship in full sight of the locals, some of whom became convinced that Archer, although evidently Human, is a Skagaran sympathizer.
 +
From these logs and the short lessons from Bethany, they learn that shortly after the Humans' arrival, they had revolted against their Skagaran oppressors, overthrown them, and thereafter subjugated them as a means of preventing them from regaining control. As a further means of keeping the Skagarans – or "Skags," as they were disparagingly called and referred to – subjugated, the liberated Humans had made it [[crime|illegal]] to teach successive generations of the [[alien]]s to read, write, or calculate. When Archer's involvement indirectly led to Bethany's being discovered doing so, she was given a minimum ten-year [[prison]] sentence and incarcerated. Feeling responsible, Archer helps her escape from jail, but during the effort she is shot and seriously wounded by Bennings. With Bethany incapacitated and facing the deputy's gun himself, Archer is forced to [[beam]] up to the ship in full sight of the locals, some of whom became convinced that Archer, although evidently Human, is a Skagaran sympathizer.
   
−
On board the [[ship]], [[doctor|Dr.]] [[Phlox]] treats Bethany's injuries. Archer asks him if she is going to make it. Phlox says he believes so, there are a few things about her physiology he does not understand. Archer wonders what Phlox means. Phlox says he thought Archer was familiar with Bethany's ancestry, he says that Bethany is [[hybrid|one-quarter Skagaran]]. Archer goes off to talk with his [[senior staff]]. Meanwhile on the planet, Bennings has a debate with the sheriff about his handling of the Skags. Bennings hands in his badge and walks out the door. On ''Enterprise'' the Skagaran logs have been translated, which confirm Bethany's story, and the crew finds out the Humans were abducted from America's rocky desert regions because they were best adapted to the new planet's identical environment. Archer decides that the planet's inhabitants deserve to know that Earth has not abandoned them and decides to make themselves known. After the meeting with the senior staff Archer leads [[T'Pol]], and a [[security]] team to the planet in a [[shuttlepod (22nd century)|shuttlepod]], wearing their [[22nd century|twenty-second century]] [[uniform]]s. Archer explains to the sheriff, [[MacReady]], that he is from Earth, which MacReady had come to believe was a [[mythology|mythical]] place, and that Humans have [[evolution|evolved]] past bigotry and the subjugation of other [[sentience|sentient]] species. Archer informs the sheriff that unfortunately the ''Enterprise'' isn't equipped to take the entire [[colony]] of 6,000 Humans to Earth and promises to send help once their Xindi mission is completed. Archer also informs the sheriff that Humans have grown to be more tolerant of other cultures and says their band of Humans will have to grow before they can live normal lives on Earth.
+
On board the [[ship]], [[doctor|Dr.]] [[Phlox]] treats Bethany's injuries. Archer asks him if she is going to make it. Phlox says he believes so, there are a few things about her physiology he does not understand. Archer wonders what Phlox means. Phlox says he thought Archer was familiar with Bethany's ancestry, he says that Bethany is [[hybrid|one-quarter Skagaran]]. Archer goes off to talk with his [[senior staff]]. Meanwhile on the planet, Bennings has a debate with the sheriff about his handling of the Skags. Bennings hands in his badge and walks out the door. On ''Enterprise'' the Skagaran logs have been translated, which confirm Bethany's story, and the crew finds out the Humans were abducted from America's rocky desert regions because they were best adapted to the new planet's identical environment. Archer decides that the planet's inhabitants deserve to know that Earth has not abandoned them and decides to make themselves known. After the meeting with the senior staff Archer leads T'Pol and a [[security team]] to the planet in a {{dis|shuttlepod|22nd century}}, wearing their [[22nd century|twenty-second century]] [[uniform]]s. Archer explains to the sheriff, [[MacReady]], that he is from Earth, which MacReady had come to believe was a [[mythology|mythical]] place, and that Humans have [[evolution|evolved]] past bigotry and the subjugation of other [[sentience|sentient]] species. Archer informs the sheriff that unfortunately the ''Enterprise'' isn't equipped to take the entire [[colony]] of 6,000 Humans to Earth and promises to send help once their Xindi mission is completed. Archer also informs the sheriff that Humans have grown to be more tolerant of other cultures and says their band of Humans will have to grow before they can live normal lives on Earth.
   
−
Archer and the sheriff leave the building and go to the shuttlepod. Once there Archer introduces MacReady to his [[first officer]] T'Pol. As Archer says that they were going to take MacReady up to ''Enterprise'' the former deputy Bennings shoots MacReady. Archer, T'Pol, Malcolm, and a security force engage Bennings and his men in a shoot out. Close to the end of the shoot out, T'Pol is captured by one of Bennings' men. Bennings man tells Malcolm that he will kill her if Malcolm does not put his gun down. Malcolm procedes to shoot T'Pol with his [[phase pistol]] and then turns to T'Pol's captor and shoots him. While this is going on Archer engages in a hand to hand fight with Bennings. The shuttlepod departs the planet and returns to ''Enterprise''. Once on ''Enterprise'', Archer talks to Bethany reassuring her that the Humans on the planet will be able to change before ships come to rescue them. Once Bethany returns to the surface ''Enterprise'' leaves orbit, leaving behind a more enlightened community and apparently some [[history|historical]] materials, as Bethany (openly) teaches a classroom of students, Skagarans, humans, and Sheriff MacReady about the [[Wright brothers]]' first powered flight, which had taken place forty years after her Human ancestors had left Earth.
 +
Archer and the sheriff leave the building and go to the shuttlepod. Once there Archer introduces MacReady to his [[first officer]] T'Pol. As Archer says that they were going to take MacReady up to ''Enterprise'' former deputy Bennings shoots MacReady. Archer, T'Pol, Reed, and a security force engage Bennings and his men in a shootout. Close to the end of the shootout, T'Pol is captured by one of Bennings' men. Bennings' man tells Reed that he will kill her if Reed does not put his gun down. Reed proceeds to stun T'Pol with his [[phase pistol]] and then turns to T'Pol's captor and shoots him, too. While this is going on, Archer engages in a hand-to-hand fight with Bennings, ultimately subduing him. The shuttlepod departs the planet and returns to ''Enterprise''. Once on ''Enterprise'', Archer talks to Bethany, reassuring her that the Humans on the planet will be able to change before ships come to rescue them. Once Bethany returns to the surface, ''Enterprise'' leaves orbit, leaving behind a more enlightened community and apparently some [[history|historical]] materials, as Bethany (openly) teaches a classroom of students, Skagarans, Humans, and Sheriff MacReady about the [[Wright brothers]]' first powered flight, which had taken place forty years after her Human ancestors had left Earth.
   
−
== Memorable Quotes ==
 +
== Memorable quotes ==
 
"''Do you have any experience riding these animals?''"<br />
  
"''Do you have any experience riding these animals?''"<br />
−
"''I've seen every John Ford western.''"<br />
 +
"''I've seen every [[John Ford]] western.''"<br />
 
"''Who?''"<br />
  
"''Who?''"<br />
  ⚫
: - '''T'Pol''' and '''Tucker''', just before T'Pol climbed up on Tucker's horse
−
"''Look, how hard can it be?''"
  
  +
⚫
: - '''T'Pol''' and '''Trip''', just before T'Pol climbed up on Trip's horse
  
  +
  +
"''Let's raise a glass to the dearly departed. To dead Skags.''"
  +
: - '''Bennings''', making a toast
  +
  +
  +
"''Excuse me. Do you think I could get some more coffee before you shoot him?''"
  +
: - '''Archer''', to Draysik after Bennings asks him to shoot him with a gun
  +
  +
  +
"''I saw you this morning at the undertaker's. What's your business here?''"<br />
  +
"''Just passing through town.''"
  +
: - '''MacReady''' and '''Archer'''
  +
  +
  +
"''It's a little hot for coffee today, don't you think?''"<br />
  +
"''...Maybe you're right.''"
  +
: - '''MacReady''' and '''Archer'''
   
   
−
"''You must think we're barbaric. All the things humanity's accomplished &ndash; building ships like this, traveling to other worlds &ndash; and we're still down there shooting each other.''"<br />
 +
"''You must think we're barbaric. All the things Humanity's accomplished &ndash; building ships like this, traveling to other worlds &ndash; and we're still down there shooting each other.''"<br />
 
"''The progress on Earth, it didn't happen overnight.''"<br />
  
"''The progress on Earth, it didn't happen overnight.''"<br />
−
"''But it was progress all the same. You've managed to change. We haven't. Even if you could take us back, I don't think we're ready.''"<br />
  
−
"''It may be a while before we're able to start sending ships here. My guess is, by the time they arrive they'll find things have changed.''"
  
