monkee reviews 'Carbon Creek'
First Impression: Delightful!
Framing Device: T'Pol has been on Enterprise for exactly one year. Her celebratory dinner with Archer and Trip becomes the framing device for the episode, as she tells the two men the story of the REAL first contact between Vulcans and humans, which took place not in Bozeman, Montana in 2063, but in Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania in the 1950's. Relax, though, continuity buffs. I don't think it can really be considered an official first contact, since the humans were never aware that they were interacting with aliens. Apparently, T'Pol's great grandmother was part of a Vulcan survey mission studying the launch of Sputnik. The ship was forced to crash land, and the Vulcans had to go into town to avoid starvation.
Ancestor Story: Like VOY's 11:59 (only much, much better), this really isn't an Enterprise story, exactly. Aside from T'Pol, Archer and Trip, we don't even see any of the other characters. I certainly don't mind, though – not if we're going to get a story like this. But isn't the resemblance between T'Pol and her 'fore-foremother' remarkable? <g>
Convenient Stocking Caps Everywhere! The Vulcans must disguise themselves before they head into town, and – lo and behold – a clothesline! A clothesline that just happens to hold clothing that fits Mestral and T'Mir, including a stocking cap! Another remarkable coincidence, but again, I didn't mind. I'm sure it was a homage, of sorts, to TOS's 'City on the Edge.' Mestral looked much like Spock did in that episode. In fact, Mestral reminded me a lot of Spock, which can only be a good thing. More on Mestral later.
As for the sexy silhouette of T'Mir changing behind the sheet...sigh. monkee rolls her eyes. It didn't detract from the story, so I'll let it go. These things are just a little jarring.
Twilight Zone: The shots of Mestral and T'Mir strolling self-consciously through town were nicely creepy in an aliens-among-us sort of way. It really did remind me of 'The Twilight Zone,' which actually gets mentioned by name by Trip later in the episode. Talk about (almost) breaking the fourth wall! I half expected him to mention 'that wacky William Shatner from Star Trek!' But I digress. Once the two Vulcans entered the bar, they were accorded the same looks of frank appraisal that any strangers would receive. (Except one of the men was probably thinking 'Gee, that stocking cap looks familiar. And isn't that my wife's dress?)
Carbon Creek: Sure, it was a little idyllic – a little too good to be true. But I really loved Carbon Creek. It was nicely drawn out – I could imagine myself being there. The characters were just complex enough to seem real. There was 'The Pine Tree's' barkeep, Maggie, a divorced middle-aged woman, and her son, Jack, a brilliant, sweet kid, who just wasn't going to be able to get up enough money to go to college. Even the guy who played pool with Mestral had some dimension to him. It fit the image most of us have of small towns in the 50's, where people were friendly and helpful. It reminded me a lot of the Maine town in 'The Iron Giant.'
An Alien Perspective: Of course, we also get a Vulcan's eye view of humanity. The three Vulcans respond quite differently to the humans, at least at first. Let's look at them individually.
Stron: To Stron, they are beneath consideration. He believes they will annihilate themselves, and can't justify spending any time on them. But toward the end, even Stron, just as Mestral accuses him of not taking anything away from the experience, proves that he HAS, in fact, learned something. Compassion. He is, after all, fixing Mrs. Garrett's pump free of charge, even though her son calls him 'Moe,' after the Stooge by the same name!
T'Mir: T'Mir, as the commander, is primarily concerned with being conservative, and not doing anything that might contaminate human culture. She, too, finds the humans violent, and even dismisses them for their short life spans. The boy, Jack, is the one who finally gets to her, and gives her reason to believe the humans may be worthy of consideration after all. She performs an act of compassion of her own – filling his college fund jar with money she's...acquired.
Mestral: See? Now it's Vulcans like Mestral (and 'Fallen Hero's' V'Lar) that give me hope for the future of the franchise. Ambassador Soval and, to some extent, T'Pol, are so arrogant and condescending most of the time! It just doesn't jibe with the previous impression I had of Vulcans, from Spock, Sarek, and Tuvok. T'Pol told Archer last season that Vulcans aren't curious about other cultures. Say what? I'm pleased to see her proven wrong once again. Mestral is intensely curious. He throws himself into human culture with gusto, in the name of scientific exploration, and just plain friendship. He makes friends among the humans, when it becomes clear that the Vulcans may have to spend their lives on earth. He goes to baseball games, plays pool, and refuses to miss 'I Love Lucy!' He watches television with his fingers steepled contemplatively, fascinated. And he sees things that T'Mir and Stron just refuse to. He sees the human capacity for compassion, empathy and friendship. He understands their potential. Well-portrayed by Trek veteran J.Paul Boehmer, Mestral is the most appealing Vulcan we've seen in years.
