StarTrek Enterprise: "Carbon Creek" Doylestown, PA reference

In 2002, the UPN Series "Star Trek Enterprise," featured a story of the first Vulcan contact of Earth in 1957. The Vulcan ship crash landed in the fictional mining town of Carbon Creek, PA. What is not fictional is the reference to Doylestown, PA (a suburb north of Philadelphia). It is unknown how this reference to the real Doylestown made it into the plot line, since the setting of the story is in a fictional place. The above clip belongs to Paramount Studios, and used solely for reference.

[@JamesCarmichael]

I quite like that Vulcan dude. He''s making the best of his situation.

Yes. He's "adapting" well.

[@martynbrooks6015]

He was the vulcanised from the future

[@randomrazr]

he is one. his name of borg of one

[@eriveltomartinsbarrosjunio9022]

One of my favorite episodes of the most underrated Star Trek series. Just when Enterprise was catching on the series was cancelled. Such a pity.

[@PyrokineticFire1]

they had it coming after the xindi-season. (doesn't help that it was ANOTHER time villian) and with that last episode... makes me wish for a cliffhanger series end... because i didn't want trip to die. afterwards, no one mourns him for long. they're just worried about Archer's speech (which we don't get to hear). yes, it's a pity. given more time, an underperforming season could be excused & the ending might've changed.

[@generalawareness101]

I liked the show but it infuriated me going against canon. This episode I really liked and T'Pol still had her purse was touching and a way to prove it was real.

[@Sceth]

@@PyrokineticFire1 I heard that some novels picked up where the last episode left off. If the novels are canon Trip isn't dead. They faked his death so he could work as an infiltrator agent against the Romulans. A little convoluted and shoehorned retcon, but a welcome one.

[@ninjabearpress2574]

You can thank Les Moonves for that, he hated Star Trek.

[@nickatmacomb8965]

I loved this episode too!

[@WreckerR]

The guy also played a borg drone that sacrificed itself after being created on Voyager...

[@michellebrown4903]

The actor played " One " l see now...thanx

[@dotdashdotdash]

and a German officer

[@MikinessAnalog]

@@dotdashdotdash The one that was Torres' unborn holodeck child's father

[@artiek1177]

I never realized that.

[@DUCKDUCKGOISMUCHBETTER]

Wow! I never realized that. Thank you! 😊👍

[@MikinessAnalog]

"This is the third time this week I've had to fix Mrs. Garrett's sink" "Maybe she likes you." "It might be tolerable if her son wouldn't insist on calling me 'Moe' ." "Why does he do that?" "I believe there is a television character known as a 'Stooge' with that name. The boy believes we have similar hair." "I do see the resemblance"

[@virginiaconnor8350]

If he stayed long enough, I wonder if Mestrel was said to have a Beatle haircut.

[@aaronTNGDS9]

Great episode. I always crack up at the Vulcan's response as to why he needs to get a better antenna for good TV response that evening---" 'I Love Lucy' is on tonight". LOL! Excellent writing idea.

[@TonyArjona]

Given that Lucille Ball green-lighted the series almost on the chopping block as head of Desi-Lu studios might have something to do with the mention.

[@stevekohl5351]

And did Paramount produce "I Love Lucy"? We know it produced "Star Trek:Enterprise".

[@Lonette]

One of my favorite Star Trek ENT episodes because IT COULD HAVE HAPPENED.

[@adammiller6606]

I too dig that about Star Trek. Makes one ponder the possibilities. “ Live long and prosper”.

[@ic2065]

Same. I've watched Carbon Creek countless times.

[@OneofInfinity.]

That one Vulcan could still be alive and on that Earth right now.

[@warrenprice425]

Apparently, it did. WP.

[@virginiaconnor8350]

@@ic2065 I show this to my friends.

[@browonmb]

One of the best episodes of "Enterprise" I envisioned a story where Mestral would one day meet Gary Seven a decade or so later.

[@virginiaconnor8350]

There was a novel that beat you to it. I'll look for it if someone can't find it.

