Enterprise 3x9 "North Star"

rating: *

the story: The crew finds a colony of humans...living like they were in the Old West.

what it's all about: It should always be noted that my rating system is as much a reflection of an episode's overall worth as it is a judgment of its entertainment value, although I tend to give precedence to worth over value, knowing impatient fans need to know the former more than the latter.  The particular episodic nature of the franchise for most of its run has a natural conflict with an era that values serialization above everything else.  If I give an episode any stars at all (I've really omitted them for only about a dozen entries), it means it has some viewing worth, and anything beyond that is really a judgment call on my part.  It's sad that an episode can't just be enjoyed for its entertainment value, but I've come across episodes that have long been my favorites that I've been shocked to give one or two stars to, based on my criteria. 

"North Star" is a huge reflection on franchise lore.  As such I'd like to say it's essential viewing on some score or another.  Gene Roddenberry originally envisioned Star Trek as "Wagon Train to the stars."  Wagon Train was one of many popular TV Westerns.  When the original series did a Western episode ("Specter of the Gun"), it was almost entirely befitting, even if it had also done Roman Empire episodes ("Bread and Circuses"), Nazi episodes ("Patterns of Force"), gangster episodes ("A Piece of the Action"), and even several hippy episodes!  And later series would do Westerns, too (Next Generation's "A Fistful of Datas"), as well as Cold War spy episodes (Deep Space Nine's "Our Man Bashir") and even old-time sci-fi serials episodes (Voyager's "Bride of Chaotica!").  "North Star" grounds its events into the same kind of thought as the original series, while holodecks invariably produced the results otherwise.

It even has something to say about the season, on a metaphorical level, another reminder, before things got really hairy, of the crew's intrinsic humanity (with apologies to T'Pol, Phlox), and how to keep it despite circumstances.  But I'll keep that as an implied value.  Really, it's just fun viewing at a basic Star Trek level, one of those episodes that ought to remind fans what the franchise is all about, and not just leaving them begging "for something more relevant."

criteria analysis:

• franchise - A good example of what Star Trek started out as.
• series - A latent commentary on the Xindi arc.
• character - Maybe one of those episodes that would've been improved with just one creative alteration: focusing on, say, Phlox and Archer.  Phlox makes everything better!
• essential - A nice throwback, but your level of enthusiasm is your own call.

notable guest-stars:
James Parks

Voyager 3x3 "The Chute"

rating: **

the story: Harry and Paris end up in an alien prison.

what it's all about: "The Chute" is certainly not groundbreaking in any way.  It's part of a tradition of episodes where Starfleet personnel end up in, well, an alien prison.  So it's one of those.

But there are still a few things that make it interesting.  One of the least interesting of those is the fact that Neelix's old ship makes an appearance.  Surprisingly, that ship saw very little action in the series, when you'd think, and probably a lot of other producers would've gone that way, that it would've been used heavily, maybe even as a signature ship in the series.  And actually, they end up building a totally different companion ship, the Delta Flyer, later.  So there's that.

There's also Robert Pine guest-starring.  Robert Pine, right?  Woo!  Except, Pine is the father of Chris Pine, the second-ever actor to play Kirk, in the Abrams movies.  So that's pretty cool!  He makes a second appearance in the franchise, too (Enterprise's "Fusion").

Okay, okay.  So what makes this episode really interesting?  Aside from the friendship of Harry and Paris more or less in the spotlight?  (Because the alien prison kind of makes them turn on each other.)  It's the alien prison.  Being in space.  It's a kind of space station alien prison.  It's a reveal they work toward, and it's pretty awesome.  It's one of the most memorable reveals in any episode in the whole franchise. 

So now you know what's interesting about "The Chute."

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Joins the alien prison trope tradition.
• series - Has no specific significance.
• character - Seeing Harry and Paris experience this mess together is a reminder that actual friendships in this franchise rarely get episodes where they're in the spotlight.  (Aside from every episode of the original series, I guess.)
• essential - Not especially.

notable guest-stars:
Robert Pine
James Parks