 
:- '''Bethany''' and '''Archer''', staring out a window of ''Enterprise''
  
:- '''Bethany''' and '''Archer''', staring out a window of ''Enterprise''
   
−
== Background Information ==
 +
== Background information ==
  +
* [[David A. Goodman]] enjoyed writing this installment of ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]''. "''It was fun to get to write the one cowboy-planet episode of the sequel series,''" he recalled. [http://trekcore.com/blog/2012/11/star-trek-federation-the-first-150-years-david-goodman-interview-part-ii/]
⚫
* Like the ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Voyager]]'' episode {{e|The 37's}}, the premise of this episode involves the discovery of a colony inhabited by Humans that were abducted by aliens. Also, like {{e|Spectre of the Gun}} from ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' and the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' episode {{e|A Fistful of Datas}} before it, this episode also takes place in a Western-themed setting.
  
⚫
* Exteriors of the town were shot primarily at Universal Studios in Universal City, California.
  
 
* This is the second time that [[Emily Bergl]] has played a one-quarter alien woman. She previously played Lisa Clarke, whose paternal grandfather was an alien, in the {{w|Steven Spielberg}} mini-series ''{{w|Taken}}''.
  
* This is the second time that [[Emily Bergl]] has played a one-quarter alien woman. She previously played Lisa Clarke, whose paternal grandfather was an alien, in the {{w|Steven Spielberg}} mini-series ''{{w|Taken}}''.
  ⚫
* Exteriors of the town were shot primarily at Universal Studios in Universal City, California. {{incite}}
  ⚫
* Like the ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Voyager]]'' episode {{e|The 37's}}, the premise of this episode involves the discovery of a colony inhabited by Humans who were abducted by aliens. Also, like previous installments {{e|Spectre of the Gun}} from ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' and the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' episode {{e|A Fistful of Datas}}, this episode takes place in a Western-themed setting.
 
* Chronologically, this is the first time that a Starfleet officer asks for transport while specifying how many to beam up.
  
* Chronologically, this is the first time that a Starfleet officer asks for transport while specifying how many to beam up.
  +
*Johnathon Archer's claim that humans had gone passed intolerance and racism seems to have been premature, as the episodes [[Demons (episode)]] and [[Terra Prime (episode)]] show humans on Earth can be just as racist and intolerant.
−
* There is no canon description of subsequent contact between this planet and Earth, even after the Xindi threat had been taken care of.
  
  +
* This episode has inspired mixed responses. David A. Goodman said of the outing, "''[It] has its fans and its detractors.''" [http://trekcore.com/blog/2012/11/star-trek-federation-the-first-150-years-david-goodman-interview-part-ii/]
   
−
== Links and References ==
 +
== Links and references ==
−
=== Main Cast ===
 +
=== Main cast ===
−
*[[Scott Bakula]] as [[Jonathan Archer]]
 +
*[[Scott Bakula]] as [[Captain]] [[Jonathan Archer]]
−
*[[John Billingsley]] as [[Phlox]]
 +
*[[John Billingsley]] as [[Doctor]] [[Phlox]]
−
*[[Jolene Blalock]] as [[T'Pol]]
 +
*[[Jolene Blalock]] as [[Subcommander]] [[T'Pol]]
−
*[[Dominic Keating]] as [[Malcolm Reed]]
 +
*[[Dominic Keating]] as [[Lieutenant]] [[Malcolm Reed]]
−
*[[Anthony Montgomery]] as [[Travis Mayweather]]
 +
*[[Anthony Montgomery]] as [[Ensign]] [[Travis Mayweather]]
−
*[[Linda Park]] as [[Hoshi Sato]]
 +
*[[Linda Park]] as [[Ensign]] [[Hoshi Sato]]
−
*[[Connor Trinneer]] as [[Charles Tucker III|Charles "Trip" Tucker III]]
 +
*[[Connor Trinneer]] as [[Commander]] [[Charles Tucker III|Charles "Trip" Tucker III]]
   
−
=== Guest Stars ===
 +
=== Guest stars ===
 
*[[Emily Bergl]] as [[Bethany]]
  