[@Shadowkey392]

Not sure what you mean by "it is unknown how this reference to the real Doylestown made it into the plot line". Just because the story is set in a fictional setting doesn't mean they can't send their characters to real-world locations.

[@martychisnall]

Starfleet Headquarters is in San Francisco

[@Glopdemon]

Pennsylvania exists

[@virginiaconnor8350]

How about Centralia? It still exists.

[@derbyd10]

Does baseball (not high school or college) exist in Doyletown?

[@nb2008nc]

​@derbyd10 Until the 50s or 60s minor league baseball had at least three more labels levels below class A. Practically every town in the country has a team then.

[@rconger24]

They should have landed in Vulcan Tennessee.

[@brianmacadam4793]

Or Vulcan Alberta

[@kevinemmers7025]

Maybe they did and they kept it a secret. There could be more to that name than you originally figured.

[@Just_Call_Me_Tim]

These two Vulcan actors are in my top five favorite Vulcans ever!

[@davidgraham8299]

Who are the other three?

[@CardboardSliver]

Ever noticed he smirks when he says "Thank you again"?

[@Just_Call_Me_Tim]

Vulcans, if you look closely, are not expressionless. They're just very subtle. It's the illogical, and overt expression of emotions, and the effects those emotions have on their maintaining a clear state of mind that they seek to suppress. LLAP.

[@markw208]

Enterprise needed more episodes like this. This episode and the one where Hoshi had strange experiences when transporting were my favorites

[@frkk8925]

One of my favorite episodes.

[@Chanticlair47]

Vulcans follow logic and suppress their emotions and yet T’Amir went out of her way to make sure Jack got the money to become educated and fulfill his potential. That kind of compassion is hard to find even in humans. Of course it can be explained by the words of James T. Kirk from the episode Mirror, Mirror....the illogic of waste......so by helping Jack, T’Amir was simply being quite logical in her decision to provide him the means.

[@0hvist]

alternatively they provided much for T'Mir that she felt like returning the favor in some method that wouldn't cause much cultural contamination. It wouldn't be the last time something like this would happen: to pay for Plexiglass, Scotty gave a recipe for Transparent Aluminum.

[@SantomPh]

Vulcans can be kind and encouraging, they simply formulate a logical reason to do so- like Sarek choosing Amanda as his wife as by all logical paths he felt she was the one for him. this includes emotional, sensual and logical ways. Vulcans are not cold like the Borg or as cunning as the Romulans, after all

[@rikkiwosnik8261]

I kinda like the idea that T'Amir and Vulcans gave humanity velcro. It was technology, but not too futuristic or anything that could be weaponized.

[@hv3926]

@@0hvist He also beamed up 400 tons. 😉

[@virginiaconnor8350]

I wanted to name my Border Collie T'Ami-pronounced like Tommy-but she didn't like it for some reason. Ended up naming her Tess Siobhan. Tried again with my 2nd. BC. Family didn't like it: named my red/white girl Gypsy Rose Lee instead. Next BC gets named T'Ami-whether she or my family likes it or not. Orange tabby girl-T'Paw. I also knew a guy who named his dog-a Doberman-Spock. Fortunately, he was a smarter dog than his Whippet friend named Devo.

[@rebecca...s]

Definitely one of my favorite episodes and by far the most rememberable from ent! I love it so much

[@willlink7950]

The best way that the episode could have ended if maggie and jack revealed that their last name was Cochrane, anyone else think that would have been awesome

[@SantomPh]

Will Link Cochrane lived in Montana not PA

[@amitakartok]

So? He or his parents could've moved in the interim.

[@SapphireCrusader1988]

That would have been quite a revelation, especially for Tucker. He grew up worshipping Zefram Cochrane and finding out that he was part Vulcan would probably have blown his mind.

[@samsignorelli]

@@SantomPh Decades later...people DO move, y'know.

[@johnilarde8440]

Fraktal or, Cochrane decides to move to Montana after his college years..

[@RobertEskuri]

Her emotionless posture and assertion of command while chastising her subordinates for demonstrating compassion would have been her downfall had the rescue vessel not arrived.

