North Star

I think as far as Trek westerns go I think this one is pretty fun. Sure there are a few plot holes as far as the backstory/setup goes but the plot inside the episode works just fine. It has the feeling of a TOS "random humanoid colony" episode or a fun "holodeck adventure" from TNG or VOY. The only fault I truly give this episode is where it's placed. The Xindi arc is season 3 has a constant upping or stakes building to the final finale, this episode seems out of place (because it has nothing to do with anything else in the season). In an episodic season that's fine but the serialized nature of S3 makes it feel odd......especially directly between the heavy hitters or Twilight and Simultitude.

I liked this episode quite a bit. Although I enjoy the Xindi arc, stand alone episodes are nice too. I think the fact that it is a western should let you know from the beginning not to take it too seriously, but that is why I enjoyed it. Like many other episodes, it does wrap up somewhat quickly, but I thought it was a decent ending. It's worth watching if you enjoy westerns, but if you only care about the Xindi story arc you can skip this one without missing anything. I thought it was good though, a lot better than many other stand alone episodes.

I definitely disagree with others' opinion that this is the worst episode of the season, but that is their opinion and that is fine. I just wanted to agree with the first review to balance out the other two reviews.

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.

I didn't find too many X-Files references though...

It was basically a Star Trek episode in a western setting. But not an imaginary western setting like "specter of the gun", The premise of this would probably be "what if people from the 1800s were uprooted from earth and then brought to an alien planet"?

Unfortunately an alien planet that looked more like Westworld... there should have been alien beasts. A few are referenced, but not shown.

Apparently a group of aliens called The Skagarans kidnapped the wrong people from Tombstone... and the whole thing backfired on them.

This plotline is similar to the Star Trek Voyager episode "the 37s", where more intelligent people had been taken during World War II, including Amelia Earhart. So this episode of Enterprise in the Delphic expanse is a contrast to the episode of Voyager, on the other side of the galaxy in the Delta quadrant.

It is as if these people in the town of Northstar decided to continue living in the 1800s, this is a completely non-progressive society. All of their laws are intended for suppression and for keeping status quo and preventing any kind of progress from occurring. Whereas in "the 37s", the progressive descendants of those kidnapped by aliens for practically the exact same purpose, lived in "three beautiful cities". It is a good contrast to show: similar origins, different fates. Watch both episodes and compare. And it makes you wonder: the aliens in "the 37s", were those also Skagarans, but with a different name? Because the backstory between the two episodes is practically identical.

Archer meets some interesting people, first off there is Deputy Bennings (James Parks, Son of Michael Parks, "Edger McGraw" from Quentin Tarantino films).

That was perfect casting right there. Of course this was another opportunity for Glenn Morshower to play a sheriff.

And Emily Bergl (From the Spielberg-Produced mini series "Taken"), as a girl who does not know her own heritage.

Although this episode does not progress the Xindi story, it is a typical Star Trek episode, Archer finds something on a planet that is offkilter and he figures out a way of making it right without interfering too much.

Except for the gun fight involving the MACOs and Benning's deputies... but that was also good contrast, one group using pistols, the other group using phase pistols and phase rifles with a sniper scope... Shades of Unreal Tournament!

Of course, in the context of the overarching Xindi story arc, this episode makes little sense. After all, the entire world is on the brink of destruction and the crew of the Enterprise should have better things to do than visit a few humans on a backwater Wild West planet. However, if you ignore this obvious error in reasoning, then this episode is not as bad as some commentators make it out to be.

What bothers many commentators: Why do these humans live like in the Wild West and why haven't they adopted any alien technology from their abductors? First of all, we don't know how they were able to overpower the aliens and break free. Whether, for example, much of the alien technology was destroyed in this attack. After all, they set the spaceship on fire. Maybe their ancestors still used this technology, but couldn't maintain it and eventually it broke and was then forgotten. How many tools and technology from 300 years ago are unknown to us today?

In addition: These people were kidnapped while they were living in the time of the Wild West. It seems plausible that they maintained this way of life. There are no other civilizations on the planet that could have contributed to cultural and technological exchange. You have to remember: When America was settled, many emigrants came from Europe, bringing with them their culture, their religion, new ideas, new inventions and research, and a new way of life to the new world. That's all missing on this planet. The fact that these settlers did not undergo much development does not seem completely unrealistic. Compare that with isolated Japan a few hundred years ago. When the technological revolution was already raging in Europe, Japan still had an agricultural and craft-based feudal society and samurai who fought with swords. It's amazing anyhow how this civilization could make glass. Or ammunition for their weapons. Or how horses made it to this planet.

However, it remains questionable whether 6,000 people who have built a life there, have a family and don't know any other life want to be brought back to Earth and then integrated into society. The children will certainly have no problems, but the adults will certainly feel more alien on their ancestral home planet than on this extra-terrestrial planet.