*[[Emily Bergl]] as [[Bethany]]
 
*[[Glenn Morshower]] as Sheriff [[MacReady]]
  
*[[Glenn Morshower]] as Sheriff [[MacReady]]
 
*[[James Parks]] as Deputy [[Bennings]]
  
*[[James Parks]] as Deputy [[Bennings]]
   
−
=== Co-Stars ===
 +
=== Co-stars ===
 
*[[Paul Rae]] as the [[Unnamed Humans (22nd century)#North Star bartender|Bartender]]
  
*[[Paul Rae]] as the [[Unnamed Humans (22nd century)#North Star bartender|Bartender]]
 
*[[Steven Klein]] as [[Draysik]]
  
*[[Steven Klein]] as [[Draysik]]
 
*[[Gary Bristow]] as the [[Unnamed Humans (22nd century)#North Star stablehand|Stablehand]]
  
*[[Gary Bristow]] as the [[Unnamed Humans (22nd century)#North Star stablehand|Stablehand]]
−
*[[Alexandria M. Salling]] as [[Taliyah|Skagaran Girl]]
+
*[[Alexandria M. Salling]] as [[Taliyah|Skagaran Girl]]
 
*[[Jon Baron]] as [[Yral|Skagaran Boy]]
  
*[[Jon Baron]] as [[Yral|Skagaran Boy]]
   
−
=== Uncredited Co-Stars ===
 +
=== Uncredited co-stars ===
−
*[[Kevin Derr]] as [[Kelly (Corporal)|Kelly]]
 +
*[[Kevin Derr]] as {{dis|Kelly|Corporal}}
 
*[[Tom DuPont]] as a [[Unnamed Humans (22nd century)#North Star cowboys|cowboy]]
  
*[[Tom DuPont]] as a [[Unnamed Humans (22nd century)#North Star cowboys|cowboy]]
 
*[[Jeffrey Eith]] as [[Nash]]
  
*[[Jeffrey Eith]] as [[Nash]]
 
*[[Ricky Lomax]] as [[W. Woods]]
  
*[[Ricky Lomax]] as [[W. Woods]]
−
*[[Cliff McLaughlin]] as [[Franklin (cowboy)|Franklin]]
 +
*[[Cliff McLaughlin]] as {{dis|Franklin|cowboy}}
 
*[[David Moore]] as a [[Unnamed Skagarans|child in school]]
  
*[[David Moore]] as a [[Unnamed Skagarans|child in school]]
 
*[[Dorenda Moore]] as [[S. Money]]
  
*[[Dorenda Moore]] as [[S. Money]]
−
*[[Robert Sidney Mellette]] as [[Henry (barber)|Henry]]
 +
*[[Robert Sidney Mellette]] as {{dis|Henry|barber}}
 
*[[Paul Townsend]] as a [[Unnamed Humans (22nd century)#North Star cowboys|cowboy]]
  
*[[Paul Townsend]] as a [[Unnamed Humans (22nd century)#North Star cowboys|cowboy]]
 
*[[Mike Watson]] as a [[Unnamed Skagarans#Skagaran male|Skagaran]]
  
*[[Mike Watson]] as a [[Unnamed Skagarans#Skagaran male|Skagaran]]
Line 114: Line 131:
   
