THE PLOT
Finding a human settlement on a planet within The Expanse, Archer decides to investigate. The settlement is highly reminiscent of the Old West, in both the people's dress and manner. There are two races on the planet: the dominant humans and the original inhabitants, the humanoid Skagarans. Long ago, the humans overthrew the "Skags," who now serve only for menial labor, with no rights at all. For a Skagaran to kill a human, even in self-defense, is "a hanging offense."
It doesn't take long for Archer to fall in with Bethany (Emily Bergl), the town schoolteacher, who sympathizes with the Skagarans and defies the repressive laws to teach their children at night. But when Archer is backed into a corner by the town's thuggish deputy (James Parks), he is forced to use some of Enterprise's technology - leaving him with the responsibility to do something to keep the humans from taking out their paranoia on the Skagaran community.
CHARACTERS
Capt. Archer: Scott Bakula seems to enjoy the chance to dress up and play cowboy, essentially doing an hour-long Gary Cooper impression. Archer's normal stiff bearing is cast aside. Instead, he lapses into a laid-back "western" delivery of his lines, and a slightly more laid-back mode of movement as well. Underneath the western tropes is the same old Archer, though it's the more thoughtful Archer of late Season Two rather than the foolishly impulsive Archer of early Season One. Instead of jumping in to intervene, he waits to assess the situation between the humans and the Skagarans, getting a thumbnail sketch of the background of the conflict before acting - whereas in the early days of the series he would probably have acted first and thought second.
Trip: Though decidedly in a supporting role, Trip does get one excellent scene. Needing to obtain a horse in order to visit the Skagaran settlement and investigate the ruins of the spaceship, he trades his prized harmonica for it. Then he attempts to ride the horse, figuring that "it can't be that hard," given that he's seen "every John Ford western ever made."
Hot Western Schoolmarm of the Week: Emily Bergl is Bethany, the settlement's schoolteacher. She sympathizes with the Skagaran community, and breaks the law by secretly teaching Skagaran children at night - earning her a watchful eye by the town sheriff and the emnity of his thuggish deputy (James Parks). A late plot twist involving her character isn't particularly surprising, but does add in some additional motivation for some of her choices beyond simply being "saintly."
THOUGHTS
North Star more or less represents a "week off" for Enterprise. This is a western. Aside from very light alien make-up for the Skags and a touch of backstory, most of it would fit perfectly in any of the many western television shows of the 1950's or '60's. It even has a big, climactic shoot-out at the end.
Personally, I quite enjoyed North Star. The heavy arc material that has pervaded the series since The Expanse has been of great benefit to Enterprise (I'm sure anyone following these reviews has noticed how much more positive in tone they've become from the dregs of mid-Season Two). But at a certain point, it's kind of nice to take a brief vacation from the arc and have fun.
Also, while this episode may be filler, it's not a bad script. Writer David A. Goodman takes the western tropes just far enough to have fun with them, but he also uses the science fiction backstory of the human colony in a halfway interesting way. Archer's choice in dealing with the town sherriff makes for an interesting scene between the two characters (just before the gunshots start going off). And the ending strikes just the right hopeful tone for the community we've been shown to leave us on a good note, while at the same time showing the Enterprise crew having apparently learned how to touch a situation lightly and then move on.
It is ultimately filler, of course. And despite the interesting scene between Archer and the sherriff, there is a sense of simplification in the solution. It's just the deputy and a few "bad apples" that need to be dealt with in order for the humans and Skagarans to live in peace, when the reality of such a situation would be a lot more complicated. And making all of the Skagarans one-dimensional victims saves a lot of time to make this plot fit into one hour, but is less interesting than if we saw some different Skagaran factions. Where is the Skagaran resistance, or the Skagaran militants, or the separatists, or any of the other agendas that would realistically exist within any oppressed minority group?
Still, if the characterization and solution are overly simplistic... Well, that kind of fits with the old-fashioned western setting too. And again: This is a filler. It's not Earth-shattering stuff, and it's not meant to be. Taken on its own terms, it's enjoyable; and for filler, it's above-average.
Rating: 7/10.
Finding a human settlement on a planet within The Expanse, Archer decides to investigate. The settlement is highly reminiscent of the Old West, in both the people's dress and manner. There are two races on the planet: the dominant humans and the original inhabitants, the humanoid Skagarans. Long ago, the humans overthrew the "Skags," who now serve only for menial labor, with no rights at all. For a Skagaran to kill a human, even in self-defense, is "a hanging offense."
