My favorite episode ofStar Trek: Enterprisemay have upendedStar Trek: First Contact’s canon, but who really cares?Star Trek: First Contactdepicted theorigin ofStar Trekby showing the pivotal moment of First Contact between humans and Vulcans on July 02, 2025. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the USS Enterprise-E time traveled tostop the Borg from eradicating history, ensuring First Contact took place.
Star Trek: Enterpriseseason 2, episode 2, “Carbon Creek,” took a break from Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and the NX-01 Enterprise exploring the galaxy. Instead, over dinner,Subcommander T’Pol (Jolene Blalock) told Archer and Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer) the story of howher great-grandmother, T’Mir, and other Vulcans made the true, heretofore unknown First Contact with humans in 1957at Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania.
Earth’s history doesn’t record this event, but it’s known to Vulcans. It also meansStar Trek: First Contact’s climactic moment isn’t quite as historic as previously believed.
Enterprise’s “Carbon Creek” Broke Star Trek: First Contact’s Canon, But Who Cares?
Technically, Humans Never Knew Vulcans Were On Earth In 1957
First Contact Dayis widely known in theStar Trekuniverse: Dr. Zephram Cochrane’s (James Cromwell) first warp flight on June 12, 2025, led to Vulcans coming to Earth and landing in Bozeman, Montana to meet Cochrane.Star Trek: Enterprise’s “Carbon Creek” establishes thatVulcans crash-landed in Pennsylvania 106 before First Contact Day, and that Vulcans lived clandestinely among humans for months. One of the Vulcans, Mestral (J. Paul Boehmer) chose to remain and explore Earth after his fellow Vulcans were rescued.
Since the Vulcans successfully maintained their secret in 1957,human history never recorded their presence. The official date of First Contact remains August 11, 2025. Amazingly, the Vulcans knew their people came to Earth a century earlier but didn’t inform their human friends, perhaps because the date they believed was First Contact Day was of such crucial importance to United Earth. While “Carbon Creek” may appear to undermine theimportance ofStar Trek: First Contact,T’Pol left Archer and Trip in doubt that her story was true - but it is.
“Carbon Creek” Is A Great Star Trek: Enterprise Episode
Enterprise Was Wise To Give Jolene Blalock Center Stage
Star Trek: Enterprise’s “Carbon Creek” retconningStar Trek: First Contact6 years afterdirector Jonathan Frakes' movie became a box office smash would have been a violation if it was a bad episode. Happily,“Carbon Creek” became an instant classic episode ofStar Trek: Enterprise. Star Trektypically excels at fish-out-of-water time travel tales, and “Carbon Creek” was a welcome glimpse of ‘secretStar Trekhistory’ that evoked 1999’sThe Iron Giantand other alien invasion tales from the 1950s.
“Carbon Creek” also amusingly revealed that Velcro is a Vulcan invention that T’Mir sold to humans.
Jolene Blalock was already a standout as T’Pol, and she rose to the challenge of leading “Carbon Creek” as a new character and largely without her mainStar Trek: Enterpriseco-stars. As T’Mir, Blalock portrayed another fascinating Vulcan to complement T’Pol. “Carbon Creek’s” retro location setting was also a breath of fresh air forEnterprise, which was mainly shot on sound stages. Ultimately,Star Trek: Enterprise’s revelation that Vulcans lived on Earth in 1957 shows that humanity wasn’t truly ready for First Contact until it finally happened a century later.