 
=== References ===
  
=== References ===
−
[[airplane]]; [[alien abduction]]; [[Ancient West]]; [[arithmetic]]; [[barber]]; [[bartender]]; [[bluehorn]]; [[buffalo]]; [[butcher]]; [[cemetery]]; [[checkers]]; [[coffee]]; [[cowboy]]; [[crime]]; [[data module]]; [[dentistry]]; [[deputy]]; [[DNA]]; [[Earth]]; [[feather]]; [[John Ford|Ford, John]]; [[interspecific reproduction]]; [[harmonica]]; [[heat exhaustion]]; [[horse]]; [[Human]]; [[Human history]]; [[MACO]]; [[mathematics]]; [[New York]]; [[Ohio]]; [[Pacific Ocean]]; [[parlor trick]]; [[phase rifle]]; [[projectile weapon]]; [[revolver]]; [[rotgut]]; [[San Francisco]]; [[sheriff]]; [[shuttlepod (22nd century)]]; [[Skagaran]]; [[Skagaran colony]]; [[Skagaran language]]; [[Skagaran starship]]; [[Skagaran whiskey]]; [[Skagtown]]; [[slavery]]; [[smoking]]; [[spittoon]]; [[Cooper Smith|Smith, Cooper]]; [[stablehand]]; [[Clay Stanton|Stanton, Clay]]; [[sun viper]]; [[teacher]]; [[United States dollar]]; [[unnamed Alpha and Beta Quadrant planets]]; [[western]]; [[Wright brothers]]; [[Xindi incident]]
 +
[[airplane]]; [[alien abduction]]; [[Ancient West]]; [[arithmetic]]; [[barber]]; [[bartender]]; [[bluehorn]]; [[buffalo]]; [[butcher]]; [[cemetery]]; [[checkers]]; [[coffee]]; [[cowboy]]; [[crime]]; [[data module]]; [[dentistry]]; [[deputy]]; [[DNA]]; [[Earth]]; [[feather]]; [[John Ford|Ford, John]]; [[interspecific reproduction]]; [[harmonica]]; [[heat exhaustion]]; [[horse]]; [[Human]]; [[Human history]]; [[lynching]]; [[MACO]]; [[mathematics]]; [[New York]]; [[Ohio]]; [[Pacific Ocean]]; [[parlor trick]]; [[particle rifle]]; [[prejudice]]; [[projectile weapon]]; [[Recessive gene]]; [[revolver]]; [[rotgut]]; [[San Francisco]]; [[sheriff]]; [[shuttlepod (22nd century)]]; [[Skagaran]]; [[Skagaran colony]]; [[Skagaran language]]; [[Skagaran starship]]; [[Skagaran whiskey]]; [[Skagtown]]; [[slavery]]; [[smoking]]; [[spittoon]]; [[Cooper Smith|Smith, Cooper]]; [[stablehand]]; [[Clay Stanton|Stanton, Clay]]; [[sun viper]]; [[teacher]]; [[United States dollar]]; [[Vulcan (planet)]]; [[western]]; [[Wright brothers]]; [[Xindi incident]]
   
 
==== Timeline ====
  
==== Timeline ====
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[[de:Faustrecht]]
  
[[de:Faustrecht]]
 
[[es:North Star]]
  
[[es:North Star]]
−
[[nl:North Star (aflevering)]]
 +
[[fr:North Star (épisode)]]
  +
[[ja:ENT:ウエスタン]]
  +
[[nl:North Star]]
 
[[Category:ENT episodes]]
  
[[Category:ENT episodes]]

Revision as of 09:24, 15 July 2015

Template:Realworld

For the Earth cargo ship, please see ECS North Star.

Archer and the crew try to discover why a 19th century-era Human settlement has been placed in the middle of the Expanse.

Summary

This article or section is incompleteThis page is marked as lacking essential detail, and needs attention. Information regarding expansion requirements may be found on the article's talk page. Feel free to edit this page to assist with this expansion.
Trip Tpol horse

Tucker and T'Pol discuss horses

A group of men on horseback take another man and lynch him. They refer to the hanged man as a "Skag". They shoot their guns in the air and ride off.

While searching for the Xindi in the Delphic Expanse in 2153, the Enterprise NX-01 discovers a planet inexplicably inhabited by Humans in a setting that resembles the late-nineteenth-century American West. Wearing period dress, members of the Enterprise crew visit the planet surface and learn that the Humans are descended from Americans abducted from Earth in approximately the 1860s by a species called the Skagarans who, after bringing them to this planet, used them as slave labor. T'Pol, Tucker, and Archer scout out the town to find useful information. Reed, back on Enterprise, informs the captain that there is a smaller town filled with aliens only ten kilometers away. Archer tells T'Pol and Tucker to go to the town and find out what they can, while he heads off to a local bar. Tucker and T'Pol go off to find the town, but Tucker thinks getting a horse first will speed up the journey. Tucker finds a horse dealer and trades him his gun (a relic from the nineteenth century period) and a harmonica. T'Pol asks Tucker about his experience handling the creature and Tucker says he has seen every John Ford western.

