Star Trek: Enterprise (TV Series) Carpenter Street (2003) User Reviews

Detroit 2004

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 10 February 2008]

Temporal Agent Daniels visits Captain Archer and tells him that three Xindi Reptilians have traveled to Earth in 2004 for unknown reasons, affecting the temporal line. Archer and T'Pol travel to Detroit and they discover that the employee of a blood bank Loomis is selling human beings with different type of blood to the aliens that are researching a biological weapon.

"Carpenter Street" follows the style of film-noir in spite of happening in 2004. The story is good, with Archer and T'Pol finding that the Xindi Reptilians expect to destroy the human race one hundred and fifty years before the present days. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Rua Carpenter" ("Carpenter Street")

I Rather Enjoyed It

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 24 March 2017]

Once again, we need to take an episode like this with a grain of salt. Daniels returns and directs Archer and T'Pol to go to Detroit in 2004. Some Xindi are there and they are paying some low life guy to bring people of different blood types to them. He works at a blood bank and has records. Anyway, the Xindi are trying to create a bio-weapon. They would have no problem destroying the earth with it and then the future would be theirs. Of course, there are all sorts of implications involved with time travel. Nevertheless, it is always entertaining to see the natives reacting to the people from the future. The apprehension of the blood bank guy at the end is really funny.

Archer & T'Pol Find a Bio-weapon

[Samuel-Shovel · 7/10 · 28 January 2018]

Agent Daniels pops back onto the Enterprise, alerting Archer to the fact that a trio of Xindi has been found on 21st century Earth. He asks Archer & T'Pol to head back in time and bring the Xindi back to fix the timeline. Archer & T'Pol discover that the Xindi are kidnapping humans, testing them to create some type of bio-weapon that's dependent on blood type. The two must stop the Xindi and destroy the weapon before humanity is wiped out.

Another entertaining episode of Season 3, ST:E is really bringing it's A game. This plot though brings up a few more questions: Why doesn't Daniels know more about the Xindi's feud with the humans? How did the Xindi go back in time? Is this related to the Temporal Cold War in any way? Hopefully these issues are addressed moving forward.

This episode was well directed and well acted; there were a few filler moments though (i.e. the drive-thru scene). I suppose the writers were trying to critique modern society and their use of fast food diets, cigarettes, etc. This portion didn't really work for me.

Despite this though, another enjoyable episode from ST:E. It seems like we learn a bit more about the Xindi each episode, building towards some sort of climax. Hopefully this continues.

First Class Episode

[dumpbox-55760 · 9/10 · 20 July 2015]

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.

Back to the Present

[mstomaso · 9/10 · 6 November 2007]

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 right length

[Cristi_Ciopron · 7 August 2006]

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".

It was fun! Just don't think too much.

[wwcanoer-tech · 7/10 · 30 November 2021]

I was entertained and left it feeling good. Despite the tired cliché of the cops not believing Loomis' talk of lizard people, I smiled.

On a more serious note, I'm surprised that they would give the Xindi the power to travel through time. When they fail, they would simply try again earlier. They can also go back and destroy Enterprise. They could also bring the humans to the future, develop the virus and then return in several places to deploy it. Endless possibilities.

Anyone know of a virus that only infects one blood type? Let's ignore that.

Ever draw a blood sample from someone's neck? Nah, but it looks scary.

Could anyone create a virus on first meeting a new species? Well, besides Phlox. I'm sure that he could.

I was surprised when Archer didn't follow Loomis through the gate. It's rather uncharacteristic of him to let that opportunity pass. They should have shown us cameras or other monitoring equipment that would prevent their covert entry and require being brought in as a patient.

Lots of choices can be criticized but this time it was fun, so all's good.

A nod to John

[robnero · 9/10 · 20 April 2017]

It is interesting to note that the episode Carpenter Street and the character,Dr. Loomis Strode, are associated with John Carpenter's Halloween movie ;-)(i.e.Laurie Strode and Detective Loomis) I looked to see if either writers or director had a notable connection in their bio, but found none. Still it is obvious that someone is a fan of John Carpenter and rightly so!

Average

[Vvardenfell_Man · 7/10 · 21 April 2024]

Nothing to say at all about this one. It made no impression on me. It is a series of images and sounds arranged in sequence to tell a story. This is definitely a filler episode and it doesn't have a very clear connection to anything else that's happening in the season. Compared to other similar time travel episodes in DS9 and Voyager, this is just dull. I guess the guy who eats a burger is doing a good job of acting. If you have to skip 1 episode of this season, this is probably the one--unless you hate Westerns. All in all, it's not one of the better episodes of Enterprise but it isn't offensively bad like some manage to be.

Entertaining episode

[vid8 · 10/10 · 22 January 2015]

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.

Grow tired of Archer

[txriverotter · 8/10 · 7 July 2022]

I don't know what it is, but I feel like Scott Bakula must've binged the original Star Trek series on repeat while prepping for his turn as Starfleet Captain of the Enterprise, Jonathan Archer.