Vulcans Among Us: Like VOY's 'Haunting of Deck Twelve' (only much, much better), we don't know exactly how much of T'Pol's 'story' is true. We know at least part of it is, since we saw T'Mir's purse in her quarters, but she really might have been yanking Archer and Trip's chains with the bit about Mestral choosing to stay behind on earth. Part of me hopes so, because it's astoundingly illogical for him to stay – the threat of cultural contamination is real. But part of me is excited at the prospect, too. Think what a great story it would make – Mestral's observations of humanity for two hundred years starting in the 1950's. Who knows? Maybe he helped Zefram Cochrane initiate the second first contact! Hell, Mestral could be here RIGHT NOW! No. Wait. It's only a television show.
Ahem. Sorry. Sometimes I get carried away...
Two Words – Sput Nik: (Sorry – little Toy Story II joke, there!) I loved the shot of Sputnik being shadowed by the Vulcan ship. Very, very cool! The crash was nice, too. I liked how the pine trees bowed in response to the ship blasting by.
VELCRO! Trying to raise money for Jack's college fund, T'Mir looks for the most innocuous form of contamination she can find – and it's Velcro! She sells it to a patent officer, who practically cackles with glee at the money he knows he's going to make! If she only knew what an important role the substance will play in the human's quest for space! Hahaha! I thought this was a riot, and a nice nod to Star Trek: The Voyage Home, in which Scotty introduces transparent aluminum to a plexiglass manufacturer. And guess what? A little research by monkee's friend Delta Story (monkee waves to Delta) reveals that Velcro was invented by one George de Mestral!
The Purse: I loved the last scene of the episode, in which T'Pol returns to her quarters, gets out T'Mir's purse from earth, and looks at it thoughtfully by the light of a meditation candle. T'Pol is the first Vulcan to serve for a substantial amount of time with humans, and now she has this other significant connection to them. It was a nice, subtle moment.
Paranoid Feminist Moment: HEY! Why is T'Mir the one doing the damned dishes? Huh? Would it have killed them to have Mestral be the one cleaning up? Vulcans are supposed to be a little more enlightened! Perhaps they've been watching too much 'I Love Lucy!'
Ahem. Or maybe it was just T'Mir's turn. I guess I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.
Character Interactions: The dinner scenes between the 'big three' were enjoyable and light-hearted, but most of the substantial interactions occurred between the three Vulcans, and the inhabitants of Carbon Creek. I loved the T'Mir/Jack scene in the bar. Jack was a quintessential 'nice kid,' and I think his intelligence and enthusiasm for diversity really won her over. The Mestral/Maggie date scene was sweet, too, particularly his reaction to her kiss. Awwww.
Archer Watch: He was fine this week, although mostly he was just being a good dinner host. He even fended off Trip's rude question about T'Pol's age. "That's classified information, Trip." Hee.
'Shipper Watch: Well, not really. The dinner interactions were just friendly. I thought I saw some heat between T'Mir and Mestral, but I guess not. Too bad. I was sort of hoping T'Pol and Mestral were related, too. Oh well. Let's just hope that stuffy old 'Moe' didn't turn out to be her fore-forefather! Although, come to think of it, I wouldn't be a bit surprised – she even has his hair!
Best Lines:
"I've been there! There's a statue!" (Trip, to T'Pol, regarding Bozeman, Montana)
"I believe you have that garment on backwards." (Mestral, to T'Mir)
"The game is based on simple geometry. It wouldn't challenge a Vulcan child." (Mestral, to T'Mir)
"Two Vulcans stroll into a bar, hustle up a few games of pool, and walk out with an armload of TV dinners. It sounds like an old 'Twilight Zone' episode!" (Trip, to Archer)
"You sit for hours each day in front of this idiotic device." (monkee, to her kids, and T'Mir, to Mestral)
"I need to go NOW. 'I Love Lucy' is on tonight." (Mestral, to T'Mir)
"I'm usually better at keeping a lid on my emotions. It's not always easy." "I know." (Maggie and Mestral)
"It's been a while since I kissed a man, but I was hoping it would be a little more than pleasant." "I did say very pleasant." (Maggie and Mestral)
"You'd be surprised what a disciplined mind can accomplish." (T'Mir, to Jack)
"This has nothing to do with contamination. It has to do with compassion." (Mestral, to T'Mir and Stron)
"It's unfortunate that you'll be leaving these people without experiencing one thing that they have to offer." (Mestral, to Stron)
"Such as alcohol, frozen fish sticks, the constant threat of nuclear annihilation?" (Stron, to Mestral)
"This is like finding out that Neil Armstrong wasn’t the first man to walk on the moon!" "Perhaps he wasn't." (Trip and T'Pol)
"Oh..." (Trip, groaning in response, with an accompanying head thunk of despair on the dinner table)
Rating: 10/10. I was going to give it a 9.5, because I hate to set the bar so high so early in the season/series, but really I enjoyed every single minute of this one. And I have a definite weakness for nostalgia episodes, especially if they have anything at all to do with the space program!
Next Week: ROMULANS! Uh-oh! We're WATCHING you, Berman and Braga. You'd better be very careful! I'm looking forward to a good Reed story, though!
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