While at the bar, Archer finds out that a man called Cooper Smith was the man who liberated the Humans from the Skagaran. He meets the deputy sheriff Bennings and stops him from harassing a Skag, who also was his waiter. When the sheriff comes in to see what the trouble was, the deputy informs him that Archer butted into a conversation he was having with the waiter. The sheriff asks what Archer's business is in town, and tells him it is too hot for coffee, a drink he got for free from the bar. Archer says he is passing through on his way down south, to meet his brother who was herding bluehorn. Once Archer leaves the bar, the sheriff tells his deputy to "keep an eye" on Archer.

Archer goes to the house of a teacher who he saw earlier in the day, standing next to a dead Skag in a coffin. After a short conversation with the teacher, asking him why he barged into her home, he says he would like to know more about the Skagarans. She replies that everyone knows about the Skagarans. Archer says in response that up north quite a ways, where he lives, there are none. He goes on to say that his actions in the bar were because he doesn't think that the Skagaran life is any less valuable than his. The teacher asks Archer if he would like to meet more of them and, when Archer nods his head in agreement, they go off in a carriage to Skagtown. On the way the deputy and some men come out of an alley way and watch the pair leave.

When the teacher and Archer arrive at the place, the teacher has to inform some Skagarans that Archer is all right. While Archer walks through some metal archways he spots T'Pol and Tucker. He calls the teacher, Bethany, over and says these are the friends from up north he was telling her about. Bethany goes back over to a fire pit and lets Captain Archer talk to his friends. T'Pol shows him some data logs retrieved from the wreckage of what was apparently the spacecraft that had brought the Humans to the Delphic Expanse. Archer tells Tucker and T'Pol to go back to Enterprise and find out what they can. T'Pol asks what Jon is going to do. He tells her that he doesn't want to miss his first day of school. Bethany starts to teach six Skagarans, among them Yral and Kret, multiplication tables. She says next week they will start long division. The deputy, Bennings, and some men, Nash and Franklin, then come out from the shadows to arrest Bethany. She tells the kids to run home.

Deputy Bennings with North Star Cowboys

Deputy Benning and his men

From these logs and the short lessons from Bethany, they learn that shortly after the Humans' arrival, they had revolted against their Skagaran oppressors, overthrown them, and thereafter subjugated them as a means of preventing them from regaining control. As a further means of keeping the Skagarans – or "Skags," as they were disparagingly called and referred to – subjugated, the liberated Humans had made it illegal to teach successive generations of the aliens to read, write, or calculate. When Archer's involvement indirectly led to Bethany's being discovered doing so, she was given a minimum ten-year prison sentence and incarcerated. Feeling responsible, Archer helps her escape from jail, but during the effort she is shot and seriously wounded by Bennings. With Bethany incapacitated and facing the deputy's gun himself, Archer is forced to beam up to the ship in full sight of the locals, some of whom became convinced that Archer, although evidently Human, is a Skagaran sympathizer.

On board the ship, Dr. Phlox treats Bethany's injuries. Archer asks him if she is going to make it. Phlox says he believes so, there are a few things about her physiology he does not understand. Archer wonders what Phlox means. Phlox says he thought Archer was familiar with Bethany's ancestry, he says that Bethany is one-quarter Skagaran. Archer goes off to talk with his senior staff. Meanwhile on the planet, Bennings has a debate with the sheriff about his handling of the Skags. Bennings hands in his badge and walks out the door. On Enterprise the Skagaran logs have been translated, which confirm Bethany's story, and the crew finds out the Humans were abducted from America's rocky desert regions because they were best adapted to the new planet's identical environment. Archer decides that the planet's inhabitants deserve to know that Earth has not abandoned them and decides to make themselves known. After the meeting with the senior staff Archer leads T'Pol and a security team to the planet in a shuttlepod, wearing their twenty-second century uniforms. Archer explains to the sheriff, MacReady, that he is from Earth, which MacReady had come to believe was a mythical place, and that Humans have evolved past bigotry and the subjugation of other sentient species. Archer informs the sheriff that unfortunately the Enterprise isn't equipped to take the entire colony of 6,000 Humans to Earth and promises to send help once their Xindi mission is completed. Archer also informs the sheriff that Humans have grown to be more tolerant of other cultures and says their band of Humans will have to grow before they can live normal lives on Earth.