I swear he's channeling William Shatner as Kirk. A lot.

At any rate, Archer ranges from grumpy to sanctimonious to just downright mean. And his incessant pacing back and forth any time he has a longer "monologue". Yeesh.

This is a great episode, and Jolene Blalok and the guest actor both do a fine job, but Bakula, as another reviewer so aptly put it, spends most of the episode "chewing up the scenery."

On a side note, I know Archer is angry about what the Xindi did, and I realize he feels kind of like a pawn in this temporal Cold War that he knows almost nothing about, but the Suliban and their "leader" involved him, which is what caused Daniels to have to interact with him. But I'm sick of him being so ugly to Daniels. He asks questions Daniels tells him he can't answer either because it will contaminate the time line or he just doesn't know. But Archer doesn't believe him either way.

Just because Daniel's is a time traveler doesn't mean he's privy to all the info in the world. And just as he's working in the 31st century, so are the bad guys trying to hide their intentions from him and the other "time cops". Why is that so hard to believe?

Well acted, but not a particularly compelling story

[snoozejonc · 5/10 · 20 October 2020]

Archer and T'Pol time travel back to Detroit in 2004 to intercept some time-travelling Xindi terrorists.

The story was well paced, but didn't grip me enough to think anything bad was ever in danger of happening. It has some decent moments, which come mainly from good acting by the cast and also T'Pol's interaction with a drive through fast food restaurant, but it doesn't work for me as a concept or in the way the story unfolds.

The idea of the Xindi collecting human blood is good, but the time travel element feels to me feels half-baked. If they have the means to time travel why choose this time and if things go wrong why not just time travel again? In fact why not just time travel back to the dawn of man and kill all humans before they even develop the wheel? Also, the Xindi looked menacing when they boarded the Enterprise and did so much damage in a previous episode, but in a warehouse and on a rooftop in Detroit they look as convincing as a man in a rubber suit from 50s or 60s sci-fi.

Archer goes full Jack Bauer in this one, even looking like him during his mild torture session with Leland Orser's character. I found this to be a bit of a distraction.

It does advance the overarching season plot, so it is worth watching for continuity and I did like the John Carpenter references.

Trek + Terminator + X-Files

[CharoleaWood · 10/10 · 3 October 2023]

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.

While fun to watch, ample evidence that the series had lost its way

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 4 April 2015]

rubbery pipes on roof

While I liked some aspects of "Star Trek: Enterprise", as I re-watch all the Trek shows I notice that the plots on the show are really contrived--mostly, I assume, because they'd simply run low on ideas. After all, the original series ran three seasons, and "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "Star Trek: Deep Space 9" and "Star Trek: Voyager" all ran seven seasons each! So, by now, originality and semi-plausibility were becoming difficult. So, when you see Archer and T'Pol go back to Detroit circa 2000, you know that they are running low on ideas.

When the show begins, the temporal agent tells Archer that he needs to go back to Earth in the early 21st century to stop some Xindi plot to destroy the planet. So the pair go back to stop the reptilian Xindi and their human scum helper develop a killer virus.

The show is exciting at times and it's a bit fun seeing them going out for fast food, but the show also makes you wonder just how much further the series will go after it's lost its way--and with weird shows like this one, it does seem like they lost their way.

By the way, if you do watch this one, watch carefully towards the end when Archer jumps and grabs some metal pipes. In a case of poor editing, you can actually see the stuntman hit RUBBER pipes as they bend in a ridiculous fashion and then are completely normal in the next cut! Kinds funny.

Shout-aloud boredom

[phenomynouss · 1/10 · 7 October 2010]

For the Star Trek franchise, a surprisingly few amount of episodes have induced such a level of boredom as this one. While the teaser is technically short, the entire first 10 minutes of the episode is just following some random guy in 150-years ago (or modern-dayish) Detroit apparently working for the Xindi, in a long, droning sequence showing him living like a slob, picking up a prostitute and drugging her in the most blatantly obvious way (which says very little for her, too, as she doesn't react at all save in the most gullibly stupid way possible), and taking her to a warehouse place to hook her up to a facility with other humans for Xindi nefarious things.

I was literally groaning and sighing and yawning out loud, getting dazed and nodding off multiple times throughout the first thirty minutes of the episode. The rest fares very poorly.

Just when Season 3 was picking up to start to change the mold of mediocrity that seasons 1-2 had dug Enterprise in to, it goes straight back into that mediocrity with yet another one-off story which at least has the decency to involve the main Xindi storyline arc in it, as opposed to the last few episodes.

Hadn't enjoyed it

[sigelm · 4/10 · 28 November 2021]

Puerile storyline. A very weak episode that can be skipped over. The setting is supposed to be in 2004, but the cars and the rest look like from 1950s. A character with lines and story significant to the plot was introduced as Georgia Tandy, but in the end credits she was referred to as "Prostitute Nr. 2" - it shows profiling people based on their occupation rather than actual identification markers such as the first and last name.