T'Pol is cajoled by Captain Archer and Trip into explaining just why she took a 5 day leave while stationed on Earth to the small town of Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania. The story she tells changes what had been considered historical fact for Star Fleet.
Jolene Blalock plays the dual role of T'Pol and her Great Grandmother, T'Mir. While on a survey mission to Earth soon after the launch of Sputnik, a Vulcan ship containing T'Mir, Mestral (J. Paul Boehmer, who has also appeared in both Deep Space Nine and Voyager) and Stron (Michael Krawic, who had also appeared in DS9 and Voyager) has to attempt a crash landing after a malfunction. After weeks of being stranded on Earth with no contact from Vulcan, the three are forced to enter the town of Carbon Creek in order to try and find food to survive.
While T'Mir and Stron are able to keep a distance from the Humans, Mestral develops an interest in the emerging society. There are great little moments in the episode, mostly owing to the "fish out of water" and nostalgia elements of the story. The end result is enjoyable but predictable from start to finish.
Blalock continues to under-impress, both as T'Pol and T'Mir. Playing a Vulcan is difficult if you're anyone other than Leonard Nimoy or Mark Lenard and Blalock has got a long way to go before she masters it. Boehmer does a good job as a Vulcan who finds himself so intrigued by the primitive society that he finds himself in danger of "going native." The door is open for the reappearance of the character, something that could add to the tapestry of the Trek universe as a whole.