[@deepcow]

I loved this episode.

[@ekming751]

I wonder will there be a hybrid human before Spock, if this lone Vulcan descendants manage to survive to the late 21st century?

[@BrowncoatInABox]

No for that to happen there would need to be medical help and 20th century earth did no have that kind of medicine shit 22nd in the nx days barely had that kind have tech

[@litchtheshinigami8936]

i doubt it.. as it is later said that it would need medical help

[@virginiaconnor8350]

@@BrowncoatInABox Didn't Phlox-at the end of 'Terra Prime'- tell Trip that it might be possible to combine human and Vulcan DNA safely? I wonder if he was part of the team that eventually lead to Sarek and Amanda's son being born.

[@BrowncoatInABox]

@@virginiaconnor8350 I don't remember

[@GimanLee]

Wow, I love this episode.

[@larrytruelove7112]

“Why did you lie about it?” I thought Vulcans didn’t lie.

[@philipclayberg4928]

Shran: "Vulcans! You can't even tell the truth to each other." (rough quote) After all, they're only humanoid.

[@larrytruelove7112]

@@philipclayberg4928 Star Trek has had multiple writers. I cannot say whether they keep up with things go on air like fans do. I wonder sometimes if things are discussed and written but cancelled. That might make it difficult to keep up with everything. So I’m thinking the writers of this episode didn’t know that Vulcans aren’t supposed to lie, or maybe they were hoping the fans wouldn’t notice.

[@Shiirow]

saying "Vulcans dont lie" isnt the same as saying "Vulcans _cant_ lie". most probably dont see the point of lying unless logic dictates it.

[@virginiaconnor8350]

@@Shiirow When accused of lying by Lt. Saavik-his protegé and future wife-Spock just says, "I exaggerated." Sometimes, rather than lie, our Vulcan friends either exaggerated or left out details. Saavik in one story mentioned something called "told- truth", a lie told to someone who isn't told the truth but doesn't know that and thinks I'd true. I guess it spares that person from being called a liar by others. It was probably a Romulan thing she picked up on Hellguard as I never heard Spock mention it.

[@kevinemmers7025]

Saying they can’t or don’t lie is their first lie. Next lie is trying to convince other humanoids they don’t have emotion.

[@elyot4010]

I was actually in the town today where this was filmed and did laundry. The laundry mat was the bar in the episode. The son-in-law of the owner told me some stories as was told to him by the owner (the son-in-law wasn't there at the time of the filming). I went inside the store where she had gotten the groceries, took some pictures too. It's a place called Valley of Enchantment (we just call it VOE) in the San Bernardino Mountains

[@ledenhimeganidleshitz144]

This story line could launch a whole new series! The sets would be less costly and far less costs for computer generated effects. Also some interesting story lines are possible. A bit like Voyger. A quest to communicate and be required. Someone for writing a network pitch?

[@ledenhimeganidleshitz144]

That's rescued, thank you auto correct!

[@hokumanu808]

Had my doubts...glad I watched it...best episode so far...on to the next.

[@virginiaconnor8350]

That would've made an interesting new episode-to explore what happened when T'Pol went back to Pa. Did she go there to see if Mestrel was still alive (and where he was if so)? What ever happened to T'Mir and Stron? And the others-Maggie and Jack- after T'Mir left?

[@GermanLeftist]

I doubt that Mestrel was still alive. Two hundred years is a long time even for Vulcans. Even if he was really young back then, by the time T'Pol would have gone there, if he had survived until then, he would have been very old and frail. He did probably live long enough to live through Human-Vulcan official first contact.

[@ulysses2162]

@@GermanLeftist Why wouldn't T'Pol be old by that time also? They look around the same age ish when they crashed on Earth.

[@GermanLeftist]

@@ulysses2162 T'Pol did not crash on Earth back then, that was her grandmother.

[@kurtsnyder4752]

Think that this was T'Pol's granny, not T'Pol.

