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Star Trek: Enterprise demonstrates itself to be a huge fan of acclaimed director John Carpenter in its latest episode: “Carpenter Street”! After Temporal Agent Daniels warns Archer about a Xindi time travel plot, Archer and T’Pol travel back in time to Detroit in 2004. Once there, the duo discovers that a shady phlebotomist has joined forces with the Reptilian Xindi to create a bioweapon that would destroy humanity. Is this the worst time travel focused episode that Star Trek has ever done?
The Wikipedia plot summary for “Carpenter Street”:
Temporal Agent Daniels informs Captain Archer that three Reptilians have traveled back in time to Detroit, Michigan, to the year 2004, where they intend to produce a bio-weapon to annihilate humans. The Xindi Council had banned the use of bio-weapons, forcing the Reptilians to take extraordinary measures. Daniels sends Archer and Sub-Commander T’Pol back in time to investigate, and provides Archer with temporal tags, allowing them to bring back anything not belonging in 2004 to their own time-line.
Using a hand scanner, Archer is able to steal a vehicle, and T’Pol locates the Xindi bio-signs leading them to an abandoned factory on Carpenter Street. They notice Loomis, a blood bank employee, exiting the building. Suspecting something, they follow him home. After he tries to escape, T’Pol uses the Vulcan nerve pinch to stop him. When he awakes, he believes that Archer and T’Pol are police officers, and requests a lawyer. Archer punches him, and he admits delivering six bodies to his mysterious employers, each one for a different blood type. Archer comes up with a plan, and decides to pose as one of the victims.
After being delivered by Loomis, Archer realizes that they are developing some sort of a bio-weapon. Archer begins destroying their technology, and kills one of the three Reptilians. Two others try to escape with the deadly bio-agent, and Archer kills another one as they flee. The last Xindi escapes due to the interference of Loomis, who T’Pol stuns with her phaser. On the factory’s roof, Archer corners him as he attempts to release the bio-agent. Archer and T’Pol tag all non-21st-century artifacts, and return to Enterprise. Loomis, still groggy in his car, is apprehended by real police officers and attempts to explain the “lizard people” and their “ray guns.”
In this episode of the podcast, Wes and Clay discuss “Carpenter Street” and the logic of the Xindi travelling back to 2004. Plus! The guys chat about the lack of excitement for a Red Sox World Series victory, not finding a purple spacesuit to be all that strange, and using a pizza parlor’s ventilation fan to commit genocide.