It doesn't take long for Archer to fall in with Bethany (Emily Bergl), the town schoolteacher, who sympathizes with the Skagarans and defies the repressive laws to teach their children at night. But when Archer is backed into a corner by the town's thuggish deputy (James Parks), he is forced to use some of Enterprise's technology - leaving him with the responsibility to do something to keep the humans from taking out their paranoia on the Skagaran community.
CHARACTERS
Capt. Archer: Scott Bakula seems to enjoy the chance to dress up and play cowboy, essentially doing an hour-long Gary Cooper impression. Archer's normal stiff bearing is cast aside. Instead, he lapses into a laid-back "western" delivery of his lines, and a slightly more laid-back mode of movement as well. Underneath the western tropes is the same old Archer, though it's the more thoughtful Archer of late Season Two rather than the foolishly impulsive Archer of early Season One. Instead of jumping in to intervene, he waits to assess the situation between the humans and the Skagarans, getting a thumbnail sketch of the background of the conflict before acting - whereas in the early days of the series he would probably have acted first and thought second.
Trip: Though decidedly in a supporting role, Trip does get one excellent scene. Needing to obtain a horse in order to visit the Skagaran settlement and investigate the ruins of the spaceship, he trades his prized harmonica for it. Then he attempts to ride the horse, figuring that "it can't be that hard," given that he's seen "every John Ford western ever made."
Hot Western Schoolmarm of the Week: Emily Bergl is Bethany, the settlement's schoolteacher. She sympathizes with the Skagaran community, and breaks the law by secretly teaching Skagaran children at night - earning her a watchful eye by the town sheriff and the emnity of his thuggish deputy (James Parks). A late plot twist involving her character isn't particularly surprising, but does add in some additional motivation for some of her choices beyond simply being "saintly."
THOUGHTS
North Star more or less represents a "week off" for Enterprise. This is a western. Aside from very light alien make-up for the Skags and a touch of backstory, most of it would fit perfectly in any of the many western television shows of the 1950's or '60's. It even has a big, climactic shoot-out at the end.
Personally, I quite enjoyed North Star. The heavy arc material that has pervaded the series since The Expanse has been of great benefit to Enterprise (I'm sure anyone following these reviews has noticed how much more positive in tone they've become from the dregs of mid-Season Two). But at a certain point, it's kind of nice to take a brief vacation from the arc and have fun.
Also, while this episode may be filler, it's not a bad script. Writer David A. Goodman takes the western tropes just far enough to have fun with them, but he also uses the science fiction backstory of the human colony in a halfway interesting way. Archer's choice in dealing with the town sherriff makes for an interesting scene between the two characters (just before the gunshots start going off). And the ending strikes just the right hopeful tone for the community we've been shown to leave us on a good note, while at the same time showing the Enterprise crew having apparently learned how to touch a situation lightly and then move on.
It is ultimately filler, of course. And despite the interesting scene between Archer and the sherriff, there is a sense of simplification in the solution. It's just the deputy and a few "bad apples" that need to be dealt with in order for the humans and Skagarans to live in peace, when the reality of such a situation would be a lot more complicated. And making all of the Skagarans one-dimensional victims saves a lot of time to make this plot fit into one hour, but is less interesting than if we saw some different Skagaran factions. Where is the Skagaran resistance, or the Skagaran militants, or the separatists, or any of the other agendas that would realistically exist within any oppressed minority group?
Still, if the characterization and solution are overly simplistic... Well, that kind of fits with the old-fashioned western setting too. And again: This is a filler. It's not Earth-shattering stuff, and it's not meant to be. Taken on its own terms, it's enjoyable; and for filler, it's above-average.
Rating: 7/10.
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There was also the odd, completely unaddressed fact of American slavery. Mayweather was left on the ship and the one black space marine we see has no lines. During the Sheriff's speech about the "Skags" enslaving humans not being something they could move past; it would have been a perfect opportunity to have Mayweather, or the one other black person in the entire 22nd century, be in on that conversation. And really, Has Star Trek moved past slavery? WTF did proto-starfleet do with all the black people anyway?
ReplyDeleteToo bad they didn't do another scene with Malcom and T'pol. She can't really complain tho... shooting the hostage was the logical thing to do. :)
ReplyDelete