Archer and the sheriff leave the building and go to the shuttlepod. Once there Archer introduces MacReady to his first officer T'Pol. As Archer says that they were going to take MacReady up to Enterprise former deputy Bennings shoots MacReady. Archer, T'Pol, Reed, and a security force engage Bennings and his men in a shootout. Close to the end of the shootout, T'Pol is captured by one of Bennings' men. Bennings' man tells Reed that he will kill her if Reed does not put his gun down. Reed proceeds to stun T'Pol with his phase pistol and then turns to T'Pol's captor and shoots him, too. While this is going on, Archer engages in a hand-to-hand fight with Bennings, ultimately subduing him. The shuttlepod departs the planet and returns to Enterprise. Once on Enterprise, Archer talks to Bethany, reassuring her that the Humans on the planet will be able to change before ships come to rescue them. Once Bethany returns to the surface, Enterprise leaves orbit, leaving behind a more enlightened community and apparently some historical materials, as Bethany (openly) teaches a classroom of students, Skagarans, Humans, and Sheriff MacReady about the Wright brothers' first powered flight, which had taken place forty years after her Human ancestors had left Earth.

Memorable quotes

"Do you have any experience riding these animals?"
"I've seen every John Ford western."
"Who?"

- T'Pol and Tucker, just before T'Pol climbed up on Tucker's horse


"Let's raise a glass to the dearly departed. To dead Skags."

- Bennings, making a toast


"Excuse me. Do you think I could get some more coffee before you shoot him?"

- Archer, to Draysik after Bennings asks him to shoot him with a gun


"I saw you this morning at the undertaker's. What's your business here?"
"Just passing through town."

- MacReady and Archer


"It's a little hot for coffee today, don't you think?"
"...Maybe you're right."

- MacReady and Archer


"You must think we're barbaric. All the things Humanity's accomplished – building ships like this, traveling to other worlds – and we're still down there shooting each other."
"The progress on Earth, it didn't happen overnight."

- Bethany and Archer, staring out a window of Enterprise

Background information

  • David A. Goodman enjoyed writing this installment of Star Trek: Enterprise. "It was fun to get to write the one cowboy-planet episode of the sequel series," he recalled. [1]
  • This is the second time that Emily Bergl has played a one-quarter alien woman. She previously played Lisa Clarke, whose paternal grandfather was an alien, in the Steven Spielberg mini-series Taken.
  • Exteriors of the town were shot primarily at Universal Studios in Universal City, California. (citation needed • edit)
  • Like the Voyager episode "The 37's", the premise of this episode involves the discovery of a colony inhabited by Humans who were abducted by aliens. Also, like previous installments "Spectre of the Gun" from Star Trek: The Original Series and the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "A Fistful of Datas", this episode takes place in a Western-themed setting.
  • Chronologically, this is the first time that a Starfleet officer asks for transport while specifying how many to beam up.
  • Johnathon Archer's claim that humans had gone passed intolerance and racism seems to have been premature, as the episodes Demons (episode) and Terra Prime (episode) show humans on Earth can be just as racist and intolerant.
  • This episode has inspired mixed responses. David A. Goodman said of the outing, "[It] has its fans and its detractors." [2]

Links and references

Main cast

Guest stars

Co-stars

Uncredited co-stars

References

airplane; alien abduction; Ancient West; arithmetic; barber; bartender; bluehorn; buffalo; butcher; cemetery; checkers; coffee; cowboy; crime; data module; dentistry; deputy; DNA; Earth; feather; Ford, John; interspecific reproduction; harmonica; heat exhaustion; horse; Human; Human history; lynching; MACO; mathematics; New York; Ohio; Pacific Ocean; parlor trick; particle rifle; prejudice; projectile weapon; Recessive gene; revolver; rotgut; San Francisco; sheriff; shuttlepod (22nd century); Skagaran; Skagaran colony; Skagaran language; Skagaran starship; Skagaran whiskey; Skagtown; slavery; smoking; spittoon; Smith, Cooper; stablehand; Stanton, Clay; sun viper; teacher; United States dollar; Vulcan (planet); western; Wright brothers; Xindi incident

Timeline

1860s
A group of Humans are kidnapped from Earth by Skagarans who intend to use them as slaves.
1903
The Wright brothers accomplish their first flight.
2153
Enterprise finds the failed Skagaran colony.
Previous episode:
"Twilight" 		Star Trek: Enterprise
Season 3 		Next episode:
"Similitude"
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