By ccabe on Monday, December 08, 2003 - 04:30 pm:

>The Orion Slave Girls are by definition enslaved. >

True, but they are apparantly used for "entertainment" not labor.

Unless of course you get one of them pregnant, then they're used in labor.

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By LUIGI NOVI on Tuesday, December 30, 2003 - 02:26 pm:


Torque: Maybe it has to do with using the north star to find your way home.
Luigi Novi: And what does either using a north star to find your way home or the freighter Ryan lived on prior to the Fortunate have to do with the content of the episode?

It had nothing to do with the content, that's the point I was bringing up. I was expecting that with a title such as North Star, it would be about that freighter.

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By LUIGI NOVI on Wednesday, December 10, 2003 - 03:09 pm:


Why would you have to take care of any slaves if the tasks were automated? If they were automated, you wouldn't have slaves. That was the point.

By Darth Sarcasm on Wednesday, December 10, 2003 - 03:16 pm:

You wouldn't have slaves for some tasks. But I still maintain that there could be tasks for which manual labor is needed.


I agree with DS, some tasks wouldn't be suited well for automation. Of course, this also depends on what sort of automation is being used.

If the tasks require a lot of mobility, then some automatic system might not be the best. Also, some automation actually increases the need or the desire for slaves. I think it was called teh cotton gin or something from someone named Eli Whitey or something. My historical knowledge of specific names isn't the best.

I have to say, the casting in this episode was spot-on. Everyone was so perfect for the part.

Unrelated note: is that Vaughn Armstrong in that current John Deere ad?

"Archer takes a rather nasty blow to the shoulder with a shotgun and it gives a little grimace." TUE

Actually it was a rifle but yeah, hardcore. However, when he was fighting with Bennings he fogot about his gunshot wound for a few seconds. Whoever said Archer looked very natural in that western getup I agree. He definately looked the part.

"Where did the school teacher get the books? Does the Enterprise carry a library or did Archer give up some of his books? Was one of them a history book?" Duane

Archer gave her their equivalant of a PADD, she was reading from it at the end.

During the gunfight, as Archer makes a run for it, the camera angle is at ground level and you can clearly see the squib track under the sand. Not only did the energy weapons have no effect on objects they hit, neither did the firearms. It's already been asked, but why were they allowed to keep their guns?

Alternate Title: One Pointless Episode

Moderator: I just noticed the title for board 2 has the incorrect title.

There was discussion about why the civilization in this episode so closely resembles the Old West and why they haven't advanced at all. I don't remember where I saw it exactly (I think it was TV.com), but someone mentioned that in order to do this, they would need blueprints, manufacturing centers, etc. Granted, constructing 19th century buildings probably isn't the hardest task in the world, but it would still require know-how and the right materials (i.e. boards, nails, etc.). My personal opinion is that the slaves began at a much lower technology level, subsiding on what they could find and living in tents. I don't remember the exact details surrounding their captors' defeat. If they departed, they would have taken their technology with them or destroyed it. If that was the case, the humans would have had to rebuild their society from the ground up, perhaps setting as a benchmark the society they remember from the Old West.

This episode proved that Reed indeed cannot hit the broad side of a barn ... he hits the horse trough instead (two or three times, even).

For a character that is portrayed as being excited by weaponry, you'd think he'd spend more time at target practice. I acknowledge that he got a good shot at a bad guy before that (and of course stunning T'Pol) but they seem to make him being effective the exception
rather than the rule, IMO.

I did enjoy this episode, but do I agree with lots of the opinions expressed. I like watching Star Trek 'cause it's Star Trek, so if I'm entertained, I'm happy. Though part of my entertainment IS nitpicking, so it works out either way.

Bethany refers to Cooper Smith (the man who overthrew the Scagarans) as a butcher for what he did, he shouldn't have killed the women and children but destroying their weapons and ship wasn't uncalled for, they were being opressed afterall.

Archer must not be in much of an hurry to find the Xindi weapon if he has time to visit this planet.

MOVE ALREADY!

The planet may have a shorter orbital period, and the years Bethany gives may equate to around 270 years on Earth.

Perhaps to "placate" their slaves, the Skagarans allowed the humans to build a town for their housing, ghetto and "entertainment". At some point, the restraining field or fence around it fell to ruin or was torn down and put to other use, and the humans spread out to other areas to ranch and set up more frontier towns which might be more "modern" or less "authentic". However, antebellum, the Skagarans kept the humans supplied with replicated objects.

Postbellum, the humans have to fend for themselves, which requires ingenuity to keep their familiar goods available. They might not particularly like using Skagaran technology, so they keep it out of sight even while they use it for keeping the supplies in place.

We have to remember that the episode sets, props and decorations came from stock warehouses on the studio lot, and they didn't have the budget of "Planet of the Apes" to build alien-looking stuff, like "blue" saddles made with alien-critter leather.