[@saudade2100]

I used to live in a little mining town in Central Pennsylvania. I thought it was just inbreeding, but maybe those funny ears I saw.......

[@Ken19700]

I wish this were a real place because I'm in Hatboro. I'd visit there every year on the anniversary of their crash. Also, North Philadelphia isn't its own city, it's just part of Philadelphia and Doylestown isn't a suburb. It's a borough too faraway to be a suburb.

[@danwat1234]

Velcro

[@tywilliamnash5078]

danwat1234 ....don’t you just love it.....

[@c.a.t.732]

It's interesting to me that T'Pol's eyebrows didn't turn up at the tips like all other Vulcans until late in the second season, when they suddenly changed.

[@propheticanalytics9959]

There is also a Port Carbon, PA.

[@verbalengine95]

As a Pennsylvania native; I can verify that you will be trapped forever in a primitive world if you ever come here

[@SouthwesternEagle]

I rode my Harley through Pennsylvania in 2010. When I stopped outside a gas station, I saw some people there dressed like the 1720s and using horse carts alongside modern folks. I never saw anything like that in any other state. I found it charming. :)

[@derbyd10]

The Amish still dress like that.

[@DanielFlores-ue7jb]

what a great episode!!

[@aschen]

This is easily one of the best episodes of Enterprise. Its a shame the show didn't think outside of the box more, because when they weren't reusing old stories from voyager and tng, they really did shine

[@philipclayberg4928]

But then they would've been blamed by hardcore fans for not being canonical enough.

[@jan_phd]

The original Spock was the only vulcan not incapacitated by SEX, except once.

[@UltimateBargains]

I recall Spock was "incapacitated" (lost his logic) twice by sexual relations. Mariette Hartley and Jill Ireland episodes.

[@julianf.wheeler3665]

Spoiler alert: I get it now! He would eventually stay behind to observe human behavior. And then serve as Governor of Massachusetts, and later run as the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1988. It's obvi-... You know what. I'm thinking of someone else altogether. Nevermind. Move along now. :-)

[@aaronreyes1590]

Mike Dukakis?

[@jdritzke6197]

What a Great episode- ... What a Great “Story “ ... (besides cigarettes)- what a great time in America - (even T’pau looked back !!! ) ... but - of course - everyone did not want that - and now , what is better (overall) ?

[@virginiaconnor8350]

T'Pau? I guess you meant T'Pol.

[@GermanLeftist]

Great time in America as long as you weren't black, gay, or a social democrat let alone anything to the left of that.

[@leothenomad5675]

@@GermanLeftist yea everyone who idolizes this time period seems to forget about that part.

[@GermanLeftist]

@@leothenomad5675 I think some people idolise that time period exactly because of that.

[@leothenomad5675]

@@GermanLeftist agreed.

[@J.Wolf90]

My name is actually "ONE"

[@truecitizen58]

Make a movie already with this same Enterprise cast! Come on Hollywood do something right.

[@hadayimosi]

Fun Fact: This male Vulcan, Talok, is being played by the awesome Captain Liam Shaw from Star Trek Picard S3 (the only good season in _ALL_ of Klutzman's NuTrek, post-Enterprise). He looks almost completely different, today. Funnily enough, it was his voice that made him seem familiar when I was recently watching Enterprise on Netflix, not his appearance. IRL name: Todd Stashwick.

[@davidrosenblum2178]

I bought my Challenger Redeye Widebody from a dealer in Doylestown.

[@HarPlayer]

missed this ep

[@warrenprice425]

I bought the Enterprise series on DVD and have watched this episode about 80 - 90 times. It is the BEST Star Trek episode in the entire Star Trek Franchise. !

[@johncasor9698]

do you remember when T'pol said: i am a little over 200 years old... when she was eating dinner with the Capitan Archer and others...

[@warrenprice425]

@@johncasor9698 . I do not recall her saying that. I do recall Archer telling Trip her age was classified.

