"Carbon Creek" is the second episode of the second season of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise, the 28th episode overall. It first aired on September 25, 2002, on UPN in the United States. Only three of the main cast appear in this episode. It features a flashback story, and T'Pol tells how first contact between humans and Vulcans actually happened far earlier than the date officially celebrated. In 1957 shortly after the launch of Sputnik a Vulcan ship crashes in North America and the three surviving Vulcans, including her great-grandmother T'Mir, also played by Jolene Blalock, attempt to live among the local people. It was directed by James A. Contner, his second episode of Enterprise as director. It was filmed partly on location in Crestline, California.

The episode received positive reviews. One review said that it explored themes of acceptance and alienation.

Braga said the original series episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" provided some inspiration for the episode.

J. Paul Boehmer played Mestral, the character was named after George de Mestral, the inventor of Velcro.

Boehmer had previously appeared in Star Trek as a Cardassian, a Borg Drone, and a Nazi. It was the second episode directed by James A. Contner, who had previously directed the episode "Dear Doctor".

Production began on Wednesday, 26 June 2002, with two days of location shooting. On Friday, they returned to Paramount Studios lot, Further pickup shots occurred during the filming of the fourth episode.

"Carbon Creek" exterior locations were filmed in the Valley of Enchantment, which is located in Crestline, California, near San Bernardino. The fictional town of Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania, was shown during the episode to be on Pennsylvania Route 138, which would place it somewhere in Butler County, Pennsylvania, about 40 miles north of downtown Pittsburgh. While Carbon Creek is fictional, there is a Carbon County, Pennsylvania located about 60 miles northwest of Doylestown.

An alternate take of one of the captain's mess scenes was filmed, with the actors (including Jolene Blalock) acting as though they were intoxicated. The scene was played straight in the broadcast version, while the "drunk take" was included on the Season 2 DVD release, as part of the season's blooper reel, due to actor Connor Trinneer breaking character at the end of the take.

Author Homer Hickam saw the episode and wrote: "I have little doubt that the writers were inspired by my book Rocket Boys and its film adaptation October Sky", and "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I'm pleased by the show".

Scenic art supervisor Michael Okuda responded and said he didn't know if the references were intentional or not but that he noticed the echoes too. Okuda deliberately added his own references, including a window sign for "Big Creek Manufacturing & Sales" at the company where T'Mir goes to sell her invention.

The Vulcan uniform worn by Mestral, including a brown leather jacket, was sold at the "It's a Wrap!" auctions.

Continuity

  • T'Mir's sale of the patent rights to Velcro is analogous to Montgomery Scott's sale of the patent rights to transparent aluminum in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
  • The question of how the Vulcans manage to understand and be understood by humans in this episode without the use of universal translators and without learning English is not addressed. A core concept of the show was that Hoshi Sato was brought along to learn and translate alien languages because universal translators had not been invented yet, and multiple Season 1 episodes including Broken Bow and Fallen Hero refer to Vulcans needing to learn English.

Background

thumb|The episode is set in 1957, when the first man made satellite [[Sputnik program|Sputnik was launched.]]

  • Coincidentally, the same month as the episode was being filmed there was a real coal mine accident at Quecreek, Pennsylvania, where nine miners were trapped underground for three days. All were rescued.
  • Early in the episode, Trip remarks that T'Pol's story is like "an old episode of The Twilight Zone." The night this episode originally aired, a new version of The Twilight Zone debuted on UPN, from <!-- showrunner -->executive producer Ira Steven Behr.
  • The episode contains a fictionalized account on the origins of Velcro. In reality, Velcro was invented in 1951 by Swiss engineer George de Mestral, after whom the character Mestral in this episode is named.

Reception

"Carbon Creek" first aired September 25, 2002, on UPN. According to Nielsen, it was rated 2.4%, and had an audience share of seven. This means it was watched by 4.84 million viewers. This was up slightly from the previous week, but down significantly from the first season. Among first run science fiction or fantasy genre shows that week, Enterprise came in seventh place. By comparison, in first place with 11.3 million viewers was the season two premiere of Alias, a spy series starring Jennifer Garner, broadcast on ABC.<!-- Smallville, Firefly, Charmed, Buffy, were also ahead of Enterprise. --> Michelle Eric Green of TrekNation, compared it to the film October Sky and the Deep Space Nine episode "Little Green Men", calling it "a derivative but fairly delightful episode". Green said the episode is worthwhile just for Mestral, who combines enthusiasm and open-mindedness with Spock-like deadpan humor. She praised the episode for getting the right balance of humor and drama, well-crafted performances and fun visuals.

Julia Houston, writing for About.com, criticized the lack of originality or consequences: "it's not a funny romp, nor a revealing glimpse into anyone's background. No one we care about learns anything, and we learn nothing about them. Here's hoping for better episodes in future." James Gray of The Digital Fix compared it to the Star Trek: Voyager episode "11:59". He concludes that "Carbon Creek" sums up the whole season as "nice to look at, well made and acted, an immaculately pristine forty-five minutes of television that is nevertheless a complete waste of time, having no purpose or point other than to fill in a slot on the schedule." Television Without Pity gave the episode a grade of B−. In his 2022 rewatch, Keith DeCandido of Tor.com gave it seven out of ten. DeCandido found it more effective than <!-- The Star Trek Voyager episode -->"11:59", but was bothered by some of the anachronisms and inaccuracies, saying "it's a fun episode. Just wish they’d done more than a modicum of research…".

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In 2009, Den of Geek ranked "Carbon Creek" as the second best episode of Enterprise. In 2017, Den of Geek included "Carbon Creek" on their list of the 50 Best Episodes of Star Trek.

In 2011, Tor.com recommended "Carbon Creek" as one of six great episodes of Enterprise, saying "this second season episode is really a standout, if only because it's just so charming." TechRepublic included the episode on its list of the 5 best episodes of Enterprise.

In 2014, The A.V. Club gave the episode an honorable mention in their list of recommended Enterprise television episodes. In 2015, "Carbon Creek" was included in Geek.com's 35 greatest moments in Star Trek. In 2016, TrekNews.net ranked "Carbon Creek" fourth in their list of the top ten essential episodes of Enterprise. They said it was "just good, wacky fun" watching Vulcans try to adapt and blend in and watch I Love Lucy.

A 2016 binge guide by Wired recommends this episode, saying it was one not to miss, that "Blalock acquits herself admirably," and that it is "the culture clash hijinks" that we all want to see.

In 2021, The Digital Fix said this episode was one of the highlights from season two, and said it was charming to see the Vulcans adapt to life on Earth.

Awards

"Carbon Creek" was nominated for a Hugo Award in the category Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. The episode "A Night in Sickbay" was also nominated. The award was won by Buffy the Vampire Slayer for "Conversations with Dead People".

Home media releases

The first home media release of "Carbon Creek" was part of the season two DVD box set, released in the United States on July 26, 2005. A release on Blu-ray Disc for season two occurred on August 20, 2013.

See also

The 1987 Star Trek novel Strangers from the Sky shares the basic concept as this episode, in that Vulcans accidentally land on Earth years before the official "First Contact".

References

  • Episode commentary: