Carpenter Street

A remarkable episode, entertaining and very well shot.

I recognized several nods to both Terminator 1 & 2. Another reviewer points out John Carpenter and Halloween, hence the title.

It also feels like a X-Files episode with the way it's shot and its tale of alien abduction/conspiracy (certainly X-Files is felt in the overarching plot of the Enterprise series with a "black oil" like substance playing a role).

Generally, I want trek to be more like the 90s shows: to embrace the old television format of storytelling verses trying to be like Hollywood --- I want less mood lighting, less lens flare, less style and more substance --- but I super dig this episode.

Carpenter Street is one of the most entertaining, well-performed and well-written episodes of Season 3. Archer and T'Pol are the featured characters and Leland Orser gives a memorable guest appearance.

Temporal Agent Daniels sends Archer and T'Pol from the Expanse back to 21st century earth on a search and destroy mission possibly related to the Xindi bio-weapon. Leland Orser plays a nurse who works in blood bank and, on the side, supplies the Xindi with victims for their experiments. The story is presented straightforwardly and achieves the feeling and atmosphere of a 1990s detective show.

Carpenter Street is uncharacteristically well-written, directed and edited. The script explores the differences between ST's vision of the future and the present as well or better than episodes of previous series in the franchise treating this same theme, but does not lose sight of the story in these ruminations. The story is also well-acted - Blalock and Orser stood out for me.

Finally - Carpenter Street stands out as one of the few Xindi/Daniels plots which could function as a stand-alone episode and does not require much previous exposure to Enterprise's time travel and Xindi arcs.

Recommended.

The greatest thing about this episode is that it features Leland Orser who is one of Hollywood's most underrated actors; as usual he gives a superb natural performance. We don't see enough of Leland Orser like others of his ilk, because they're too good; they act as though they aren't acting and so most of the audience are so convinced that they don't realise what an incredible job they're doing - especially with the kind of characters that Leland Orser plays. So if you want to see a master at work, then watch this episode.

Apart from that the story works really well and is shot in a grittier hand-held style that suits the dark atmosphere and it's a big departure from the tight gloss of the usual Enterprise episodes - it's all about the characters; no CGI or tech-speak. Perhaps you could compare it to an episode of the X Files; it looks kind of similar and the plot would work in that series.

In total it's very enjoyable from the first scene to the last; it keeps moving, every sequence adds to the storyline and it keeps you glued to the screen right the way through. Over all it's a triumph and an episode you could watch as a stand-alone and get what's going on in this series. It was also good to see Archer and T'Pol out of their normal context; though I'm glad it doesn't happen too often - this episode goes along with the long tradition of Trek crews finding themselves on Earth in the past, or in pseudo Earth societies on other worlds.

Many feature movies do not deserve,do not justify their length.They make'em too long;so,there's a lot of junk inside.Such movies do not really need more than 45' to say all they are meant to say;the rest is simply junk,ugly stuff.(They do not rely on time,but on the viewer's docility.)It's vanity to try to give a 45' story as a 100' one.I like the long show that needs to be long;but I don't like being fooled by a jerk who does not need more than 45' to tell his story and takes 100' as if the public's time was his.

"Carpenter Street" works as I like it to work.It take just the time it needs:as much time as is needed.It is concise,supple,well-thought,lucid.

It's interesting to compare the time travel in "Carpenter Street",and those in "ST IV" and "ST VIII"."Carpenter Street" is grim,somehow sinister.In "ST IV" and "ST VIII",the sets were crowded;not so in the nocturnal,dark "Carpenter Street".

In this episode, Archer and T'Pol time-travel back to 2004 to attempt to stop the Xindi from destroying humanity.

The plot wasn't bad, but what I enjoyed most about this episode was T'Pol's commentary on humanity in the 21st Century. Star Trek has criticised our current society on countless occasions, and I suppose it could be construed as being 'preachy', but the criticisms are fair. Jolene Blalock portrayed T'Pol's disgust at meat-eating, fossil fuel consumption, greed, violence and moral corruption extremely well.

All in all, a fun episode. Very convenient, however, that the Xindi happened to travel back in time to 2004.