[@virginiaconnor8350]

@@warrenprice425 It isn't til 'Zero Hour' that she feels insulted by Trip's comment about her flaking skin and compares it to an "old" oil painting. To her, age is an intimate thing Vulcans prefer to keep private. "I'm not old. I'll only be 66 on my next birthday." T'Pol doesn't tell him exactly when, but I wonder if the earth date is 3/5 (like Jolene's)? She did say that she and V'Lar were the 2 oldest people in the cpt.'s mess. I thought Denoublians lived 400 yrs., so how old was Phlox by this time?

[@tubularbill]

I grew up near Doylestown, PA. A mining town like Carbon creek could very well exist (ie or does in real life) about an hour away north. Coal mining country is not that far from Doylestown.

[@Jose0421]

John Cusack's sister Ann Cusack plays Maggie in this episode.

He's conducting his own "pon-fahr" experiments. Hitting that Earth ( Terran ? ) broad up with his "logic module." His new motto is: "live long and perspire." He probably taught her about "warp drive" ! I'll bet he liked to chew on her salty round ears. After a few sessions with her he no longer was a "vegan." Her "hot ham sandwich" turned him into a slobbering meat hound.

[@virginiaconnor8350]

T'Pol's a lot like her 2nd foremother, especially in the first 2 years. I wonder if she became more like V'Lar later-and maybe made friends with her one day.

[@nicholasmaude6906]

I can see where T'Pol inherited her inner green-eyed/posessive monster from😉😁🤣.

[@izodfan]

Soooo.... They crashed in a Philly suburb?

[@bennettosasconx-1555]

Saudações , 💗 Love vídeo , Star Trek Enterprise : " Carbon Creek " Doy Lesrown Pa Reference , Por favor Ajude - Nos A Espalhar A Mensagem , CBS traga de volta STAR TREK ENTERPRISE Para Conclude the Story , Vitório Cavalieri Bennett Osasco NX-15 fã 🇧🇷⚓🔧🖖 , the Bring Back Enterprise 🇺🇸🖖 .

[@bennettosasconx-1555]

Saudações , 👍 Oubrigado , Vitório Cavalieri Bennett Chief Engenheiro Marine of Brazil ⚓🔧🇧🇷 🖖.

[@Sean-z6u]

Carbon creek 🎉carbon paper and Sean who took out the trash and really?😊

[@sabrewolf4129]

This was really one of the best episodes of the entire series

[@hankseda]

A memorable episode! But at the end of the dinner on the Enterprise, T'Pol didn't confirm to Archer and Trip that all those events on Earth actually happened with her ancestor. So was it a teaser? Am I missing something?

[@brontzkealoha8085]

Yes, you are! Watch the episode until the very end. In it, while in her quarters T'pol pulls out the purse that belonged to her ancestor. It is believed that it is a family heirloom passed down through the years and confirms that the story she told them was at the least, mostly the truth. Remember ,Vulcans don't normally lie. But they can exaggerate from time to time.

[@hankseda]

@@brontzkealoha8085 you're right, I forgot that very last scene! It's been awhile since I watched that episode. 🖖

[@warrenprice425]

Look at the end scene where T'Pol brings out the purse. YES, in the story line of the episode, it did happen. !

[@studinthemaking]

Maybe the guy was from PA or just liked philly, and/or baseball!

[@cyriljackal]

I live quite close to Doylestown.

[@saudade2100]

So are you telling me, Maggie has been Vulcanized?

[@freelands8355]

She kissed him. That was all.

[@develynseether4426]

Anyone who read the info associated with the clip. It's not really unknown. Quite often real towns are named when a show is set in a fictional town, helps relate to where the town might be. Perfect example of this is the fictional town of Jericho, Kansas in the show of the same name. References are made to real towns or cities nearby including Lawrence, Topeka, Salina and Wichita.

[@adammiller6606]

God God. ToPol is one hot piece of Volcan Boop Boop....

[@anthonylegore1517]

Pointy ears and shapely rears

[@haroldhart2688]

THE FIRST WOMAN THAT DOES NOT TALK YOUR EAR OFF.

[@philipclayberg4928]

Vulcan: "It is impossible to talk until another person's ear falls off. Unless that ear was poorly attached."

