North Star (12 Nov. 2003)
"Enterprise" North Star (original title)

Enterprise investigates a unknown colony with humans who still live a Wild West life. They seem to be suppressing an alien race.

Director:

David Straiton

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry, Rick Berman (creator),

Stars:

Scott Bakula, John Billingsley, Jolene Blalock

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Scott Bakula	...	Captain Jonathan Archer
John Billingsley	...	Dr. Phlox
Jolene Blalock	...	Sub-Commander T'Pol
Dominic Keating	...	Lieutenant Malcolm Reed
Anthony Montgomery	...	Ensign Travis Mayweather
Linda Park	...	Ensign Hoshi Sato
Connor Trinneer	...	Commander Charles 'Trip' Tucker III
Emily Bergl	...	Bethany
Glenn Morshower	...	MacReady
James Parks	...	Deputy Bennings
Paul Rae	...	Bartender
Steven Klein	...	Draysik
Gary Bristow	...	Stablehand
Alexandria M. Salling	...	Skagaran Girl
Jon Robert Baron	...	Skagaran Boy (as Jon Baron)

Storyline

The crew of Enterprise is very surprised to find a planet with 6000 humans and around 1000 aliens living on it. Archer, T'Pol and Tucker start investigating. Scans show a settlement was created about 250 years ago and the people are still living a Wild West life. Archer soon finds out the aliens are called Skagaraans and the government of these Skags was overthrown many years ago by a certain Cooper Smith. There seems to be a lot of hatred towards them and they consider them lawless outcasts. Archer makes contact with Bethany, who illegally teaches the Skags in Skag Town.

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Plot Keywords:

wild west | village suspended in time | reference to filmmaker john ford

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Details

Release Date:

12 November 2003 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Network Television, Paramount Television

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the end of the episode, when Bethany teaches the Skagarans children about the humans' first flight on Earth by the Wright Brothers (in 1903), she mentions it taking place "almost 40 years after humans left their planet", which means the Skagarans had kidnapped the humans back during the mid-late 1860s.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Deputy Bennings: Any last words?
Skagaran: Go to hell!
Deputy Bennings: Didn't know Skags believed in hell.

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Soundtracks

"Archer's Theme [Enterprise - Music from the Original Television Soundtrack]"
Written by Dennis McCarthy
Performed by Dennis McCarthy

User Reviews

Enterprise Does a Western a la X-Files

Residents of a 19th century town straight out of a spaghetti western were abducted by aliens hundreds of years ago and brought to a planet in the expanse to serve as slave labor. By the time Archer and crew get there, they have turned the tables. The Skags (their alien abductors) live in segregated towns and are not allowed to receive an education, and vigilante bullies are permitted to run amok among them. But there is a teacher who wants to change all of this.

Noteworthy for its originality, good cinematography and acting performances, North Star is a solid entry in the Enterprise Catalog. it is also a nice stand-alone break from the Xindi story arc which dominated the 3rd season. It is also another contribution to the series' thematic examination of pre-prime directive space exploration. Fans of TOS might enjoy Archer's Jim Kirk-like approach to the problems he encounters.