[@johncasor9698]

WOW i am still in command ... T'pol is a very high ranking Vulcan...

[@albertfat907]

The town that it was filmed at is Idyllwild, Ca. It is also where they filmed the Elvis picture "Kid Galahad"

[@spaceflight1019]

Yeah, it was set in a fictional Pennsylvania town, but it was a subtle nod to Homer Hickam and the Rocket Boys.

[@virginiaconnor8350]

He would've hated Vannik. But liked V'Lar and maybe Kov.

[@mistermysteryman107]

This was such a wonderful episode.

[@MerlynEmerald]

I had a sad thought. Double. Mestral decided to stay forever on an alien planet... Was it really that bad for him on Vulcan? He decided to give up his ENTIRE past life. And a family. He's young, so his parents should have been alive. Vulcans get engaged in childhood, so he definitely had a wife. Pon Farr was clearly there, so he could have had at least one child. And he just left all that behind...

[@alpha-omega2362]

he's going to have a little Pon Farr with Maggie.....

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

he probably had not yet built up a life outside of the spaceship which they lost... that was probably his main home most of his life... as with many sailors of the 19th/early 20th century, I do believe it is quite likely he had not family as such... nothing off Risa so to speak... for a Vulcan, he is also extremely young, think of an 18year old provisional-Lieutenant... or maybe even a cadet of some sorts... my guess is he would have left Vulcan basically a child. nothing he really knew back home, he would have been engaged (to someone he did not know), but it is unlikely he was ever married.

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

@@alpha-omega2362 I do not think that works with non-Vulcans

[@alpha-omega2362]

@@stanislavkostarnov2157 well, Spock;s mother was human....so maybe not Ponn Farr but a little hanky-panky....

[@WhtAbtBob10]

This is my all time favorite Enterprise episodes and definitely top 5 all time.

[@tywilliamnash5078]

The reason T’Pol’s ancestor is so upset with her subordinate is because she didn't have a man for herself...... she's hooked on wee wee, you see.....and her homegirl got to it first....

[@virginiaconnor8350]

Silly. What're you? 8 yrs.old?

[@tywilliamnash5078]

Virginia Connor ......I’m 63 and was watching Trek before you were even born my darling girl . And now for the big question..... who are you.... my mommy?! I was merely making a bad joke of poor taste...... apologies? Now go away and let the adults in here play and you get back to the kitchen kiddie table..... Your Christmas dinner is getting cold.....

[@virginiaconnor8350]

@@tywilliamnash5078 I'm a year older than you. Did you ever go to GA.State U.? I have a BA there in Sp.Ed. Did you ever go to NGC? BA there in Art too. Worked with special needs kids so don't talk down to me either. I have no parents now so I do well on my own. Besides, I was watching "MFU" and James Bond as well as "Star Trek" around the same time-11 in '66.

[@tywilliamnash5078]

Virginia Connor ....well bully for you. Nobody cares about what you have or don’t have.... only you. But in all fairness Miss Thing.... you started this. If you don’t want to have negative comments thrown at your way... it’s a good idea not begin foisting them on the recipient that way you can keep your nose clean, and you wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences of your juvenile behavior borne acts..... name calling.... finger pointing .... really ?!?!..... who is the child here....Hmmmm? I just thought of something. I assume this is all my fault.... casting aspersions about poor T’Pol in the first place with my big sarcastic mouth. I was merely trying to be funny. I real life I never would say or talk such drivel..... I thought I was safe on the internet... nobody knows me here.... that sort of thing.... my mistake. Apologies, again. Am I bad, my gosh I’m a monster....

[@MatthewPiccirilli]

I'm from around Doylestown and as much as I like to think it's a local reference there are actually other Doylestowns in the US. Ohio and Wisconsin. Ranked by population: Doylestown, PA 8.3k, Doylestown, OH 3k, Doylestown, WI 292.

[@Blessingsuponyou]

Do all vulcanized have sane hair and eyes lol they all look like Ben stiller